Read Online Mr. Black's Proposal (Part Two: A Billionaire Erotic Romance) by Aubrey Dark - Free Book Online

fine. Just cleaning up.”
    “Okay,” Lucas said. He seemed way too distracted to notice exactly how much smoke Andy had created while cleaning up. He waved enthusiastically to me.
    “What is it?” I asked, coming over to him.
    “Come to the library,” he said. “I’m making another toast.”
    “Lucas, do I really need to be there? I have so much to clean—”
    “I’ll get my servants to clean it up,” Lucas said. I frowned, but he pulled at my arm.
    “Okay, okay,” I said. “Andy—”
    “What do you want me to do?”
    My brother stood in the middle of the kitchen, his eyes wide.
    “Just… just don’t set anything on fire. Okay?”
    “Okay,” he said, giving me a thumbs up. “Got it.”
    “Was something on fire?” Lucas asked.
    “No. What? Fire?” I asked, steering him away from the kitchen. “Everything is great.”
    “Great,” Lucas said. “Great. I need you to be there for my speech.”
    “I’ll be there in a minute,” I said. “Just let me wash up in the bathroom.”
    “One minute,” he drawled. “I’m counting.”

Chapter Ten
    Lucas
    I refilled the ladies’ wine glasses as well as my own. Things were going fine. Otis seemed to be feeling better, and Alex would have everything cleaned up before anyone had to walk through the living room to leave.
    And I had another speech to make for my mom. A more serious speech. I’d never understood the expression “having butterflies in your stomach,” but as I thought about what I was going to say, I felt a little fluttering that might have been a butterfly or two inside of me.
    I took another gulp of wine to wash the butterflies away.
    The three girls sauntered over to me. I could see the competition in their faces.
    “So. I hear your last project was in Paris,” the brunette said.
    “That’s right.”
    “I love Paris,” the blonde girl interjected. “I always thought it would be wonderful to do a photo shoot in France.”
    “So you’re a model?” I asked, my attention half on her, half on my mother. She’d had three glasses of wine already, and was working on her second cupcake. I wanted to make sure she didn’t pull an Otis.
    “Actually, I’m a model too,” the redhead said. She twirled a strand of hair in her fingers. “I absolutely love your work.”
    “Oh, yeah?”
    “Such an artistic visionary.”
    “Didn’t you win the catwalk photographer award last year?” the brunette said, trying to claw her way back into the conversation.
    “Uh, maybe.” I vaguely remembered going to an awards dinner for something like that.
    The blonde was stroking my shoulder.
    “Is this a custom Versace suit?” she said.
    “Y—yeah.” My eyes flickered to the back. Steph was coming in through the door. She stayed at the back of the library, close to the wall. When her eyes met mine, they narrowed.
    “The material is so high-quality.”
    The other girls were touching my other shoulder, their fingers sliding along my sleeve.
    “Uh, excuse me. I have to do something,” I said, extricating myself from their grasp. I hurried to the back of the library where Steph was waiting.
    “Hey!” I said. “I’ll get you something to drink. Do you want something to drink?”
    “I’m good, really.”
    “You sure?”
    I looked at Steph. She’d never looked so cute. Her dress was lightly smudged with flour and her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. I pushed a strand of hair away from her face and she smiled a tight smile. Was she nervous?
    Soon enough, she wouldn’t have any reason to be nervous.
    “Wait right here,” I told Steph.
    She raised her eyebrows at me and nodded. I couldn’t wait. This was perfect. Everything was absolutely perfect. I went up to my mother and put an arm around her.
    “Mom,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “I had something else I wanted to say.”
    “Of course, sweetheart,” she said. She leaned close to me and eyed the trio of girls in the corner of the library. “Did you pick the one you