The Billionaire Dating Game: A Romance Novel (34 page)

“Lisa?” he said, dumbfounded.

The producer yanked her arms out of the guards’ grip and shoved me onto the stage out of her way. I stumbled into the lights, and the producer marched by me, right up to Mia.

Before I could escape back to the wings, Piers was across the stage and at my side.

“Lisa!” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“Dylan brought me here,” I replied. “He told me you were doing the charity. Piers—”

His hands took mine, and I steadied myself in his blue-green gaze. The audience, though, wasn’t paying any attention to us. They were focused on the crazy woman who was screaming at Mia.

“Mia!” she yelled. “What the
hell
do you think you’re doing?”

Mia stood to face her mom. I could see even from across the stage that her legs were trembling. And I realized that she had done it all, everything, because her mother had wanted her to. Her fists clenched at her sides.

“Mom, I don’t want to date a billionaire. I want to date Alex.” Her voice trembled.

“Who’s Alex?” Dylan asked.

“He’s a pizza boy!” her mom screamed at Dylan. “A goddamn pizza boy!”

“I love him!” Mia screamed back. “And you can’t do anything about it now!”

“I’ll take back your car,” Mia’s mom threatened, leaning forward and spitting the words. “All your credit cards! Your shopping accounts!”

“I don’t care!” Mia yelled. “Take it all back! I don’t want it anymore! I’m going to move in with him, and we’re going to be happy!”

Mia’s mom waved her hand in the air.

“How do you think you can live on a measly hundred thousand dollars?!”

The audience burst out laughing. Mia’s mom spun around, her dark hair whirling.

“
What?!
”

Mia was smiling now. She put her hands on her hips.

“Mom,” she said. “
We’ll manage
.”

Applause drowned out whatever Mia’s mom was screaming next. She threw her hands up and huffed offstage, shoving aside the security guard as she made her way out.

“One second, Lisa,” Piers said, grinning at me. “I have to finish this up.”

I nodded, smiling back as he squeezed my hand and turned back to the microphone.

“Well,” Piers said, “that was certainly a surprise! And look here, another surprise! Lisa Forrester is here, back on the show for one last appearance!”

I waved into the bright lights and the crowd noise swelled in my ears.

“But wait! That’s not the last surprise. Mia, you said you were in love with someone else?”

“That’s right,” Mia said. Piers gestured offstage.

“Let’s bring out the lucky pizza boy now!”

A gangly young man came out from the wings on the other side of the stage. Mia gasped and ran over to him, throwing her arms around him.

“Alex!”

She had a goofy grin on her face, and I couldn’t help but be happy for her. I had thought she was a terrible person this whole time, but I guess I had been taken in by reality TV after all. It wasn’t me who was the villain here, and it wasn’t Mia.

“So,” Piers said, stepping up to the front of the stage. “It looks like Mia has decided to run off with the pizza boy. Sorry, Dylan.”

“That’s alright,” Dylan said, grinning.

He had known. They had both known about Mia.  I was astonished that they had both hidden it from me the whole time.

“Do I get a second chance now, Piers?” Dylan asked.

“You sure do,” Piers said. “I’m guessing you’re going to choose the other contestant who’s left on
The Billionaire Dating Game
. Kate Penrose, step forward.”

Kate moved shyly to the front of the stage, looking over at Dylan.

“Before you ask Kate to date you, though,” Piers said, “there’s one last secret you should know about.”

Dylan’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He hadn’t expected this.

And Kate…Kate looked like she wanted to melt into the floor with shame.

“Piers—” I whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. My chest clenched. Piers wouldn’t give away Kate’s secret, would he? He had promised—

“Kate,” Piers said. “There’s something you haven’t been perfectly honest about with Dylan. Isn’t that right?”

Kate flushed red, pushing her blonde hair back away from her face.

“I—I don’t—”

“You have to tell the truth here,” Piers said. “Relationships have to be based on trust, and you can’t have trust if there are secrets between you two. Isn’t that right?”

Kate flashed a glance up to Dylan, who was waiting expectantly.

“Kate?” he asked. “What haven’t you been telling me?”

“We have him here, Kate,” Piers said.

Kate gasped. Dylan’s face dropped into sincere disappointment.

“It’s another guy? You have a boyfriend too?”

“No!” Kate cried out. “I… I…”

“Dylan, we want you to meet Jacob!”

Piers gestured to the other side of the stage.

A stage hand came out, leading Jacob by the hand. He sucked his thumb shyly. When he saw Kate, he ran over to her and threw his arms around her leg. I couldn’t breathe as I watched Dylan’s reaction. His expression turned from disappointment to utter confusion.

“Mama!” Jacob cried.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, ruffling his hair and hugging him to her side. “It’s okay. Don’t be nervous.”

Dylan was staring at the kid like he had no idea what to make of anything. Kate looked up at him nervously.

“I’m sorry, Dylan,” she said. “The rules said that you couldn’t have a kid, so I lied. I wanted to be on the show so badly. I’m sorry. I…I understand if you don’t want to date me anymore, after I lied to you. I just want you to know that I really, really like you. A lot. And no matter what, I think you’ll find a great girlfriend because you seem like such a great boyfriend.”

She bit her lip and waited.

“A kid?”

Kate nodded. Dylan’s gaze swept over all of us on stage, landing on me.

“Lisa, did you know about this?” Dylan asked. “Did you all know she was breaking the rules?”

“Dylan, don’t make a hasty decision,” I said, putting all my emotion into my words. “Love isn’t about following rules. It’s about following your heart.”

“So… I mean… You have a
kid
?” Dylan repeated. His mouth was open in shock.

“His name is Jacob,” Kate said, turning her son around in introduction. “Jacob, this is Dylan.”

There was a pause as Dylan looked down at the little boy standing between them. Then he knelt down.

“Hi Jacob,” he said, holding out his hand. They shook hands seriously. “How old are you?”

“Five!” Jacob said, holding out one hand with his fingers spread.

“Huh. Five,” Dylan said, stroking his chin as though he was thinking intently about the answer. “I like your Batman T-shirt.”

“Thank you,” Jacob said proudly.

“Is he your favorite superhero?”

Jacob nodded.

Dylan’s hands pressed his knees as he stood up.

“Well, if he likes Batman, I think we can work things out,” he said. A grin spread across his face and he held his arms out to Kate. “Whaddaya think, Kate? Still want to date a billionaire?”

Kate beamed as Dylan swept her into a big kiss. The audience cheered loudly, and behind them, Piers was clapping.

“I love you, Kate,” Dylan said.

“I love you, Dylan,” Kate said.

“YUCK!” Jacob said, making a face. “
Kisses!
”

“Better get used to it, buddy,” Dylan said, tousling the kid’s hair. “I’ll make it up to you. Wanna take a ride in my Batmobile?”

“
Batmobile!
”

The audience laughed, and when Dylan kissed Kate again, they erupted into a roar of applause. I clapped heartily. My heart swelled to see them together. They were two of the most kindhearted people I’d ever met, and they truly deserved each other.

My gaze went past Dylan and Kate, and landed on Piers, who was already looking intently at me. He moved across the stage, and my body twisted with desire as he came close, his eyes smoldering.

“Follow your heart, huh, Lisa?” he asked, wryly sarcastic. “Sounds kind of hippy-dippy to me.”

“Yeah, well,” I said. “I guess I’m turning into a romantic after all.”

“So what does your heart say?”

The applause was dying down in the audience, but I couldn’t wrench my eyes from Piers’ face. His persona was gone, and he was there, really there, with me.

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

“Lisa Forrester, do you want to date a reality TV host?” Piers asked, a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

“As long as I don’t have to beat out a dozen other girls for the privilege,” I said, teasing back.

“You’ve already beat them all,” Piers said, and then his hands were on my waist and I was wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulled me into a kiss and from far away, I heard the shouts and cheers of a thousand screaming fans. The lights were on us, but I didn’t care. Because right then—his lips seizing mine with passionate desire, his arms clasping me close to his chest—it felt like we were the only two people in the world.

Chapter Forty

Three months later

A loud ring in my ears brought me out of my dream. I reached sleepily up for my cell phone, twisting the covers around myself.

“Yes?” I mumbled.

“Lisa? It’s Kate. Are you ready to go look at dresses?”

“Mmm. That’s not until ten.” I glanced up at the window; it was barely light outside. “What time is it? It’s not ten.”

“Well, I know. But I talked with Jessica, and she said that I should wake up three hours beforehand so that I wouldn’t be swelled up from sleeping. Did you know you swell up when you sleep?”

“Um,” I said. “Uh, Kate. I don’t need to be awake now, though, do I?”

“Well, but I thought we could go get coffee and chat and maybe brainstorm some ideas for flower arrangements. I have this great idea for calla lilies as bouquets, and—”

“Okay, okay,” I said, squinting up at the ceiling. “I’ll meet you down at the Coffee Cat at nine.”

“Nine? What about eight?”

“What about nine-thirty?”

“Alright! Nine it is!” Kate chirped. “See you and Jessica then!”

I let the phone drop down to my chest.

“Whose bright idea was it to let me help plan a wedding?” I groaned. Kate and Dylan had only been dating for a few months, but they were already inseparable. He’d proposed to her a month after the show, in a fighter jet, and she’d said yes without hesitation. Although they were planning a move to London next year, they wanted to have their dream wedding in New York… and I’d been wrangled into being part of the wedding planning.

If it hadn’t been for me, Kate said, she would never have ended up with Dylan. I thought that they would have ended up together no matter what anyone threw between them. If any two people could have made me believe in soul mates, it was them.

Piers’ arm came around me and pulled me into his chest, spooning his body around me.

“You better not be leaving anytime soon,” he said, his lips pressing against the skin of my neck.

“Kate needs me.”

“I need you more.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it, TV boy.”

He pressed closer to me, and I felt him harden against my lower back.

“How’s that for proof?” he murmured.

“Mmmm. I’m not sure I believe you.”

Piers’ head disappeared under the covers. I felt him slide down the bed, and I couldn’t help but giggle as he rolled me over onto my back.

“Piers!”

His hands pressed my hips into the bed as he buried his face into my crotch, nuzzling me through my panties. A slow curl of desire unraveled itself in my body, waking me up even more than the thin light coming in through Piers’ bedroom window.

“Piers! Piers—
ohh!
”

My lip caught between my teeth and I gasped as his tongue licked me through my panties, slow and hard. Then he pulled away, and I arched up, the curl of desire a sudden ache.

“Oh!”

His hands pushed my hips back down, pinning me to the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice muffled from under the covers. “I’m distracting you. Don’t you have some wedding planning to be doing?”

I yanked the covers off over his head. He grinned up at me from between my legs, his blue-green eyes twinkling with amusement. His hair was dark and tousled.

“Don’t you dare stop,” I warned him.

“Then you’d better be sure you can handle all this. Because if you tell me not to stop—”

I bit my lip in a pouting expression.

“Oh, you didn’t. Not the puppy dog face. Lisa, you know I can’t handle your puppy dog face.”

I whimpered, still pouting.

“Okay,” Piers said, a teasing lilt in his voice. “Just remember you asked for it.”

Before I could respond, he dove down, his fingers yanking down my panties mid-thigh.

“Ahh!”

His tongue slid down into me, where I was already wet and wanting. I moaned as his thumbs kneaded either side of my hips, his tongue moving slowly over my sensitive flesh in circles that teased me to the edge of ecstasy.

I gripped my fingers into the silken sheets and tilted my head back into the down pillow, letting myself sink into sensation. Piers’ hands were strong and slow, possessive as they caressed my curves. His tongue thrust in and out, sliding over me in tantalizing, painstaking motions.

“
Piers—
” I moaned. My body was awake now, afire with need. My hands scrabbled down over the sheets, trying to pull my body against his tongue to make the pressure grow. But with every movement of mine, he drew away at the last moment, teasing me and teasing me until I was ready to scream for relief.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stop?” he whispered. His breath cooled my flesh, sending shivers up through my spine. I gyrated on the bed, my hips pinned by his hard grip.

“Piers—oh God, Piers—don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.
Please—
”

“Let me show you how much I need you,” he whispered. His mouth moved up, kissing my hip, before continuing up along my side. “Let me show you how much I want you, Lisa.”

“Yes,” I said, guiding his thick length to my entrance. He was hot and stiff under my fingers, and I was already wet, so ready for him to be inside me.
“Yes
.”