Page 72 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 8
“So you decided to ditch the Raven persona?” He reached out and gently tucked a loose strand of my red hair behind my ear. “You look beautiful.”
He was the only person that had ever made me feel that way. Putting on a dark wig had given me the confidence to actually talk to him. But I didn’t need a wig anymore. “I don’t need to be Raven, seductress of the night, anymore. I have a boyfriend, thank you very much.”
“Indeed you do.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me back in close.
“And I really hate worrying that I’m going to slip up and accidentally reveal my true identity.”
“Would you prefer if I went by Tanner instead of Ryder here?”
“Yes.” That would make my life so much easier. But also… There was something about him being Ryder Storm in his fancy suits that really did something to me. I think it was the whole reason the Society worked for finding matches as well as it did. Everything felt forbidden at their events. Sinful. Who wouldn’t want a night like this to last forever? “But will you still wear your fancy suits?”
“Of course. That’s all me.” He smiled down at me.
“Good.”
“So...where do we start?” asked Tanner. “I can’t wait to see what romantic things you came up with. Maybe we should take a ride on the Ferris wheel?”
“I absolutely want to do that. But first, we need to get some food. I’m starving.”
We walked toward the concessions.
Chastity stopped at the first booth. “Ooooh cotton candy. Yum.” She grabbed one off the stand.
I stared at the sign in horror.Oyster flavored? What the heck?“I told Nigel to make it sexy. Why would he do oyster flavored?”
“It’s delicious,” said Chastity.
Ew.
Tanner laughed. “Well, you said make it sexy. And oystersarean aphrodisiac.”
Still. Who infused cotton candy with that? I shook my head. I hoped Nigel hadn’t taken everything in a weird direction. His note about a surprise was starting to make meverynervous now. But then I got distracted when I saw the sign for the next booth. “Ah! Funnel cake!” I ran over to the stand and picked up the paper plate. This was one of my requests too. It was my favorite carnival fare.
I took a huge bite.Mmm. Delicious.It was a lot sweeter than I remembered, though. I glanced at the game that was set up next to the funnel cake booth. SQUIRT RACE was lit up in neon green above the game. I cringed. I wished Nigel had called it something else. Squirt race too easily brought up nightmares of what I’d done to Tanner’s bed…
“Hmm.” Tanner’s hot breath tickled my ear. “Squirt race? I bet you’d win that.”
I elbowed him in his side.
“Hey, Raven,” someone said behind us.
I turned around to see Cole standing there.
Oh my God, Cole. I’d totally forgotten about our date. And blowing Dr. Lyons on the side of the road. And Cole filming it. And I really didn’t want to go into all those details with Tanner!Gah what is my life?!
“I like the red hair,” Cole said. “It suits you.” But his eyes scanned my whole body. And the way he was looking at me made me think he liked a lot more than my hair.
“It’s my natural color. And my real name is Ash.”
Tanner cleared his throat.
“Ryder Storm,” Cole said. “Didn’t see you there.” He glanced between us again and his eyes settled back on Tanner. “I challenge you to a squirt race, man.”
Tanner shook his head. “Call me Tanner. And I’m not interested in the prize.”
What was the prize? I looked behind the booth and my eyes grew round. There was a half-naked woman chained up back there. She looked very ready to get on her knees, if you know what I mean. I didn’t realize the prizes would be half-nude people. Nigel was kinky AF.
But I was glad Tanner wasn’t interested in that prize.
