The Wager: A Billionaire Romance (15 page)

"All right Cinderella, I think my work here is done," she said, a satisfied smile on her face.

She helped me take the gown off before heading out. I didn't have much time to celebrate my good luck in finding the perfect dress before I had to head out to the salon to get my hair and makeup done. By the time I was finally washed, waxed, polished and trimmed, I only had one hour left to get back to my apartment and get dressed.

I decided to splurge and get a taxi back to my apartment. I didn't want to deal with the stares I'd get on the subway and I most definitely didn't want to inadvertently ruin or smudge anything. Finally I was all set; my dress was on, which was a feat of contortionistic skill I never knew I had, and my hair and makeup remained intact and in place.

Roman arrived a moment later. I heard the doorbell ring just as I sat down and tried to relax for a bit after the hectic afternoon I'd had. Getting back up, I headed towards the door, a smile pinned to my face. I wanted to see what his reaction would be once he saw me. My confidence was stratospheric; I knew I looked good.

I wasn't disappointed by Roman's reaction. He looked like he'd been struck by lightning, with his mouth hanging open slightly and his eyes widened as he took in the sight of me.

"Well? What do you think?" I asked, turning around so he could get the full view.

He regained his composure and stepped up to me, pulling me against him. "Stunning," he said before placing a soft kiss against my lips. "I'll be the envy of every man there."

"You can thank Mel for that," I said. "She saved my butt yet again with the wardrobe situation. Oh by the way, thanks for letting me know what a big deal this ball is," I added a bit harshly as I remembered my earlier annoyance with Roman.

He at least had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry about that," he said. "I didn't know if you'd agree to go if I told you what it actually was."

"You'd probably be right. So I guess your little plan worked out well for you," I said.

I sounded more annoyed than I really was. Honestly, I'd been actually looking forward to the night. It was the first time I'd meet anyone from his family and even though I was full of nerves, I was also secretly pleased. I figured Roman didn't usually just introduce any random girl he was seeing to his family, so that must make me someone special in his life. At least, that's what I tried to convince myself of.

"Darling, let's not argue," he said, grabbing my hands and rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. "I want tonight to be special for us. You're the only one I could imagine going with and since I'm sort of required to attend, I thought I'd have to find a way to get you there too."

"Ok, it's a truce for now, but don't think you're getting off the hook that easily," I said.

"I'll take whatever punishment you dish out," he said.

"I'll remember that for later," I said, giving him a sly wink.

Chapter Ten: Roman

From the moment she opened the front door, I couldn't take my eyes off her. It was like I was looking at her for the first time and I wondered how on earth I was so lucky to have this beautiful creature on my arm. I knew I wasn't the only one awestruck by Lily's presence. The murmurs and whispers that accompanied our arrival was sure to garner us extra attention. I could almost feel all their eyes riveted to Lily standing beside me as we walked the red carpet into the venue.

Lily tensed beside me as soon as we exited the car. I squeezed her hand and the grateful smile she sent my way made me feel overprotective of her. My cousin Rob was the first to greet us as we walked into the ballroom.

"There you are!" he said jovially. "I'd begun to think you wouldn't make it."

"Hardly. I'm perfectly on time," I said.

Rob looked at me pointedly before he held out his hand to Lily. "I'm sorry my cousin's so rude. I'm Rob Benedict, Roman's cousin," he said.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Lily Hayward," she answered.

"I've heard about you, and it's so glad to finally meet you in person," Rob continued.

"Good things, I hope?" Lily said.

"Why of course. You don't think my cousin would trash you behind your back, do you?" he laughed.

"I hope not!" Lily smiled. "That'd be a pretty shitty thing to do."

"I can see why Roman is so taken with you. You look beautiful," Rob said.

"Thank you," Lily said.

I didn't even have to look at her to see the tell tale blush of color rising to her cheeks. Her inability to accept compliments was one of the things I liked about her.

"So what exactly is it that you see in my cousin? I'm surprised he hasn't scared you away yet."

"Don't you have other guests to bother?" I cut in.

Rob looked at me with a twinkle of mischief in his eye before turning back to Lily.

"I can see when I'm not wanted, but may I ask for a dance this evening? Don't let Roman keep you to himself all night," he said.

"Of course. I'd love to," Lily said.

Rob left, not before shooting me curious glance. I knew I wouldn't escape his interrogation later on, but put that out of my mind for now. Sometimes he could be worse than a tabby.

"Sorry about that. He can be somewhat...annoying," I said.

"Don't worry about it. I thought he seemed really nice and funny," Lily said.

"You say that now, but when he finally gets you alone and peppers you with questions, I have a feeling you'll be changing your tune."

"I doubt it," she said. "I have a pretty good people radar. Besides, he's your cousin. How could I not like him?"

"Very easily," I muttered.

I led her into the middle of the room where we were accosted by more acquaintances. Lily handled herself with poise and grace even though I knew she hated these types of events. I laughed to myself thinking about that first night I spotted her at the Eichendorf Gala and the way she stood so combatively with that fiery look in her eyes, daring anyone to approach her.

"What's so funny?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Nothing. I was just thinking how much can change in three weeks," I said.

She waited for me to say more but we were interrupted before I could get the words out.

"There you are, Roman." I turned around to find a pair of large grey eyes staring at me behind a bright pink mask embellished with crystals and feathers. It was a startling sight and took all my will power not to look alarmed. Even though she was hidden behind a mask, I recognized that nasally voice.

"Helen," I said, less than enthusiastically. "I'm surprised you're here tonight." It was true. I was almost certain her name was not on the guest list. She shot me a sickly sweet smile and tried to grab my arm.

"Of course I'd be here," she said. "What kind of friend would I be if I missed supporting you on your big night?"

The way she said friend and her possessive attitude was getting on my nerves. I could tell by the way Lily stood stiffly beside me that she was not pleased with Helen either.

"Thank you for your support," I said. "If you'll excuse us, we were just headed over towards the bar."

Before we could move past her, her eyes shot to Lily and the recognition lit her face. "You're that girl from the Eichendorf," she blurted out.

I didn't like the sly patronizing smile that crept across her face as she looked at Lily. "I didn't realize you were still so intent on winning, Roman," she said.

I glared at her, hoping the hostility radiating off of me would penetrate her thick skull.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Helen. Now if you'll excuse us," I seethed.

I pushed past her not even waiting for her response. I grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her forward, heading straight for the bar. My body was rigid with anger and annoyance. I knew I'd have to have a word with my friend Ryan about keeping his sister, Helen, far from my presence. I thought she was merely shallow and irritating before, but now I couldn't even stand the sight of her. The way she so casually brought up that stupid wager right in front of Lily got my blood boiling again. Lily stood beside me looking confused and I could tell she was trying to puzzle out Helen's words and my rash reaction to them.

"I'm sorry about that. I honestly didn't think she was on the guest list," I said.

"Who is she?" she asked.

"She's the sister of one of my friends," I said.

"Oh, she seemed awfully friendly with you."

"Trust me, Lily, you have nothing to worry about in that quarter. I can barely tolerate her company," I said, a little harsher than I intended.

Instead of being reassured by my words, I could see a frown of worry crease her brows. I wondered if my reaction made her suspicious that something had happened between Helen and I. "Let's forget about her," I said, trying to change the subject. "I could do with a drink. What would you like?"

Lily continued to survey me behind unblinking eyes and I could feel myself getting hot under the collar. Perhaps it was my guilt over the bet and the fear that she'd somehow find out about it that made me so uncomfortable. I'd never felt this awkward and unsure of myself before. I was almost certain my rash behavior wasn't helping Lily's confidence. She probably suspected that I was hiding something from her.

"Excuse me for a moment, I just have to use the restroom," she said.

"All right, I'll be waiting right here," I said.

I watched her walk away towards the other end of the ballroom where the doors were. Her graceful figure weaved effortlessly throughout the crowd before she disappeared behind the doors.

"She looks almost unrecognizable from the first time I saw her," I heard a voice say to my back.

I turned around to find Warren Peters standing there with a smug smile on his face, watching me curiously.

"Peters," I said in greeting. Deep down, I was cursing my damn luck. Of all the people in the world, Warren Peters was probably the last one I'd wanted to see right now.

"Roman," he answered. "I must congratulate you on transforming our little caterpillar into a butterfly. I didn't think she had it in her."

"What do you want?" I asked rudely. I was feeling my temper reach its breaking point and had no patience to stand around and talk to this man about Lily. Just looking at him reminded me of that stupid bet I'd made all those weeks ago and it smote at my conscience.

"There's no need to be so feisty," he said. "I simply came to check on your progress with the lady. Our wager ends in one week and I've already had space cleared out in my townhouse for the Cézanne."

"I'm sorry, but the bet's off," I said.

"Oh?"

"It's been off for weeks now."

"No one informed me of that," he said.

"I called you personally to tell you," I replied.

"I must not have gotten the message," he said. I could tell by the look in his eye that he was lying. He got my message all right; he was just choosing to ignore it.

"The fact remains that I'm no longer interested in winning the bet."

"So you couldn't do it then? She proved harder to woo than you anticipated?"

"Don't be ridiculous. The bet was stupid."

"Oh, don't tell me you actually have feelings for the girl?" he said derisively. "I had wondered why you bothered to bring her tonight as your date. I thought that was laying it on a little too thick, but now it makes sense."

The way he perked up and the sly smile he shot me made my hackles rise. I didn't like that look at all and it told me he was up to something. If there was one thing I had learned about Warren Peters, it was that he was not one to write off lightly. I mentally kicked myself for thinking the voicemail I left him would be enough to end the bet. He was as competitive as I was and I just knew he'd savor the opportunity to put one over me.

I knew the easiest way he could get to me was through Lily and the last thing I wanted was for him to make her his next target. He was like a child with a toy. If he knew I liked her, he'd go after her somehow, but if he thought I cared nothing for her then he'd leave her alone.

I didn't know what he had in mind but I wanted to protect Lily from his attentions. I especially didn't want her to find out about the bet tonight. I knew I had to tell her about it sometime, but this was just not the time or the place. I needed to do something fast before Warren decided to cause a scene or worse, let it slip about what I had done.

"Now you're really letting your imagination run away with you," I said in a bored voice. "It was too easy to make her fall in love with me. There was no challenge in it. And it seemed almost too cruel to take the Bugatti from you for that."

"Why should I believe you?" he asked. "Maybe you just couldn't do it and now you're trying to backtrack so that you don't have to part with the Cézanne."

I shrugged my shoulders, the picture of nonchalance. "Believe what you will," I said. "But I'm sure you've already seen the way she's clung to my arm all night. Does that strike you as someone who has no feelings for me? But if you're so intent on losing the Bugatti, I can arrange it easily and you can see for yourself how I've got her wrapped around my finger."