Page 76 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

“Seriously?”

“Do I look like I’m joking? It screams sexy Russian. And that’s the theme because we’re in a Russian’s apartment and time is of the essence!”

She was right. I didn’t have time to second guess her demands. And I wasn’t even sure I was going to send these to my kiss thief. I quickly changed and pulled the coat on.

Sophie grabbed my phone, pushed the furry material off one of my shoulders, and started snapping pictures.

“Hand on your hip. No, higher. Great, but arch your back. More. And stick your butt back, trust me, it’ll make your waist look even tinier.

Woah, no, not that much. Yes, there. And tilt your head to the side. Got it.”

I tried to follow her directions, but I was seconds away from falling over.

“Now drop the coat.”

“Sophie, I’m not taking pictures in just lingerie.”

“Your stalker is expecting no clothes at all. If anything, lingerie is a little prude, don’t you think?”

I wasn’t sure about that...

“But let’s change to black lingerie instead. It’ll make your pale skin pop.” She rummaged around some more and tossed my outfit change at me. If you could really call something so skimpy an outfit. There were so many thick straps on this one. And I had a hard time figuring out how to put it on.

“It screams bondage,” Sophie said as she helped me. “Your stalker is going to love this.”

“He’s not a stalker, Soph. He’s a kiss thief.”

“With great taste. Now go lie spread eagle on the bed.”

“What? No. And I need a robe or something.” I found a black silky robe on a hanger and pulled it on.

Sophie shook her head, but didn’t say anything. “At least get on the bed and like...jump up and down. Oh, with this pillow.” She tossed it at me. “Trust me.”

At least she’d let me wear a robe. I hopped onto the bed and started jumping on the mattress.

“Higher,” Sophie said.

This was actually kind of fun. I started jumping and for some reason Sophie laughed, which made me laugh. I laughed harder when she started chucking pillows at me. I blocked them with the pillow I was holding and then collapsed backward as she kept snapping photos.

“These are so hot, Scar. But it’s still a lot of coverage. What about a bashful nipple?”

I laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“You know. Have your bra slip down a little and pretend to look all shocked about it.”

“I’m not doing a bashful nipple.” I tossed the pillow at her head.

“What about a sheer top? Double bashful nipple! I think I saw something in the closet.”

Not happening. I ran after her into the closet. She was just about to pull something off the hanger when I saw a storage bin in the corner that would be perfect. “Wait, I think it’s my turn to pick something.”

“Okay. Have at it.”

“I’ll wear something from that.” I pointed to the bin.

Sophie raised her eyebrow. “It’s labeled SKI CLOTHES.”

“Yeah. It’ll be plenty sexy. Like...goggles and stuff.”

Sophie laughed. “Now you want to cover your face too?”

I shrugged. Honestly that wasn’t a horrible idea. “Goggles can be sexy. Like...hanging between my breasts?”

“How long are the goggles you’re picturing exactly?”

“I don’t know. Goggle length?”

She shook her head. “Never mind. Fine. But whatever is in there, you have to promise to wear it.”

Why did this feel like a trick? I stared at her uneasily. How bad could it be though? There were no sexy ski clothes that I was aware of. Unless thermal underwear could be sexy. “Deal.” I popped off the lid of the storage container. “What the actual F? Why are there only bikinis in here?”

Sophie laughed. “This Russian chick is amazing.”

“How did you know it was going to be bikinis?”

“I didn’t. But I had a feeling it would be something sexy. Because her lingerie drawer was labeled boots.” She pointed to the label. “I don’t think she’s very good at English. And literally everything in this closet is sexy. Do you think she really skis in bikinis though? Because that’s amazing.”

“No sane person would ski in a bikini.” And even if they did, there should still be goggles.

“But a sane person would wear one of these for a sexy photo.” Sophie lifted up the skimpiest emerald green bikini I’d ever seen. “This will look great with your hair. And it looks like it has some extra lift for the girls. Score.”

I sighed. I guess I had agreed to this. At least this one was easy to change into. And the cups on the bikini top really did make my boobs look good.

“Okay, now put both hands on the doorjamb and pop your hip.”

I placed my hands on either side of the doorway.

Sophie smiled. “He’s going to love these. Toss your hair over your shoulder.”

I flicked my hair back and she snapped a few more.

“Wait we need heels. And let me find that sheer top real quick...” her voice trailed off when my phone buzzed in her hands. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Your mom just texted you asking where you were!”

“WHAT?!” Oh God, I was hours away from being ungrounded. And now I was going to be grounded again!

Sophie gave me my phone, but I tossed it back. She bobbled it like hot potato and threw it back at me.

“What do I say?!”

“Just...hurry.” Sophie picked my uniform blazer up off the ground.

I didn’t have time to take off the bikini. I just pulled on my uniform as we ran out of the bedroom. I almost tripped as I hopped on one foot, pulling on my knee-high socks.

Sophie grabbed my arm to steady me as we high-tailed it toward the ladder. I was just about to be ungrounded. I couldn’t believe I let Sophie talk me into this photoshoot.

We both made it up to the guest bedroom and just tossed the carpet back over the hole when my phone started buzzing again.

“She’s calling!” I hissed.

“Just play it cool.”

We both knew I didn’t know how to play it cool.

Sophie seemed to remember who she was talking to. Instead of answering my phone, she opened the door of the bedroom. “Down here, Aunt Penny!”

“What are you doing?” I hissed. “If she comes in here she’s going to break her neck.”

“I’ve got this.” Sophie hopped onto the bed. “You stay there and make sure she doesn’t touch the carpet.”

I realized one of the corners of the carpet was folded over. I just tapped it down with my foot as my mom came to the door.

“What are you guys doing in here?” she asked.

“I was testing out the bed to see if I wanted to spend the night.” Sophie patted the mattress. “This should work.”

My mom raised her eyebrow. “Sophie, Scarlett is grounded. You can’t spend the night.”

“But...”

“No buts. And the two of you are supposed to be working on some project, aren’t you?”

“We finished early,” Sophie said.

“Then I think you should probably leave Scarlett to her chores. Since she’s grounded .”

Sophie sighed and slid off the bed. “I guess you’re right. See you tomorrow at school, Scar. Have a fun night.” She winked at me.

My mom looked around the room, like she thought something was amiss. But then she shook her head and followed Sophie.

Phew. Sophie was a lifesaver.

I hurried up to my room before my mom could ask me any questions. I changed out of the bikini I stole and into a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top. I hid the contraband at the bottom of one of my drawers. I’d return it as soon as I got a chance.

I sat down on my bed and started going through the pictures Sophie took.

Oh my God. These were...a lot. Was this really what my kiss thief wanted?

There was no bashful nipple, but all the photos were quite revealing.

My robe had even fallen when I was jumping on the bed.

I was just in bondage lingerie laughing like I did it every day.

My stomach twisted into knots.

This wasn’t me. I’d tried changing myself for Axel. I didn’t want to change for anyone else. I wanted someone to just like me for...me. And my kiss thief presumably knew me. So didn’t he just want a picture of me being me?

Before I could chicken out, I snapped a picture of me in my pajamas sitting on my bed. I texted it to my kiss thief.

And then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I groaned and fell backward on my bed.

He didn’t respond to my non-sexy photo. But he’d also never responded to me until nighttime. The earliest he’d ever texted me was during dinner. Probably because he was busy at football practice. Gah, I hated that we’d only narrowed it down to a baker’s dozen men.

I glanced at the time. It was almost dinner time now. Practice was over.

He clearly just didn’t like the picture.

I thought about how I’d dressed at the party last Friday. My gold sparkly dress was short and revealing. Whoever had stolen my first kiss probably thought I wasn’t so...what had Sophie said? Prude? I sighed.

“Pumpkin,” my dad said and knocked on my door.

“Yes?”

He opened the door. “I think dinner’s almost ready. I heard you and Sophie finished your project. What did you say you were researching again?”

“Nothing that exciting.” I pushed myself off my bed. “And the results were...inconclusive.”

He put his arm around my shoulders. “Anything else going on? I noticed that you’ve been wearing Axel’s varsity jacket all week. I know he gave it to you to help cover your inappropriate outfit.”

“Yeah, it’s probably time I gave that back.”

“Good,” he said.

Why did it seem like both my parents loved when I was miserable?

I sat down at the dinner table. “Anything fun happen at practice?” I asked Liam.

He shrugged. “No one was talking about you in the locker room, if that’s what you’re asking.”

My dad choked on the sip of water he’d just taken. “Why would your teammates be talking about Scarlett in the locker room?”

“Beats me,” Liam said.

Rude.

“But Pavel mentioned that he has a date with Sophie tomorrow.”

“Pavel?” my mom asked. “I haven’t heard you mention his name before. Is he a new friend of yours, Liam?”

Liam shrugged. “He’s just a guy on the team.”

I could have easily thrown my brother under the bus and told them that Pavel and him had been fighting in a boxing ring last weekend. But I kept my mouth shut. I still owed Liam for all his help escaping from the apartment. And mentioning the party would just get me in trouble too.

“Are you getting excited for your first game?” my dad asked.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure we’re going to win. Practice was shit today.”

“Language,” my father said.

“Well, it was. Axel flat out refused to hand the ball off to Jacob and kept changing up the plays. And I’m happy to catch more passes, but we need a run game if we want to have any chance at winning.”

I had so many questions. But my phone buzzed in my pocket and I tuned everything out when I saw that my kiss thief had texted. It was another two word response again.

“You’re adorable.”

Adorable? Seriously? My shoulders slumped. I didn’t want him to think I was adorable. I pressed my lips together. And if he was only giving me two words, I could give him the same treatment. “Your turn,” I texted.

And this time he texted back right away. I laughed out loud at the ridiculous photo.