Page 70 of The Elusive Billionaire

Oh, the ways I’m going to kill Greyson Reyes.

He leans in and presses his mouth to my ear. “Go along with it, Monroe. We need Pops to believe.”

Mother freaking porcupines.

“Yup, Drill Bit,” I say through pinched lips. “That’s right.”

I attempt to put space between Grey and me, but the asshole grins, and before I can blink, his hand knots in the hair at the back of my head, and he pulls me to him for a bruising kiss I only wish I could be unaffected by.

He kisses like he fucks—hard, dominating, soul-crushing—and my knees wobble as he controls my mouth as though he’s the architect of my desire.

No one should be able to cause a reaction like this from a freaking kiss.

Grey finally releases my lips but keeps his so close to mine that we’re nearly touching. I’m inhaling his cinnamon scent, and my only saving grace is that his eyes are as murky as mine.

The chemistry of us affects him just as much as it does me.

“I still prefer Patch Daddy.” His whispered words heat my already flushed cheeks.

“This wedding will be spectacular,” Pops shouts, startling me. “The event of the year, once we get all those dang protesters out of here.”

That’s enough to douse the butterflies in my stomach, and I push away from Grey.

“What the hell happened to everyone supporting everyone in Happiness?” I murmur. Driving through town, I could feel their wrath like a third-degree sunburn.

“It ain’t the whole town,” Pop says. “Just a handful who’s rallying the outsiders. There are some real green-eyed monsters in the thirties set, ya know.”

“Green-eyed monsters?” Grey sounds as though he’s hit his limit for bullshit, and for once, we’re on the same page.

“Yup, he’s right,” Chief says. “Bethany Jane’s panties are in a real twist over Savvy being named town sweetheart. Then news broke that she snagged the last eligible billionaire, and Bethany damn near lost her noggin. She’s probably thinkin’ she can get Savvy booted from the court before she’s crowned at the town fair.”

“The last eligible billionaire? I’m not a slab of beef at a meat auction,” Grey grumbles.

“You’re really obsessed with those, aren’t you?” I ask.

He glares at me for three long beats, but when he first moved here, he was raging about meat auctions too.

“A sign for a literal meat auction was the first thing I saw when I got to Happiness. Of course I checked it out. And news flash, it’s fucking disgusting.”

“You’re just a snob.”

“In fairness, it was the first thing I saw too,” Braxton says. “Maybe we should look into rearranging some of the signage in town once we get through whatever the hell is happening here.”

“Focus, kids.” The irony of eighteen-year-old Sage wrangling the wayward adults makes me smirk. “Bethany is being a child and creating an old-school smear campaign against Savvy. Unfortunately, Grey is the CEO of a media empire, therefore national gossip sites are also running with it.”

“And someone is feeding them this bullshit,” Braxton grumbles under his breath. It wasn’t that long ago he and Madi were at the center of a similar storm. “They do put us on a weird pedestal. They all want to marry us, but when we find someone, they’re the first to hit the streets in riot gear.”

“Champagne problems,” Clover whispers, making me smile. But if she tugs her cardigan any more tightly around herself, the threads are sure to snap.

“Bethany will get over herself,” Madi says. “But I agree that having us all together at the Hideaway is the way to go. The boys are already heading back to their dorms, so it’ll be fine.”

Fine. I’ve been fine my whole life, but suddenly, fine feels like a prison sentence.

A city police car pulls into the driveway, and we all turn to watch as the chief of police steps out. “Afternoon,” he drawls.

“Hey, Tim.” Braxton shakes the officer’s hand.

We form a semicircle around the box as Chief Rigsby slips on some rubber gloves and inspects it.