Page 27 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife (Billionaires Seeking Wives Club #1)

Chapter Fifteen

S abrina

Whenever I'm feeling stressed or nervous about something, I like to listen to the Carmen opera on YouTube.

For some reason, it calms my nerves to hear about the beautiful gypsy whose life is turned upside down because of love.

I don't understand or speak French, but the tones and pitches of their voices tell me all I need to know.

"Toreador," I mumble under my breath as Escamillo belts out the song in his baritone voice.

I move my hands up and down as if I'm a conductor in an orchestra.

I close my eyes and imagine how different my life would have been if my mother had been able to afford the violin lessons I'd wanted.

If I would have been talented enough to earn a spot in a first-class orchestra.

If I would have ever made it to first chair.

"What's got you in your feelings?" Erica walks into my room without knocking. Her hair is wet, and she's wearing her favorite Red Clay Strays T-shirt that she bought on Etsy. She is obsessed with the relatively unknown country band, and we vowed to one day attend one of their concerts.

"What are you talking about?"

" Carmen ?" She points at the small speaker on my desk. "‘Toreador!’ You only play that when you're feeling a way about something."

"Why do you know me so well?" I sigh and press pause on the music before twisting in my seat to face her. "Can a girl not just listen to music?"

"Not opera." She giggles and takes a seat on my bed.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to guess?

" She leans back, and I watch as her long ponytail falls over the side of her shoulder.

There's a hurt look in her brown eyes, and I know she's realized I've been ignoring her for the last few days.

I just didn't want to be in a position to lie to her.

"So..." I stare at her for a few moments and feel something inside of me cracking. I can't keep this from her, even if she hates me. I have to tell her. "Wes lied the other night."

"What? About what?" She sits up, frowning now. "Sabrina, what did he lie about?"

"I didn't just go in for a kiss last year.

" I blush as shame creeps up my neck and turns my face into a flashing red light.

"I tried to sleep with him..." I stumble over my words.

This is so embarrassing. "I wanted him to be my first, and I snuck into his room, and we had a little moment, but then he turned me down, and I crept out of his room like a wet rat.

" I wrinkle my nose. "And that's why I’ve avoided him for the last year, and that's why I didn't want to tell you because I felt awful, and he's your brother, and it was weird of me and?—"

"Sabrina..." Erica rushes up off the bed and grabs me. "Do you think I would have cared? I would love for you to be with one of my brothers because then we could become real sisters." She shakes her head. "Wes is an idiot. I'm so sorry."

"The story doesn't end there." I groan and scratch the side of my face as Erica's expression changes to one of dry humor.

"If you're going to tell me you've had a thing for Wes for years, I know." She giggles. "I'm your best friend. I know when you have a crush. You always ask about him, and your eyes follow him everywhere." She smiles widely. "Miles and I have known for donkeys’ years."

"You have?" My jaw drops. "But you never said anything."

"I figured you would tell me when you were ready." She shrugs. "And here we are."

"We had sex," I blurt out, unable to stop myself.

"What?" She frowns. "But you just said he turned you down, right?"

"Last year..." I bite down on my lip and twist my hands around as if I'm trying to do a cat’s cradle with myself. "Last year, he turned me down, and I didn't see him for a year. But then we went to his place, and we saw him, and..." My voice trails off, waiting for her to figure it out.

"You guys did it when we were getting ready to go on the date? But when? How?"

"No, silly."

"Not at the restaurant…" Her eyes narrow. "How? I just—oh, wait." She giggles. "When you went to pick up our stuff?" She shakes her head. "Oh, lord, y'all tripped over our clothes and makeup, and it just slipped in?"

"Erica, you're an idiot." I burst out laughing.

"But yes, it happened just like that." I grab her hands.

"But totally not. I was trying to put him in his place and tell him I was not interested in him whatsoever, but of course, my body was a liar.

And my brain was, like, let's do this, baby, and well, things happened.

..and well, let's just say I'm no longer a virgin. " I squeal. "Do you hate me?"

"No, bitch." She giggles. "So, what does this mean? Are you guys dating now?"

"No." I stick my tongue out at her. "He started acting bossy, and I ended up leaving, and well, I've been ignoring him for the last few days, but he's coming over this evening to chat or whatever, but also, there's something else."

"Oh, boy...what?" She stares at me. "I want to know how it was, but he's my brother, so I don't really want to know. Ugh, the conundrum."

"I won't go into all the details, but let's just say he knows what he's doing.

" I blush again, thinking of Wes inside of me.

He had been a considerate and amazing lover, and my body still tingles thinking of him.

"All I can say is that when you're ready to lose your virginity, I would make sure it's with a man who knows what he's doing and not some college boy.

" I laugh as she groans loudly. "Sorry, I won't say anything else. "

"Please don't." She nods. "So, what is the something else?" she asks me as we both head back to my bed and take a seat. "And why is he coming here? For a date?"

"No, he's not asking me on a date. He's bringing back something I forgot, I guess."

"Hmm..." She gives me a look. “My brother? Wes? Trust me, he has ulterior motives for sure."

"Well, I'm not sleeping with him again, so if he does have ulterior motives, he will have to wait a long time.” I shrug.

“He’s not looking for anything serious, and I'm not looking to be his plaything that he can just throw money at to do his bidding.

I am not a gold digger, and I don't need to be taken care of. I am not for sale."

"I'm sure he doesn't think that, Sabrina." Erica frowns and twists her ponytail around. "Wes would never do that."

"He wanted to give us two hundred grand for the podcast." I jut my chin out. "He wanted to up the investment. Right after we just had sex." I cross my arms. "Do you know how cheap that made me feel?"

"Ugh." Erica sighs and leans forward and half-hugs me. "I know that must have felt awful. He's a doofus, I swear. Why are men such idiots? I bet he thought he was being generous, but it came out wrong."

"He thinks everyone wants him. He thinks that I'm just another woman who will do his bidding. Well, he's wrong. I don't care. I may be poor, but I'm not here to depend on a man for anything. I'm not going to be his sexual plaything." I shrug. "So, anyway, I did a thing."

"What did you do?"

"Let me show you..." I feel light-headed and giddy as I stand up and grab my backpack.

I open it up and pull out a bunch of flyers and hand them to her with a guilty grin.

"It was just for fun." Erica takes one of the posters, and her jaw drops.

There on the poster is a photo of Wes Carrington, looking handsome and smug, and above his face are huge block letters stating, Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife .

Under the photo, the text reads: Successful and handsome billionaire seeking a woman to be my wife.

Must be able to handle sarcasm, sudden trips to Paris, long nights making love under the stars, and being spoiled. If interested, call me here.

"Oh, shit." She laughs as she holds the poster up. "That's his real number. Did you put these up?"

"Yes." I nod guiltily. "About a hundred of these are up all over the city." I stare at the poster and Wes's handsome face. It was meant to be a joke, something for me to laugh about. But I may have gone a step too far. "I also took out an ad."

"An ad?" Erica's jaw dropped. "Like Craigslist?"

I shake my head. "Like a newspaper ad." I press my lips together. "And they kinda ran with it. They told me they're going to have it as the headline in the paper tomorrow."

"Wait, what?"

"They think I'm his assistant. That's what I said when I booked the ad. Well, I guess the editor got excited and thinks they got the exclusive of the year, so now they're putting it on the front page. Soon, everyone in New York City will know that Wes is looking for a wife."

"But he's not looking for a wife." Erica's eyes are as wide as saucers. "Oh, my gosh...he's going to be livid."

"Maybe no one will see it," I say hopefully. "Or maybe no one will be interested." Yeah right!

"Yeah, maybe." Erica sounds doubtful. "I mean, who even looks at flyers, right? And it's not like it's The New York Times . It's not The New York Times , right?"

"Of course not." I laugh. "They would never publish such nonsense. It's some random paper. I bet they don't even have a large circulation list."

"Right, right." Erica looks as nervous as I feel. "Are you going to tell him tonight when he comes over?"

"No." I giggle. "Let's see if anyone even contacts him first."

"Oh, boy." She shakes her head. "That would be funny if no one is interested. I mean, I wouldn't call someone with a poster like that. But I think it would be funny if a couple of women call him, and he's all like, who is this , and they're like, your future wife ."

"That would be so funny." I collapse into giggles. "I would love to see his face if he gets a call. Oh, I just remembered. I need to call into work to get my schedule for next week. Then we can go over the details for episode one. Sound good?"