Page 136 of The Billionaire's Wake-up-call Girl

The people are eating it up. Well, who doesn’t love baby goats?

He announces that they’re gearing up for clinical trials that will be expedited once they have FDA approval. He hopes they can get the new formula out into the field as quickly as possible. People clap. They all know what it means.

“I was going at it all wrong,” he says, and that’s when he sees me. Or squints at me, like he thinks it’s maybe me. They turned the lights down for him to show the goat videos. Willow and I both wave like crazy.

Then I do it, there in the dark. I raise my middle finger.

I know you. I’m with you.

His lips twitch. He’s looking right at me.

He sees me.

Theo,I mouth.

“Wake-up calls come in many forms,” he says, looking directly at me now. “Sometimes baby goats show you you’re being too linear. And sometimes it’s a literal wake-up call that wakes you up to a world that’s wider than you ever imagined. Let’s never stop discovering ways to make it better and more beautiful. Thank you.” He raises the award to thunderous applause.

“Shit,” Willow says. “He killed it.”

I smile stupidly as he fits the mic back into the holder, as he comes off the stage and shakes a lot of hands. His gaze never leaves mine.

Because in the end, we’re the only people in the room.

I finally get to him, or maybe he gets to me. “You came.” He cups my cheeks, looking at me like he can’t believe it.

“Theo—” There are too many words. So I kiss him. He groans and pulls me closer, kisses me back.

“I was wrong,” I say, pulling away. “Wrong to just leave.”

“No, I was wrong. I know I was wrong.”

“But I was wrong to not believe in our power to get past it. We can figure this out. I feel like we can figure anything out. I love that we can figure anything out.”

His eyes shine. “You can’t even imagine what it was like to see you out there. I wanted to yell.”

“Probably good you didn’t.” I grab hold of his lapels. They feel cool and silky. “I’m home. I don’t want to leave this.”Ever, I think.

“You’re staying? In the city?”

“Yes.”

He wraps his arms around me, wraps me into a hug. There are no words.

And then we have to separate, because it’s picture time. Henry Locke, who runs the Locke empire, wants a picture with Theo. Then they bring the little dog into the picture. Then it’s Theo and some other people.

I have to figure out what to do about the subletter. Figure out about a job. Theo may have rented the awesome space, but those are all details. I catch Theo’s eye as the press takes a few pictures of him with his award. The main thing is that I’m staying.

Willow hands me a glass of champagne. “He made an omelet for me this morning,” she says.

“He did?”

“It was terrible.”

After a lot of mingling, the party breaks up, but the night’s not over—Henry and Vicky invite Willow and Theo and me out for drinks and desserts. Henry wants to toast the partnership.

We end up in a cozy, candlelit bar in one of the famous Locke boutique hotels. The five of us commandeer a big, comfy booth and drink to the partnership with champagne that I don’t dare ask the price of.

We talk about the goat videos, and Willow explains a data initiative her company is doing. Vicky’s excited that I’m the Cookie Madness person. It turns out she makes jewelry, and we have fun bonding over crafty stuff while we pet the little dog, who might just be the cutest dog in the universe.

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