Mine (Dressing a Billionaire Book 3): A Romantic Comedy

by Jamie Lee Scott

  “Let’s do this thing,” she said, breathing a sigh.

  My phone rang just as I opened my door. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Have I told you lately that I love you?” Bruce whispered into the phone. “And that you’re the best sister on the planet?”

  “No and no.” I walked around the side of the car. “But I’m headed to see a client now, and as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I gotta go.”

  “Wait!”

  “What?”

  “I got an interview. Friday at two.”

  “Okay?” I couldn’t fathom why he’d be calling me.

  “With Stella.”

  Now I remembered. “Yes, that’s incredible. But I’ve really got to go.”

  “No, I mean, well, I need you to take me shopping.”

  I stopped walking. “What did you just say?” He’d always teased me about my profession.

  “I don’t have anything for an interview with billionaires. I need you to take me shopping and make me look successful.” His voice sounded like he was apologizing for taking the last cookie.

  I thought about it for a second, and Orlean stomped her foot to get my attention, then waved at me to get moving.

  “Stop by my office this afternoon, around three. Tower Three on Popovitz Row. Ask for me at reception and they’ll send you up. See you later!”

  I grinned from ear to ear. Bruce would nail that interview. I’d make sure he looked the part.

  I looked at the McMansion from the circle driveway where we sat. The open doors of the five-car garage showed one empty space, a Maserati, a Range Rover, a Bentley, and an antique car I couldn’t place. If this family had money problems, it couldn’t be that bad.

  Getting out of the car, following Orlean to the front door, I made a silent promise to myself to keep it together. I refuse to ask anything about the groom, or how the wedding plans were coming, other than the dress.

  Hugo was no longer my client, no longer my problem.

  Orlean knocked on the door, and moments later, Kelsey answered the door herself.

  “Good morning, good morning. I’m so happy you were able to come through for me. I know this is all so last-minute, and I’m so sorry. Again, I promise I will not be a bridezilla.” She reached out and hugged me. “And this must be Orlean?” Before waiting for an answer, she hugged Orlean, too.

  “We are so happy to be able to assist you. We’ve come up with a variety of designs that would be perfect for your body type. I hope you like what we’ve picked,” Orlean said as we followed Kelsey into the house.

  “Oh, I’m sure I’ll have a hard time picking just one. In fact, I plan to pick two. One for the ceremony and another for the reception. So I hope you have one that is more like a sheath with no train.” She turned to look back at us and winked. “Maybe even a mini dress,” she said with a hint of mischief.

  Orlean mouthed to me, “I think I like this girl.”

  I rolled my eyes and flipped her off.

  “My parents had a buffet breakfast catered for us this morning. I hope you’re hungry.” She walked us down the hallway and opened a set of French doors that exposed a bright breakfast room with a buffet set up on the table.

  I thought to myself, What is it with buffet breakfasts and rich people? Can they not make up their minds, or do they just buy everything because they can? I wondered if the hired help got the leftovers. The scene reminded me way too much of the meeting I’d had with Hugo. I closed my eyes and shook the thought from my head.

  “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet my stylist, Maisy Tucker, and her assistant.” She turned to Orlean. “I’m so sorry, Orlean, I don’t know your last name.”

  Orlean waved her off.

  Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings entered the breakfast room and air kissed Orlean and me on the cheeks.

  After introductions, Mr. Rawlings said, “Never thought I’d be planning a shotgun wedding.”

  Kelsey giggled like a little girl. “Now, Daddy, it’s not like that, and you know it.”

  Mrs. Rawlings handed plates to everyone, and said, “We can’t make any of these decisions on an empty stomach. So let’s fill our plates and Jessica will be in in just a moment with fresh coffee and tea service.”

  “Mommy, can we at least look through what they brought while we eat?” Kelsey asked.

  I found it strange that she introduced them as Mom and Dad, then called them Mommy and Daddy when she spoke to them directly. In fact, she sounded like a child.

  “Kelsey, are you an only child?” I asked.

  Kelsey looked at me, incredulous. “Is it that obvious?”

  Mrs. Rawlings said, “Now, Kelsey, that’s not nice.”

  I shook my head, even though I wanted to say, As obvious as the mole on your father’s chin, I said, “No, it’s just that none of your siblings are here. I thought this might be a family affair.”

  “I wouldn’t have invited my brothers and sisters, anyway. I want today to be about me. And they would just take away from it. Bickering and arguing, and wanting things I don’t want. I call myself an only child, because my sisters are thirteen and fifteen years older than me.”

  Wow, I read that one wrong. Not an only child, just a spoiled brat.

  Orlean said, “I think it’s great to look through the portfolio as we eat.” She loaded her plate with fruit, then grabbed a couple of muffins.

  As we sat at the breakfast room table, a woman who must’ve been Jessica entered and placed coffee cups in front of each of us. “Good morning. Regular or decaf? And cream or sugar?” She placed a tea cup and small pot in front of Kelsey.

  Orlean and I both declined coffee, since we had plenty during our morning meeting and already had the jitters. We both poured ourselves orange juice from the pitcher in the middle of the table.

  Kelsey made approving noises, as she flipped through the pages and chewed her food. “Mommy, look at this one.” She pointed to a design I couldn’t see.

  “Cut that one off above the knee, and it would be perfect for the reception,” her mother suggested.

  As Kelsey flipped through the pages, the doorbell rang.

  Mr. Rawlings called out, “Jessica, can you get that please?”

  Kelsey jumped up. “Never mind, Jessica, I’ve got it.” She turned to look at Orlean and me. “It’s probably my fiancé. You both have met him, right?”

  Yep, met him, saw him naked, had sex with him. This won’t be at all awkward. I wanted to scream.

  This was a turn of events I did not see coming. Fuck me with a stick, this couldn’t be happening. I closed my eyes, as Kelsey nearly ran from the room to answer the door.

  “Kelsey, darlin’, your fiancé cannot see the dress before the wedding. It’s bad luck. Right, dear?” Mr. Rawlings said and confirmed with his wife.

  Kelsey came back to him, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, Daddy, he won’t see the final product. But he’s the one who has to look at it all day, and me in it, so he should have a say.”

  Before Mr. Rawlings could respond, Kelsey left the room.

  Orlean reached under the table and squeezed my hand. She leaned over and whispered, “You’re going to be fine.”

  “I’m gonna bolt,” I mumbled.

  “What’s that?” Mrs. Rawlings said.

  Orlean smiled, her sales rep smile. “Oh, nothing, it’s just that I don’t think I’ve actually met Kelsey’s betrothed in person.”

  From behind us, a deep masculine voice said, “Yes, I do think we have met in person.”

  Our heads snapped around so quickly, we nearly broke our necks. In fact, I heard mine snap. As I lost all feeling in my legs, it may as well have broken.

  Standing arm in arm with Kelsey was Dallas Cowboys defensive back, Isaac Evans.

  I almost threw up. What the hell was Isaac Evans doing at Kelsey’s house? My brain went foggy. I couldn’t process this.

  “So, did you ladies have a good time the other night?” Isaac asked.

  Orlean, quicker to cat
ch on than I was able to, said, “Is this the someone you were in such a hurry to get home to?”

  Isaac leaned down and kissed Kelsey on the top of her head. “Yes, in fact, it was. And after all of that, she refused to see me. She said she had too much to do to get ready for the wedding. So she invited me here this morning.”

  The relief that washed over my body, almost made me vomit. Kelsey wasn’t marrying Hugo. Why hadn’t Hugo said anything? Why hadn’t Kelsey said anything? Stella? When I thought about it, why the fuck would they say anything to me? Kelsey’s relationship with Hugo had nothing to do with me. She didn’t know anything about us spending time together in Vegas, so she didn’t owe me a thing.

  “So nice to see you again, Isaac. Yes, Orlean and I had a great time, and it was so much fun meeting you and the guys.”

  “Steele has done nothing but talk about you two. Has he called yet?”

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and looked at it. “Nope, haven’t heard from him yet.”

  “I’d bet a hundred bucks you hear from them by this afternoon.”

  Orlean asked, “Them?”

  Isaac laughed. “The whole ride home, he and Derek talked about double dating. And every day since then, he says something. I think the four of you would have a great time.”

  I couldn’t have loved Isaac more if he’d said Derek and Steele thought we were troglodytes. He wasn’t Hugo, and for that I loved him more than life itself.

  Kelsey looked up at Isaac, not understanding the conversation. “What’s going on?”

  Isaac reached down and squeezed her hand. “This morning is about you, darlin’, we’ll talk about this some other time.”

  Now that the fog of realizing Kelsey wasn’t marrying Hugo cleared, I had questions. But I didn’t think this was the proper time or place. Though I didn’t know when I’d have a chance to question Kelsey again.

  I didn’t owe this woman anything. What the hell? But still, I was going to stick my nose into somebody else’s business.

  “Kelsey, do you have a minute? I need to show you something out in my car.” I wiped my mouth with my napkin and stood from the table.

  “Can’t you just bring it in?” she said curiously.

  “Please, it’ll just be a sec.” I headed toward the front door.

  I looked back to see if Kelsey was following. She was. Once we got out to the car, I opened the hatch on the SUV, but there was nothing there.

  A deep frown on her face, Kelsey asked, “What’s going on here?”

  I looked closely at her face, saying, “You may not think this is any of my business, but what’s going on with you and Hugo?”

  Kelsey’s eyes widened. “You’re right, it’s none of your business. And why would you even ask such a thing?”

  As was my habit, I took a deep breath, before I responded. “Do you remember the SUV that dropped Hugo off the night you were at the cottage?” The one we’re standing next to right now!

  Now Kelsey’s skin went pale, if it could go any paler than it was. “How do you know I was at Hugo’s cottage?”

  “I drove him there, Kelsey. In this car. He and I had just come back from Las Vegas, where we’d spent several days together. As soon as he saw you, he forgot I even existed. He stepped out of the car, and the next thing I knew the two of you were holding hands.”

  “So you’re her,” she said, almost resigned. “He once told me he could never love anyone other than me. Turns out, that wasn’t true.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

  Kelsey looked back to the house, then to me again. “Nobody else knows this, except Hugo. So if this gets out, I know who said it, and I will make sure you pay.” She looked back to the house again.

  I waited her out.

  “I’m pregnant. Isaac is the father. I’m surprised it happened, because I was very careful. I came to talk to Hugo, because to be honest, I realized that I’m still in love with him.”

  I felt the anger rising, boiling my blood, and I wanted to slap her across the face. I hated what she was doing to me, turning my insides out. How she’d broken Hugo’s heart, and then came back to him when she finally realized he was the love of her life.

  “So that’s what you talked about at the cottage?” I kept my words calm, reasonable, even though I felt my blood still simmering.

  “He’s always wanted kids, and I never have, but I’m pregnant. I realized, that even though Isaac is the father, I want Hugo to raise it with me.” She touched her belly, but not in a maternal way. Oh my God, this was getting weirder and weirder by the moment. “I went to him, not telling him I was pregnant, to ask him if we still stood a chance.”

  “Excuse me? You were going to suck Hugo back in? When were you going to tell him you’re pregnant? ” I hated this woman. Hated, hated, hated her.

  “I told him that night. I told him after he told me that there was no chance we’d ever get back together. That even though I’d been the love of his life, he realized it wasn’t the kind of love you felt for a husband or a wife. He said when he saw me again, that he saw me more like a long-lost sister, not a long-lost lover.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “He broke my heart right then and there.”

  “Really, you think he broke your heart? You walked away the day he proposed to you years ago. What the hell did you expect from him?” Seriously? I was defending Hugo’s broken heart? Why did I make it my business to put my nose in other people’s business?

  “I know I broke his heart, Maisy. Not accepting Hugo’s proposal was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  “Then why did you avoid him for the next several years?” I tried to understand, but couldn’t.

  “Ha! Is that what he told you? So you’d feel sorry for him, and I’d be the bad guy?” Now the tears were really rolling. “I came crawling back months later, begging him to forgive me. He listened to what I had to say, then had Timmy show me the door. That man is as cold hearted as they come when you betrayed him.”

  So who was telling the truth? Did it really matter? Kelsey was marrying Isaac, a man she didn’t even love.

  “You know there are alternatives? Do you even love Isaac?”

  “Of course I love him, but I wasn’t going to marry him, if there was a chance Hugo still loved me.”

  I nearly choked. “Okay. I just have one more question. Why have you been spending so much time with Hugo?”

  Kelsey looked at the ground. She moved some loose pebbles with her foot. Rolling them back and forth. “We had unfinished business. Things we needed to take care of. Things I’m sure as heck not going to share with you.”

  I held both hands up, in a defensive manner. “You’re right, it’s none of my business. I’m sorry I asked. It’s just, I thought he was your fiancé.” I looked down at the giant rock on her finger.

  Kelsey threw her head back and laughed. Then she looked at me. “A girl can hope. But, alas, Hugo is truly in love with someone else.” She stepped closer to me. “He never said her name, but it’s you, isn’t it?”

  I shrugged. I sincerely had no idea. I couldn’t even give her an answer. I mentally slapped myself across the face for not just asking Hugo what was going on. And Stella didn’t bother to clarify things either.

  “So do you still want to help me pick out a wedding dress?” Kelsey sounded resigned. Wiping the tears from her face.

  I looked back to the house and said, “Is there any way you can give Orlean a ride back to her sales room? She can finish this out.”

  “Please, don’t do this to me. Isaac is going to know something is wrong. Can you just stay through breakfast?” Kelsey’s voice was pleading.

  Where the hell else was I gonna go? I sure couldn’t call Hugo at this point. I’d probably ruined everything. And why would I give up a paying client, especially now that I knew she wasn’t marrying the man I loved.

  “You know what? I’m good. This should be the happiest time of your life, planning your wedding, marrying the man you love. I�
�d be happy to be a part of it.” Much happier than I was ten minutes ago.

  Kelsey threw her arms around me and squeezed me tight. “I should hate you for being the woman Hugo fell in love with, but I don’t. I’m happy for him. He deserves happiness.” She let me go, but held me at arm's length. “And I deserve the most gorgeous wedding dress on the planet. So let’s get to this.”

  I went back into the breakfast room with a whole different attitude and a huge appetite.

  Chapter Twelve

  I could hardly wait for the dress meeting with Kelsey to be over. It didn’t help that Orlean kept looking at me, acting like she was going to jump out of her skin. But the last thing either one of us needed was for Princess Kate of Texas, Kelsey Rawlings, to be trashing us, because we didn’t do the best job we could with her wedding dress.

  After knowing the reason for the wedding, I decided to show her the designs with the empire waist, off the shoulder sleeve, and Cinderella style. Keeping in mind, that if the bump grew over the next couple of weeks, she probably didn’t want anyone to know. Hell, I wondered if her parents even knew. Then I remembered the “shotgun wedding” remark.

  So Kelsey wasn’t so Princess Kate-perfect after all, I thought to myself. Just a commoner like me, Orlean, and 99% of the population. She jumped in the sack with NFL football players, and got herself pregnant, just like any other gold digger. Only she had to settle for less gold.

  By the time we got in the SUV and had pulled half way down the driveway, Orlean was screaming in my ear and dancing in her seat.

  “How can you be so calm about all of this? She’s marrying Isaac! She’s not marrying Hugo!”

  “I’m still taking it all in.” Which was the truth.

  “Girl, it’s time to make sure all of your matching bras and panties are clean.” Orlean shoved me. “You’ve got some making up to do.”

  I looked at her. “Hell, I don’t even wear matching socks, much less matching underwear.” Which is why I don’t wear socks in public, most of the time.

  “Time to get to Vicky’s Secret and spend some serious dough.”