Page 110 of Mr. Aster
I stepped back and eyed her with a smile, “I’ll hold you to it since I’m already getting fucked in the ass by this stupid event.”
“The best part about this night is knowing I don’t have to pay five hundred thousand dollars to fuck you.”
“You’re enjoying this far too much,” I said.
“Baby, you’ve got to laugh about this, or your mother will get her way. Don’t let it piss you off,” Darcy said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “Just have fun, and when we get to our room after this is all over, we’ll have even more fun.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I know,” she smiled. “Now, go bring in that cash like your mother expects.”
“You really do look gorgeous tonight,” I said, biting my lip as I contemplated taking her into the bathroom for a quickie.
“And you look very handsome. I’ll miss sitting by you at dinner, too,” she said with a cute pout. “Now, hurry up. I want this done because I feel like I haven’t seen you in a week. We have too much time lost to make up for, lover.”
“You’re not lying about that,” I smiled. “It’s still not too late to move to Mexico where no one can find us, you know?”
“And miss all the fun your family has to offer? Hell no,” she smiled. “I’ll see you later.”
With that, Darcy and I parted ways, and I prepared for the entire night to irritate the shit out of me. The best part was that Darcy was unfazed by my mother’s antics, which made me feel the same.
Iwascurious about who my parents had paid off to win a date with me tonight, though, and there was only one way to find out.
Chapter Forty-Six
Darcy
Ishook my head at the gall of Sebastian’s mother as I approached Avery, Ashley, Nat, Breanne, and Mickie, who were standing and chatting with drinks.
“Everything good on the lover’s front?” Avery questioned, sipping her martini with a grin.
“Margot Aster is a piece of work,” I answered, taking the Cosmopolitan Nat handed me after plucking it off a passing waiter’s tray.
“You’re justnowfiguring that out?” Mickie smirked. “The fact that John and Sebastian’s parents are trying to stake their claim on the West Coast by going into business with Jim should be enough to tell everyone that they’re pieces of work.”
“Have you gotten past your differences with them?” I asked, curious about where a future with Sebastian could go if we became more serious. I was also interested as a friend because I knew that Margot and Sebastian III nearly cost Mickie and John their relationship, and Mickie seemed like a genuinely greatperson. The thought of these two grown-ass billionaires going around and wreaking havoc on unsuspecting young women seemed ludicrous.
“As best as anyone can where those two are concerned,” Mickie laughed. “We just live our lives quietly out here and aren’t exactly waiting by the mailbox for invites to Margot’s Christmas galas.”
“Poor Darcy. Girl, you are signing up for a completely different lifestyle by going after Margot’s golden son,” Avery added with a hint of pity. “But from what Jim and I discussed, Sebastian is holding the line to keep them off your back. That says a lot.”
“It does,” Mickie said. “With John and me, it was more difficult because it came from out of nowhere, and they manipulated him in the most disgusting ways to keep him away from me. I’m proud of Sebastian’s efforts to keep his personal decisions out of their hands, so to speak.”
“Well, it’s not stopping Margot from trying other methods,” I said. “It’s funny because Sebastian madeevery effortnot to be part of this auction, but his mother created a loophole and is making it happen anyway.” I exhaled, seeing everyone waiting for the punchline, “She charged five hundred thousand a ticket to be a part of this event.”
“I was shocked when I saw that,” Breanne said. “When Jim and Alex were talking about how it’d sold out—mostly to East Coasters—we all assumed that was because Margot was hosting it at this venue.”
I shook my head and sipped my cocktail.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say it’syourguy who drew them in?” Nat questioned.
I nodded, “She used the caveat that since Sebastian isn’tmarried, he’s still very single, so he’s the prized billionaire to be auctioned off for a date tonight.”
That prompted a laugh from everyone, and I chewed on my bottom lip, contemplating whether I should just tell everyone the truth about how this had all happened between Sebastian and me. They didn’t need to know we started fake dating, but it would certainly help with the humor of how Sebastian wound up on that stage tonight.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Avery asked, seeing I was half in and half out of this conversation.
“It’s just the irony of it all, I think,” I said, and then we were interrupted by the announcement for everyone to take their seats.
