Page 12 of Billionaire’s Game

“Sorry, honey... you’re terrible at surprises.”

“That’s not true. Remember your anniversary gift was a surprise.”

“Well—”

“Jude, let’s try to stay on task, shall we?” Aidan remarked dryly.

I wanted to laugh, but I bit my cheek to hold it back. Maya wasn’t so lucky, and Aidan shot her an annoyed look.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

My phone beeped, and I looked down at it as Jude continued speaking. It was a text message from the girl I’d met on the plane, Violet. I made a mental note to check it later.

Maya raised her hand. “So how are you going to decide who gets paired with Magnus?”

“Well, that’s where Aidan’s nifty hat comes into use.”

“What?” Aidan was clearly never told that he was expected to play a role in all this.

“Everyone will get a piece of paper and a pencil and nominate someone to participate. This way it’s fair. The person with the most votes is the one who’ll work with Magnus,” Lacey explained.

“Can we nominate ourselves?” Maya asked. Aidan shot her a look and she mumbled, “Well, you can’t stop me from nominating myself.”

Jude handed out the little pieces of paper and I happily took mine and wrote Maya’s name on it. I’m sure she’d have a great time with Magnus.

Aidan removed his hat with a deep sigh and walked around collecting all the papers. “Lacey, you want to do the honors?”

“Sure,” she said.

She started counting the number of votes out loud.

“One vote for Maya.”

“Woohoo!” Maya shouted, shaking her arms in the air.

“Another vote for Maya...”

“Yes! That’s what’s up. I’m the best,” Maya said, much to Aidan’s consternation.

I giggled despite myself. Maya was hilarious.

“One vote for Lesli.”

I couldn’t help but smile but figured that vote had come from Lacey.

Votes for a few others were announced, but it was clear that Maya was the winner.

“Maya will be representing us. Congratulations, Maya,” Jude commended her.

She got up and started giving a speech as if it was an award ceremony. “I would like to thank all the little people—”

“Blah blah blah,” Aidan said cutting her off. “Let’s get back to work, people.”

We all returned to work and I felt a little disappointed that I hadn’t been selected, but I’m not sure what I had expected.

I got up to go to the bathroom and stopped at the vending machine on my way out. I bought some cookies and decided to get some air since it was such a beautiful day. There were picnic tables out front, I was happy to see. I sat down at the table and began snacking on my cookies with probably too much glee. I had a crazy high metabolism and I was always hungry.

“So, who’s the lucky winner?” asked a voice. I looked up to see Magnus standing there.