The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee - Lauren Wood Page 0,47

could just let go and give in. I decided to take one more leap of faith and hope that he would actually catch me this time.

“I love you too,” I murmured through a smile. “And … yes. I will be your girlfriend. If you think you can handle it.”

“Oh, baby. I can handle it. That or die trying,” he smirked. He yanked me into his chest, pressing his soft lips to mine as we laughed with relief and happiness.

20

Ben

As scary as I thought it would be to stop running from my feelings for Kate and actually admit them out loud to her on top of that, I felt the opposite as I was holding her in my arms, kissing her again. I had never been so sure of anything in my entire life, and it consumed me with contentment and happiness.

She reluctantly pulled away from my lips after a while. “As crazy of a morning as it's been, I should actually get back to work I guess.”

“Play hooky,” I suggested. “You’ve earned it.”

“I second that,” Greg’s voice appeared suddenly as he walked past us towards the elevator. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything from Nesters. But other than that, I’ll see you back here in the morning.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, turning back to me. “So now what do we do?”

I considered it for a moment and then had the perfect idea. “Well, when we met and had coffee … I believe you suggested we grab lunch some time.”

“Lunch sounds great,” she laughed. “I’m starving.”

I grabbed her by the hand and walked her out of the building. We drove to Angel’s restaurant to eat where we were able to tell her the good news. We were officially a couple.

“I knew it!” she beamed. “I could just see it with you two. It was meant to be. I can’t wait to tell Joey.”

“Thank Olivia for us,” I told her. “She’s a great matchmaker already, and she’s not even two years old yet.”

“She also inspired my pitch for Nesters,” Kate added. “That’s some kid you got there.”

“Thanks,” Angel smiled before getting back to work.

I leaned across the table to Kate, playing footsie with her as we talked. “So, after we had a lunch date. What would have happened next?”

“Third date,” she replied. “Dinner.”

“I knew it!”

“Hey, I’m worth the wait,” she defended playfully.

“As someone who had the good fortune of getting an early sample … I can confidently say that it is one hundred percent true.”

“So, we have the whole day. … ..and we’ve had lunch. What’s next?” she asked.

“Hey, I’m making up for doing things all wrong the first time,” I told her. “If you want three dates, I’m giving you three dates. I’m going to take you home, and then we’re going to dinner later.”

“What will you do until then?”

“I take dinner dates very seriously,” I quipped. “I have a lot to do before then.”

I drove Kate home and then went over to Del’s shop. I had her help me pick out a new dress and some jewelry to send over to Kate’s place, but not before ducking into the shop around the corner to get some chocolates to send along with it. After all of that, Damon was more than happy to meet me and help me shop for a new suit.

I looked like a million bucks by the time I showed up to her place to pick her up, and I had made reservations at one of the nicest places in town for dinner. She answered the door in the glittering silver gown with its plunging neckline. Her long legs went on for miles past the hem, and when she spun around for me to show it off, my mouth dropped at just how good she looked in the backless garment.

“Damn. I knew you’d look good in this thing … but you do it justice in ways I never could have imagined just looking at it on the hanger,” I whistled.

“You look pretty damn good yourself,” she replied.

I pulled her in for a kiss and then showed her out to my car. We enjoyed a lovely candlelit dinner with our very exclusive, hard-to-get reservations, paired with expensive wine and a shared dessert.

“Now that we’ve had coffee, lunch, and dinner,” she said, looking stunning in the dim lights with the glowing candles that danced between us. “Three dates. What would you have proposed next?”

“You’ve still never seen my place,” I reminded her. “I would have invited you over for a drink.”

“Oh my gosh. You’re right! I haven’t!” she gasped. “Okay.