The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee - Lauren Wood Page 0,18

I asked finally. “With kids and the big house and the whole deal? Someone like you could certainly afford it.”

“Someone like me?” he laughed. “Marriage and kids shouldn’t be an issue of money. My bank account has nothing to do with it. I’m not that kind of guy. That’s why.”

I glanced over to Greg and Chuck, commiserating in their lawn chairs and smoking cigars. Their wives seemed to be having a deep, troubling conversation of some kind. And all of their kids behaved like obnoxious brats. It left me with the dangerous thought...What happened when people who didn’t want their lives had kids anyway? Was it something different than the miserable, comedic stories they all shared?

Maybe, just maybe, it was more like what we were doing just then. Just sitting around, playing in the sand, and enjoying the beautiful weather on a Saturday afternoon. Laughing and having a good time.

“I think I might want kids one day,” I admitted finally. “With the right person.”

“Anything can happen,” he replied.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean!? You think it’s so far-fetched for me to be a mother?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he laughed. “I was talking about myself. I never planned on having kids. But I don’t think you should plan that kind of thing anymore than you should plan on getting married. Then you start looking for someone just to check the things off the list. You settle. I think you find the person first, then decide what kind of life you want to have together.”

“But you do think you’ll find a person? Like just one?”

His eyes sparked up at me. “Like I said. Anything can happen.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and turned my attention back to my Olivia. Once again, my saving grace. I couldn’t let my brain run wild with crazy fantasies about any potential with Ben. Why would I want to? Sure, he was dynamite in the sack. Best I ever had. But he was a jerk. A ladies man. Definitely not for me.

But later in the afternoon, while I did my best to suck up to Greg and the others, I looked across the park to see Ben playing with Olivia. He let her run away from him, screaming and giggling, before charging towards her and scooping her up in his arms. No woman, not even me, could watch a thing like that and not melt a little inside.

“You must be awfully excited,” Kathy said.

I hadn’t noticed her standing there, watching me as I watched them. “Huh?”

“To be marrying into that,” she smiled, turning her face towards them in the distance. “He seems like a great dad. He’s handsome too.”

“He does seem like a great dad, doesn’t he?” I mumbled. “I mean, he is! He definitely is a great dad. Because … I’ve watched them together a lot.”

“You did good, sweetie. Once you get your hands on a guy like that, you don’t let them go.”

My throat grew tight, causing my face to squinch up. It was kind of hard to breathe. The thing is...I had my hands on him, but not in the way she thought. And the trick was to not let myself fall into the delusion of thinking it could be anything more.

“Food’s ready!” Chuck called out, shooting me his usual disdainful glare that no one else ever seemed to notice but me.

We all gathered around the picnic tables. I scooped Olivia up in my arms to hold her while Ben offered her little bites of hot dog and sips of juice. I did my best to eat my own food in between her squirming in my lap.

It was hard to focus on eating with Ben sitting so close to me. Every time his arm brushed against mine, I was hit with another wall of memories of us in bed. It had been more hot and bothered than I was comfortable being with a kid in my lap and all my co-workers around. But at least it left a dreamy sort of look in my eye that had to be convincing for everyone else.

“You got a little something,” Ben said suddenly, eyeing the corner of my mouth.

It was the same look he flashed over my lips right before he surprised me and kissed them. Olivia started squirming and managed to wriggle her way out of my arms. She caught sight of a ball nearby that she was more interested in.

My life raft had abandoned me, leaving me face-to-face with Ben with nothing between