Taming The Bad Boy Billionaire Box Set 1 (Taming The Bad Boy Billionaire 1-3)

ed on the bubbly. “What is what?”

“My present.” Those damn ocean eyes were laughing at me. “Can I have it?”

My brain recoiled in a fog of sheer panic, but in spite of it all, I emerged with a single moment of clarity. Go big or go home, right? I was already in this far.

“It’s actually not for you, per say.” I smiled sweetly. “I found a mate for Dolly.”

Marcus cocked his head curiously, pursing his lips.

“The peacock,” I clarified, surprising even myself with this burst of ingenuity.

The lips twitched, threatening to break character. “You mean Eduardo?”

“Who’s Eduardo?”

“The peacock.”

The smile froze on my face. “The peacock is a male?”

Marcus chuckled and caught me with that damned arm again. “Yes, darling. The male of the species is the one with the exaggerated decoration and plumage.”

I glanced casually around the ballroom. “Yet another example where life imitates art.”

There was a faint laugh from the snake lady, but Marcus’ impossible eyes stared down intensely into my own, searching for the secrets there. His arm tightened, pulling me closer, and he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

“Would you care to dance?”

I glanced up at the people ostentatiously waltzing past and stifled a shudder. “Dance like a Viennese cupcake? Um, no.”

His eyes sparkled as the corners of his mouth turned up in a wicked smile.

“Excellent.”

A second later, we were somehow transported to the middle of the dance floor, twirling around like deranged teacups.

“Shit,” I hissed, clinging onto his arms for dear life. We narrowly avoided colliding with a pair of swirling dresses. “Look, I’m sorry I lied, okay? But think about this rationally—it’s not worth my life.”

There was a low chuckle as he pulled me closer to his chest, somehow avoiding my flailing serrated heels. “Why did you do it, anyway?”

I gave a small sigh. “Honestly...I didn’t think you’d ever find out.”

He chuckled again and spun us in a wide circle. “So it was for the recognition?”

I opened my eyes with a narrow glare. “No, it wasn’t for the recognition. It was to put that ridiculous snake monster in her place. She was treating me like crap. I thought they might be nicer to me if I said I was your girlfriend. It just came out. I swear, I never planned it.” We swept around a tight corner, and my fingers clawed at his arms. I had no idea how he was managing to pull this off and somehow still look graceful, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out. “I said one thing to one person. You’re going to humiliate me in front of an entire crowd?”

His eyes flashed. “Well, I’d hardly be the first one of us to do something like that.”

...He had me there.

I lowered my forehead to his chest and tried to tune out the tunnel-vision panic that was settling in. Suddenly, despite my designer dress, lethal heels, and sculpted hair and makeup, I couldn’t have felt more out of place. Some people had the “naked at school without their homework” dreams, I had this. It was my own personal nightmare. Being forced to dance like this in front of a room full of people.

“I can’t dance,” I murmured. A thin sheen of sweat was glistening on my forehead.

“You’re doing fantastic.”

“Am I?”

“Hey.” Something about his voice commanded my attention, and I looked up into his eyes. For the first time all night, they were serious, thoughtful. They held mine with a sincerity I couldn’t ignore. “I’m not going to drop you. We’re just dancing. You’re not going to fall.”