The Billionaire’s Girlfriend Bet - Leslie North Page 0,11

hear you like to perform. Can I see your show?”

Mollie’s eyes lit up. “I can sing real good!”

Blake knelt down to get on her level and listened as Mollie launched into a soft but sweet rendition of Mary Had A Little Lamb. When she was done, Blake applauded loudly.

“Do you want to sing over the microphone now?”

Mollie’s eyes went wide, somewhere between awestruck and terrified.

“It’s okay,” Blake conceded. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Maybe next time. After some more rehearsal.”

Michelle laughed, squeezing her daughter’s shoulder. “You did a great job, honey.”

One of the baseball players called over to Michelle, waving her over. Michelle and Mollie wandered that way, and Blake dug out his phone to send a text to his friends, including his selfie with Mollie and Michelle.

“This marks our second date,” Blake typed. “Almost halfway to winning.”

Grayson was the first to respond. “Where are you?”

“Seagulls’ team and staff mixer,” Blake wrote back.

“I don’t know, buddy,” Grayson’s text said a moment later. “You’re going to have to try harder. Both of these dates have been work-related. They hardly count as dates. What do you think, Daniel?”

Daniel’s reply came a moment later. “Agree with Grayson. We’ll allow these two, but the next three must have nothing to do with the Seagulls.”

Blake rolled his eyes, tapping out a fast response. “Since when did you two become such date dictators?”

Grayson’s reply came fast. “Our bet. Our rules.”

Blake sighed, pocketing his phone. His gaze drifted to Michelle and Mollie on the field. One of the uniformed baseball players had knelt down to talk to Mollie at eye level, helping fit a glove onto her hand. Even from over here, he could hear her shrieking laughter. Michelle glanced back at him, joy written on her face.

He waved, and Michelle got Mollie’s attention so that she looked back and waved at Blake too.

They were perfect. Beautiful and sweet. Pure, even.

Guilt panged through him, making his smile fall slightly.

It wasn’t right to use Michelle and her daughter like this, just so he could win a bet. The only thing that kept him from feeling like a complete asshole was the fact that at least they were having fun. He wasn’t asking Michelle to do anything wild, and he was providing her daughter with new, fun experiences. That wasn’t so bad, after all. The bet was harmless. At the end, they’d all part ways as friends and be done with it.

And it wasn’t like he planned on seducing Michelle and then ditching her. No, there’d be no seducing at all.

Even though the longer he looked at the sexy curve of her ass while she bent over to talk to Mollie, the less he wanted to look away.

There’d be no seduction—only distant appreciation—throughout these dates. If he had his way, there wouldn’t even be kissing. Even though his neck went hot at the mere thought of what her perfect pink lips might feel like against his.

No, there was zero chance he’d fall into bed with a single mom. Not just because she was a mother, but because he assumed that if she was looking for anything, it was someone who would be there for the long haul.

And if there was one thing he knew about himself, it was that he wasn’t the long-haul kind of guy.

That wasn’t him.

It could never be him.

A few days after the outing with the baseball players, Mollie wouldn’t stop asking about Mr. Blake.

Like mother, like daughter, she supposed. Because Michelle couldn’t stop thinking about Mr. Blake, either.

She and Mollie had spent their weekend together, per usual, going to parks, watching movies and cooking at home. And by the time she returned to work on Monday, she realized she’d been puzzling over one question for the entire weekend:

What does Blake want with me?

She didn’t know why he’d invited her to go with him to the baseball outing on Thursday. Both that and the workout equipment assessment were neutral, platonic activities, so it seemed out of the question that he was maybe hitting on her.

But still, she swore she caught the heat of desire in his eyes when he looked at her. Maybe this was his way of courting her. The idea made something dizzy and swirling run through her. Was she being courted? By a man like Blake?

She didn’t want to be. Obviously. Not because he wasn’t great—he was definitely great—but because she wasn’t looking for a relationship. And yet…what if he was?

She couldn’t think about it. Not when she had