Page 10 of Billionaire’s Game

“Fine,” she said huffily, then her eyes lit up. “But tell me the truth. Do you or do you not know who his partner will be?”

“I honestly have no clue. I think he’s hoping someone will volunteer.”

“Someone?” Maya said, giving Lacey a look of disbelief. “Trust me, Lacey, every woman in the world—on this entire spinning globe we call Earth, and maybe even some aliens from another planet—would volunteer to work with Magnus Deacon. He’s hot. Hotter than hot. I burn with lust just looking at him.”

“TMI,” Lacey said, rolling her eyes.

Maya ignored her and fanned herself. “I’m getting hot just thinking about being in his presence.”

“So am I,” I blurted and then was immediately embarrassed. My words were met with laughter, but I knew I was turning red. I reached for a glass and took a big sip of water. Where had that come from? I’d only spent a few hours with Maya, but clearly her bluntness was rubbing off on me.

“Girl, I don’t blame you. I was just talking about it with Lydia, our accountant, we were both saying how if we could find a way to spend some alone time with Magnus Deacon, we would definitely take it.”

“Lydia?” Lacey said dryly. “She’s very married.”

“So? A girl can dream,” Maya said, quickly coming to her friend’s defense.

“Lydia has five kids and is married to her high school sweetheart,” Lacey said for good measure.

“Hence why she needs this dream to become a reality. Her husband and kids are probably driving her crazy. I swear she arrives early at work just so she can have some peace and quiet.”

“I only have one, but I know what you mean. I barely remember my own name since I’m so sleep deprived. I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night. Sometimes I daydream about sleep. I used to daydream about having a better butt and now I daydream about just sitting on my butt doing nothing.” She quietened as she stared off at something we couldn’t see.

Maya snapped her fingers. “Earth to Lacey. Come in, Lacey. Wake up!”

Lacey shook her head as if to wake herself up. “I think I’m going to go take a nap in my car.”

She took the company credit card out her purse, tossed it on the table and said, “Lunch is on the company today. Don’t tell Jude that sometimes I sleep in my car or he’ll try to join me and his snoring is way too much for me to bear lately...”

“Your secret is safe with us,” Maya said. “Lydia has spent many days hiding from her kids in her minivan.”

“Maybe I should get a minivan,” Lacey said to herself.

“You don’t need a minivan. You only have one kid!” Maya laughed.

“Yeah, but if I had a minivan, I could just fold the seats down and sleep on them.”

“Good point,” Maya said sagely.

Lacey wished us a sleepy goodbye and headed out.

“So... who do you think will be paired with Magnus?” Maya asked.

I shook my head. “No clue. I just started today, so I’m not even sure who his choices are.”

“Good point. I think it’ll probably just be Magnus and Jude. I mean that makes the most sense. He’s the CEO.”

“Or maybe it will be Magnus and Aidan.”

Maya laughed. “Are you kidding me? Aidan would never agree to that. Anything that could possibly mean getting dirty is not Aidan’s style.”

Aidan was the chief of operations. He was very obsessively neat and professional. He was also no-nonsense. I’d only met him briefly, but from what I knew about him, I couldn’t picture him being up for a game show.

Our food arrived shortly after and I wasn’t disappointed.

“I think Pad Thai might be my new favorite dish.”

“I told you, everything here is delicious.”