good would be an understatement of extreme proportions.

He wasn't looking at us, instead focusing his attention on the phone in his hand. Even so, I could see how gorgeous he looked in a suit, it sculpting his figure, tightened in all the right places to draw the eye to his toned physique. And by god, was my eye drawn. I struggled to stop staring at his slightly bulging biceps and long, elegant legs.

I noticed now that his suit and my dress complimented one another, perfectly. There would be no doubt that we were together.

He finally looked up.

Blue eyes swept over Autumn, giving her a curt nod, and then, almost painfully slowly, to me. They halted completely when they did finally land on me and, like it was all he could do, his gaze travelled from my face all the way down to the shoes I'd borrowed from his sister. He stood a little straighter and gave another nod, one that I could only assume was one of approval, to Autumn. She grinned in satisfaction and graced past him.

I forced myself to maintain eye contact with Archer, despite being wildly intimidated and... turned on. Those thoughts were promptly forced into a box in the back of my mind and locked firmly. We were not journeying down that route anytime soon, or ever.

He motioned for me to go to him. I did so, hesitantly taking ahold of the arm he offered. I was several inches taller than normal, yet he still managed to tower over me. Even so, it felt as if I was the perfect height to him now, my head coming to about his neck.

We took a more private path to get to his awaiting car, managing because of this to avoid prying eyes. Bill stood by the side of it, broad and sky scraper-like as ever, but smiled slightly when he saw the pair of us.

Noah also hovered by the car, but another car was waiting not far off, so I assumed he wouldn't be riding with us. He wiggled his eyebrows when he saw me and Archer coming, my hand still secured around his arm. I imagined the boy beside me just roll his eyes.

"Take Autumn with you," he said, holding the door open for me to get in. I did so, watching in amusement as Autumn huffed exaggeratedly, but followed Noah to his car. Instead of letting him do the same as Archer had for me, Autumn opened the door herself and slumped in the passenger seat.

"Do they not like each other much?" I asked Archer, again directing my attention to the pair as I saw Autumn roll her eyes, even with only the car's interior light to illuminate her face. He didn't answer, engrossed in whatever was on his phone.

I tried once more to try conversing, but was ignored once again, so gave up. I stared out of the window as we drove, feeling my annoyance for the billionaire boy resurface.

This was going to be a long night.

***

"We'll be 'bout five minutes," I heard Bill say, the first time the silence had been broken since I'd given up with conversation.

Still with his eyes glued to his phone, Archer asked, "Favourite colour?"

Shocked, I turned away from the window and to him. "What?"

Still without looking up, he continued.

"We need to know at least something about each other. My favourite colour's red, I don't like sushi, I listen primarily to Post Malone, and I play golf."

"Of course you do," I muttered. Upon realising he was serious about this, I said, "My favourite colour's burghundy, I don't like sushi either but I love lasagna, and my favourite song's 'Where's my Love' by SYML."

It felt oddly personal and wrong to tell him these sorts of things, like getting to know him in any way would lead, ultimately, to something disastrous.

"How do you have want to have met?"

"I don't know," I sighed, watching the streetlights flicker across his face every few seconds. "School, I guess." He nodded.

"'Bout two minutes," Bill alerted us again.

"Rules: don't talk to anyone by yourself, always be with either me, Autumn or Noah, and please for god's sake, don't embarrass yourself or me."

"No problem, boss," I retorted with an eye roll.

Not long after, we were pulling up to an enormous building, already surrounded by men and women armed with cameras and small microphones. Even the building itself seemed teeming with people, finely dressed figures wading through the people and through the grand doors.

As soon as we did come to a stop, those awaiting were on high alert. They must have recognised the car, for even before Archer stepped a foot onto the pavement, they were yelling his name, calling for him to look this way and that. He travelled round to my door, ignoring their calls, and opened it for me. Once again, he offered me an arm. I took it, though begrudgingly.

Now that I was stood up to my full height, my heels and dress making it difficult to stand let alone walk, I was thankful for being able to discreetly lean on Archer, using him to both support and balance myself.

Bill was out of the car, using his firm build to disperse the crowd so that we had a clear walk to the doors. I tried not to look directly at the cameras, but even so, was still blinded by the unrelenting flashes from every direction.

Aware of the cameras, Archer placed his hand on my lower back, but even so, it aided as a reassurance that I wasn't alone in a sea of piranhas and guided me in the right direction, too.

We'd stepped into a corridor, lavishly decorated in a deep red carpet and a chandelier above, dispersing a golden glow to everything it touched. Archer kept his hand on me, and I could feel the warmth of him penetrating the dress and onto my skin. I untensed slightly, not entirely sure how he would have such an effect on me. I didn't dwell on it, though.

Further we went, until we reached a large ball room, in which tables were set with enough room for people to manoeuvre around to go to the bar in the corner to get drinks. Many were milling around and chatting to those nearby, others preferred to sit and mutter to one another.

It wasn't long before we were noticed.

The way in which every eye seemed to angle towards us, some more obviously than others, felt just as bad as having those cameras picking out every imperfection. Worse, even.

I caught sight of Autumn speaking to a maybe fifty year old woman, hair a rich auburn and swept into a bun, wearing an all black suit. She spoke quietly to her, peering over her shoulder to us, and back, likely questioning who the hell I was. Autumn replied just as quietly, but the woman didn't seem all that convinced.

Noah wasn't far off from them. His dark hair and height was easily distinguishable among the greying heads of those around us. He stood by the bar, and upon realising the general consensus of where to look, he turned to look at us... and gave a reassuring smile. I returned it, feeling self conscious as nobody seemed to grow bored of staring.

Archer gave my back a small push, urging me to continue walking. I did, heading to where he guided. He made no attempt to speak to anyone and instead, we ended up by ourselves in a corner.

"Archer, my lad," a man said, bumping his shoulder into Archer's. If Archer has been attempting to deter people from coming over to us, it clearly hadn't been so effective. The man seemed friendly enough, smiling politely at us both. "So, who's this?"

Archer put a hand in his pocket, the other around my waist to pull me to him. "This is Jolie, my girlfriend."

"Ah the infamous girlfriend he'd the press about!" He laughed, holding his hand out for me to shake. "Nice to meet you, love."

"Likewise," I replied.

"A looker, i'nt she?" The man commented to Archer. "Aren't you gon' introduce us?"

"Jolie, this is Darren Shawbrook. We used to do business together. He started and owned Shawbrook bank."

"Let me tell ya, this guy his unforgiving at business. Stubborn, too. But you probably al'eady know that by now, ey?"

"I'm aware of it, yes," I laughed, lightly, not quite sure what approach to take. "It's not great when we disagree on where to go to dinner."

He laughed, hand splayed on his slightly protruding belly. "Come on, man, let's go get you and your missus a drink. She'll need it, havin' to be around you all night."

"Especially with you cracking the same joke twenty times a night," Archer retorted, good naturedly. "Nobody can handle that sober."

Darren slapped him on the back as he laughed, head back and eyes creasing deeply at the edges. He made for the bar.

Archer followed suit, but muttered a quick, "Stay here. Don't speak to anyone," before going. He watched me for a moment, before turning back to Darren, making him roar in laughter.

As if whatever was controlling my fate wanted me to be on Archer's bad side, the woman who I'd seen speaking to Autumn moments before, graced towards me.

"Hello," she greeted, not seeming particularly happy to be doing so. "I'm Genevieve Redwood, Archer's mother. And you are?"

Shit.