Page 8 of Her Billion Dollar Groom

“What?” I scoff, letting out a harsh laugh of disbelief. Is this guy serious?

He holds up both arms like I’ve pulled a gun on him and am threatening to shoot. “No, I’m sorry,” he stammers, brushing a hand through his hair and ruffling it from its picture-perfect position. “That came out so wrong. I didn’t mean it like that at all. I meant that I don’t want to be at this event, and you don’t want to be at this event, so how about we run away and hide out somewhere else until it’s all over? No impropriety, no weird advances, just somewhere we can go that isn’t this stupid place. What do you say?”

“I should say that you’re completely out of your mind,” I scoff. But again, there’s a part of me that believes he has no ulterior motive.

Maybe I’m just too trusting when it comes to men, but this Jason seems like a genuine kind of guy. When he says he has no ill intentions toward me, I believe him. Plus, I have just been broken up with. It could be nice to get a little male attention, even if it’s not going anywhere.

If nothing else, it is good to feel wanted.

“I’m going to win an award tonight,” I say weakly, still trying to resist. At the very least, I have to look like I’m putting up a fight.

“You’ll still win, even if you’re not here. Have you written a speech?”

“No…” I draw the syllable out to give myself more time to think. He is right. I have no idea what I’m going to say when I get up on that podium. I might write all my own songs, but I’m nowhere near eloquent enough to make a big speech on a big platform.

“Of course, you can say no if you want to,” he says, giving me that lopsided smile again.

There must be something wrong with me right now because it’s melting my heart. I haven’t even had any champagne yet.

“But even if you don’t come with me, I’m about three seconds from leaving anyway. I’ve been seated at a table with some awful CEOs. I don’t know how much more of their bragging I can take.”

I let out another giggle. Then, knowing I’m going to get in deep hot water for this later, I say, “Okay, fine. You’re right. I hate events like this too. I hate the pomp. I hate the circumstance. I hate the way it’s just people trying to one-up each other. Where are we going?”

Jason scrambles to pull his phone out of his pocket. “Well, you see, the advantage of being a CEO with a lot of money,” he says, “is that I do pay a lot of people to do things for me, and there are quite a few places I pay a lot of money to get into. I’m a member of about a million clubs by now, and there’s one where I can get us into the private bar with no questions asked, and we definitely won’t be bothered.”

With that, he puts his phone to his ear and starts talking to his driver. My heart thumps in my chest. This is a terrible idea, andI’m going to get in so much trouble for it later, but right now, I don’t really care.

Jason, CEO of Handshake, is a mystery to me. A puzzle. And right now, he’s offering me a way out.

At the very least, with him, I’m going to get some actual human conversation. Why wouldn’t I say yes to that?

CHAPTER 7

JASON

“Hi, Oskar,” I say quietly into the phone, aware that Eliza’s eyes are on me. “I need you to pick us up.”

“Us?” he questions.

“Will you do it or not?” I hiss. I’m really not in the mood for questions about this right now.

“You’re supposed to be at the event.”

“I know I’m supposed to be at the event, but isn’t the point of you being my driver that you drive me where I want to go?”

“And where is it that you want to go?”

I breathe out. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. Oskar is a great guy, but he sometimes shows way too much autonomy for a driver. I guess I can’t blame him. He is at my beck and call, after all, and he always replies. Eventually.

Trying to keep my cool, I close my eyes. I don’t like to think of other people as less than me. I think it’s a dangerous path for someone with wealth and power, and I am grateful that Oskar iswilling to put up with my schemes. He’s gotten me out of trouble before, and I have no doubt he’ll do it again.

“Kenmore’s. When can you be here?”

“I’ll be outside in five.”

I hang up the phone and turn back to Eliza. “Come with me,” I say, almost offering my hand to her for a second, before realizing that’s a terrible idea and pivoting my gesture into scratching the back of my neck.

She bats her eyelashes at me like she’s about to say something, but doesn’t. She just follows as I turn on my heel.

---