A Billionaire Boyfriend For Christmas - Holly Rayner Page 0,24
eyes and an even bigger smile responded to their ringing the doorbell. “Adison,” she squealed, pulling the other woman into a hug.
“Hey, Diana.” Adison squeezed her friend in return. “It’s been too long.”
“It really has. Come in. And who is this?” Diana asked, gesturing for their coats.
“This is Ken Montoya.”
“Her boyfriend,” Ken added, offering Diana his hand.
“Oh.” Diana shook his hand, clearly more than a tad shocked. “Diana Dupré. Nice to meet you. I’m glad you could join us tonight, Ken.”
“Thank you for having me.”
“Everyone is in the living room. Help yourselves to the bar.”
Diana hung their coats on a rack in the foyer, and Ken didn’t miss the What on earth look she shot Adison. She was probably wondering why Adison suddenly had a new boyfriend.
A prickle of irritation danced across his neck. Even though their courtship was a fake one, he suddenly felt the need to defend it. As they walked into the living room, he swung an arm around Adison’s shoulders. She fit perfectly in the crook of his arm.
Too perfectly.
A dozen or so people milled around the living room, all of them in their twenties and thirties. They held cocktail and wine glasses and chatted on couches or by the window.
“Hey.” Another blonde approached Adison. Yet again, Ken received a scrutinizing look.
Adison’s friends were wary. Protective of her. Instead of being offended, he felt pleased. After the pain her ex had clearly put her through, it was good that she had friends who cared.
“Corinne, this is Ken.”
“Nice to meet you.” Corinne nodded at him. “I’ve heard about you.”
“Oh, really?” He tilted his head, not sure what that meant. Had she heard about the circumstances of the fake relationship, or the circumstances of the real one?
“Mm-hmm.” Corinne sipped her wine. “Adison said she’s planning your Christmas party.”
“And she’s doing an excellent job of it.” It was a relief that she’d picked a neutral topic.
“Get some drinks,” Corinne urged them. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit. Nice to meet you, Ken.”
“You, too.” He waited until Corinne was out of earshot to speak again. “She seems really nice.”
“Uh-huh.”
Adison sounded distracted, and it didn’t take long to discover why. Her ex stood near the sound system, a sourpuss expression on.
“Adison.” Ken ducked his head and stared at her until her eyes met his. “He’s nothing.”
Her lips twitched in the direction of a smile. “I don’t get why it hurts me so much, though.”
“Because you’re human. Even if he was the biggest loser on earth, he’d get to you at least a bit. The good news is that it won’t last forever.”
She inhaled deep. “No pain lasts forever, right?”
He winced—and hoped she didn’t notice. “Not this kind.”
She gave him a puzzled look.
Instantly, he regretted his words. Resting a hand on the small of her back, he steered her in the direction of the bar. “How about that drink?”
They’d hardly finished helping themselves to glasses of red wine when Ken felt a prickle at the back of his neck, the kind that told him danger was near. Spinning on his heel, he found Adison’s ex approaching them.
“Hey.” He jutted his chin at Adison and cut Ken a look but didn’t bother addressing him.
“Danny.” Adison shifted both her weight and her wine glass from one hand to the other.
Ken could feel the discomfort wafting off of her. Feeling protective, he scooted a little closer to her.
“I didn’t think you’d be here.” Danny’s eyes glinted.
“Diana is my friend.” Adison sipped her wine. “You remember Ken?”
“How could I forget?”
“So good to see you again,” Ken said, but in a voice that made it clear it was anything except that.
He rested his hand on the back of Adison’s neck, surprised to find a sheen of sweat there. The dragon in him roared. He hated Danny for making Adison feel so much as one moment of pain. He would have never considered himself an alpha male, but right then he would have loved nothing more than the chance to duke it out with fists and show the lowly scum what became of jerks.
“I don’t know if you saw,” Danny said to Adison. “I’m moving. This could be the last time we see each other.”
Adison’s shoulders shuddered, and she lifted her chin. “I’m happy to hear that.”
Danny laughed dryly. “Come on, Ad. You don’t mean that.” He cut Ken a look. “Hey, man. Give us a second, would you?”
Ken looked to Adison. “Only if she wants me to.”
“A second for what, exactly?” Adison said. “We have