Free Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? by Emily Stone Page A

nice
to see you again…and without the bother of work!”  Nina could feel herself
relaxing; Dominique seemed to genuinely want to put her at ease.
           Daniel
gestured to his father, “This is my dad, Wilson DeVere.”
           Nina
extended her hand and he shook it warmly.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Nina.  Daniel
has told us quite a lot about you.  And Dominique has been so impressed with
your work at the foundation.  Thank you for that.”
           Daniel
pulled a chair out for Nina and she sat down.  He stroked the back of her hair,
“You look lovely Nina.”  His voice sounded so sincere, Nina could feel herself
blush.  But she reminded herself that whatever Daniel said or did, it was just
acting, just business. 
           The
dinner progressed nicely, and Nina found Daniel’s parents to really be very
sincere.  The work of the foundation was clearly important to them, and Wilson
held forth on how those who had been blessed with material success needed to
make sure and give back.  They asked Nina’s opinions about some of the
projects, and really listened to her thoughts.  Nina was happy to see that they
didn’t come across as superficial high society in any way, and she started to
understand how they would be dismayed by Daniel’s tabloid fodder antics. 
           After the
meal, they were all having a coffee when Daniel suddenly reached over and
squeezed her hand.  He turned back to his parents. “So Nina and I are going to
leave on a trip in a couple of days.” 
           Dominique
raised her eyebrows, “I hope not to Cannes.”     
           Daniel
tried not to flinch at the oblique reference to the incident .  He turned
to gaze at Nina lovingly, “No, Nina has always wanted to go to India.”
           Nina
blinked at Daniel, shocked, as she had told him no such thing. And then she
blurted, “Mr. DeVere!”
           Daniel’s
parents looked at her oddly, and Daniel went into scramble mode to cover for
her blunder.  “Yes, Ms. Alves?” he said in a teasing voice.  He glanced over to
his parents, “It’s a little pet name…thing…we do.”  He tried to look bland as
he kicked Nina under the table.
           Nina
forced herself to laugh, but her voice was edged with more than a little
hysteria.  “Oh yes, pet names, hahaha.”  Dominique scrutinized the two of them
for a moment, her mouth tightening in suspicion.  Wilson seemed oblivious, but Nina
could tell Dominique’s womanly intuition had alarm bells going off.  
           Daniel checked
his Rolex, “Oh Nina, look at the time, we should get you home so you can start
packing bright and early for our trip to India.”  Nina looked like a
deer in headlights as she nodded her head up and down a little too vigorously. 
Daniel pulled her chair back, and it was all she could do to not run screaming
from the room.  She said a silent prayer that Daniel wouldn’t tell Elsa that
she’d almost blown it.
           Getting a
grip on herself, Nina nodded politely at the DeVeres as she stood.  “Thank you
so much for the lovely evening, it was such a pleasure getting to know you. Daniel…” she over articulated his first name, “has been so kind and now I know that
he takes after his parents.”   Nina thought she did a credible job of exiting
on a more normal note, but she could tell by the tightness of Daniel’s grasp on
her hand that he wasn’t pleased.
           As soon
as the door to the private dining room closed, Daniel dragged Nina by the hand
across the restaurant to a corner to face off.  “Mr. DeVere?  Are you insane?  Do
you have a brain underneath all that hair?”
           Nina got
defensive and her tone was sassy, “Do you think you could have warned me about India?”
           “What’s
wrong with India?  Elephants, Taj Mahal, emeralds the size of…duck eggs?  It’s
very romantic!”