The Engagement Game (Engaged to a Billionaire) (20 page)

"You're the luckiest girl alive," Cindy comments.
 
I wash my hands like nothing's wrong.
 
Like this stripper-esque ex hadn't been watching Jack and I sit for a nice dinner after throwing a few bets.
 
It was the first time all night I'd left his side to visit the ladies room and there she was.
 
Conveniently.
 
I guess I was wrong.
 
There
were
a few things Cindy could say to get to me.
 
I could already feel her getting underneath my skin.

"Thanks," I mumble.
 
She moves a bit closer, smelling of strong perfume and tequila.

"No really."
 
She rests her hand near mine.
 
"He's quite a catch you know.
 
But I'm sure you know that."

"Yep."
 
I grab a paper towel.

"So modest," she laughs, looking down at her stilettos.
 
"You'd never know he was loaded the way he acts.
 
I mean, he still cuts coupons from the local paper."

"I'm sorry," I say, finally paying attention.
 
"What do you mean by that?"
 
Her expression turns softer as she pretends to be shocked.

"O-m-g," she gasps.
 
"You mean you don't know?"
 
She throws her head back and laughs.
 
"Honestly, where did you think he gets all that cash from?"
 
Cash?
 
Jack could hardly afford a new bundle of t-shirts.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on," she continues.
 
"Don't tell me you haven't thought about."
 
She studies my blank expression.
 
"A fancy house.
 
Fancy cars.
 
The money sweetens the deal, doesn't it?"
 
I still drew a blank.
 
My memory pulls up a mini map of Jack's modest townhouse.
 
He drove an average Chevy truck I saw on the road hundreds of times.
 
Nothing too special.

"Sorry," I mumble.
 
"I'm not really following."
 
She takes a glimpse of my plain outfit and narrows her eyes.

"You're joking?"
 
Cindy covers her mouth to hide snide giggle.
 
"He hasn't told you?
 
You're in for a real surprise girl!"
 
Her cheeks turn light pink.

"Wait," I reply, stopping her as she heads for the door.
 
"Wait are you saying Jack's rich or something?"
 
She had to be pulling my leg.
 
Trying to sabotage our relationship.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she giggles.
 
"I guess you don't really know him
that
well."
 
She lets her eyes wander to the sides of my body.
 
"Maybe we could share him?"
 
Her expression changes to that of a lioness stalking her next meal.
 
"Not into that?
 
Nevermind then"

She struts down the hall, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
 
Jack wasn't rich.
 
He couldn't be rich.
 
I would've picked up on that.
 
Unless he was sitting on a pile of drug money.

A rush of relief and worry fills my head.
 
I grip the sink for balance.
 
Did I almost just marry some kind of drug dealer?
 
No.
 
Jack would never do that.
 
I let a stream of cool water run across my fingers.
 
I dab at my forehead before leaving.

My mind runs at a million miles per minute as I join Jack again at our table.
 
I try to phase out my encounter with Cindy but it's pulsing through me.
 
The list was back and as I look into Jack's eyes I see red flags.
 
They won't go away.

"You okay babe?"
 
Jack notices my changed expression and the way my leg recoils away from his under the table.

"Uh yeah," I lie.
 
He reaches across the table for my hand and I hesitate.
 

"Kat," he says, looking disheartened.
 
"Something's on your mind."
 
I nod.
 
"Well?"

"I . . . I ran into Cindy."

"Of course you did," he rolls his eyes and looks around the restaurant.
 
"I told you you hadn't seen the last of her.
 
But Kat, you can't let her get into your head."
 
I think I was failing miserably at that.

"She said a few things," I begin.
 
But I didn't know how to go on.

"And now you're having second thoughts."
 
He shakes his head.

"I didn't say that.
 
But . . ."
 
I smooth a curl near my ear.
 
"Jack, what do you do for a living.
 
I mean
really
do?"

"I showed you," he answers.
 
"My condo project-"

"No," interrupt.
 
"I want the missing piece.
 
Something doesn't add up here."
 
He's quiet for a few minutes as if debating what to do in his head.
 
"No secrets remember.
 
I can't marry someone if I'm not one hundred percent sure of what their profession is."
 
Jack seems timid at first but then he draws in a huge breath.

"You're right," he says quietly.
 
"I haven't been completely honest with you."
 
I frown, putting a hand on my pounding chest.
 
Oh no.
 
Drugs.
 
Embezzlement.
 
What is it?

"Whatever you're mixed up in," I gulp.
 
"Just say it.
 
I'm tired of being lied to."

"I didn't do it to hurt you."
 
He reaches for my hand again.
 
"I promise.
 
It's just . . . women act different around me once they know.
 
I wanted
us
to be apart from all that."

"Jack."
 
I lower my voice and scan the restaurant for any listeners.
 
"Are you . . . a drug dealer?"

"Is that what Cindy told you?"

"She didn't have to," I blurt out.
 
"Well.
 
Are you?"
 
I can feel my forehead sweating as I wait for a reaction.
 
Jack grins and immediately my heart sinks.
 
No!
 
It's not true!

"No."

It was like a wave of solace washing over me to hear that.
 
But right away, I'm back to worrying about all the
other
options.
 
The mob.
 
Piracy.
 
Hell, maybe even an international terrorist group!

"Jack, you're driving me crazy!"

"Kat."
 
He sighs.
 
"I'm a billionaire."
 
The first thing to escape my lips was a sudden laugh.

"This isn't the time for jokes," I say, calming myself down.
 
Anger was starting to bubble below my chest.
 
Why did he have to lie?
 
Why couldn't he just be honest?
 
I'd accepted him for him.
 
Dirt stains and all!

"I'm not joking," he laughs.

"Then why are you laughing?"
 
My body feels like it's rising a degree every second.
 
Soon I'd be on fire if Jack didn't take this seriously.

"I don't know?
 
Sometimes I laugh when I'm nervous."

"If you can't be honest with me-"

"Kat.
 
Stop!"
 
Jack reaches into his pocket as I stand up to leave.
 
I needed to lie down with a glass of ice water.

"What am I doing here?" I mutter.
 
"I was this close to marrying a liar.
 
I guess all guys are the same."

"You don't mean that," Jack responds.
 
"I'm telling you the truth.
 
Money has always been a deal breaker for me.
 
I never knew if it was me or my bank account a girl fell in love with.
 
And well . . . you can imagine what things were like with me and Cindy.
 
Kat, for once I feel like this is real.
 
You've agreed to marry me."

"Jack I don't know if-"

"Don't say anything else," he continues.
 
"Here.
 
I was going to give this to you at the ceremony."
 
He sets a tiny box on the table.
 
I reluctantly sit down, just long enough to accept his peace offering.
 
But that didn't mean I wasn't upset about it.
 
I felt like I'd been shaken upside down and now all the blood was starting to rush to my head.

I slowly open the box, not knowing what to expect.
 
A thin silver band?
 
A weird stone with healing alleged powers?
 
A piece of string?
 
My throat tightens as an enormous diamond shines into my eyes.
 
My mouth drops open and I look at the huge smile on Jack's face.

"Where did you get this?" I whisper.

"I bought it."

"How?"
 
I gently remove the ring from the box and slide it onto my finger.
 
The diamond is the size of my knuckle.
 
My heart pounds and I try to comprehend what I was seeing.
 
It's fake.
 
It has to be fake.

"I told you Kat."
 
His hand rubs mine.
 
He brushes a strand of hair from my face.
 
"Kat?"
 
I'm feeling light-headed.
 
The room starts spinning around me, confusing every glimpse of reality I try to hold on to.
 
This was too much.
 
Holly was pregnant with Rex's baby.
 
I was humiliated in the local paper.
 
Jack was somehow sitting on stacks of serious cash.
 
I couldn't handle it.

I stare at the ring as the shine slowly dims.
 
I feel my heart race as my eyes progressively close to relieve my brain of the extra stimuli.
 
I just wanted to wake up somewhere new.
 
Somewhere where friends didn't sleep with your fiancé behind your back, and the love of your life didn't lie through his teeth about where his money comes from.

My thoughts shut down.
 
I feel myself falling, but I never feel the ground hit my side.

Chapter Sixteen

My eyes open to a buzzing noise.
 
I'm back in our hotel room on the bed.
 
I sit up confused, looking for Jack.
 
The ring is still on my finger and it makes me angry to look at it.
 
My phone buzzes again.
 
I'm getting a call.
 
My heart freezes when I read the name on the caller ID.
 
Rex.
 
An hour ago I would have let it go to voicemail, but I automatically click the answer button.
 
This is probably a bad idea.

"Kat?"
 
Rex's voice makes my blood pump faster.
 
I hadn't heard it in a while and the last time he'd called me was to say that our engagement had been canceled.

"Yes," I respond.

"Kat.
 
Thank you for picking up this time.
 
I've been trying to get a hold of you."

"I haven't gotten any messages."
 
I quickly check my phone and see that I had five missed calls during the past hour.
 
"Oh."

"Look, I know we ended things on a horrid note but I have to see you."

"Well."
 
I glance out the window, a spouting fountain lighting up in the distance.
 
"You're a little late for that."

"I know," he replies.
 
"You're in Vegas."

"You're spying on me now?"

"No," he protests.
 
"I went to the hospital.
 
You're friend told me."
 

"Of course she did," I mumble.
 
But only so she'd have a good drama story to listen to when I got back.
 
Traitor
.

"The two of us should talk," Rex goes on.
 
"Meet me in the lobby in five minutes."
 
My eyes go wide.

"You're
here
?"

"Yes, love."
 
He spoke as if nothing had changed between us.

"Rex I-"
 
I throw the phone down as the door opens and Jack appears.

"Good," he grins.
 
"You're awake."
 
I discreetly hang up on Rex and keep a straight face.

"What happened?"

"I was in the middle of trying to explain myself when . . . you fainted."
 
He chuckles to himself, setting down a bag of takeout on the table.
 
I glance at the ring.
 
The sparkles are blinding.

"It was this."
 
I hold my hand out.
 
"You never told me how you got this."

"I did," he smiles.
 
"I bought it.
 
You know, at a jewelry store like normal people do?"

"This isn't normal Jack.
 
This has got to be worth . . . more than both our life savings and then some!"
 
He sits next to me, caressing the side of my cheek.

"You're getting worked up again," he comments.
 
"Maybe you should rest for a while."

"I don't want to nap the day away!
 
Where did you get this?"

"What I said before," Jack replies, his voice sounds rougher.
 
"I haven't been honest about the money thing."
 
He shakes his head.
 
"A few years ago, I was basically this."
 
He gestures towards his plain clothing.
 
"A guy with an average job, average car, average clothes.
 
I didn't have much.
 
Then one day I stop at a gas station and Pop starts going on about a dream he had."
 
He puts his arm around my shoulder.
 
"Long story short, he told me it was my lucky day."

"I can see that."
 
I smile, thinking about Earl and the funny things he used to say.

"I bought a lottery ticket and that was that.
 
Pop was right."

"You won?"
 
The genuine look on his face was hard to swallow.

"Yeah."
 
He grin grows even wider.
 
"Then I meet this investment guy who says he can double my money and here I am."

"You swear this isn't some kind of sick joke?"

"I promise," he answers.
 
"I'm being honest with you.
 
That's what you wanted isn't it?"
 
I let him hug me, resisting the urge I had to cry.
 
Again.

"Jack," I breath.
 
"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cindy."
 
The corner of his mouth twists as he says her name.
 
"She was sort of the last straw for me.
 
Every girl I met turned out to be . . .
not
the girl I met.
 
I stopped introducing them to Pop a long time ago.
 
I went back to living the way I did before, plus a few perks.
 
And then I met you."

"So."
 
I stare at the ring again.

"I was going to tell you after we got married."

"A wedding surprise huh."
 
I admire the dazzling diamond for the first time.
 
It fits perfectly on my ring finger.

"Oh right."
 
Jack slides the ring off my finger.
 
"You'll be wanting a proper proposal I take it?"

"You know me too well."

I stay sitting on the bed as he gets down on one knee.
 
His blue eyes swirl like an ocean tide when he looks at me.
 
His dirty blond hair is nicely gelled and his scruff is groomed to suit his face.
 
He smiles his imperfect smile and the blood in my veins pulses in spurts as I immerse myself in the scene in front of me.

"Katherine," he grins.
 
"Kat.
 
I love you for
you
.
 
Will you marry me?"
 
As soon as he was on his knee, I struggled with what to say.
 
No take backs this time.
 
I had to make a decision.
 
Rex or Jack.
 
I let my heart do the thinking and thought of the one guy that had always been there for me.
 
Jack was still the one.
 
My list of mundane worries was now obsolete.
 
I'd found exactly what I'd wanted.
 
I loved Jack.

"Yes," I respond.
 
Jack dives onto the bed with his arms around me.
 
I giggle, letting his arms surround my shoulders.
 
He slides the diamond back on my finger and kisses me.

"Finally," he sighs.
 
"Let's celebrate."
 
His fingers gently rub the back of my neck as he pulls me on top of him.
 
I lean forward and kiss him.
 
The heat in the room makes my clothing unbearable to keep on.
 
I just wanted to be with him.

Our bodies move together.
 
I put a hand on Jack's shoulder to steady myself as the tingling bliss slowly starts to build.
 
I open my mouth just long enough to utter the words I'd been struggling to say.

"I love you Jack," I whisper.

*          *          *

It wasn't easy convincing Jack to wait in the room while I ran down to the lobby for snacks.
 
I told him I needed chocolate.
 
And a walk.
 
But really I had to talk to Rex and tell him that we were over for good.
 
I'd moved on and Holly was still a single, alone, and pregnant.
 
Despite the things she'd done she didn't deserve to be alone and scared right now.
 
I know she was scared.

I take a deep breath as I spot Rex leaning against the wall with a pair of shades.
 
He's holding a newspaper to hide his face like private eye from a black and white movie.
 
I hold my chin high, admiring the cut of his suit and tan cheeks.
 
He was still attractive and part of me still dug up memories of when we were together when I saw him.

He sees me and starts walking to a reserved table overlooking the casino.
 
He struts right past the velvet rope and sits on his private couch before greeting me.
 
I join him, paranoid that a pap would snap a picture and make us tomorrow's headline.
 
I wouldn't be able to explain that to Jack very well.

"I don't have much time," I begin.
 
"I told Jack I was coming down here for chocolate."

"I'll have Charles go grab some," he replies.
 
Still the same Rex.
 
Arrogant and charming at the same time.
 
His smile gives a flash of his pearly whites.

"What's this about?
 
You made it clear where we stood last time we talked."

"We all say things we regret," he replies.
 
"And after a long talk with Mum it seems that you're the best candidate for my future."

"Because I kept my mouth shut among the sea of psycho paparazzi?"
 
I glance around the lobby, hoping Jack hadn't followed me as a surprise.

"Well," he shrugs.
 
"Yes.
 
That and we have something here.
 
You and I want the same things in life, Kat."
 
His speech made me want to laugh.
 
Is this the type of BS I normally succumbed to?
 
And to think he'd still marry me after getting my best friend pregnant.

"I'm sorry Rex," I answer.
 
"I've found what I want."
 
I smile, looking at the flecks of gold in his eyes.
 
He grins, leaning forward and anticipating a passionate kiss.
 
"It's not you."
 
His face cringes.

"Look," he nods with a smug look on his face.
 
"You would be well compensated.
 
Very
well compensated."
 
Was Rex really offering me money?
 
Me.
 
Katherine Artino had gone from single and desperate to juggling two billionaires.
 
Before I let myself ask how much, Holly's face is floating through my mind.
 
In nine months,
she
would need that money more than me.

"You're forgetting one little detail," I remind him.
 
"Your mother already has a
heir
."
 
Rex looks confused.
 
"Holly?
 
The whole reason we're in this mess?
 
Don't pretend she's not a part of this now.
 
And we both know the baby is yours."

"That has yet to be proven."

"You're making her take a paternity test?" I scold him.

"I have to be sure."

"Well I hope you're prepared to pay up because I know for a fact that baby is yours."

"Why do you care?" he responds.
 
"The two of you aren't even speaking."
 
I bite my lip.
 
He was right we weren't speaking but that mean I didn't care.