Bedding The Billionaire (Bedding the Bachelors Book 3) (14 page)

“It means that if I’m going to wear this rock on my finger, you’re going to give it up while I do so.”

“Give what up?” he’d said, genuinely confused.

“The booty. I want what I got last night, and plenty of it.”

Delighted, he’d almost swept her into arms and kissed her right there. Instead, like a tiger afraid the wrong move would send his prey running, he teased her. “So what you’re saying is you were so blown away by my incredible sexual skill that you want more.”

She’d rolled her eyes and smiled, but considering what she was “demanding” of him, he’d happily given her that. “For as long as we’re pretending to be engaged, yes. After all, it’s not like I’d be able to go out and have my urges satisfied by someone else. Not without risking messing up our plan.”

“No, I can see what you mean. But you’re acting like this would be a sticking point for me.” He’d nudged her lightly with his shoulder, almost like a brother or best friend would.

Keep this light, Jamie, he’d told himself. Don’t blow this.

“Sorry,” he’d continued. “If you’re trying to scare me away, that’s not going to do it.”

But now as he sat on the airplane and replayed it all in his head, he wondered if he had made a grave mistake by agreeing to her terms.

Jamie couldn’t deny it. Before she’d broken things off between them, he’d been halfway in love with her. He’d only gotten closer in the time since.

He was far from ready to admit that out loud, but far too infatuated with her not admit it to himself.

He wanted her, not just for a night, or seven or fifty. He wanted her in his life permanently, but there was no way he could say that, no way he could let her see it on his face. If he did, she’d run so fast he’d never be able to catch her.

Besides, the last time he’d let himself imagine a life with her, she’d found out he was rich and suddenly thrown the brakes on everything. He’d been left hurt and confused. Months later, he still wasn’t over it. How would he feel after they pretended to be a couple and made love on a regular basis, and then suddenly, after she got custody of Milly, it would be “bye-bye, Jamie,” he asked himself.

He’d get his big, stupid, soft heart broken, that’s what. He thought about the risk he’d be taking with his own heart.

And then he thought about Lucy.

He thought about how devastated she was when she lost her sister. He thought about how alone she had been most of her life. She had a chance for a fresh start with Milly. He’d seen the light in her eyes when she talked about that baby, the terrible hope and fear she kept inside her. If he didn’t help her, she might very well lose custody.

He couldn’t risk that.

He knew what he was going to do, and it wouldn’t be walking away.

* * *

“Do you still agree with my terms?” Lucy, who was back home in northern California, asked Jamie on the phone the next day.

“Yes,” he said, leaning over his balcony and watching as Los Angeles woke up below him. On the horizon smog settled—the one thing that marred the beautiful view.

“That means lots of sex, every night if I want it?”

“You’re an insatiable little nymph, aren’t you?”

“You should have known that about me already. Besides, I have the feeling that if anyone can satiate the insatiable, it’s you.”

Jamie felt his whole body go warm. “Thank you for that, although that is highly dependent on who it is I’m trying to satiate.”

“Thank you for that,” she said, her tone just as lighthearted as his. “Well, so okay. If you agree to my terms then I think…why not? Let’s go forward with your plan.”

“You never answered me before. Did you honestly think me continuing to have sex with you was going to be a problem?”

“Maybe. You told me before how you feel about casual sex.”

“What I actually said was I think the best sex happens in a committed relationship. And in a way, while we’re pretending to be engaged, we
will
be committed to each other. Like you said, for however long it lasts, there won’t be anyone else for us. That’s not negotiable.”

“Good thing I don’t want anyone else.”

For now, he thought. “Then we’re agreed. We’re committed to you getting Milly. To enjoying each other for the length of this engagement.”

“Well, I guess all that’s left to say is…thank you. For helping me, Jamie. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Luce. When do you meet with the lawyer?”

“Later today. Wish me luck.”

“I can do one better than that. I can come with you.”

“You’d do that? Aren’t you busy? With the new job? Your sister’s wedding?”

“Honestly, yes, but I’ll make time for you. I always will when it means something to you, Luce.”

He heard her swallow before she said, “Thank you, but I can handle this on my own.”

“Okay. I’ll be thinking of you the whole time. Let me know how it goes.”

“I will. Before we hang up…have you thought about how we’re going to announce this engagement?”

“What about starting with social media?”

“You want us to what…tweet about it?”

“I thought I could leak it on Twitter, and maybe you could post something about it on Facebook. Hopefully the press would pick it up pretty quickly from there, and then…wa-la!”

“Okay,” she agreed. “But Jamie, I’m not lying to my close friends.”

“I’d prefer not to as well. I won’t tell my family, but I’d like to at least tell Gabe and Cole. Maybe even the others.”

“That’s fine. I’ll tell Grace and Melina. I trust them all with my life. They know all my secrets.”

“Good to know. If I ever need to know something about you, I can just torture it out of one of them.”

Lucy laughed. “You can try, but they’ll never talk.”

“You sure about that? I’m a very persuasive man, Luce.”

* * *

Lucy couldn’t possibly deny how persuasive Jamie was. Look what he’d talked her into—faking an engagement so she could convince others she was proper maternal material. But she’d agreed to his proposition and now it was time to jump in the only way she knew how—full throttle.

Lucy hung up the phone and went to her computer. She signed on to Facebook, and then she sat staring at the status update box for ten minutes before she finally typed,
Guess who got engaged?

Then she snapped a photo of her gorgeous antique engagement ring and attached it. Before she pressed the post button she sent a text on her phone to Grace and Melina that said, “What you read on Facebook is not true. I will explain later, but in the meantime, please go along with it if anyone asks you.”

Then she pressed post and waited… For the next twenty minutes, she got message after message asking for more information. Social media could be a blessing or a curse. She wasn’t sure which one this was going to be.

She finally typed in:
Engaged to Jamie Whitcomb…So happy!

The responses, mostly from colleagues at the university, poured in even faster:

OMG! That’s amazing!

Congratulations Lucy, Jamie’s a great guy!

Love the ring!

How did he propose?

When’s the wedding?

And her personal favorite:
Damn! One less single billionaire in the world.

Apparently, there were others who knew Jamie came from money. She just happened to think it extremely tacky that someone would refer to it online—so she deleted that post.

Lucy answered a few others, stating they hadn’t set a date yet and thanking them for their well-wishes. She wondered if their plan could possibly work. Could it really be this simple? Fake an engagement to a respectable wealthy man and then all of a sudden she’d be deemed respectable too?

She hated lying.

She hated pretending to be anyone but herself.

But Gail had wanted her to be Milly’s guardian and it seemed right that she do whatever it took to make sure that happened.

As she sat there and watched the messages accumulate, her phone began ringing. It didn’t surprise her to see that it was Grace.

“What in the world is going on?” Grace asked as soon as Lucy answered the call.

Lucy laughed. “Well, hello to you, too.”

“Forgive me,” Grace said. “
Hello, my friend
. Now tell me, what the hell is going on?”

She told Grace about Jamie’s idea. “So that’s basically it. The engagement isn’t real and I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing or not. All I know is…I failed Gail as a sister while she was alive. I don’t want to fail her again. And I don’t want to fail Milly. I need time to think, but I also need the ability to act on whatever decision I ultimately make, and that means making sure I’m granted guardianship.”

“That makes perfect sense, Luce. I don’t have any kids yet, but I know that when I do, I’m going to do whatever it takes to see them safe and happy. But what you’ve told me certainly isn’t ‘it.’”

“What do you mean?”

“You know Jamie cares for you, Lucy. A lot.”

“Of course. That’s obvious. He’s being such a good friend.”

“So you’re…”

“Enjoying being fuck buddies for a while. But that’s all. Nothing’s changed. He’s still from a world I’ll never fit in.”

The silence on the other end of the line was dramatic.

Lucy sighed. “What?”

“It’s just…you’ve never cared about fitting in anywhere, Lucy. Why do you care so much about what Jamie’s friends and families and acquaintances think?”

“I care what
he
thinks, and ultimately, he needs someone who’ll make his life easier, not harder. Eventually, if I made his life hard, he’d grow to resent me and—”

“That dog won’t hunt, Lucy.”

“Uh…what?”

“You can bullshit yourself, but don’t bullshit me. You’re scared, pure and simple. Scared that you’ll give your heart to Jamie and he’ll break it.”

“Yes. Hence my fear that he’ll eventually grow tired of the fact I can’t fit—”

“—into his world,” Grace said at the same time she did. “Well, you know what, Lucy? He lives in the same world you do.”

“You’re wrong,” Lucy said quietly. “Think about how you felt about Max before you got together. About how Melina felt about Rhys. Before they proved they wanted you and only you, before they fought to keep you, can you tell me you all came from the same world?”

Grace’s silence was deafening and Lucy knew she’d made her point. Rhys and Max weren’t rolling in money, but they were true celebrities and had been renowned ladies men; it had taken quite some work for Melina and Grace to accept they were what the two men wanted and all they’d ever want in life partners.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Lucy. I’ll shut up about it.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Just do me one favor?”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Be careful with your heart, and especially be careful with Jamie’s. Pretending can turn into a lot more and if, in the end, you’re not willing to take a risk…”

“I’ll be careful,” she said. “But you don’t need to worry so much. Jamie and I both know what this is…and what it isn’t.”

After Lucy hung up with Grace, however, she thought about what Grace had said. And she wondered if she was risking hurting Jamie. He’d made it clear from the start that he preferred committed relationships…and committed sex. While he seemed okay with having sex with her while they were committed to their plan, she couldn’t help but think what they were doing wasn’t any easier for him than it was her. Maybe it would be better all around for her to thank him for his offer to help, let him off the hook, and just let things fall where they may.

Only she’d already told the entire world that they were engaged…

And the thought of not getting custody of Milly…

Still unsure what to do, she called Melina and filled her in. Her friend was supportive as well, but gave Lucy almost the same advice that Grace had given her.

God, she loved her friends and counted herself lucky to have them.

After hanging up with Melina, she once again checked her Facebook page and was not surprised that she had thirty new comments. What did surprise her was one was from Diana, Mason’s sister. Diana was not one of her Facebook “friends,” but apparently she was a friend of a friend, which meant she’d someone managed to see and comment on Lucy’s status.

Diana had commented, “That’s wonderful! Gorgeous ring! Congratulations to you both.”

Lucy shook her head and shut down the computer. Once again, she wondered, Could it really be this easy?

Later that day, after Lucy spoke with the attorney, she wasn’t wondering if the fake engagement plan would work—she was praying that it did.

If it didn’t, she was going to be seriously tempted to spill blood.

On second thought, she might be tempted to do so even if the fake engagement did work.

According to the lawyer, the reasons Mason’s parents and sister had cited for contesting Lucy’s guardianship of Milly was Lucy’s “excessive alcohol use,” her “multiple sexual partners,” and her “unstable social and home life, which would put the baby at risk.”