Read Online Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? by Emily Stone - Free Book Online

close to her, his face almost touching hers as he put the
bib around her neck, one hand smoothing it down, while the other combed back
her hair.  He pulled the little strings back and tied them at the back of her
neck, rearranging her hair to hide the strings.  His hands lingered, and Nina
closed her eyes, enjoying a masculine touch.  It had been too long. 
           He took
his seat again and held up the other bib, “Come tie mine on me now.”  Nina
stood up, and tried to focus.  Her movements were industrious as she flapped
the bib and tied it.  Daniel reached up and grabbed one of her hands, holding
it on his shoulder.  He rolled his head to one side so he could look at her,
and teasingly said, “Your bib tying technique sucks.”  He pulled her hand to
his mouth, kissed her knuckles, and then let her go. 
           Nina
swallowed.  How was she supposed to interpret that? She sat back down, but
her musing was broken by the sound of a lobster claw cracking.
           “Don’t
let it get cold!  Daniel dipped a chunk of lobster in the butter then reached
across the table and fed it to Nina with his fingers.  His buttery fingertips
played across her lips, and Nina thought she was going to come out of her
skin.  Daniel DeVere was making it exceedingly difficult to follow her
inclination to keep it all business.  Then he hissed at her, “Now me!”
           Nina
froze.  Now what?  Daniel could see the confusion in her face.
           “Nina,
you’ve got to start acting like you’re my girlfriend.  We have to…act like a
couple.  I never know who might be watching.  The dishwasher could be shooting
us with his phone and sending it to TMZ or Perez Hilton even while we’re
sitting here.”
           “Oh yes,
of course.  I’m sorry.”  She shoved some French fries in Daniel’s mouth in a
not very polished move.
           He choked
a little bit, then chewed and swallowed.  “What?  Are you trying to kill your
soon-to-be fiancé?  Okay, no more feeding each other, just…enjoy your lobster.”
           Nina
cracked a claw.  It hit her how long it had been since she’d had any romance in
her life.  She was feeling a lot like the lobster: a hard shell with a very
tender interior.  Playing at romance was going to be hard—especially with
someone who was extraordinarily attractive and really, kind of nice.  She was
going to have to toughen up, make sure she had a mental wall in place so she
didn’t get confused about what was real and what was her job.  She needed to
think about the fact she could keep her home, keep Rueben in school and pay his
medical bills, make sure that Rita got to her honors program in Provence, and
that their mom was okay.  That’s why she was doing this, not because she wanted
something real with Daniel DeVere.
           They ate
silently for a few minutes.  Then Daniel wiped his mouth with his napkin and
looked at her softly.  “This is going to be a lot harder than either one of us
realized Nina.  But it’s business, plain and simple.  I don’t want to hurt a
nice girl like you.  Okay?”
           Nina
nodded as she cracked the other claw on her lobster.

 
    Chapter Eleven
     
           “Elsa,
could you please try to be nice to Nina?  This was all your idea and
you’re acting like she’s plotting to overthrow western civilization.”  Daniel
tossed his signed Babe Ruth baseball up and down in his hands.  “She’s really a
very good person, and frankly, we’ve used her finances to blackmail her into
doing this.  So be a little more sensitive.”
           Elsa
leaned back on the edge of Daniel’s desk, her fingernails nervously tapping the
glass on either side of her skinny hips.  “She’s just so… common ,
Daniel.  No one is going to believe she’s a society girl.”
           “Then
make up a different story.  Tell me about her real background.”
           “Well,
her