The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee - Lauren Wood Page 0,30

money and resources at first, but looking at it now … This was definitely the way to go.”

Angel crossed the room from where the girls were gathered, and wrapped her arm around Joey’s side. “How’s the food?” she asked. “Everything good?”

“The best damn thing in here,” Nick smiled, bringing a skewer of glazed meats and veggies to his mouth. We all agreed as we continued enjoying our samples.

“I’m definitely looking forward to having your food for lunch every day,” I admitted sincerely.

She smiled with gratitude. “Oh, Ben. Where’s Kate? I was surprised not to see her here today.”

I wrinkled my brow at her. “Why would she be here? You know we’re just friends. If you could even call it that.”

“I know that’s what you were calling it … but when you two were at the house together that one afternoon, I guess I just assumed it was all flourishing into something more from there.”

I felt a little embarrassed and on the spot, and wasn’t in the best frame of mind to play it off. Joey picked up on my discomfort and looked down to Angel. “Uh, honey? Why don’t you go mingle? Pass out your business cards and remind everyone that they can also pop by your restaurant to get more of your delicious food.”

“Please do,” Nick added. “Del is using this as a chance to promote her boutique too.”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “See you guys later.”

The guys crowded in around me, and I could tell they were either about to give me a pep talk or a lecture. Maybe a little bit of both.

“Why didn’t you just tell her?” Joey asked without hesitation.

“Tell her what?”

Nick stared us down cluelessly. “What did I miss?”

“Our boy here got himself into a fake engagement fiasco with this chick and her job,” Damon explained.

“Not just fake engagement, but they were using my kid as her fake step-child too,” Joey smirked.

“You mean that crazy woman that was storming out of the office not long ago?” Nick asked. “I assumed she was just some disgruntled lover.”

“That’s exactly why that thing’s not still going,” I told him. “So she doesn’t become a disgruntled lover.”

“Or was it so you don’t become the disgruntled one?” Joey accused.

Truthfully, if I was trying to avoid that … It was already too late. But I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. I knew how these things worked. It was nothing more than a crush and it would pass. The longer I went without seeing or talking to Kate, the easier it would be to forget about her. I had done it a million times before … even if usually that involved my feelings for the woman lessening after we slept together, rather than getting stronger.

“Look, guys. I appreciate you trying to turn every new woman I meet into some kind of happily ever after bullshit like what you’ve all found with your wives. But I’m just not that kind of guy. Kate and I are just friends. Not even that. Acquaintances. And I’m not throwing in the towel on my bachelor life any time soon. Maybe ever,” I defended.

“So then I guess I’ll be seeing you at the club tonight?” Damon asked. “I miss watching you hit on all the women and placing bets on if you strike out or not.”

“That’s an easy bet to place since I rarely strike out,” I boasted, smugly sipping from my glass.

They all laughed and we carried on with the celebration. Things were already starting to feel better. Kate was like a brief dramatic storm that blazed through my life, spicing things up for a bit. But I was more than ready to move on.

After mingling with all of our clients and getting my own tastings from the different small, airport-style restaurants, the guys and I gathered again to go over a few upcoming work deadlines and other business. It felt good to throw myself into work and socializing as a distraction from whatever blip of weirdness I had been feeling.

Nick was in the middle of giving us a rundown of a few key contracts coming up that needed to be finalized when my phone buzzed in my pocket. With my champagne in one hand, I reached in and pulled it out to glance at the screen.

Kate: Sorry to bother you, but call me when you can.

Something told me I should just ignore it, but I was awfully curious about what she had to say. I excused myself from the guys and stepped off into a quieter corner of the room before dialing