Page 10 of Billionaire Hunt

“Erik needs a personal assistant. You need a job, so it might just work out.”

“I’m not qualified to be a personal assistant,” I said slightly offended. “I’m an interior designer.”

“Didn’t Erik just buy a home? You should totally hire Misha. She’ll make it look amazing,” Lacey kept going and I was beginning to feel embarrassed. Finally, it was becoming clear that I was a matchmaking target. It was like everyone was conspiring to get us together, but I truly didn’t understand why. I was a boring divorcee, not a trophy wife. And isn’t that what Erik and his type liked?

“I’m sure Erik has someone already.”

“Actually, I don’t, but I am interested. Maybe you can take a look and give me some ideas.”

I was taken aback. Wow, just like that? Who needed Internet job boards when you could just network for an opportunity? Maybe matchmaking wasn’t so bad.

“Maybe you can make it feel like a home. It’s just a blank slate now. It’s gorgeous though. Perfect for me. And most of it has already been renovated.” His eyes lit up as he began to talk about his home. Apparently, he had already put a lot of energy and money into making it his own. But of course, I was assuming he did the work himself and didn’t hire out. If Erik was a friend of Oliver’s then he was probably richer than anyone I’d ever met. Maybe he was even wealthier than Oliver. I paused thinking, was that even possible? Oliver was pretty loaded.

“I, uhhh...that sounds great.” I couldn’t believe my luck, but then I remembered that the dinner wasn’t about me. “I’d love to hear more. Want to talk about it after dinner?”

“Sure,” he said. Not only was he gorgeous, but he was also not a jerk. And I was attracted to him. Uh oh.

Finally, Jude, Lacey’s husband showed up. After a wild night in Vegas, they had married and to everyone’s surprise stayed married.

I sort of envied their relationship. I had never looked at Wyatt the way Lacey looked at Jude. If I were to be honest, my relationship with Wyatt had always been less than passionate. I understood that a great love affair didn’t define all marriages, but mine definitely never had a spark.

I had married Wyatt immediately after college. I had met him at a conference while we were both finishing up our sophomore years. It had been a conference for science majors. I had thought I was going to be a chemistry major until I realized it meant studying and there was no way I was going to waste my college years with my nose in a book. But Wyatt had been really into his engineering ideas and had won a prestigious scholarship. He had even submitted his business plan to several competitions and won them all, which gave him seed money to start his own business as soon as we graduated. I had focused on teaching right after college. I regrettably hadn’t majored in anything worthwhile and had instead earned a degree in liberal arts, which qualified me to do absolutely nothing. I had found that out the hard way after college when I couldn’t find a job. It was like my jobless history was repeating itself, except television had propelled me into interior design the first time around.

Sitting at home one evening while Wyatt was working late, I had found myself watching a home design show and I knew instantly that’s what I wanted to do. I had called the local community college the next day and signed up for classes. The rest, as they say, was history.

I had started off by taking a few clients here and there, mostly staging jobs, and then as my reputation grew so did my clients. I was earning enough to start my own firm. It had been a great five years and then slowly my business started to fade. I saw Erik’s offer as a lifeline. If I were able to get his business, surely others of his ilk would hire me to do their homes. I was finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

“So why are we here again?” Erik surprised me by asking.

I raised a brow. “Aren’t you a friend of the family’s?”

“Yeah, but I just got back into the country and I can barely keep up with checking my email, let alone remember all the causes and charities my friends support.”

“You must have a ton of friends.”

“Not really, I’m kind of a loner.

“Really? You seem like an extrovert.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have much confidence in theories about personality types, but I guess if I had to describe myself, I would say that I’m a well-socialized introvert.”

I smiled. “Well-socialized introvert? Hmm...interesting. Anyway, we’re here to celebrate Ophelia’s Angels going international. Still want to stick around?” I teased.

He nodded. “Definitely. I can’t believe Ophelia’s Angels is going international. That’s a cause that’s dear to all of us. I’m glad you took the time to be here for Jude and Oliver.” He smiled at me then and gone was the serious demeanor that I had encountered on the front porch of the mansion. His smile seemed to transform him. It made him more attractive, if that was even possible, and it made him seem younger. If I hazarded a guess, I would think he was between mid to late 30s.

I admonished myself for finding him attractive. Cool it, Misha. You’re just a few months out of a failed marriage. And honestly, the last thing I needed to do was get involved with someone. I was still living with friends, didn’t have a real home to call my own, and was technically unemployed. I felt like a charity case suddenly.

Jude greeted everyone at the table and then sat down quickly.

Oliver stood up, picked up a wine glass and everyone else followed. “I’d like to dedicate this toast to my son,” Oliver said with a twinkle in his eye. “I thought he was a womanizing miscreant---”

“Thanks for that, Dad,” Jude said sarcastically.

Oliver shot him a glare. “Let me finish, son. You’re so quick to talk, you might try listening for once.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I stopped myself because I didn’t want to be rude. Jude and Oliver were always at each other’s throats. It was almost as if arguing was how they expressed their love.

“Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” he pointedly narrowed his eyes at Jude who held back a chuckle, “my son surprised me. He made this old man realize that people aren’t always who they seem or who they pretend to be. He showed me that everyone has depth. He taught me that we’re complicated beings, us humans, and we should never judge or assume we know the reality of others. Was he a womanizer and a miscreant?”