Page 10 of Date The Billionaire

“But the other guys could vote me out.” I looked at him, my only concern written on my face clearly.

“It’s okay.” He mouthed with a slight shake of his head, his smile in place as always when I saw him. Damn, why was that so sexy? “I have to go mingle, Carol will kill me if I don’t. I’m dying to kiss you. I’ll see you later.”

I grinned at that part somewhere in the middle. I wanted to kiss him too. Not in some schoolgirl way, but in the hot way he kissed me in my dreams, with our bodies straining to get closer and barely able to breathe. I’d wake up flustered and still hot. I’d find myself watching him, remembering the way he moved in the dreams, the skillful way he touched me. With a quiet groan of frustration, I turned away and forced myself to think about something else.

I considered the likelihood that Jake was the billionaire, more for the mysterious puzzling quality of it than real curiosity. I knew he liked computer games, but he kept himself fit. A computer nerd wouldn’t have the kind of muscle tone Jake had, surely? A teacher then? He was patient, kind, and listened to others when they spoke to him. He also had incredible eyes that were sometimes filled with sadness and I wanted the chance to understand why. I also wanted to know what it felt like to run my fingers through his hair.

Maybe Trent was the rich guy. I couldn’t see the loud, obnoxious man as a teacher, not with his attitude about bullying others. I’d spoken with him a few times, but I kept the brash blond at a distance every time. He just didn’t do anything for me.

David, then? Kelly’s pick was quiet, sweet, and very poetic. I couldn’t see him as a plumber, not at all. Not with those polished nails. That thought left me even more confused though. That meant Jake would have to be the plumber, but he didn’t seem the kind of guy that would find that job fulfilling and if there was anything I’d figured out about Jake so far, it was that he was happy where he was in life. It was hands-on and computer games were hands-on, maybe that was it.

It didn’t really matter to me. A plumber, teacher, or a rich man: they all had jobs that meant they could take care of themselves. I still didn’t know how this was all going to end, or what the producers had in store for us. So far, we’d had “dates” that had left me cringing but I participated as I was supposed to.

One date had us all writing our pet peeves down on a piece of paper and the men had to figure out which they belonged to. Jake found mine, of course. We had picnics on the beach, walks through the forest, bike rides around the estate which was basically half of the island, and a day of sports where we tossed around a Frisbee, played softball and volleyball, all in the obligatory outfits provided by the show.

Another day we had to choose a movie for a movie date. I found it all laughable, because these dates involved six women and three men. How were we supposed to make a decision about the rest of our lives based on less than two weeks of interaction that wasn’t private? I had to laugh at myself as Jake’s eyes found me across the room once more. I already knew I wanted to get to know the man better, spend some real time with him.

“I swear you two are gross!” Kelly said as she sat down and poured herself a glass of wine. “I’m going to have to write a poem about it.”

A squeeze of her hand over mine on the table let me know she was teasing.

“As if you and David are any different!” I found the man talking with a pretty blonde, his expression bored as he glanced longingly at Kelly before looking back at the woman who talked with her hands incessantly.

“We are! We’re less obvious than you two.” She gave a snort through her nose then blushed. “He kissed me earlier. An amazing kiss that literally curled my toes!”

She had on one of those dreamy smiles of pure happiness. At least the producers were leaving them alone. That made me wonder if Jake really was the rich one, the seeming determination to force him and Arabella together, but not the other men with other women, was telling.

“Oh my, that’s serious!” I couldn’t imagine the quiet, respectful man daring to kiss Kelly.

She was vivacious, beautiful, and really very interesting, though she tended to draw more out of you than you did out of her. She was curious about people and she’d have made a great journalist if she hadn’t been so set on poetry. She was good at that too, I’d seen some of what she’d written since she’d been here, and the epic poems were really good.

“He asked me...” She went quiet and looked around for a moment before she turned back to me. “He asked me if I’d see him when this is all over.”

“Isn’t that the point of the choice? You get to decide that?” I looked at her confused.

“Well, there are whisperings that the producers are trying to force matches.” She gave a quiet nod to Arabella and to Jake. “He heard Carol telling the other producers that Jake needed to stop with you because it was going to kill their ratings.”

“What?” I looked at her aghast, and more than a little angry. “What, I’m not some dark-haired, sloe-eyed beauty, so they think viewers will hate me? Have they even paid attention to her personality? Viewers are going to hate her!”

I bent closer to Kelly as she looked around again to make sure we wouldn’t be overheard. “You have to be careful, Laney. They really mean business and you could be sent home tonight.”

“But Jake said—”

“I think Carol might just put your name in to be voted off, no matter what the men have agreed.”

“That evil bitch!”

“I think you should remember.” She patted my head again as Skip came in and she spoke more quickly. “This will end and whatever happens after that, there won’t be a Carol or an Arabella to get in the way.”

I clenched my fingers this time and breathed deeply as I ran my tongue over my back teeth, lost in thought. Kelly was right, anything could happen on this stupid show. Did I even know enough about Jake to trust him? To trust that he wouldn’t take what Arabella so openly, eagerly, offered? I saw how she kept looking at him, her hands constantly smoothing down the line of the costumes we wore tonight.

Simple, figure-hugging silk sleeveless knee-length dresses, this time in soft metallic tones. Hers was in a deep shade of gold, while mine was copper. Where hers showed off an hourglass figure and a tight bottom, mine showed off a more plump but toned figure. At least my boobs are bigger than hers, I thought snidely before I chided myself.

“I really hate this place, you know?” I said to Kelly, wrapping my arms over my chest, anxiety making me queasy.

“It’s a lot harder on you than it is on me, that’s for sure. I’d be frantic if I were you.” For a moment, I had to wonder if Kelly was playing a role, if she was trying to make me nervous, but her eyes were clear of guile, and I was fairly certain I could trust her. What would she gain through sabotage?

In a paranoid moment, I thought maybe Carol had offered her something to make me nervous, but I saw that for what it was. Paranoia, plain and simple. This place, where we were so secluded from the real world, where we couldn’t talk to our family or friends, or escape to a quiet place as I’d like to do, was bound to breed paranoia.