Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
T he morning after my freak out dawned very early with Duke between my legs.
“Shh,” he said when I asked what he was doing. “I’m eating breakfast.”
“Oh!” His finger hit my g-spot, and I thought that this was probably the best way to wake up.
“Mm,” he said. I reached for him to reciprocate. “Unfortunately, I have work early this morning and I can’t linger.”
I stroked his cock twice before he stopped my hand.
“Seriously, baby, I don’t have time and there’s still something I want to talk to you about.” I removed my hand from him and watched as he got out of bed, his long, lean form moving with breathtaking grace.
“I’m all ears.” I stretched out on the bed and propped my head up on my hand so I could keep watching him as he gathered and sorted our hastily stripped clothing strewn about the room.
“Clara, my personal shopper, should contact you this week to talk about what you’re going to wear to my company’s gala.” He turned toward me, the pile of clothing in his hands, waiting for my answer.
“Um, what? What gala?” I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t agree to go to any gala.
“The gala we're going to this weekend?” He looked confused, like we had this conversation already, though I was certain we didn’t. “Did I not actually ask you to go with me?”
“Nope. This is news to me.” I ran my hand along his thigh, hoping that I could change his mind, and he would join me in bed after all.
“Ok, well, will you go with me to my company’s gala this weekend?” He picked up my hand, spoilsport, and laced his fingers with mine.
“Like go with you how? I’m not a fan of parties, you know that.” I wanted to say yes. I treasured any time I could spend with Duke.
“Like, as my date.” He came and sat down on the bed next to me and brushed my hair from my face.
“I know you don’t love parties, but from what I’ve heard, they are planning to have lots of private little corners for the guests and I just have to make an appearance.
My grandfather promised he would attend this one and giving one last speech before official retirement, so I don’t have to stay long. ”
I tried to consider his question, but his fingers in my hair, the previous late night, and now the early morning relaxed me and made my brain fuzzy.
“If I say yes, and I hate it, can I leave early?”
“I’ll have Jenkins on standby, just in case.” I thought about it. I’d see him in a fancy suit again, which is a plus.
“I have nothing to wear to a fancy gala on the arm of a billionaire. I’m afraid you’ve seen all my nice dresses already and none of them work.” That I was even entertaining the idea of going to this and my biggest concern was ‘what do I wear’ was a miracle.
“I thought of that. That’s where Clara comes in. I put a call into my family’s personal shopper to put together some options for you. If you say yes, she will come by this week to let you pick.”
I stared at him. He’d… already planned this. Before even asking me. I didn’t know if I should be angry that he presumed I would say yes, or excited that he wanted to take me as his date . My stomach twisted in knots.
“Do all billionaires have personal shoppers or are you the super special kind that can’t go to a regular store?” I asked, to cover my confusion and indecision.
He laughed.
“There is literally no way to get some items we use without a personal shopper. They have to arrange for special viewings and fittings and all kinds of nonsense that no rational person would want to do. And I buy a good deal of my clothing at ‘regular stores.’” He teased me all while touching me on my back, my arm, my leg, my waist, everywhere that wasn’t likely to lead to me jumping on him and demanding morning sex.
He touched me like he just wanted to feel me and be close to me.
“I can’t say no to you. You’re too pretty for that. Wouldn’t want you to mess up that face with frown lines.” I poked his rock-hard abs and then couldn’t help myself and caressed them, still a little amazed that I could touch him like this.
“Ah, thanks. I am pretty. So, you’ll be my date?” He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. Oh. I didn’t realize I would like that so much.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t say any more. He stole the words from me when his tongue peeked out and lightly traced the space between my fingers.
“Excellent. I’ll have my assistant send you everything you need to know and let Clara know she’ll be shopping for you.” His face lit up like a giddy schoolboy and I wanted to pull him down for a kiss. He didn’t let me, though, and instead kissed my hand one last time and got up for a shower.
I snuggled into the bed, perfectly comfortable and riding high from his attention.
A real date, in a fancy dress, to some extravagant gala, with a handsome man that gave me no less than three orgasms last night and one again this morning.
I buried my head in my pillow and screamed. The pillow smelled like him. I left my face buried in it while he showered, a warm, glowing sensation taking up residence in my chest.
Frankie must have come home in the middle of the night, because she was there at work when Duke dropped me off.
“Nice night?” She asked with a huge smile on her face. The purple under her eyes matched the purple of her wig and I wondered just how worried I should be about her.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t hide my smile and my damn red hair meant I couldn’t hide the blush, either.
“Hell yeah you did.” She raised her hand for a high five while chugging down an energy drink. I gave her one, but eyed the little yellow can she took greedy gulps from .
“You shouldn’t live on those, you know. People care about you and don’t want your heart to explode.” She waved away my concerns and tossed the now empty can into the nearby trash. It was a long-standing battle between us, and I wasn’t ready to give up on it yet.
“So, he’s taking me to some gala this weekend for his company.” She cringed at that. I didn’t want to bring her into this—she hated that world—but I knew I would need her help. Again. “Me, not you. Calm down.”
“Right, sorry. My face doesn’t always know how to shut up.” We were in her car on our way home by the time I’d mustered up the courage to talk to her about this. I knew she would hate to be reminded that she’s not just an archeologist.
“I don’t know the first thing about” —I waved my hand vaguely— “any of this, and I hoped you could walk me through it. You know how nervous I get, and information always helps.” I couldn’t move much in the limited space of the car, so my leg took up the bounce it preferred when I was overwhelmed.
She sighed, looked at me for a terrifyingly long moment, seeing as she was driving, and then nodded her head.
“I’ll do it on one condition,” she held up her finger like I didn’t know what one meant. “I get to pick your dress. I assume someone will come by with a selection.”
My shoulders relaxed, though my leg had a mind of its own and kept bouncing.
“Yeah, Duke set it up with someone named Clara. I think she’s supposed to contact me about it.
Thank you, Frankie. I know you hate all this and I’m hopeless with fashion.
I’d probably pick something terrible, and everyone would laugh at me and Duke would be embarrassed to be—” She held up her hand to stop my rambling.
“I have one more condition. If you get the chance, give my parents the finger.”
Laughter burst out of me.
“I can’t do that!”
“Alright, fine, just the dress, hair and make-up. I’ve been in these circles enough to know what passes and what doesn’t, and no roommate of mine is going to go in there blind. They’re wolves and you need defenses.” She turned into the driveway of our house and parked.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
“It’s that bad.” With that ominous warning, she left the car and left me wondering what exactly I had agreed to.
Clara, the personal shopper and stylist Duke arranged, showed up the next day in a whirlwind of silk, lace, and tulle.
Colors ranging a whole rainbow, all in shades that Frankie said would complement my skin tone perfectly, except the orange, she immediately threw that one out, filled our small living room, and discussions began about current styles, cuts, color, hairstyle, makeup choices, and shoes.
Frankie was right to insist on being here.
I would have pointed to the first dress on the rack and not considered any others, simply out of a desire to be done with the whole affair.
That would have been the orange one—which they told me was a travesty.
When I pointed out that the word they wanted was tragedy, I was met with a blank stare from Clara, and Frankie simply waved her hand like it wasn’t important.
The evening passed in a blur of scratchy fabric and shoes that pinched.
By the end, I regretted ever agreeing to this gala in the first place and almost messaged Duke to call off our date.
Except he sent me a picture of him in the suit he planned to wear, just in case he needed to change it to match my dress, and my mouth went dry at the sight.
God, he was beautiful. No man had a right to be that gorgeous in a suit. I had to go with him. If I didn’t, I would spend the entire night wondering if another woman had gotten her claws into him.
The jealous tone of my thoughts worried me. It wasn’t the first time I’d thought of Duke as mine, more than just my friend, and I worried that when this was all done, I wouldn’t be able to go back to how we were.
By the end of the night, my joints ached, my scalp itched, and I never wanted to see another dress again in my life.
“I don’t think I can try another one on. How did you even get all these here?” I slumped onto the couch. We hadn’t yet found a dress that was Frankie approved and didn’t give me hives.
“There’s just one more,” Clara said as she pulled out yet another overstuffed black bag. I shuddered to think about how much fabric was in there to cause it to bulge like that.