The Billionaire Boyfriend Trap

Chapter 6

"You look amazing," Becky said when I pirouetted to show off my outfit. The black dress flipped out, revealing a lot of thigh. I'd have to remember not to spin around on the dance floor. Not that I anticipated any dancing at a product launch.

"Are these earrings okay?" I asked, touching the conservative gold and diamond loops. Dad had given them to our mother on their twentieth wedding anniversary. They were the most expensive pieces of jewelry Becky and I owned.

"Perfect." She sat on my bed, her legs stretched out so that her damp toenail polish didn't rub off on the cover. She'd decided to color them the same deep pink as mine. "And I like your hair out like that. It makes a change from the conservative styles you've worn lately."

I checked myself in the mirror. My hair had gotten long. I'd been too busy to cut it, but I liked the curl Becky had created with the curling wand I'd never mastered.

"He's going to be impressed," she said.

I gasped. "Who?"

"Calm down, Cleo. I don't who know you've got a crush on. I just assumed there's some guy at this thing you want to impress."

"Oh. Right. No, nobody. It'll just be a bunch of old, bald, fat businessmen."

"Yeah, right. You wouldn't be going to all this trouble if it were just a bunch of OBFs." She giggled. "Whoever he is, he'll want to sleep with you as soon as he sees you."

I glared at her in the mirror's reflection. "I do not want to sleep with him. Anyone."

She just grinned.

I looked at myself again. Maybe I should put on lower heels and remove some makeup. And the curl in my hair had to go. In fact, I should just tie it up.

Becky leapt off the bed and caught me by the shoulders. "I know that look," she said to my reflection. "Do not change a single thing. You'll fit right in. I've seen these things in the papers and all the women look like movie stars, but you'll surpass them all."

I snorted. "I doubt it."

"I can't believe you got an invite! You're so lucky. I love their phones. I don't suppose you can pick me up a new one."

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm not there to freeload."

"Then what's the point?"

"To represent my company since my boss can't make it." I'd told Becky all about the phone launch, even going so far as to tell her the company I worked for invested in it. I didn't tell her the company name and she didn't ask. There were probably dozens of large investors behind the scenes and it wasn't like Becky would know how to find out that information anyway. I was in no danger of being discovered as long as I didn't walk in or out with Reece Kavanagh. Inside, the only cameras allowed were the official ones and they wouldn't pan the audience, only the stage. I would be safe in there.

The cab honked out the front. I grabbed my clutch and kissed Becky's cheek. "Don't wait up."

"Have a good time!" she called as I headed out the door. "Send me a text if you're not coming home tonight."

"Becky!"

***

I hated large functions where I didn't know anyone. Part of me had gotten used to them, having been invited to a few work ones in my time. But the introvert in me wanted to turn around and go home. I forced myself to stay and picked off a glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray. I searched the crowd for Reece, but I was too short to see over the heads, even in my heels.

I made my way past many OBF men in conversation with trophies and other OBFs until I finally saw the back of a head that looked familiar. Make that two. They were bent in conversation near a curtain at the side of the stage, and did not look around as I approached. I was sure one of them was Reece and the other must have been one of his brothers. Not too many guys had a physique like the Kavanagh men.