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Pearl
“Whoa.” River spots me as I get out of my Uber in front of the Grand Ole Maison. He lets out a low whistle. “Holy shit, Pearl. You are really something else.”
His eyes travel down, drinking in every inch of my body in the clingy, full-length, champagne-colored velvet dress he had sent to my house. With the tall gold heels, I feel like Frankenstein’s monster stomping around.
That isn’t how he makes me feel, though. His eyes glitter with a mix of lust and admiration as he catches up to me at the curb of the venue.
“Thanks,” I say. I flash him a small smile. “I feel ridiculous. This dress is definitely not my style.”
River eyes me up and nods. “Yeah, it’s more form-fitting than what I’ve seen you in so far. But damn, girl. You’re going to be the sexiest woman in there.”
He jerks his head behind him to the Grand Ole Maison. An old but impeccably kept up antebellum mansion, it’s built out of gray stone and glass, with two floors of huge floor-to-ceiling windows. At four stories high, it is easily the tallest building for fifty miles in every direction.
But I’m not even looking at the venue. My eyes are fixed on River’s tuxedo. It’s immaculately tailored, the lines long and lean, making his muscular arms, chest, and thighs stand out.
Dayum.
“I know what you’re thinking.” River sees me staring and grins. He offers me his arm. “You can’t wait to jump my bones. I can see it in your face.”
My lips twitch even as I flush. I take his elbow, and allow him to usher me toward the building. “I’m just looking at you like that because I’m imagining the genetic contributions you’re going to make,” I tease. “I’m not even thinking of myself.”
That is a bald-faced lie. It’s written all over my expression and it makes him laugh.
“No?” He cocks a brow at me as he walks me inside, leaning his head close to mine. “Just for that, I’m going to make you beg me to make you come when I feast on your pussy.”
My eyes widen and my cheeks feel hot.
But I can’t whisper anything back to him, because there is a red-vested greeter rushing toward us. She pulls out an iPad and holds it at the ready. “How y’all doing?” she asks. “Can I have y’alls names?”
“We’re great.” River gives the woman a polite smile. “River Taylor. And this is my plus-one.”
He slides his arm around my waist as the woman looks at her tablet for his name. I bite my lip and shiver at his touch. He shoots me a smirk and winks.
Be cool. Act like you’ve been on a date with a hot guy before.
But if I’m honest with myself, I’ve never been on a date with anyone as hunky as River before. I mean… I can’t even think about how great he looks in his tux or I might get all tongue-tied.
It’s fake. Remember that it’s all fake.
Steeling myself, I try to calm my nerves. When the greeter waves us through toward the ballroom, River whispers in my ear. “ I’m going to introduce you as my secret girlfriend. We can quote-unquote ‘get engaged’ later. Okay?”
I give a stiff nod as he propels me through the main door. For a second, I’m overwhelmed by the sheer opulence of our surroundings. Baroque gold touches on the walls, and dusty pink velvet drapes, surround the massive ballroom. The crowd is glitzy, the women wearing floor-length dresses in every color of the rainbow, the men in expensive tuxedos. The smell of perfume wafts through the air, mixing with the soft jazz notes of the live string quartet.
If it were raising money for a cause, I would die to do it in this ballroom, with these fancy rich people.
River uses my arm to steer me to the left, using a free hand to make enough room in a little circle of people.
“Scuse us,” he says. He jostles people to the side. Then he looks at a glamorous older couple. The silver haired man is tall and broad, the tiny blonde is in a silver sequined number that shows just a hint of cleavage.
She was introduced to me ever so briefly at the engagement party, but now she beams at me like I’m a precious diamond.
“River!” the woman says, her expression jubilant. She never looks away from me. “You came!”
“As promised. Mom, Sam, this is my girlfriend, Pearl. Pearl, this is my mom, Sarah and my stepdad, Sam.”
At the word girlfriend, Sarah looks shocked. “Girlfriend?!”
Sam’s creased face turns toward me. He thinks for a second, probably trying to remember where he knows me from. Then a lightbulb switches on and he smiles.
