Page 39 of Date The Billionaire

I dropped the witch’s hand and moved to Laney. She looked so sick and I felt terrible about what I’d just done. Her eyes were wide, and she looked a little green around the edges. I had to fix this, quickly.

“Laney, you are perfection inside and out. I’ve never had a single doubt about you. Not even once. I choose you, if you’ll have me.”

I heard a screech of rage from Carol and Arabella, but it was Laney that had my attention. Her eyes went impossibly wide, her face flushed, and before I could do anything, she turned her head and vomited all over Arabella.

“You bitch, oh my God, oh my GOD!” Arabella screamed, her hands up to protect her face, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. Being vomited on had to be one of the most humiliating things to happen to a person. It was also hilarious to watch.

Laney let go several times before she finally crumpled into a heap of tears on the floor. People finally started to scramble around and I heard a voice screaming ‘clear’ as people crawled out of the woodwork to clean up the mess and one hunkered down in front of Laney.

I heard cell phones going off all over the place, and all I could do was laugh. I sat with Laney after we moved her out of the view of cameras and held her hand as she cried.

“I puked all over Arabella. God, I’m going to die of humiliation.” She leaned her head against my shoulder and blew into a tissue as tears continued to pour down her face.

“You might, but I’ll be there to revive you.” I chucked her under the chin and pulled her face up. “You still haven’t answered me.

“That was a rotten thing you did, Jake!” She glared at me, but gratefully took a piece of gum from a passing assistant. She chewed for a minute before she continued. “You know I can’t say no to you.”

“I was rather hoping you couldn’t.”

I could hear cheering from the other room and looked up to see David and Kelly were the culprits, along with quite a few of the staff. Carol glared at us.

Arabella was assisted out of the foyer and into another room. Somebody had mopped up the floor and now the cameras were preparing to go back on.

“Do you think you’ll be in trouble?” Laney asked, her eyes on me as Trent made his choice. Neither of us really cared about who he chose. We knew it was a sham anyway. Trent and Skip had been carrying on an affair throughout the whole show.

“I don’t care. Really, I don’t. I’ll take care of Gran, I’ll find a way to do that. And you, although I don’t think you’re that kind of a woman, are you?” I looked down at her and saw a fierce pride burning in her gaze.

“No, I’m not that kind at all. I don’t care if you have more money than the US gross domestic product. I only want you, Jake, not your money. You know that.” She looked at me tenderly, her gaze full of only love.

I wanted to carry her away now, I wanted to take her back to the cabin in the woods and make love to her until neither one of us could move, but I knew there was one more part to the show. The big reveal.

“You will get back out there, and you will smile. Go!” Arabella came out of the room, Carol behind her. She’d changed and been cleaned up, but her hair and makeup were still a mess. She was being made to go on national TV looking like that, just another humiliation. One she deserved, I felt.

“Do you feel up to it, or shall I carry you in, Laney?” I asked, fully meaning it.

“I can walk. I feel so much better now.”

She gave a quiet laugh and we stood up together. An assistant had given her a chair and she sat down as the cameras moved around. First, they panned over the women that hadn’t been chosen and then over the winners.

“Are you feeling better, Laney?” Skip asked, coming to her immediately.

“Much, Skip, thank you. Sorry, Arabella,” she called out the apology over her shoulder.

“Now, Trent and David have their lady fairs, but what about you, Jake? Have you accepted him, Laney?” Skip gave an excited wiggle of his eyebrows and waited.

“I have, Skip.”

“Congratulations!” the other man cried, his eyes happy.

“Now, it’s time to reveal the final secret and the prizes of the show!” Skip turned back to the camera. “One of our fellas is a billionaire. The question is, which one is it?”

I could see the camera panning over all of us and tried not to grin. I guess Laney already knew, but I was still excited. I could finally tell her everything, there would be no more half-truths, no more deflection, just the total honest truth. If I didn’t get sued into prison, anyway. My lawyer had that sorted, I hoped. There was more than one way to fry a fish, after all.

“Kelly, who do you think it is?” Skip pounced and held the mic in front of Kelly.

“Oh. I think it’s Jake. David has to be the teacher.”

“Ah, wise observation.” Skip’s eyebrows wiggled again.