Page 76 of Valentine’s Billionaire Auction

I smiled up at him, letting the moment linger before replying. “I was expecting stuck-up rich assholes like you.”

The table burst into laughter. I hadn’t meant for anyone to overhear the comment, but they did. Even Roman cracked a smile, shaking his head at me.

It was surreal, feeling like I belonged here, even for a moment.

Just wait until Carla hears about this. She’s going to lose her mind.

28

ROMAN

Iwas pleasantly surprised to see Kaira fitting in with my friend group. I really thought she’d recoil from all of them. When I first met her at the auction, she looked like she would have preferred to be anywhere else. She tried to disappear, and truthfully, she did. I saw the way people ignored her.

But here, they were talking to her and she was sharing stories about her life back in Philadelphia. We had not talked about her life before the moment we met at the auction. I realized that made me a bit of a dick. I never took the time to get to know her.

Her laughter mixed with the rest of the group’s. I found myself drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain. It was a rare feeling for me. As Kaira settled back into her chair next to me, she glanced over at me and smiled.

Dinner was served with the conversation still flowing all around us. I chimed in on occasion, ready to jump in and help Kaira out of a sticky question about our relationship and engagement. She wasn’t a natural liar. I didn’t know what it meant that I seemed to be able to lie easily about our so-called relationship.

My growing affection for her wasn’t a lie, just everything else.

I noticed Kaira’s drink was never empty. I didn’t feel like she was getting trashed and chose not to say anything about it. She was a grown woman. As the night wound down, I felt like I could call it a success. I had introduced her to my social circle and they accepted her. When the press inevitably tried to ask them about her, they would be able to talk about how amazing she was. And no one should have any doubts that we were serious.

“Ready to go?” I asked her.

She smiled, looking very relaxed and at ease. “Yep.”

“There will be photographers outside,” I warned her.

“And that’s what you expected, right?” she asked.

She didn’t say it in a snotty way. She was far more astute than I gave her credit for. I knew with the lingering dinner, other diners would send texts to TMZ and other tip lines. My friends were all stars in their own right. Having all of us together in one room was a big deal.

She pulled out a little mirror from her purse and used a finger to rub at the corner of her eye.

“You look fine,” I assured her.

“Fine isn’t the goal.”

“You don’t need to fix your makeup. It’s just as good as it was when you walked down those stairs.”

“Thank you.”

I led her through the restaurant and ignored the looks from other patrons. I was used to being stared at. The flash of cameras greeted us as we stepped out of the restaurant. Even though it was the whole point of the evening—to give the tabloids something to chew on—I still hated it. The shouting of reporters and the pops of bright lights made my jaw clench, but Kaira seemed unfazed. She turned her face toward me, linked her arm through mine, and smiled like she was born for this.

Good. It was convincing, at least.

The night had gone better than I expected. My friends loved her, and Kaira had been a hit with everyone at the table. More importantly, she seemed to have genuinely enjoyed herself. Anthony had the car waiting. She slid in and gave one last wave to the photographers.

“That was so much fun,” she said for the tenth time, her voice light and almost dreamy. “I haven’t laughed like that in… God, I don’t even know how long. Your friends are amazing.”

“They like you,” I said simply, though I couldn’t help the small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

“Good. They are really nice.”

She told me some of the stories my friends told her about me. I laughed most of it off. They were just doing what they did.

When the car pulled to a stop in front of the front door of the house, I helped her out of the car. She walked fine, but there was a lightness to her.