I nodded because I couldn't speak. He slid the ring on my finger and stood up. I looked at it. It was a beautiful pink stone in a rose-gold band.
"I thought..."
"You thought I'd never ask you?"
"I thought you didn't want to do it again," I said.
"I didn't want to do it again with the wrong person," he said. "You're the right person, Abby. You're the only person. Do you want to be my wife?"
"Yes," I said, looking up at him. "Of course. I just want to make you happy."
"You already do, babe," he said. I smiled. He made me happy, too. Happy, excited, passionate...full. He was my missing piece to paradise. Now I had everything.
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BEAUTY AND THE BILLIONAIRE
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Corsica
I gritted my teeth and headed up the steep incline of the next block. If this place is any farther, I'll be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge, I thought.
North Beach hummed with diners on sidewalk patios, the buzz of neon signs, and lines of people waiting behind velvet ropes. The towering skyline of San Francisco blocked out the wide bay, but I could still feel the chill of the water. Wisps of fog clung to the taller buildings. Summer always brought cool ocean breezes and banks of fog to the city, and this June was no exception.
"Why did you make me wear these heels?" I whined to my friend.
Above me on the steep sidewalk, Ginny was almost even with my height. "Because they make your legs look great," she said over her shoulder.
I inhaled the chill night breeze and smiled. My feet were killing me, but I felt loose and free for the first time in years. My little black dress clung to me like a secret power. I dressed up like that to feel that way.
"Love that smile." A mountainous man stepped in front of us. He was at least a foot taller than my 5'6" frame and muscled like a Mack truck. His dark eyes glittered with male appreciation as he held open a velvet rope.
"Thanks." Ginny blew him a kiss as she dragged me into the swanky nightclub.
He winked at me, and my stomach skittered with excitement. Still, I grabbed Ginny's arm and stopped her in the narrow hallway by the coat check. "What are you doing? We can't afford this place."
"Who says we have to afford anything?" Ginny fluffed her short-cropped, dark curls. "You're on fire, and gentlemen still like buying hot women drinks. And just wait until they hear you sing."
"Oh, no, wait." My fingers lost strength, and I let go of my friend's arm. "We're just here to dance and have fun. In fact, I don't know how you talked me into this in the first place. I have 101 things I need to be doing. Did you see my list of applications I need to complete and send?"
"Corsica, we just graduated. You're allowed to celebrate," Ginny sighed.
I crossed my arms. "Graduating is not about celebrating; it's about the next steps," I said. "A bachelor's in hospitality is not going to get me a job or a place in an MBA program."
"You can study hospitality at the bar." Ginny looped both her arms through the crook of my elbow and dragged me into the dance club. "And then you're going to sing in the karaoke lounge. I know you secretly wish you'd studied music performance. You should have. Now, enjoy yourself for once. Take a night off. Just one night."
"You want me to take the whole summer off," I grumbled.