Page 35 of BillionHeir

“Shoo,” she says with a smile, pushing the bathroom door shut after giving me a sweet kiss to soften the sting.

If I wasn’t so enamored with her, I might be annoyed.

Instead, I am charmed.

* * *

“Wow,” I whisper when she finally emerges.

The hair stylist left about an hour ago and the makeup artist has been gone about twenty minutes now. I don’t know what she has been doing in the bathroom by herself for so long, but whatever it was, it was clearly worth it.

She is absolutely stunning in the sparkling gold floor length dress from the store.

Her hair is up off her neck and the spaghetti straps highlight her slender shoulders beautifully.

Her makeup isn’t too heavy but mindfully accentuates her natural beauty to make her look absolutely radiant.

I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful woman in my life.

Chloe’s cheeks are tinted pink with embarrassment as she looks down at herself. “What do you think?”

“You look . . .” I trail off as words momentarily fail me. “Better than I ever could have imagined. I am honored to be your date tonight.”

She gives me a shy look before smiling.

“Thank you for all of this, by the way,” she says, gesturing to herself. “I have never been so pampered.”

“You deserve it,” I respond as I step closer to her. She meets me in the middle and my hands find her waist. “You look so incredible that I am afraid to kiss you and mess it up.”

Rather than give me permission, she leans in and kisses me first. I keep my hands securely on her waist, resisting the urge to run my fingers through her hair, undoing all the work the stylist has done.

I expect the kiss to be sweet and innocent, a polite thank you for setting up today.

But that is not what this is. Chloe deepens the kiss, putting her hand behind my head and pulling me closer to her.

I go willingly, pressing myself against her so that she can feel the evidence of my arousal as my tongue brushes against hers .

Eventually, I am the one who stops the kiss as I clear my throat and step away regretfully, trying to get my hard-on under control.

“I am not stopping out of choice, but necessity. If that had gone on much longer, I might have thrown you down on this bed and forgotten all about the rest of tonight.”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Chloe says with a saucy smirk.

“You are naughty,” I respond with mock disapproval.

“Oh, Max,” she says with a sinful laugh. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” With that, she turns sharply on her six-inch heels and walks out of the bedroom.

I groan and follow her out, trying not to stare at her ass. It is clear that my erection is going to be an ever-present issue tonight.

* * *

“You didn’t tell me that the event was going to be at Buckingham Palace!” Chloe says, her voice shrill.

“I suppose this would be a bad time to tell you that there is also going to be a red carpet with photographers. It is standard for this kind of thing. The King likes to flaunt all of his rich and well-connected friends.”

“Photographers? Maxwell, seriously!”

I pick up her hand and kiss the back of it. “You will do just fine. ”

Our classic Rolls-Royce proceeds through the line of cars until it is our turn to get out. When my door opens, there is a man dressed in a tuxedo waiting to help me get out. I step out without taking his proffered hand to flashes of cameras directed at me.

Instead of posing for their photo op, I turn back and offer my own hand to Chloe. She doesn’t need another man to help her, even if he is being paid to do it.

Chloe steps out in all her glittery gold glory, her dress and her smile lighting up the night. The flashing of all the cameras accentuates her beauty as it reflects off her dress, stealing my breath for the second time tonight.

She seems a little nervous as she steps out of the car, but when her eyes meet mine, I can see her anxiety fade away. The shyness she usually reserves just for me makes her eyes sparkle.

The photographers go crazy, shouting my name, all of them volleying for my attention.

“Mr. Banks! Who is your date?” One of them shouts, somehow their voice cutting through the uproar our appearance has caused.

“This,” I say, pulling Chloe closer to me as I wait for the crowd to quiet. “Is my girlfriend, Chloe Shepard.”

I hear her surprised gasp of breath, but when I look down at her, there is no sign of shock, only a dazzling smile that the cameramen seem to eat up .

I can’t say that I blame them.

We proceed through the crowd and into the castle, but with so much commotion, there is no time to talk about what I just said. When we walk into the ballroom, I am about to lead her to the bar where we can talk over a drink, but before I can, we are interrupted.

“Who is your dishy date, babes?”

“Olivia, this is my girlfriend, Chloe,” I answer. “Chloe, Olivia runs the UK branch of Banks International.”

“Lovely to meet you,” Chloe says with a polite smile on her face.

“Oh, you are British? Where are you from?” Olivia asks, sparking a conversation between the two of them.

“Essex,” Chloe offers, smiling kindly.

I can tell that she is sizing her up, wondering if Olivia and I have ever slept together. I can’t say I blame her, honestly, but the answer is no. Aside from Chloe, I have never had sexual relations with someone I employ.

I protectively tuck her into my side. I haven’t taken my hands off her yet, and I don’t intend to any time soon.

“Tamara is here somewhere. Probably the bar,” Olivia says, her eyes roaming the crowd in search of her partner.

“Tamara is Olivia’s wife,” I explain to Chloe.

“How long have you been together?” I ask .

“About fifteen years now,” Olivia answers, waving when she finally spots the woman in question. “Oh, she is talking to Birdwell. I better go save her. It was so nice to meet you, Chloe. Good luck with this one.”

With that, she turns and disappears into the crowd.

Chloe turns to me with her eyebrow arched. “What do you suppose she means by that?”

“What?”

“Good luck with this one.”

I wince. “I don’t think she meant it the way it sounded. But to be fair, no one has ever seen me with anyone. I don’t really date.”

“Ever?”

I shake my head.

She opens her mouth to ask me a question, but we are interrupted once more as Liam spots us from a nearby table and waves us over.

“Well, don’t you look lovely,” he says, greeting Chloe warmly, pulling her close and kissing both of her cheeks before releasing her to me again. “Easy there, Max. I am not trying to steal your girl.”

“As if she would let you,” I mumble to myself, rolling my eyes at being called out for my jealousy.

“I didn’t know you were coming as well,” Chloe says to Liam .

“He wouldn’t want his dearest uncle to be unhappy with him, now would you, Liam?”

“Well,” he says, keeping up the banter. “It is not like it is going to get me any closer to the crown, but we do like to keep up appearances.”

“Wait,” Chloe says, looking back and forth between the two of us with an astonished look on her face. “The King is your uncle?”

Liam smirks before answering, an amused look on his face. “Guilty.”

“How could you not tell me?” she asks, twisting to give me a frustrated look.

“I am sorry! I just thought it would make you more nervous.”

“We are going to have to talk about all this information you have been keeping from me,” she says, giving me a pointed look before turning back to Liam.

I was just trying to protect her, but I can see now how it might look to her.

I reach for her hand, praying that she doesn’t pull away. Blessedly, she takes it. I squeeze her fingers and she squeezes back. We might not be perfect right now, but I am confident that I am slowly winning her over.

“If you will excuse me,” Liam says. “I have to go make the rounds, kiss the ring and the lot.”

“Good luck,” Chloe says as he turns to walk away .

“Care for a dance?”

I gesture toward the center of the room where some guests are already dancing.

Just as we step out onto the floor, the music changes to a slow song.

“Perfect,” I whisper as I take her into my arms and lead her gracefully around the room. “I love having you in my arms.”

“We need to talk,” she says quietly.

I can feel the muscles in her back tense as we sway back and forth to the music. Her guard is back up, despite the reassuring gesture earlier.

I take one of my hands and smooth it up and down her back.

“I am sorry that I didn’t tell you how big this event was going to be.

I was just worried that you wouldn’t come with me, but I can see how wrong that was now.

I should have told you the truth, and I promise that I will be completely honest with you going forward.

It is just that now that I have you back, I am scared something is going to happen.

That I am going to somehow lose you again. ”

Chloe pulls away from me just enough so that she can look into my eyes as we continue to dance. “Maxwell, I—” she pauses for so long that I worry that this might be it. This might be the moment she actually walks away.

“I understand that you are used to controlling everyone and everything around you,” she eventually continues. “But you are going to have to learn how to let go of some of that when it comes to me if you want this to work between us.”

I nod, solemnly. “Yes, of course I do.”

“Did you really mean what you said to those photographers?” she asks after relaxing a little in my arms.

I suddenly realize that coming here tonight was a mistake. I can’t answer her the way I want to here in a crowd of people. We should have stayed in so that we could talk the way we needed to.

“Come with me.” I take her hand and lead her off the dance floor. With my other hand, I pull out my phone and text my driver to bring the car around. We haven’t been here long, but this can’t wait.

I will make sure the king gets my check.

“Did I say something wrong?” Chloe asks as we briskly walk toward the door, and I pointedly ignore all the questioning eyes. I can only imagine how the tongues will be wagging as soon as we are out of earshot. I can’t really say that I care all that much.

“No,” I breathe, hating that I have made her doubt herself. “I just – can’t be here anymore.”

“Okay . . .” she says, struggling to keep up with my brisk pace in her gorgeous strappy heels.

When we reach the front doors, my driver is just pulling up to the curb.

I help Chloe into the car and then climb in after her .

“Max, what is going on?” she asks as soon as the door shuts.

She has taken to sitting in the middle next to me, which is where she is now and exactly where I want her. I prefer to have her as close as possible to me.

“I just don’t want to share you anymore,” I say simply as our driver pulls out in the direction of the hotel.

“But they hadn’t even served dinner yet.”

“Are you hungry? We can order room service when we get to the hotel. Anything you want.” Food was the last thing on my mind when I decided to leave.

“Okay, I suppose that is alright. This is just all very odd.”

“I realized there are some things that we should talk about, and I don’t really want an audience for what I am about to say.”

I thread my fingers through hers and run my thumb along the back of her hand reassuringly.

“I will explain when we get back to the room.”