"Maybe later."
"No, right now," Zia said as she pulled his hand and started walking to one of their private gazebos. “You need to tell me what is going on.”
Nick spent the next hour telling Zia how he met Sara and how he had sent her the diamond necklace.
"So she doesn't know the necklace and invitation are from the same guy in the café?”
"No."
"How do you suppose you'll connect with her today? Walk up to her and lay on the charm?”
"That's what I've always done."
"And it's worked for those sluts you've dated. This one sounds like a tough nut to crack. Wouldn't be surprised if she were a virgin."
Nick blushed at the thought of a virgin mate. Could Sara really be a virgin? Rob, his private investigator, hadn't mentioned that in his report, which was good. That would have been creepy.
Zia looked at him and started laughing. "You know what virgins are, right? I know you've never seen one."
Nick playfully smacked her hand. "Are you saying you're a slut?"
"Hey there, brother, watch your mouth," Zia said and looked around to make sure no one was looking at them. “Or I’ll take your virgin bride off the list.”
Nick looked at his sister and laughed. "You better not mess with her.”
"I take it Ms. Nolles will not be donating ten million at this event."
"Highly unlikely,” Nick said.
"You will be making a donation for her." It wasn't a question. It was a fact. Nick nodded. "That's coming out of your pocket money, Nick Saunders, not the company’s."
"Of course," Nick said. He wouldn’t have it any other way. He had already planned to make a donation on Sara’s behalf, except he hadn’t yet figured out how he could do it without embarrassing her.
"She better be one good piece of ass! Ten-million-dollar ass. And if she’s a skinny bitch, I swear, I'll disown you." Zia left her brother and went back to the party planning.
Nick smiled. From what he remembered of Sara, she was far from bony. Nick had always wanted a woman with extra meat, and Sara was curvy all right. He smiled at his sister, who had moved on to throwing out commands at the staff. He almost wanted to tell Zia to take a break and let the party planner they had hired take care of things, but he changed his mind when he saw the young woman who looked like she was straight out of college standing in the corner, shaking and probably wondering why she had been hired as a planner in the first place.
SARA
A few hours later, I felt like a princess. My black hair was pinned up with a couple of loose curls purposefully escaping the sides. My nails had been painted, and Amy was doing my makeup much better than I expected. Initially, she had hired a makeup artist, but I had convinced her to cancel the appointment and make me up herself. Amy was good at it, and since she knew me better than anyone else, I knew she would do an amazing job of making me feel pretty.
"Done," she said as she stepped aside to admire her work.
"How do I look?" I asked, smacking my lips and tasting the strawberry-flavored lip liner she had used on my lips.
"Don't mess up your lipstick!" I smacked my lips again and made a face at her. "Gosh, sometimes I wonder if you're really an adult." I could see a faint smile on her lips.
I got up and walked to my dresser mirror. My eyes popped as I looked at myself. My hair, usually untamable, was sitting perfectly on top of my head, curls cascading down to the side in a controlled but sexy way. My lips were a deep shade of red, a color I'd never have used on myself. My glasses were gone, and in their place were my neutral contacts, which brought out my hazel eye color. Amy had accentuated my eyes with mascara and eye liner, making them bigger than I remembered.
I liked the way I looked. My makeup looked natural, almost invisible, yet it hid the few blemishes on my skin. I twirled around like a little girl admiring myself.
“Nice,” I said, hugging my best friend for life.
“I told you you’d look great,” she said, smiling at me.
I spun around a couple more times, laughing. Placing my hands on my hips, I smoothed the dress around my waist and over my abdomen. The redness of the dress complemented me. The only problem I had with the dress was that it was too revealing around my neckline. I tried to pull the top up so my boobs were better hidden, but to no avail. The neckline was cut too low. I pulled a couple more times until Amy noticed what I was doing and scowled at me.