The Billionaire Who Stole My Heart

Chapter Nine

"What?" I asked, knowing already that Jacob had sent me a photo of the dress followed by a 'yes or no for Beth?'

"This gorgeous Versace dress! It had this beautiful ribbon corset! Did I mention it was vintage?"

I couldn't help but smile at Beth. She loved vintage designs and fashion. Ever since we were kids, she would wander and dream about the amazing, iconic costumes.

As she carried on with her story, I couldn't help but imagine the first time Jacob had told me his plan.

Sitting at the bar of 'The Lounge', I was still deciding which of the five listed buildings would be suitable for the gallery and a place to live. Beth had gone to the bathroom and Jacob was behind the bar stocking up on the drinks and wiping the glasses ready for tonight.

"I know how I'm going to propose to her," Jacob said out of the blue.

I looked up from the piece of paper I was reading.

"What?" I said, confused.

"She comes back to our place-"

"Hang on, what are you talking-"

"Shh!" Jacob's sudden hush taken me aback. I looked up at him waiting to hear the rest of his plan.

"So, she's at the front of the house and in a bag, there's a vintage designer dress. After she gets changed, there'll be a cab that takes her to the club. As she walks down the steps, there'll be a trail of rose petals leading her to the table where we had our first date. She takes a seat, and the music begins to play. The band start to sing 'Everlasting Love' because that's the song that played when I first kissed her. As the song ends, I go up to her table. I give her a bouquet of white roses because they are her absolute favourite. I get down on one knee and tell her all the reasons I love her. Her laugh, her eyes, the way she's shorter than me. How she's so strong and determined. And then, I ask her those 4 words and hope she says yes. God, I hope she says yes."

As he finished uttering his words, I could tell how much Jacob was in love with Beth. He was hopelessly, incandescently, completely in love with her. As the sound of footsteps filled the air, the both of us resumed what we were doing before. Beth carried on looking through the property listings as if nothing had happened during the time she had gone. I looked up at Jacob, who was glancing over at the woman he had fallen in love with.

"So, do you think you could come over soon?" Beth asked. I suddenly zoned back to the present.

"Yeah, sure," I quickly replied. Beth said a few more things before I could hear her trying to stifle a giggle and Jacob mutter a few words I was glad not to hear. Saying goodbye, I ended the phone call and jumped off of the studio table. I walked round to the gallery, letting out a shallow breath. I could see Dorian on the other side of the gallery. As he stood talking on the phone, I couldn't help but stare at him. He was smiling and shaking his head as he carried on with his conversation. My eyes wandered over him, taking in his appearance for the first time. He stood quite tall. It made me wonder how tall he was. He must have been just over six feet... right? His hair had a slight wave to it I had never noticed before. Maybe that was my doing from earlier on. I could feel the heat in my neck rises trying to distract myself from the recent memory. But I couldn't help it as I noticed the way his shirt clung to his arms - it had me biting my lip. He turned round to face me and I could still see some buttons undone. Oh, those damn buttons. I sucked in a sharp breath and noticed his eyes darken. He carried on looking at me as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone. I wondered if he was paying attention to them or to me. He sat done on the mahogany bench in the middle of the gallery. His eyes were still on me as I leaned against the empty spaced wall. The only thing cooling me down was the harsh, icy walls on the back of my legs. Muttering a goodbye, he took the phone away from his ear and placed it in the small space between his leg and the end of the bench. As he leaned back with a devilish smile, I took in his bare sin that was on show. I couldn't help but think to myself how much I wanted to draw him in this moment.