Tell Me You're Mine (The British Billionaires #1) - J. S. Scott Page 0,89

at Nicole.

Her brows drew together as she looked at me. “They were all very pleasant. I think I prefer the company of the gentlemen here to the ladies. The women aren’t blatantly rude, but some of them are very snide. They want to know who my people”—she made an air quote with her free hand—“are, and where they come from. They sounded like nineteenth-century throwbacks of some kind.”

I grinned at her assessment as I wrapped an arm around her waist. “They are,” I agreed readily. “Not all of them, but a few are wrapped up in a small world that revolves around their own status, and they love putting people they don’t consider their equals down to elevate themselves. It’s all rather twisted.”

I’d grown up in this world, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

“Does your mother really have to invite those people?” Nicole asked as she took my hand, and I led her into a waltz.

I was surprised by how well she followed my lead.

“Technically, no, she doesn’t. Believe me, she already cut a large list of the cats off the guest list. But a few are daughters and sons of some of her own friends, so she doesn’t really want to offend the older generation she actually likes.”

Nicole nodded slightly. “I could see why that would be a problem, and those women don’t matter. I think a few of them might be jealous because they think I stole a very eligible bachelor from their grasps.”

“I wasn’t interested in a single one of them,” I denied.

“Maybe not, but they might have been hopeful. You are the most handsome man at this gala,” she answered earnestly.

“That man would be Leo,” I corrected her, but my damn heart was still singing some happy little tune because she thought it was me.

She stumbled a little. “Oops. Sorry.” She got back into step easily. “Leo just taught me how to waltz earlier today, so I mess up sometimes. And just for the record, I don’t think your brother is the most attractive guy here. Maybe he was before you got here. But, now…nope. Sorry. Not even a close competition.”

Jesus! She was learning exactly how to render me mute before I even had the chance to get jealous. “I hope Leo was a gentleman,” I muttered.

“He was,” she answered merrily. “He was even polite every time I stomped on his foot. I’m actually surprised he can still walk.”

“I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful you look tonight,” I told her honestly.

I wished I could find the words to tell her that she outshone every woman present, that she was like a bright light that I couldn’t help but chase.

I had no idea what kind of spell I was under with Nicole, but I’d stopped giving a damn about finding the answer to that question.

She made me feel like I was completely alive after spending most of my adult life in a bubble, trying to live up to the role I had as the eldest adult Lancaster male.

I couldn’t go back to the man I was before; I didn’t want to go back.

I just wanted…her.

“We have to talk after the gala,” I told her solemnly, feeling guilty as hell because I wasn’t entirely the man she thought I was. I couldn’t lie to her anymore, or evade the truth. I couldn’t keep her by my side when she didn’t know about Dylan. I’d gotten damn lucky that nobody had slipped up, or mentioned his name yet, but it was bound to happen at some point, and I wanted the truth to come from me.

Dylan was a huge part of my life that I’d managed to keep hidden until now, and honestly, I wasn’t even afraid of telling her anymore. I just wanted Nicole to know me. All of me.

Her face softened. “Is everything okay?”

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat, the one that was threatening to choke me to death. “Yeah. I just need to tell you something that I should have told you about a long time ago.”

I’d made my choice.

And I hated myself because it had taken me so long to do it.

If it was going to come down to protecting Dylan or this woman who I loved more than anyone else in the world, Nicole was going to win, hands down.

My twin was making his own problems at this point. I’d help him with whatever he needed in the future, and I’d support him when and if he decided he