Top Love: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Young Adult Stepbrother and Billionaire Romance Stories) by Ellen Lane, Taylor Young
Authors: Ellen Lane, Taylor Young
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It was more like the sort of smile women share when they know something monumental has happened. It was a you go girl smile if Lauren had ever seen one.
The bartender served the martini and then set to changing out one of the kegs. Lauren sipped from the martini, unable to believe how unbearable the waiting was. She wondered if he was doing this on purpose, letting her stew over the fact that she was going to be having lunch with a man that made more money last year than she would probably make in her lifetime.
She was nearly done with her martini when a hand fell on her shoulder from behind. She nearly yelped out in surprise, the martini glass tilting in her hand. She turned to see Riley standing there, his face no more than a foot away from her own. She wanted to lean away, feeling that she was being imposed upon somehow. But she held her ground and focused on the feel of his hand on her shoulder.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “My morning meeting ran ridiculously late.”
“It’s okay,” she said, nodding towards the drink. “This was worth the wait.”
“Good,” he said. “Go ahead and order another. We’ve got some talking to do, I think.”
She pondered this for a moment and before she could decide, Riley raised his hand to signal the bartender over. “Another drink for my friend, please. And a vodka tonic for me.”
“Yes sir,” the bartender said, his tone indicating that he was well aware of who he was serving.
“Shall we?” Riley asked, gesturing towards one of the booths along the side of the bar area.
“Sure,” Lauren said, the nerves once again creeping up.
Still, as nervous as she was, she noticed that he never took his hand away from her shoulder when they moved from the bar to the booth. Then suddenly, they were sitting down, facing one another. He was smiling at her, her heart was hammering in her chest, and she realized a very sickening thing.
Oh my God, she thought. I’ve gotten myself into some major trouble here.
***********************************************************
Chapter 2: The Dinner Date
Once, when she had been fourteen, Lauren had thought she’d have an easy path ahead of her. It would be a path that led her towards finding love easily, towards success in her career, and just about anything else life had waiting for her. At fourteen, she’d been slightly less than average when it came to weight and she had a good three inches on just about every other girl in her class. More than that, her boobs had started to develop almost an entire year before any of her friends and the attention she’d gotten from the boys in their grade had helped her coast through her freshman year of college.
When her senior year had come, she’d out on a little bit of weight, but it hadn’t been enough to get alarmed about. She’d spent a lot of time dating, which meant she ate out a lot. She’d also stopped playing any kind of sport, deciding to instead focus on her grades. It wasn’t so much the little bit of extra weight that had caused her love life to suffer, but because she wasn’t as easy or as desperate for attention as her friends were.
While the majority of her friends had spent their junior and senior years of high school getting laid (two had even gone the scandalous route and had gotten pregnant), Lauren had kept her head in books. She’d dated two guys during that time, eventually surrendering her virginity to a boy named Luke Bornson while his parents were out of town.
For reasons she could not understand, it was Luke Bornson she thought of while she sat down at a table with Riley Thomson. She wondered what Luke was up to these days. The last time she’d checked (well, let’s be honest…the last time she had spied) on him on Facebook, he was the assistant manager at a graphic design start-up. She’d felt ashamed because here she was, not even quite the assistant manager at a mom and pop shoe store that had declined in annual income brought in over the
The bartender served the martini and then set to changing out one of the kegs. Lauren sipped from the martini, unable to believe how unbearable the waiting was. She wondered if he was doing this on purpose, letting her stew over the fact that she was going to be having lunch with a man that made more money last year than she would probably make in her lifetime.
She was nearly done with her martini when a hand fell on her shoulder from behind. She nearly yelped out in surprise, the martini glass tilting in her hand. She turned to see Riley standing there, his face no more than a foot away from her own. She wanted to lean away, feeling that she was being imposed upon somehow. But she held her ground and focused on the feel of his hand on her shoulder.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “My morning meeting ran ridiculously late.”
“It’s okay,” she said, nodding towards the drink. “This was worth the wait.”
“Good,” he said. “Go ahead and order another. We’ve got some talking to do, I think.”
She pondered this for a moment and before she could decide, Riley raised his hand to signal the bartender over. “Another drink for my friend, please. And a vodka tonic for me.”
“Yes sir,” the bartender said, his tone indicating that he was well aware of who he was serving.
“Shall we?” Riley asked, gesturing towards one of the booths along the side of the bar area.
“Sure,” Lauren said, the nerves once again creeping up.
Still, as nervous as she was, she noticed that he never took his hand away from her shoulder when they moved from the bar to the booth. Then suddenly, they were sitting down, facing one another. He was smiling at her, her heart was hammering in her chest, and she realized a very sickening thing.
Oh my God, she thought. I’ve gotten myself into some major trouble here.
***********************************************************
Chapter 2: The Dinner Date
Once, when she had been fourteen, Lauren had thought she’d have an easy path ahead of her. It would be a path that led her towards finding love easily, towards success in her career, and just about anything else life had waiting for her. At fourteen, she’d been slightly less than average when it came to weight and she had a good three inches on just about every other girl in her class. More than that, her boobs had started to develop almost an entire year before any of her friends and the attention she’d gotten from the boys in their grade had helped her coast through her freshman year of college.
When her senior year had come, she’d out on a little bit of weight, but it hadn’t been enough to get alarmed about. She’d spent a lot of time dating, which meant she ate out a lot. She’d also stopped playing any kind of sport, deciding to instead focus on her grades. It wasn’t so much the little bit of extra weight that had caused her love life to suffer, but because she wasn’t as easy or as desperate for attention as her friends were.
While the majority of her friends had spent their junior and senior years of high school getting laid (two had even gone the scandalous route and had gotten pregnant), Lauren had kept her head in books. She’d dated two guys during that time, eventually surrendering her virginity to a boy named Luke Bornson while his parents were out of town.
For reasons she could not understand, it was Luke Bornson she thought of while she sat down at a table with Riley Thomson. She wondered what Luke was up to these days. The last time she’d checked (well, let’s be honest…the last time she had spied) on him on Facebook, he was the assistant manager at a graphic design start-up. She’d felt ashamed because here she was, not even quite the assistant manager at a mom and pop shoe store that had declined in annual income brought in over the
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