Page 37 of Date The Billionaire

“My heart will…” I paused, lost for words. I looked around uncomfortably, but nothing came. “My heart will be fine.”

“Noncommittal and boring. Do you want to try again?” He had the bored look down to perfection.

“No.” I could do bored too, my lifted eyebrow said.

“Fine. When Jake chooses Arabella, I mean if, will you be disappointed?” He looked at me this time with hope, hope that his question had stung.

I gave him nothing. “Jake’s choice is his choice. It’s not over yet.”

“God, I hate my job. Fine. Send the next one in.”

I smirked a bit as I got up, but the dress made standing difficult. Once up, I left the room and went down the hall where the rest of the girls were sitting. Kelly was there, her hands nervously twisting in her lap.

“I’m so terrified I’m going to fall down those damned stairs!” She said, indicating the stairs just ahead of us with a nod of her head.

“Me too. Just bunch your gown in your hand until you’re down, the weight of these things should pull out any wrinkles that form.” The bottom of Kelly’s dress was bedazzled with silver ornaments and sparkled lace.

For a moment, I wondered if the person who’d chosen the dresses had made the choice of each with those possibilities in mind. Surely not, I told myself, my head tilted as I considered the stairs. Killing your contestants wasn’t a good idea, after all.

At last, the final woman came out and sat down beside me. Arabella.

“They saved the best for last, you know,” she said as she sat down beside me, carefully wiping at the corner of her mouth. Her hair was different too, I finally noticed, some kind of sultry Lauren Bacall waves.

“I’m sure they did, sweetie,” I said, with a pat of her hand. From the glare she gave me, I knew she’d understood my patronizing statement.

“We’ll see who’s so smug in a little while, won’t we?” she sneered at me, her pretty face an ugly mask of hate.

“Why do you hate me so much, Arabella? Don’t you think it’s a little crazy how you’ve taken such a dislike to me? I’ve not done a thing to you.” I was genuinely curious. “I mean, I know it’s a competition, but you’re just so full of hate!”

The thought made me shudder, how full of her own hate she was. It must be making her miserable. She just glared at me again, her brain obviously working overtime.

“I play to win. You shouldn’t be a threat, but Jake is nothing more than a stupid man, so I guess a red-headed bimbo could turn his head. Anyway, it’s almost done now. I know who he’s going to choose, and you’ll be the one crying into your pillow tonight.” She blanched at the last and I knew she’d given away more than she’d planned to.

She stuck her nose in the air after that, and I looked past her to see the windows revealed a dark sky. It was time.

From below I heard the music start, and my heart started to pound. This was it. The moment where my life changed once again. For better or worse.

I stood as the women ahead of me stood and followed along, my brain going to autopilot for the moment. One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other, that was the pattern I followed as I edged my way to the stairs. Before I knew it, I was at the top, looking down into Jake’s beautiful green eyes.

Our eyes locked, and I forgot my worries and really smiled for the first time since he’d left me. It was okay, it was going to be fine, now that I could see him, now that I knew he really was real. My Jake, in living color.

He didn’t take his eyes off me once he’d spotted me. He looked enthralled and in love. I could see it all over his face. I came down the stairs on a cloud of happiness and stood in the position marked out for me. I kept my head held high, and a smile was plastered on my face. He would not let me down.

And then he looked at Arabella and my world started to crumble. He looked defeated, and I knew it was over. I tried to keep the smile on my face, but it was hard. So very hard when he looked like the world had just ended. Nausea hit me hard and fast and I gulped as I tried to calm my stomach. Not now, please not now.

Chapter Eighteen

Jake

“Clear!” A voice called out and I knew the cameras were off. I turned away, my hand over my mouth as I saw Laney turn away, her face blanched with realization.

“Stay exactly where you are, right now, do not move, do not twitch a muscle!” Carol called out to us from the landing at the stairs. “I will remind you, this is being broadcast live, so please, no swearing when the cameras come back on, people!”

I’d forgotten that part. I scrubbed at the back of my neck with my hand, my gaze on the floor now. I couldn’t watch Laney and do what I needed to do.

I glanced up to see Carol glaring down at me menacingly. I wanted to give her the finger but held myself back. It wouldn’t accomplish anything if I did.

With a sigh, I turned back to face the music, the women, my fate. Laney wouldn’t meet my eyes. Hers were cast down to the ground, hands clasped behind her back. She’d looked so amazing as she came down those stairs in that wonderful gown. She looked like the princess I wanted to make her, the kind that could get down and dirty in the mud, and the kind that could wear designer labels with just as much ease. I wanted to give her the world at her feet, and seeing her like this I knew she deserved it. She deserved everything I could give her with my love and my money.