Page 51 of Snapshot

“Dex, that’s so sad. I’m very sorry. I feel terrible for you.”

Running my finger over her forehead, I try to smooth out the wrinkles of her concern. “You don’t have to do that. I’m not trying to play the sad, little rich boy card. Nobody likes that.”

“Can I tellyousomething?” she asks.

“Sure.”

“You can be richandsad. I don’t think money fixes everything. In fact, if I learned anything from my dad, it breaks far more than it fixes.”

My smile grows and I feel the warmth I always do around Lennox. She’s a twenty-seven-year-old temp, but she doesn’t see her superpower. A fancy career or degree isn’t necessary. She’s already got everything she needs to be okay. Lennox, with her sassy outfits and purple hair, is always the wisest person in the room. The world just needs to listen.

I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, and the touch feels different. It’s not friendly, more laced with intimacy. But this time, she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she gulps so hard, I hear it. Then, she licks her lips. Probably self-consciously because I’m staring at them so intently.

I want to feel them. The urge is getting to be too much to resist. Lennox should be mine. She’s actually moments away from being mine.Those lips belong to me.I lean in a little closer as I decide consequences be damned…I have to taste them?—

“Sir!” The chapel’s assistant comes barreling down the hallway, making a ruckus, ruining my moment of opportunity.

“What?” I grumble in agitation.

She’s holding out a white plastic bag. “You forgot this at the front. This comes with your package. Her veil is in there aswell. Congratulations,” she says before hurrying back down the hallway.

“Package?” Lennox straightens up in her seat, her eyes bright and big. Our moment of temptation over.

“I splurged and got the Deluxe package,” I say with a little sarcasm. “It comes with a commemorative shot glass, and you get to keep the veil. I just wanted to give you the wedding of your dreams.” I bat my eyelashes innocently at her.

“How much is splurging?” She grabs the bag and pulls out a pathetic-looking plastic tiara with a short white veil attached. The ruby gems glued to the crown look like the end result of a kindergarten homework assignment. “Seriously, what a scam. How much did they charge for this cheap crap?”

“I don’t know, Len. I usually don’t look at prices.”

I don’t register the effect of my words until I see her bewildered expression. “So, when you go out to eat at a nice restaurant, you don’t even check the dinner bill?”

I shake my head. “Not really.”

“When you buy clothes and shoes?”

I lock eyes with her, slowly realizing what’s going through her head. But why lie? She’s going to find out soon enough. “In Miami, I have personal staff who shop for me and fill my closets.”

“What about when you buy a car? You don’t even check the price?”

“No,” I reply flatly, growing weary of the conversation.

“How about a house?”

I clear my throat, listening to it echo off the walls. The music from the chapel behind us dies down, and suddenly, it’s very quiet in the hallway. “Grandpa, Grandma, and I would typically make real estate offers under a trust not associated with our names. If we were to purchase under ‘Hessler,’ the seller would probably try to charge me ten times the actual value.”

“Which you could still afford?” She’s twisting the tiara in her hand nervously. It’s so cheap and thin that it easily bends back and forth.

“Yes. Careful, you’re going to snap that in half.”

But she doesn’t stop. “How much is your house in Miami worth?”

Why do I feel like she’s staring at me naked? But not in a sexy way. Just in a way in which I feel uncomfortably exposed. “Which one?”

“The biggest one.”

“That’d be the Hessler Estate. And technically, it belonged to my family, not just me. Not to mention, I’m selling it to Denny?—”

“Dex, quit avoiding the question.”

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