The Billionaire’s Fake Fiancée (A Small Town Billionaire Brothers Book 4) Page 6

  “Ben told Joey you work in marketing?”

  “Yes. At one of the biggest firms in Cherry Falls, but I worked for them in a different location before this one. But I love this city. I guess that’s why I’m so desperate to get promoted here. I’d hate to have to move for my career now that I’ve gotten attached to this place.”

  Angel grinned and cut her eyes over to me. “How did the fiancé story go over? Olivia didn’t rat you guys out, did she?”

  “No, thank goodness,” Kate blushed. “I know you guys must think I’m nuts for getting myself into this mess. I swear I normally never lie. And hopefully I won’t have to for too much longer. They all seem to be convinced that Ben and I are really engaged and that Olivia is his kid. So now I just work on my pitch for the clients and keep my fingers crossed! I’ll make up some story about things not working out between Ben and I after I see what happens with the promotion.”

  “You’ve got some balls, girls.” Angel clinked her bottle to Kate’s. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled sweetly. “Ben was a real lifesaver. And you two for letting us borrow Olivia. I know this all makes me look like a lunatic.”

  “We’ve pulled off some pretty crazy stunts in our line of work,” Joey noted. “Did Ben tell you about the time he learned Japanese because he thought it would impress these clients we were trying to sign a deal with? Then they show up to the big dinner, and it turns out they spoke Mandarin! So he actually ended up insulting them rather than winning them over!”

  “Ugh,” I groaned. “I spent weeks just trying to learn enough for basic conversation and a good greeting. They were pissed when they showed up and I started speaking Mandarin.”

  My eyes lit up at Kate and her beautiful laugh. But our plates were empty, and I knew I’d have to take her home soon. I racked my brain for what I could do. I could always just ask her out … but she was probably too skeptical of me to say yes. She did make it pretty clear she hated me after she found out I wasn’t who she thought I was.

  Despite my growing dread about the day with her ending, I tried to put on a happy face and enjoy seeing her with my friends while I could. I kept waiting for any sign from her that she might be interested in seeing me again, but I was used to avoiding things like that. Not encouraging them. It was hopeless.

  I couldn’t resist cornering Angel in the kitchen while Joey showed Kate their backyard and patio. I needed advice. A woman’s advice.

  “Do you think she likes me? If I asked her out … you know, for real. Do you think she’d say yes?” I asked her, watching Kate and Joey through the window.

  “Uh-uh. No sir. Joey already caught me up to speed on everything, and I’m not going to hold your hand through this, Mr. Commitment-phobe,” she scolded. “For one thing, she seems like a really cool person. So I don’t want to encourage you if you’re just going to break her heart. She doesn’t need that with everything she’s trying to accomplish at work. And two … part of being in a relationship is learning how to communicate. If you can’t even ask the girl out, for real, then I hate to break it to you … but you’re not ready for the big leagues.”

  “Thanks,” I grumbled. “That helps a lot.”

  She joined me at my side and stared out at the two of them talking. “You’re going to have to face your fears sooner or later, Ben. That girl that broke your heart in college happened years and years ago. You can’t use that as an excuse forever.”

  9

  Kate

  Joey and Angel’s backyard was an oasis for hanging out with all of its screened-in spots, complete with fireplaces and mini-bars. There was a beautiful garden surrounding it with twinkling lights and hanging plants tucked into every corner.

  “This is amazing,” I sighed, basking in how cozy it all felt.

  “Sometimes we like it better out here than in the house,” he quipped. “We keep telling Ben to buy a house so he can enjoy things like this.”

  “Oh! He doesn’t own a home? I guess I just assumed he had a big gorgeous place like this,” I remarked.

  He laughed and shook his head. “That guy is so scared of commitment that even mortgages scare him. He takes up one of the penthouse suites in a building he owns. Which is funny, because he was the first one out of all of us to buy a house back in the day.”

  “Really? What happened?”

  “Yeah, back in New York,” he nodded. “He met this chick in business school that he wanted to marry. But she wasn’t serious about him. We all knew it. I think Ben knew it too, deep down. She was a total player. Just messing with him. But he convinced himself that they would get married right after college. He bought a house and invited her to move in with him.”

  “I take it that didn’t work out,” I said.

  Joey clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Oh, she moved in with him alright. Only so he could come home and find her in their bed with some other guy a month later. Poor guy had a ring picked out and everything. He was going to propose when they celebrated graduation. While we were all out trying to make the most of our younger years, he was trying to settle down and start a family. He hasn’t been the same since. Now the tables have turned completely. We’re all married with kids, and he’s still clinging to this idea of being a bachelor for forever.”

  “The one who got played became the player,” I nodded in understanding.

  “Exactly. Anyway, he told me how you two met. Sorry you got roped in with him thinking you’d actually be dating. He’d never say it, but he probably liked you too much. That’s really why he was planning on never calling you back.”

  “Well, I certainly roped him into a lot more than that with this whole mess,” I laughed. “I’m sure Ben will meet a nice girl who’s willing to convert him to the cause of love.”

  Joey turned for the door and replied, “He meets those girls all the time. That’s the trick. He needs someone who isn’t trying to convert him at all. It has to sneak up on him until he’s in too deep to run from it.”

  He went back inside before I could respond. I stood on the patio a while longer, thinking over all of this new information on Ben. Why did I get the feeling Joey was trying to challenge me to be the one Ben accidentally fell in love with? Oh well, I thought. He could think whatever he wanted to, but that whole game wasn’t for me.

  When I got married, I wanted it to be with a guy who knew what he wanted. Who was ready to settle down without dragging his feet the whole way. And I wanted to feel ready to be the same way. Kind of like how I thought Ben was when I first met him, and how I felt around him. Not scared or nervous...just comfortable and excited for what was to come.

  Though I guess I got a little too comfortable when I took the liberty of lying about him to my boss.

  I shrugged it all off and joined the others again. Olivia woke up and roped us all into playing with her a little more, and then we said goodbye.

  “I like your friends,” I told Ben as he drove me home. “They’re not what I expected.”

  His head bobbed with a little laugh. “What did you expect?”

  “Guys who were more like you. Flaunting all their money and going out all the time, leaving their poor wives alone with the kids. I guess it’s actually kind of surprising you have so many friends with families … if I’m being honest.”

  “You think I’d dump my friends and get new ones just because they started families?” he asked. “No way. The whole gang has been together since we were kids. I could never replace them. It’s a shame you didn’t get a chance to meet the others. Damon and Nick are just as cool. So are their wives. And anyway … if you had met us all when we first came to Cherry Falls, we were a lot more like what you were envisioned. Once Del sold Nick on married life, the rest fell like dominos.”

  “But not you?” I did my best not to let on that I knew anything Joey had told me. It seemed far too private to bring up casually.

  “Not me,” he answered quietly.

  “Cause you’re not that ki
nd of guy?” I teased.

  “Like I said earlier today. I guess anything could happen. I never say never.”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. It was all so typical. The playboy dropping hints that he could change if only he found the right one. Then the girl bends over backwards trying to change him only to get her heart broken in the end. It’d probably be cathartic for Ben and whatever issues he had from his heartbreak all those years ago in college. Cue the best friend trying to sell the poor girl on the same dream, and it’s like one big cleverly formed trap. But I wasn’t falling for it. I was not about to be some rehabilitation center for his commitment issues.

  “Forget marriage,” I scoffed. “I’ll just be happy when I get ahead at the marketing firm. And thanks to your help, I’ll have a shot at this new client. I already have so many pitch ideas. I can’t believe I had to go through all of this just to have my ideas heard. I guess...as angry as I am that you lied when we met, it all ended up working out for the best. I never would have dreamed of telling them we were engaged if I didn’t think you had a kid of your own.”

  “Olivia saved the day,” he smiled.

  “I officially need to go spend some time with some horrible kids now,” I joked. “Being around that adorable little thing makes my ovaries ache.”

  “I must be immune to whatever the male equivalent of that would be. I love Olivia and we have a blast, but at the end of the day … I’m ready for her to go home.”

  “I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to egg you on and say ‘oh come on, you’d be a great dad’ and blah, blah, blah …”

  He wrinkled his face. “What are you talking about? I mean, I know I’d be a great dad if I wanted to be one. But … why would I need you to tell me that?”

  “Nothing,” I mumbled, turning to look out the window. It was better if I just kept my mouth shut for the rest of the drive rather than blurt out something I’d regret.

  When Ben pulled up in front of my building, it felt awkward saying goodbye. “I want to do something to thank you for doing all of this for me,” I pondered outloud. “But I doubt I could buy you anything you don’t already have. Maybe I can send you a small token of appreciation. Do you have a favorite coffee? Any favorite snacks?”

  “Save the gift basket,” he said, holding his hand in the air. “I told you. This was my way of making up for lying to you.”

  “Okay then. If you say so. Well then … I guess I’ll save the gift basket offer for if I ever need you again. Like maybe a heated public argument to explain our breakup after I get the promotion,” I joked, hoping that wouldn’t really be necessary.

  A strange look washed over his face. Was he disappointed? Why? Was it because I wasn’t falling all over him, begging to see him again? No way. Not me. He made it clear he didn’t want a relationship. I wasn’t going to chase after someone who had committed to being unattainable.

  But I felt weird too. I kept thinking all afternoon that I couldn’t wait for the day to be over so we could be done with each other, but now that I had survived and made it there … It was hard saying goodbye. Harder than it should have been.

  “Bye,” I forced myself to say, finally unbuckling my seatbelt and reaching for the door handle.

  “Kate, wait. I have an idea,” he said suddenly.

  Please don’t make this any harder than it already is, I groaned to myself as I leaned back in the seat. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “Well, you’ve never seen my place before. Would you want to come over for a bit? Maybe have a few glasses of wine?”

  “Oh no,” I laughed. “I know what you’re trying to do. You think if you get me into your place, which no doubt has some kind of seduction set-up with mood lighting and music, and fill me up with wine that you’ll convince me to sleep with you again.”

  “To be honest, I was going to try to convince you,” he confessed. “But not with wine or mood lighting. I just figured … you know … well, I don’t know about you, but I thought the other night was amazing.”

  “Sure,” I said slowly. “Yeah … it was great. But a one-off thing is excusable. You got me off guard and caught me in a moment of weakness. I’m not going to make the same mistake again.”

  It killed me to say it. I had been craving more of him ever since, and now here he was...dangling it right in front of me. It took everything in me to stick to my resolve.

  “I just thought … why not one more time for the road?” he proposed.

  “You’re a piece of work,” I huffed, shaking my head. “I’m not going to fall for your whole ‘one last time’ trick. You just want to trick me into falling for you because you’re not used to women who don’t grovel all over you, trying to chase you down. You just want to use me for an ego boost.”

  “No, Kate … that’s not …”

  “Well while you may not be a ‘marriage and kids’ kind of guy, I’m not the ‘fall for a no good player’ kind of woman. Goodbye, Ben.” I jumped out before I could change my mind or regret going off, and slammed the door shut behind me. I raced inside and onto the elevators before I could notice if he lingered in front of the building or not.

  10

  Ben

  I sat there in my car for a moment, rubbing my face in my hands. You really fucked that one up, Ben.

  But finally I had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen with Kate and took off driving back home. As I went, I tried to deal with the stinging rejection. I wasn’t used to it. But being turned down for sex as a hell of a lot easier to digest than being rejected for something more, which was exactly why I wasn’t going to admit how intriguing I thought she was. Or how much her turning me down only intensified that attraction.

  I ignored the nagging thought, that oddly enough seemed to come to me in the form of Joey’s voice, that if I had hinted at my growing feelings for her, it all would have gone differently. But maybe Angel was right. If I did talk Kate into seeing more of me and then I freaked out over my phobia of relationships, it’d break her heart and make her think I really was just playing with her the whole time.

  Maybe at one point in time that would have been my method. Go after a girl who wasn’t interested just to prove I could win her over, then walk away with a healthy dose of ego boost. But that wasn’t what was happening here. At least I didn’t think it was. It didn’t feel that way to me.

  Going home felt too depressing at that point, so I decided to swing by Damon’s club to see if he was working. I hated the lack of thrill I felt from walking into the strobing neon lights and booming music blaring out from the DJ. It was a busy night and the place was packed with hot girls. This was normally my prime stomping ground for picking up chicks, and I hadn’t bothered with it since I met Kate. But as I walked over to the bar, scanning the crowd on the way, I had zero interest in talking to any of them.

  “You look like you’re having a rough night,” Damon noted as he came over with my favorite beer in hand. “You need something stronger?”

  “Yes, please,” I groaned.

  “What’s gotten into you?” He grabbed a bottle of expensive vodka and started pouring me a shot.

  “This girl,” I huffed.

  “Damn. It’s been a while since you let girl troubles get to you. What’s up? Some girl not falling for your tricks?”

  “That’s the thing. I’m not even trying any tricks,” I explained. “Well, I was at first, and it worked like a charm. A little too well actually. Then … well, long story short. I threw all my games out the window because I thought I wasn’t interested in her. Only it turns out … she’s not interested in the real me at all. And I’m the one who’s falling for her, I think.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Sounds like a mess. But I wouldn’t sweat it man. You’re rich, good-looking, and funny. What’s not to like? She’s crazy if she’s not into the real you.”

  “But I’m also selfish, egotistical, and problems with real intimacy,” I reminded him.


  “Have you thought about working on those things in yourself?” he proposed. “I know I had to make some changes when I started falling for Lizzy.”

  “That was different. She got pregnant.”

  “Naw, dude. I would have been crazy for her and made all the same choices even if she hadn’t gotten pregnant. Believe that.” He pulled the towel from his shoulder and started wiping the counter between us.

  “Anyway, I tried to buy myself some more time with her so I could try to figure some of those things out, but it didn’t work,” I leaned my arm across the bar, sulking. “The crazy thing is … I don’t even want a relationship right now. I’m still perfectly fine being single. But this girl … I just keep craving more of her. If I could, I would have been texting and calling her all week. Even before this thing we had to see each other for today.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  I grumbled and waved him away. He was right, but I didn’t want to hear it. I just wanted to drink and drown in my own pity party for a while.

  I was doing just that when my phone chimed with an incoming message. I was surprised to see Kate’s name flash across the screen.

  Kate: Come back over.

  I blinked, staring at the message for a long time before I could think how to respond.

  Ben: Everything okay?

  Kate: I reconsidered your offer of one for the road. Just come over.

  I was stunned speechless, considering the way she told me off and stormed out of my car. Was this some kind of trick? Was she really as crazy as she seemed at first and this was one of her psycho mood swings?

  Kate: You coming or not?

  Ben: Sure … be right over.

  I slid my phone back into my pocket and stared around with a confused expression for a moment, even though there was no one around who could help make any sense of it. Not only was she ordering me to come back over, but she was being awfully impatient about it at that. The phone dinged yet again.