"He asked you to use this credit card, just like that?" Megan asked, still dumbfounded at the whole thing. I was too when Ryder had randomly suggested I use his personal credit card instead of the company given one right before I walked out of his office, after agreeing to accompany him to the fundraising gala.

"Yes." I said for the tenth time, looking around as people went about their business not paying each other any mind.

"And he didn't specify how much you should spend?" She asked slowly to clarify for the nth time, her eyes squinted as if my reply was going to change.

"Yes, Meg. Now can you please help me find something to wear tonight that will not embarrass him," I said exasperatedly.

She hugged me tight, the action so out of the blue that all I could do was pat her back slowly as she pressed a slobbery kiss to my cheek. "Thank you so much for asking me to come with you. Your boss won't know what hit him when he gets debited." She beamed before walking into the Louis Vuitton store we had been standing in front of for several minutes.

My eyes widened. "No, Megan, no. That's his personal credit card, I can't go too crazy on his money." I followed her, my words seeming to go in one ear and fly out straight through the other.

She waved her hand at me, an wide grin on her face as she started perusing the clothes on the several racks. "Oh, relax, it's not like he'll notice anyway. Do you not know how much that man is worth? Billions, Nic, billions."

I knew that fact all too well, however I still didn't feel comfortable spending someone else's money recklessly.

"Now quit stressing and come let's buy you something expensive and very revealing." She wiggled her brows and I couldn't help but laugh at my ever infuriating friend, allowing her pull me along.

"It's a work dinner so I can't wear something too revealing." I tried to remind her but Megan paid me no mind as she continued filtering through the clothes.

"Hello, welcome to Louis Vuitton. Are you searching for anything specific?" An attendant approached us. She was dressed in a charcoal black suit, her hair in a tight looking bun atop her head and a polite smile in her face.

"Hi, we are looking for evening dresses. Preferably something that shows a lot of skin." Megan said and I nudged her side but she ignored me, smiling at the attendant who gave us a look of amusement at her request.

"I know just the ones, come with me." She led us to a different set of clothing racks with floor length dresses. "Here you go. Will you like some champagne while you search?"

"Yes." "No." We said simultaneously.

I turned to Megan with wide eyes. "No."

It was bad enough that we were about to buy clothes that I couldn't afford on a regular day. Releasing a disappointed sigh, she caved. The attendant left and I turned to the rack to begin looking through some clothes, fingering some materials. A particular outfit caught my eye, until the price tag had me gaping in shock.

"Holy fuck, Megan." I showed her the tag and her eyes widened.

"Holy fuck is right. If I'm buying a dress like this with my money I'm wearing it everywhere. To work, to the club, to church, to take a fucking shit..." I burst into laughter. She grinned, waving the black Amex card in the air. "But thankfully—bless you, Ryder Stone— we aren't buying this with our money, so we can still get a good rest at night."

"This is cute though." I said pulling out the dress. It was a cherry red off shoulder dress with the shoulders slanted and the end of the dress cut diagonally.

"For a funeral. You can wear that with a fascinator and all and you'd probably be mistaken for Kate Middleton." She said as she collected the dress from me and hung it back.

"I don't think the royals are allowed to wear such bright colors," I said but she she was already pulling out another dress for me to try on.

And so it went on. Megan would pick something she thought would look good on me and dump it in my arms. That was how I ended up not being able feel my hands anymore as she kept adding even after the pile had reached it's limit.

"Now go try them on. I'll be here, waiting." Megan said, gesturing to the dressing room.

The first dress I wore wasn't half bad, a white long gown with a deep v neck, a free, flowy skirt and spacious arms. I thought I looked nice so with I smile, I stepped out to find Megan sipping on a glass of champagne. I shook my head at her, before modeling the dress. "What do you think?"

"This is nice...for a pregnant woman. Next."

By the time we were on the sixth dress, I was beyond exhausted. I never understood the fun in shopping and at this point I was ready to leave. It was no help that Megan didn't like any of them, and honestly, for the most part, neither did I. They were either too tight, too low backed, too lose or too boring. The sixth dress was a lot more promising than its predecessors. It was a long fitted black dress with a back opened halfway and black ruffled fur around the top which had no shoulders. When I wore it, I felt oddly expensive and the slit on the left which ran up my leg made me feel sexy, womanly.

"Wow. This is the dress! We have to get this, Nicki." Megan said enthusiastically. Her excitement only reminded me of when I was shopping for my wedding dress with her, Hailey, Beth (Megan's mom), and Darlene (Knox's mother). Of course Darlene disliked everything I had tried on, but the rest were all in tears when I came out with the final dress that I had ended up walking down the aisle with.

"I feel so beautiful in it." I said, staring at my reflection in the long mirror placed at the corner of the room.

"As you should. You look amazing." Megan enthused still.

We ended up buying the dress—with me shutting my eyes while paying the bill— before heading on to a shoe store (Jimmy Choo, Megan insisted) where we had then gotten a matching pair of shoes for the dress, and one for her as well.

After all that shopping, we were both exhausted so we headed over to a restaurant nearby, not wanting to splurge any more money on the expensive food in that area.

"I thought Hailey was joining us?" Megan asked as she dug into her chicken wings.

I picked at my fries, thinking back to the conversation I'd had with Hailey earlier today. "She said she was working today. But you and I both know that she doesn't have the Friday afternoon shift."

"Hmm," Megan hummed lowly, scrunching up her face as she looked to be in thought. "She's been acting a bit strange lately."

"Really? I thought I was the only one who noticed."

Megan shook her head. "I don't want to read any meaning into things, but she does seem more on edge than usual. Do you think it's Damien? Maybe he's threatening her job if she doesn't fuck him." She said loudly, earning us a glare from an elderly couple who were conveniently walking past in that moment.

After being friends with Megan for so many years, I think I've finally gotten used to her abrupt crudity so I wasn't as phased. "I don't think so. Damien seems too sweet for that."

With a shrug, she said, "You never really know. It's usually the nicest ones. He could be into BDSM, all that hardcore shit, and we wouldn't ever suspect it." As if she had a lightbulb moment, Megan snapped her fingers. "Maybe he even likes being spanked during sex and not doing the spanking."

"TMI, Megan!" I laughed.

She simply shrugged her shoulders, grinning bashfully.

— — —

Getting my hair into perfect, bouncy curls would have taken forever and after already wasting so much time on my makeup, I didn't have much to spare so I decided to make my hair bone straight and allow it fall down my back.

The dress was a perfect fit and paired with the silver Jimmy Choo heels, I felt good. I wore a pair of blue hoop earrings that Knox got me last Christmas, it brought out my eyes just right, and to finish the look, I went with my silver clutch which I had gotten myself earlier this year.

Knox, who was in the living room playing video games with his buddy, Brandon, let out a wolf whistle when I walked into the living room.

"Damn, babe. You look absolutely gorgeous." He smiled, his eyes taking me in appreciatively. I felt even more beautiful when he took my hand and spun me around. Releasing a laugh, he pulled me into a hug. "You look stunning." He cooed softly in my ear causing my skin to erupt in goosebumps.

"Thank you, babe. I need to go now, but I have something for you when I get home." I told him with a wink.

"Oh, you do, huh?"

"Mhm." With a small chuckle I pulled away from him and headed to the door. "Bye, Bran."

"See you later." I heard him said right before the door shut closed behind me.

A limo that looked entirely too out of place to be in front of my humble apartment building was settled on the curb. I half expected to ride alone to the event, half hoped that I would, but when Mikhal stepped out to open the door for me, I knew I wouldn't be alone. The knowledge caused my heart to beat faster in my chest, my chest constricting at the thought of being in a confined space with Ryder once more.

"Thanks, Mikhal." I said with a watery smile as I moved to slip into the car.

He gave me a curt nod, remaining silent. Actually, I don't think I've ever heard the man's voice before. He spoke very little, if at all, but was highly efficient as he played the roll of chauffeur and bodyguard to Ryder.

Ryder was seated opposite me, and it felt like all the air was sucked out of my lungs as I slowly took him in dressed in a sharp black tuxedo. He wasn't even trying, yet he looked effortlessly sexy and I couldn't deprive my eyes of the exquisite pleasure of taking him in.

It seemed like I wasn't the only one who felt this way as his eyes roamed over my gestures hungrily, his heated gaze lingering on my exposed leg for a long moment.

Clearing his throat, he looked like he was trying to get his bearing when he said, "You look stunning, Nicole."

"Thank you, Mr Stone. You don't look so bad yourself." I said with a small smile.

"Ryder," his voice was gruff as he said his name. "Call me Ryder. No more of that Mr Stone shit. That's my father."

You didn't seem to mind before, I almost blurted out but I stopped myself. "Ryder, got it." I liked the way his name rolled off my tongue so I didn't mind.

His eyes gleamed when I said his name, seeming to like hearing it almost as much as I liked saying it.

"I never really checked what the event was about, what are they raising funds for?" I asked Ryder, genuinely curious.

"For building pipelines in third world counties and helping to make water easily accessible to people. The events are pretty standard, you go, donate a shit ton of money and eat expensive food while most people there act like they actually care about the cause and not the amount that makes them look good." He said bluntly.

"Sounds like you despise that sort of stuff." I said with a tilt of my head.

"Going to boring events where I'd have to be polite to people I'd much rather not converse with? My ideal Saturday night." His voice dropped with sarcasm causing me to laugh softly. Ryder grinned, his full, pale pink lips doing something to me.

"So, why do you go? You could always just write a check."

"I do that most times. But the hosts of this event personally invited me, and they are people who I admire. I figured I could make the sacrifice and show up for one night. It's worth it to see you in that dress." He said as he eyed my figure once more.

His words caused my breath to get caught in my throat. I wasn't expecting that but as I was coming to find out, Ryder was full of surprises tonight.

Blushing furiously, in an effort to avoid looking at him, I dug into my clutch and pulled out the black American Express card that seemed to be searing a hole in the small purse. "Before I forget, here you go." I reached across and handed him the card which he slowly collected from my hand, his finger brushing against mine albeit briefly, but long enough to make my body jolt with awareness.

"I hope I didn't go overboard. My best friend was a little too excited." I told him in low voice.

"Your friend?" He arched a brow.

"Megan. She said to thank you for her new pair of Jimmy Choo's."

Ryder laughed, a throaty laughter that seemed to resonate from deep within. I had never known a laugh could be so sexy until I heard the sound.

"Tell her I said she's welcome." He said with an amused grin on his lips.

The rest of the ride was silent, a comfortable silence that I didn't feel a need to fill in with any conversation. Occasionally, between looking outside the window, I would turn to Ryder only to find his unwavering gaze already settled on me. The intensity was one I avoided feeling so I would quickly look away, but even that didn't last for long as I felt a magnetic pull whenever I was in the presence of the man. It was almost as if I couldn't place my attention elsewhere even if I tried.

And him looking as good as he did in that tux did nothing to help.

Soon, we were pulling into the underground parking lot of the Four Seasons Hotel.

"Why are we here?" I asked, confused as I took in the lit up lot.

"I try to avoid the press if I can help it." Was Ryder's simple response. I understood what he meant. Although he was a public figure, I had come to discover early on that the public wasn't privy to a vast majority of his life, even his business, to an extent.

Mikhal pulled open the door to the limo and Ryder stepped out first, before stretching in a hand for me. I took his hand, eager for the skin on skin contact with him, however I wasn't prepared for the electrifying feeling.

My eye lowered to our enjoined hands, wondering if he felt what I felt. But the guarded look on Ryder's face indicated otherwise. Not allowing myself to dwell on it unnecessarily—because that would only lead to me reading meaning into where there was none—I stepped out of the car.

When he pulled away after I was situated firmly on ground, I almost let out a sigh of disappointment. However, the moment didn't last for long as he settled his palm on my bare back, that same surreal feeling rearing it's beautiful head once more as Ryder led us to the event.
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