The Billionaire’s Big Game
Sneak Peek
“Gram, wh-what is this? What the hell is going on?” I look frantically around the ballroom filled with rich looking people in cocktail dresses. “This isn’t a teaching seminar.”
“I know, honey. I know.” Gram pulls on my arm and yanks me deeper into the room that I so desperately don’t want to be in. “Just trust me.”
“I’m wearing jeans! I’m not dressed for this…whatever this is…” I scan the room slowly, feeling horribly out of place and confused and slightly overwhelmed.
My eyes fall on a sign by the entrance to the ballroom and my stomach drops hard.
The South Florida Animal Refuge Bachelor Auction Fundraiser…organized by Trina Vice.
I can practically feel the color drain from my face as my eyes stay locked on that last name. Vice.
Shit, shit, shit!
“Grandma…” I swallow hard and try to calm my spiking heart rate. “I don’t know why you brought me here, but I really need to go. Like, now.”
“Zoe, no!” She holds a hand to her heart and widens her eyes, tugging at my heartstring.
God dammit. She’s like a freaking puppy dog.
“I can’t stay here, Gram…” I glance around the room nervously, knowing there could very well be a certain familiar face in this ballroom. A face that she knows is familiar.
The face of the magnetically charming and painfully sexy billionaire who made me completely forget about reality for a few hours six months ago. But that’s all it was. A few hours. Then, that little crush bubble was quickly popped by the harsh truth. The truth I knew in the back of my mind the whole time I was talking to him and drinking with him. He was sweet and charming and cute, but he was trying to get laid.
“Sweetie.” My grandmother yanks me out of my thought spiral and takes my hand, gripping it tightly. “You’re going to thank me when you see who the guy is.”
“The…guy?”
Bachelor Auction.
Oh, boy.
“Gram!” I look around the room, still trying to disappear into the corner and go as unnoticed as humanly possible. “Please, please, please tell me you didn’t bid on that dude I told you I met that one night! You have officially lost it.”
The devious smile that spreads across her face answers without her even needing to speak.
“Oh, good God in heaven.” I hold my palm to my forehead and shake my head in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I told you, I don’t need you trying to set me up with someone. And sure as hell not at some weird charity event. And I also told you that I couldn’t get involved with Noah, and—”
“Won’t you just say hello, Zoe? You’re already here. Come on.” She peers up at me. “What do you have to lose?”
“Besides my…” I look down at my striped button-up blouse from TJ Maxx and dark wash jeans. “Dignity?”
Barely five feet tall, my darling grandmother is too damn cute and sweet for her own good. She knows it, and she knows how much I love her and need her and would do anything for her. She doesn’t even have to talk. Those eyes say it all. “Please, Zoe girl? You know…I…” She shakes her head dramatically. “Won’t be around forever…It would mean so much…”
“All right,” I say quickly, giving her an eye roll. “Where is he?”
She bounces on her toes like an excited child before leading me through the crowd of money-dripping benefit-goers.
My stomach is in knots and my heart is beating out of my chest. Noah could be popping up at any turn. Those dark brown eyes and soft, sexy lips and perfect smile. He’s going to be standing in front of me any second, and I don’t even know what I’m going to—
“Here she is!” I hear Gram exclaim, bringing me back to earth as I turn my head forward and stop eagerly scanning the crowd.
Noah Fucking Vice.
I blink back and completely stop breathing.
Oh my God she actually bid on him.
As our eyes lock, Noah’s lips part for a second and we both stare at each other for a long beat. At least he’s just as shocked as I am. Words get caught in my throat and I make a feeble attempt at an inhale.
“Hi,” he finally says, straightening his back and reminding me of his full six foot plus frame, his broad shoulders and striking jawline, complimented by those sweet, sexy, mysteriously dark eyes.
I clear my throat and glance at my grandma, who is beaming and clasping her hands together, looking back and forth between Noah and me as if she just put together two literal soulmates.
I force myself to take a deep breath and look Noah right in his breathtaking gaze. “Hey,” I say, pushing a smile onto my face and wishing I could just disappear.
The awkward tension could be cut with a knife, but my grandmother’s blissful pride is pretty obvious as she basks in the glory of her heavenly matchmaking skills.
“Zoe, this is Noah. But I think you’ve met before.” She grins widely. “You have five amazing dates with him. All planned out and all to help the animals. Isn’t it wonderful?”
My brain twists and swirls and tries to actually comprehend what is happening right now. Five dates? What are they? And how much did Gram have to bid to get Noah? I’m sure he has his fair share of admirers…
I choke on a soft laugh, barely able to look at him. “Wow that’s…really something, Gram.”
Noah flicks his brows and a hint of a half-smile plays at the corner of his mouth. “It sure is.”
His gaze practically grabs my soul.
“Well.” Gram claps and shimmies her bony shoulders. “I’ll leave you two to…talk.” She gives me a wink.
Once she wanders off, my heart rate goes racing back up again and I can feel tingles of nerves running through my body. What do I do now?
“It’s nice to see you again, Zoe.”
