The Beauty Series Bundle Read Online Free PDF Page B

someone when I know it’s going to end in three months.” And then there’s the whole issue of having sex with someone I don’t love. I’m not sure I can do that.
    “You’re overthinking it, Laurelyn. The guy’s rich and he promises you the best three months of your life. It’s a no-brainer.”
    I can’t believe I’m considering it. “You think I should do this?”
    “If you don’t, will you go home and wonder what you might have missed?”
    The answer is clear. “Of course I would.”
    There’s a knock at our bedroom door. “Come in,” Addison says. Ben opens it.
    “There’s a delivery in here.”
    Addison’s face lights up. “What kind of delivery?”
    “It’s flowers and a catered breakfast.”
    “Awesome!” she says, throwing back the covers. “See? I told you I knew how to play the game.” It looks like Ben is going to find out about Zac sooner than she’d planned.
    We walk into the kitchen and there’s a floral arrangement on the counter next to a basket of breakfast pastries. Addison holds a bottle of champagne in one hand and orange juice in the other. “Mimosas for breakfast. Can you believe that? And this isn’t cheap champagne. It’s expensive. Very expensive.”
    She takes the card from the blank envelope and her smile fades after she reads it. “Oh. This isn’t for me.”
    I feel a surge of hope. Could all of this be for me? From him, the man with no name? “What does the card say?”
    She holds it up. “’You won’t regret saying yes.’ It’s signed, ‘from Lachlan.’”
    I smile, but bite my lip in a failed attempt to hide my pleasure. His name is Lachlan.
    I’m confused by this unexpected confession. He said names weren’t part of the game, so what has changed? Maybe he decided he is more interested in a normal relationship than the bizarre one he proposed last night.
    I pluck the card from Addison’s hand because I want to read it for myself. I rub my thumb over his written words. The penmanship is masculine. I’m sure he signed it personally.
    I hear a pop as Addison opens the champagne. “Laurie, this guy is jockeying hard for you, girl.”
    Ben’s arms are crossed and he looks pissed. “Come on. You just met this guy. Doesn’t this seem like a little much?”
    “I’d love it if a guy did this for me.” Addison tops up her champagne with some orange juice. “This is a guaranteed panty-dropper in my book.”
    “Addison!”
    Ben storms out of the kitchen and slams his bedroom door. “You shouldn’t have said that in front of him, and we both know why.”
    Addison reaches for a pastry. “Oh, he’ll get over it. So, what are you gonna do?”
    There’s nothing wrong with trying it. If it doesn’t feel right, I can always back out. “He asked me to meet him tonight if I wanted to discuss it further. I think I’m going to go.”
    “That’s my girl. I love that he has to wait all day wondering if you’ll show tonight. He’ll be so hard up by the time he sees you walk in. You have to show up late. I have the perfect little black dress that will knock his socks off. The back of it is so low, you can almost see your ass crack.”
    She runs into our room and returns with a next-to-nothing black minidress. Wow, she’s right. It is low. And short. Maybe even too short. I hold it up and have no doubt it is going to hit me high thigh since I’m taller than she is.
    “Isn’t this gonna be too short for me?”
    “What do you mean too short? Have we met?”
----
    I t’s a lazy Sunday so we spend the day hanging out in the apartment after gorging on quiche and Mimosas. Ben is sullen the rest of the day, his attitude suggesting he is unhappy about the prospect of my new acquaintance. He doesn’t speak to me all day, but that’s all right. I may be staying with him, but I don’t owe him anything. And his behavior is making it a lot easier to not feel guilty about meeting up with another guy tonight.
    It’s six o’clock and I decide to start getting