Sebastian (The Billionaire Boyfriend #1) - Christina Benjamin Page 0,1
someone would be dangerous. I have a lot of property and a lot of cash under my belt, and I've heard too many horror stories about my successful friends settling down with women who only have green in their eyes. A bitter divorce six months later and they’ve got nothing left to their name. That won’t happen to me. I won’t give anyone the chance to dig for my gold.
“Is that all, Clara? I have to get back to work. I've got a meeting with my stockholders coming up that I need to prep for.”
“Oh please,” she says, a smirk audible in her voice though I can’t see her face. “Everyone knows you’re a shark. All you have to do is grin at your board and they all get weak in the knees.”
“I think you’re forgetting that you’re talking about sixty-year-old men here, not a flock of lonely housewives.”
“Is there really that much of a difference?” she teases before suddenly gasping. “Bash! I remember now why I called you. The cupcakes. You’re bringing them tonight, aren’t you?”
“Cupcakes?” I echo blankly, vaguely remembering some distant conversation she and I had over one too many glasses of Scotch where she explained that for the rehearsal dinner she and her husband-to-be had decided to go with the delicious little treats rather than an ornate rehearsal cake.
“Bash . . .” she murmurs warningly, “you told me that you were going to order them weeks ago. We have to have cupcakes—and we need that vegetarian option tonight for dinner too, Pierre!” she added desperately to the caterer who must be nearby, obvious stress cracking her voice.
“I've got it,” I answer smoothly despite my blood running cold. “I was just teasing you. Of course I ordered them.”
“You don’t tease a bride the day before her wedding, Bash!” Clara groans as the phone suddenly gives a faint whine, a strong clattering echoes through the speaker as it passed hands.
I grimace, holding it slightly back from my ear.
“Did I hear you saying you’re teasing your sister?” Mom accuses, her voice as melodic and playfully biting as Clara’s. “She has enough stress on her plate. Getting married is a big deal, not that you’ll ever have to deal with that I suppose.”
Those two were like peas in a pod, all big blue eyes and light hair, hung up on romance. I'm the opposite, taking much more after my father to my own disdain. I share his cold metal eyes, dark hair and distrust. In all the pictures of my sister, myself, and our mother, I stick out like a sore thumb. Even as a young teen I towered over both of their petite figures. I guess I'd been born to be their protector.
The phone rustles as my mother travels further away from Clara and the business of the rehearsal dinner setup. A door swings open and slams shut, faint music and voices melting away.
“You didn’t forget the cupcakes, did you?” Mom asks, “You know how important this is to Clara. She’s been dreaming about this day since . . . well, since we realized that if we wanted to wait for you to get married we’d have to wait until hell freezes over.”
“I didn’t forget,” I answer, consciously ignoring her jab at my relationship status as a perpetual bachelor. “I'm on my way to go get them right now from the best bakery in town. She’ll love them.”
The line is quiet for a moment before Mom sighs wistfully, giving a little sniffle.
“Are you all right?” I ask softly, bracing myself for her to poke again at the fact that her only son may never take a wife.
“It’s just both of my kids, they’re all grown up now. My little girl is getting married, my little boy is such a hard worker. I'm proud of you, Bash. I hope you know that.”
“I know, Mom.”
“Which is why I'm going to kill you if you show up without those cupcakes.”
Laughing, I wish her goodbye before hanging up my phone and dropping my head into my hands with a groan so heavy it could’ve come from my toes.
Dammit!
With all the craziness of my company’s looming merger, I'd completely forgotten that I was in charge of the cupcakes. It was the only thing Clara asked me do and there was no way I was going to let her down. She knew I was too busy with my career to offer much else despite being willing to do anything she wanted. I'd even offered to