Page 21 of The Reluctant Billionaire

“Got the news from John Hunter himself. Jace apparently wanted to make sure Sunfish was safe from any corporate meddling. I’ve been assured he has complete faith in my ability to run the place… though I’m pretty sure there’s one particular staff member I daren’t fire.”

Nessa found herself clinging to the edge of the bar to hold herself up because her legs felt too shaky to support her. “He did that for me?”

“Pretty sure you’re a fairly large part of his motive, yeah.” Luke eyed her sympathetically. “You know,” he said in an apparent non sequitur, “Olivia still knows a hell of a lot of New York movers and shakers from her days as a marketing guru in the Big Apple.”

Nessa eyed him curiously. “So?”

Luke grinned. “So, I have an idea.”

Chapter Nine

Nessa smoothed her hands over the skirt of her tangerine silk dress once more, before stepping forward and handing the printed invitation she held to one of the PAs manning the door into the massive ballroom. Olivia’s friend had assured her the invitation was completely legit, but Nessa still had the terrible feeling the PA, a beautiful blonde with a snooty expression on her face, would dismiss her as a fraud and probably have her arrested.

“Your name is Tennessee Williams?” The blonde gave her a skeptical look. Nessa cursed the last-minute rush which had meant Olivia had to email her friend a copy of Nessa’s passport in order to get the invite organized in time for the event.

“Blame my mother, and please, please just call me Nessa,” Nessa replied.

The blonde actually chuckled. “I know just how you feel. I’m Donna… but my real name is Chardonnay.”

They exchanged conspiratorial grins, and Donna found Nessa’s name on the list on her tablet and checked it off. “Have a good evening… Nessa.”

“Thank you, Donna.” Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on the fashionable little clutch Olivia’s friend had provided, along with the designer dress and heels, before moving through the huge doorway into the ballroom.

Luke’s brilliant idea had been for Nessa to fly to New York and use Olivia’s old contacts to wrangle herself an invitation to the special Hunter Enterprises post-IPO party. Nessa still wasn’t entirely sure how they’d managed to talk her into it, but here she was, wearing a dress worth more than a month’s salary and a pair of shoes which probably cost as much as a new car, despite each apparently consisting of little more than a couple of flimsy straps, some rhinestones, and a sharp heel.

There had to be five hundred people here already and more arriving by the minute. How was she ever to even find Jace, never mind get close to him? She’d arrived in New York early that morning and spent the day being pampered in a ridiculously high-class beauty salon before coming here, but she’d taken the time to check the stock market. Wall Street was going crazy over the offering, the stock already soaring to almost five times its initial list price. Everyone here tonight looked to be celebrating pretty hard.

“Nessa?” a voice said behind her and she startled, spinning around and almost tripping over her heels. A slim Chinese woman in a designer business suit stood there; agelessly beautiful, her eyes told Nessa she wasn’t nearly as young as she might be mistaken for.

Who the hell knows I’m here?“Um, yes, I’m Nessa.”

“I thought you might be. I’m Nancy, Jace’s assistant.”

“He knows I’m here?” Nessa fought the urge to panic.

“Actually, he doesn’t.” Nancy reached out, giving her a gently reassuring pat on the arm. “Luke Collyer called Mr. Hunter–Mr.JohnHunter, that is–and let him know you were coming. John asked me to be on the lookout for you.”

“Oh.” Nessa’s shoulders relaxed a tiny bit.

They tensed right back up when Nancy said, “I can take you to Jace now, if you’d like?”

“I think maybe I need a drink first. Liquid courage and all that,” Nessa admitted.

Nancy smiled, beckoning to a nearby waiter. “After the chaos this last week has been, I wouldn’t say no myself. Champagne?” She scooped two crystal flutes off the waiter’s proffered tray and handed one to Nessa. “Cheers.”

“Bottoms up,” Nessa said with a smile in return. The champagne was fabulous; Cristal, she was pretty sure, though the glasses were pre-filled and she couldn’t see a bottle.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Nancy warned the waiter before draining her glass, handing back the empty and taking another one. “Come on, Nessa, keep up,” she chided.

Laughing, she decided she rather liked Nancy. Nessa followed suit and claimed another glass. On an empty stomach, the bubbles went straight to her head, making her feel floaty and relaxed.

“Okay,” she declared, “I think I can face him now.”

“Marvelous.” Nancy linked her free arm through Nessa’s and drew her through the crowd. She seemed to know almost everyone there, greeting many people by name but forging an inexorable path onward until the last group of people melted aside and Nessa saw Jace.

Wearing a pale gray suit perfectly tailored to his tall, lean form, his brown hair immaculately cut, his jaw clean-shaven, he looked every inch the billionaire.

Right down to the famous supermodel on his arm, laughing as he spoke and leaning in to press a kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth, leaving a scarlet imprint of her lips behind. A camera flashed to capture the moment and the group surrounding Jace laughed, knowing what picture they’d see in the society pages of the papers tomorrow.

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