Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

“I didn’t know they made dresses with so many layers,” he said.

She laughed again. “It was custom-made. A gift from my parents. The seamstress made it to my specifications.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Well, in that case, it was a great dress.”

“You are a bad liar.” Her sides were starting to ache as she laughed even harder.

“To be fair, I was sporting a terrible mustache and beard scruff that year,” he said.

“Oh crap, I forgot about the mustache-beard combo.” She remembered how much he had wanted to show off his facial hair that year.

“I can’t believe I thought I looked good with that,” he said. “Here’s hoping nobody in the press ever gets a hold of our prom photos.”

“Well, if they do, promise me you won’t reveal that we both lost our virginity that night.” She lowered her eyes and her cheeks warmed. “I’d like to keep that between us. It was our special moment, and I don’t want to share that with anyone but you. Even though neither of us knew back then.”

“Of course.” Suddenly he leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead.

She inhaled sharply at the warmth of his lips on her skin. A tingle slipped down her spine in response. “Simon.”

“Hey, can I cut in?”

Her head jerked back in surprise.

A dark-haired man she recognized was standing right next to them, a grin on his face. “You two have been dancing for a while,” he said.

“Neil? Neil Bernard?” Simon’s hands slipped away from her as he reached over to shake Neil’s hand briefly.

“The one and only.” Neil turned to her to shake her hand quickly. “Hey, Heather, how are you?”

“Great.” She was still so startled by Neil’s presence that she had to wrack her brain to formulate a coherent sentence. “You were in math club, right?”

Neil nodded. “Yep. Simon and I had some good times back then.”

“Well, what are you up to these days?” she asked, grateful that there was now a distraction from Simon’s overt show of affection. The kiss was still warming her all over, despite her best efforts to pretend like it had no effect on her.

“I’m in publishing,” Neil said. “And obviously everyone knows you two are in the technology business.”

She swallowed hard. “Yes, we are.”

“You’re probably getting hassled over all those lurid reports in the press,” Neil said. “But don’t worry, I’m not here to ask you about all that. I’d rather dance with you, Heather, so we can catch up. If that’s okay.”

Now she remembered him. Very nerdy. A bit of a class clown. He and Simon usually studied together. Neil had always been friendly to her and often let her copy his notes if she ever missed class. She remembered liking him.

“Sure, I’d love to dance,” she said quickly. Dancing with Simon had only increased the sexual tension between them. Escaping with Neil might help her shake off some of her nervous energy. And maybe get the crowd to forget how cozy she and Simon must have looked together.

Simon frowned, but nodded. He probably hated having to spend time away from her, but maybe it would force him to make small talk with their old classmates. “I’ll be over by the punch table. Going to see if anyone’s spiked it yet,” he told her, and headed off.

The dance with Neil lasted two songs, and while they danced rather awkwardly around the ballroom they reminisced and got all caught up with events over the last ten years. Afterwards, Neil escorted her over to the punch table, where she found Simon talking to Toni the tabloid reporter.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a second to powder my nose,” she said.

Without waiting for a reply, she swept out of the ballroom and hurried off to the ladies’ room.

The bathroom was empty, which calmed her nerves somewhat. All the pressure of tonight was getting to her, and a bathroom break was more than welcome. She took her time to send a text to her parents, and then retouched her makeup in front of the mirrors.

When she stepped out she nearly crashed into Simon.

“There you are,” he said. “I thought you seemed a little jumpy, so I came back here to see if you were okay.”