The Billionaire Bargain 2 Read Online Free

later—”
    “Call what caterer?! Oooh, you mean the one who catered Lee and Beck’s commitment ceremony? With the vegan ice cream? Oh, what a marvelous idea, sweetie! Do you want them to do the wedding or the—”
    “What! No? I said CALL BACK LATER—”
    “You’re breaking up, Lacey Spacey! I’ll call that caterer and let you know what they say! We’ll be in town next week to meet that Grant fella! Ooh, find out what his sign is, and the state of his chakras! Mmm love you bye!”
    What the hell had I gotten myself into?
    Once my brain finally caught up to the real world, I looked back up from the phone. While I was talking to my mom, Kate had set up the little couch like a command center, the newspapers sorted according to some system decipherable only to her, scrolling through blog updates on her phone like a military commander receiving new tactical information.
    “ Well, the society pages are being catty, but tha t’ s only to be expected; you know how they are. Good news is, the business rags are going with a positive note, the y’ re al l‘ a sign of increasing stability ,’ an d‘ potentially indicative of a maturity not hitherto suspected . ’ ” Kate made a face .“ Would it kill these guys to jazz up their writing a little bit? These things sound like a tax form. Get a load of this one :‘ share prices rose serendipitously following the pronouncement, and are expected to peak around noon a t —”
    Noon. Noo n… Noon! “ Oh shit! Noon ? ”
    “ Lacey ?” Kate looked confused .“ Do you have something against noon? I mean, I do n’ t have strong feelings either way, bu t —”
    “ Noon !” I called back to her, already running frantically toward the bedroom, where I stripped off last nigh t’ s dress, grabbing at the first halfway clean outfit I could see. I ran my fingers through my hair in front of the mirror, trying to make it look mor e‘ artfully tousle d’ tha n‘ slept on for eight hours and probably drooled on, too .’ “ I forgot ! ”
    “ Forgot what? Is there more to forget ?” Kate had followed me to the bedroom, and began applying my makeup expertly, even though she did n’ t know what for yet .“ Did you get engaged to another guy? Are you pregnant? Is Grant secretly Batman ? ”
    “ My lunch date with my future godmother-in-law !” I said, gently stopping Kate from applying any more eyeliner. I needed it, but I was already late and I could not afford to get any later or I was going to be late , as in, Gran t’ s godmother was going to kill me .“ Portia the Hell Beast, remember? I was supposed to meet her for lunch at noon ! ”
    “ Godmother ?” Kate said with a roll of her eyes .“ What, is she going to take away your glass slippers if yo u’ re late ? ”
    “ I should be so lucky ,” I muttered, grabbing my purse and making sure it had my wallet, phone, and emergency lipstick. I tossed my keys to Kate .“ Lock the door on your way out, love you, chat later, bye ! ”
    The soundtrack of Kat e’ s protestations grew fainter as I ran out the door and into the street, already hitting the speed dial for a taxi as I speed-walked to the corner.
    Maybe if I really rushed, Portia would only slightly eviscerate me.

THREE
    “I’ ll order for you, shall I ?”
    Porti a’ s icy, condescending voice froze the air it passed through and pierced my head like a lance. I suppressed my wince and nodded.
    The hangover had been almost gone by the time I got to the address Portia had apparently texted me at 11:45 a m— too late for me to have made it on time anyway, so I was feeling slightly less guilty about that, but no less apprehensiv e— but one look at her narrowed blue eyes and somehow, that headache was right back where it had started.
    With a power like that, she should really consider becoming a super-villain.
    She already had the whole super-villain look down too; a pale silver circlet holding back her pulled-tight bun, a glimmering shawl of finely spun