City of Sin - Chapter 38
Mason
I steered Bee away from James and Penny. "You seemed to hit it off with Penny. Were you reminiscing about the University of New Castle?"
"A little. Are you not speaking to your parents?"
I pulled away from her slightly, but kept my hand on her hip. Damn it, Penny. "We had different opinions on how my future was going to play out."
"How are we here, Mason? How do you afford all these nice things?"
I pulled her onto the dance floor and grabbed her waist. "What do you mean? I have a good job."
"I know you have a good job. But all this?" She looked around the room. "And you're saving up to start your own ad agency on top of everything else."
"Yeah. I am. So what?"
"What money did you buy this dress with?"
"My money?" What the hell was she getting at? I grabbed her hand, spun her, and then pulled her in even closer than before.
"Could you only afford this because of people who paid you for...services?"
I laughed. She had to be kidding. Of course that's how I bought her that dress. And I wasn't sure why she was upset about it. She looked fucking fantastic. But I'd tell her what she needed to hear.
"Okay," I said. "No, I'm not talking to my parents.
But they're the only reason why we're here right now.
They gave me the tickets." It was true. My parents donated money every year under Matt and my names.
That's the only reason I had tickets. I didn't originally tell her that because she seemed to be eating up this good guy nonsense.
It was a good charity. And I was glad it was under my name.
I needed the good karma. "What, are you only with me for my inheritance? "
Her face blushed. "No. Of course not. I just wanted to make sure Patrick didn't buy me this dress."
Oh. So that's what she was upset about. She knew I took money from her ex.
But Patrick hadn't given me nearly enough money to pay for what she was wearing.
And that was an awfully pessimistic way of looking at it in the first place.
"Would it make you feel better if I told you I still got money from my old man?
" I didn't. But she didn't need to know that.
What little money I did have left from him was dwindling fast.
"No. I don't know. Yes?" She looked so flustered. But she kept her hands clasped behind my neck. She wasn't trying to run out on me again.
"Bee." I touched the side of her face. "I bought you this dress. Because I really like you. And I wanted to come here tonight with you. I don't want to talk about my parents or Patrick. I want to focus on us. Because I'm really loving us ."
"I'm really loving us too."
Of course you are. "And since you're a gold digger, you'll be happy to know that one day I will inherit millions from my parents.
" As of right now, I wouldn't. I was sure they'd come around once I started my own successful company though.
"But at that point, I'll already have millions of my own.
" At least that was the truth. Because I'd do anything to make it happen.
Except for following Matt's advice. I wouldn't use Bee for information. That was where I had to draw the line.
"I'm not a gold digger, Mason."
"I know. At least, I hope you like me for more than my money." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"I like you for a lot of reasons," she said.
"You do, huh?"
"I'm here, aren't I?"
Shit. She remembered last night perfectly. What else had I said?
"Ladies and gentleman." There was a stage off to the right of the dance floor and the president of St. Sabela's Children's Hospital had just taken the microphone.
"As you all know, without all of your generous donations, we would not be able to continue the groundbreaking research that gives children the chance to be children.
The gift that you have endowed is impossible to put into words.
So I'm not going to bore you with a long speech. "
Everyone laughed.
"Without further ado, it is with great pleasure that I announce that dinner is served. Here's to a fun night."
There was a loud smattering of applause.
"Shall we?" I said. "Or are you planning on sprinting out the door?"
"I think I'd rather stay."
"I was hoping that would be your answer." I reluctantly let go of Bee's waist. I liked the feeling of her hips beneath my hands.
She looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes as she unwound her hands from the back of my neck.
I grabbed her hand and lead her over to table three.
Matt was already sitting there, staring at us.
I knew he was about to embarrass me, but I was still excited to introduce Bee to him.
It had been a long time since I had introduced a girl to someone in my family.
"By the way, you're about to meet my brother."
She smiled. "Which one is he?"
"The one that's almost as handsome as me."
"I call you handsome one time, and now you're all conceited about it."
I laughed and stopped next to Matt's seat. "Bee, this is my brother, Matt."
"It's nice to finally meet the girl that my brother is so infatuated with."
I would have been pissed at him, but Bee seemed to be pleased by what he said. Maybe Matt wouldn't try to ruin this for me.
"You're just as pretty as the pictures," Matt said and put his hand out for Bee.
"Pictures?" Bee glanced at me.
"Yeah. You do realize that my brother is stalking you, right?"
What the fuck, Matt?
Bee laughed.
Apparently she thought Matt was joking. Which was good. Because I was borderline stalking her.
"Is he a serial killer too?" Bee asked. "He kinda has that serial killer vibe to him."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I said.
"Nope, he's not a serial killer. Just a stalker," Matt said. "That dress looks amazing on you by the way. Much better than on the mannequin."
"Thanks." Bee's cheeks looked rosy as she glanced up at me again. "You two go shopping together? That's cute."
"Cute? I wouldn't classify us as cute." This girl was getting the wrong impression of me. I needed to turn this thing around. I pulled her seat out for her and put my hand on the small of her back.
"Thank you," she said and sat down. I pushed her chair in and sat down in between her and Matt.
"So you work at Kruger Advertising?" Matt said. "Tell us all about that."
Shut the fuck up. He was fishing for information that I didn't want. He was going to ruin this whole thing for me. And I was so close. I was hours away from claiming her pussy. Matt was not going to screw this up for me.
"There isn't much to tell," she said. "I'm trying to work my way up, but right now I'm just a secretary. It's not exactly exciting work."
"I'm sure that's not true. Secretaries are the heart of the company. What account is your team currently working on?"
"Oh. Um." She frowned slightly, but then smiled, dismissing whatever reservations she had.
"It's this body wash account. The marketing idea Kruger Advertising came up with is actually really dumb.
They're partnering up with some news segment in Florida.
I mean, don't tell anyone I said that." Her face turned slightly red again.
"What news segment?" Matt asked.
I kicked him under the table.
"Fuck," Matt said, and grabbed his shin under the table. He shot me a nasty look.
"Are you okay?" Bee asked.
"Yeah." Matt let go of his leg. "I'm just super hungry. Where the hell is that food they promised?"
Bee picked up the glass of wine in front of her and took a sip.
She looked uncomfortable. I had this whole night planned out.
Wine her, dine her, and then make her get on her knees and beg for my cock.
Nothing was going to distract me from the end game.
I put my hand on her knee and slowly traced my palm up her thigh.
I heard her gulp. I was starting to wish I had bought her a shorter dress.