Page 55 of Billionaire’s Promise

My big brother rolled his eyes at me, and I totally deserved that. I couldn’t remember who I’d handed the vase over to now. Writing a note was the last thing I could recall doing for that vase, whether or not I sent it off… Shit! It was probably still sitting in my apartment somewhere waiting for someone to collect it. I had no memory of me making any sort of arrangements for it to be collected after the note.

“You forgot to send it, didn’t you?” Lincoln asked, and I could hear another lecture was on the way from the way he sighed.

“Spare me the lecture.” I scolded, though I was the one in the wrong.

“Calm down Junie,” his voice softened.

“Calm down? How do I come up with something for my auction on such short notice?”

“You don’t have to give them anything.” He was now using his daddy voice. Having a daughter definitely had made him a better brother. A softer, more compassionate one, I hoped.

Link had a point. I didn’t have to give them anything.

But no, it didn’t feel right.

“It would look very bad on me if I didn’t. Do you even know that this face was the face of this event? Have you seen the posters, no I mean the wallpaper around here?” I emphasized the word wallpaper.

Link chuckled lightly, I wanted to put my fist in that little socket where his pretty brown eye twinkled at me from. The left one. The good side.

“I could donate something instead.” He paused, his eyes checking my face for approval. “But I know you wouldn’t want my help.”

One of these days, I really should consider taking face acting class, if there’s such a thing. I swear that people – especially my friends – can always tell what I’m thinking. And I always lose in poker. Winning at poker every now and then would be awesome.

“You could donate your services instead.” Lincoln suggested, looking around as if he hadn’t just saved my ass.

Suddenly, my urge to punch him eased.

“Keep talking.”

“Isn’t this benefit about women’s health?” I lifted an eyebrow prompting him to continue. “And you’re a doctor, right?”

“Wait… You mean like, free IVF treatments? Like ten of them or something?”

“No, that was just depressing.” Yes, he was right. Who would even want to openly bid for that and let the whole world know that they had fertility problems, huh? “Maybe a year of private consultation with you on anything women’s health related. A lot of women would go for that. In fact, go for longer, like five years.”

“One is enough. I couldn’t commit to anything longer than that. I don’t know where I’ll be next year.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I’ve been working on a project for ages. You know that” I replied, glaring at him a little.

“Oh, right. The one in China.”

I met his eyes, and saw an acknowledgement that he knew about what was happening in my life. Last year, I almost went to China to set up a fertility clinic for the Bennet Medical Group. Our potential partner had requested me to be their chief, and without me there would be no deal. Though I was eager to take the project on, there was still a part of me that had reservations about it.

“Fine, let me go speak with the auction director about the mix up and then I’ll go say hi to Chloe. You mingle and keep my guests happy. You’re good at that.” I kissed his cheek and left him standing in the crowd. After I spoke with the auction people, I headed to the area behind the stage.

Lincoln was more than happy for me to deal with Chloe right now. Even though she had been performing for a long time, for some reason, she didn’t do well having Lincoln with her backstage. Anything Lincoln did was deemed a distraction to her getting ready.

When I saw Chloe at the back, I realized that her belly had gotten larger than I had expected.

We gave each other a quick hug, before I leaned back a little to look at her. “Is everything alright with your pregnancy? You seem a little…”

I didn’t know how to phrase it in a way that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. Inevitably, I end up sticking my foot in my mouth when I voice my concerns. I’m not very diplomatic, sometimes, and it’s gotten me in trouble before.

“We’re expecting twins.” Chloe’s grin relieved my worries that I’d stuck my foot in it again.

“Phew.” That makes sense. “Congratulations. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”