The Bad Boy Billionaire's Wicked Arrangement by Maya Rodale Page B

should come up with this on the spot. But my mind went blank.
    Apparently, his did, too.
    “It was really romantic,” I said, buying a little more time. And then I blurted out the first thing I thought of: “We met in the gazebo in Central Park. During a rain storm.”
    Of course I said this at the same time Duke said, “We met at a party.”
    “I didn’t know Duke was the kind to take long walks in the park,” Jack remarked, apparently not having heard Duke, thank goodness.
    “I was on my home from a party. Couldn’t get a cab in the rain,” Duke explained. This tested the imagination of no one. It was a good save. But I knew why everyone was questioning us and it wasn’t to hear a happy little love story.
    If Duke and I could be exposed as frauds, we wouldn’t get the funding, which would up their odds of getting it. One hundred and fifty million dollars. I could not forget that.
    There was also the fact that Duke and I were so different and were an unexpected pair: He was gorgeous, magnetic, and all kinds of trouble who was known to have a preference for tall, leggy, skinny blonde models. I was the librarian in a prim shift dress and pearls who had made him wear a tie. In what world did a guy like him and a girl like me meet, let alone fall in love and promise each other forever?
    “After your chance encounter in Central Park, did you propose immediately, Duke, or did you tweet about it first?” Augustus asked dryly.
    “Did you guys date at all?” Justin asked. “Was there a whole relationship that went unrecorded on social media?”
    “Check the tweets. And the Facebook updates. And Instagram,” Duke said, grinning. I knew he was thinking about the triumph of the hacking that night and that he’d anticipated these questions. “When a man knows he’s found the woman for him, why should he wait?” Duke mused.
    A romantic sentiment? My heart thudded at the thought.
    Or evading the question?
    Definitely the latter.
    “And how are the wedding plans progressing? Did you set a date yet?” Augustus asked.
    “We haven’t set a date. But I have everything planned on Pinterest,” I said, and everyone laughed. Then I reached for my wine glass and made sure to flash my giant, cubic zirconia engagement ring.
    From there, the conversation finally turned to and business talk, most of which I could not follow, like UX, API’s and metadata. But every once in a while, Duke would catch my eye for a smoldering gaze across the table that made me shift in my chair. I was thinking of what would happen after dinner.
    One king-sized bed.
    One grey silk tie.
    One bad boy billionaire.
    One girl who’d been too good for too long.
    I’d never been great at math but even I could easily tell what that added up to. Roxanna was right. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I needed to have fun and not waste a moment.
    Duke was twisting that grey silk tie around his wrists and giving me A Look. I shifted in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. I might have sipped my wine, which did nothing to cool the surge of heat as I thought about my turn to wear the tie.
    Later
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    Duke started loosening the tie in the elevator. It was going to happen. Me, him, that tie. There was no pretending otherwise. Part of me was ready to rip off my dress and his T-shirt—to hell with the security cameras. The part of me that was all feeling and no thoughts. But I took a deep breath, willing my pulse to slow and my nerves to settle.
    It was just sex. I’d done it before. A lot. But not in a while, and not ever with anyone other than Sam. And never with a tie or any other toy. And definitely not with a guy like Duke, who by all accounts, had a thing for models and the prettiest girls.
    So pardon me if I was nervous like it was my first time.
    The elevator doors opened. We walked through them, and strolled silently down the hall. Duke put his hand on my ass.
    “Really?” I asked, meaning to sound sarcastic