PRETEND BOYFRIEND (A Billionaire Romance)

by Mia Carson

  “Hey, saw you from across the pub,” the brunette said, appearing beside him.

  Chase shook his head, clearing away any lingering thoughts of Grace for the moment, and grinned. “I was on my way to you,” he admitted. “Would you like another drink?”

  The woman trailed her hand up his arm and nodded. He asked her what she wanted and ordered it for her, taking in her dark chestnut hair and plain brown eyes that held only warmth from the alcohol she’d already had that night. There was no depth to her, and the way her hand closed around his arm told him one thing—she was going to cling to him all night for as long as she could. She laughed too loudly, and her voice grated on his nerves after the first few minutes of conversation that led nowhere except to what he did for a living.

  “My dad drinks scotch,” she told him, slurring her words. “And that bottle you have there is easily a couple hundred.”

  Chase raised a brow and poured himself another glass from that very bottle. “Yeah, it is.”

  “So? What do you do? Tell me! It must be exciting!”

  “I run C.V. Tectonics,” he told her. “Architectural firm. Actually, we’re working on this great project right now, revamping the entire theater district to bring new life to the area. Should turn out pretty damn well.” He grinned, picturing a certain actress on that brand new stage, the spotlight on her as she delivered her part flawlessly as she had the first time he watched her perform.

  “You design buildings? That’s different,” the brunette said lightly but giggled again and grabbed his jacket. “I bet you’re creative in bed.” She smashed her lips against his before he could brace for it, and he tried to enjoy the kiss.

  But it wasn’t anything like he’d grown accustomed to with Grace in his arms. This girl, whose name he hadn’t even asked for yet, was sloppy with her tongue and desperate for him. He knew what she was after. She’d dropped enough hints about his money already to know she was hoping he’d pick her up and spoil her.

  Grace didn’t do that, a voice whispered through his mind. She was content staying in and playing Halo and being in your arms.

  Flashes of that night together, making love to her so passionately and deeply, made him pull himself away from the brunette to catch his breath. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, cursing that woman for digging her claws in so deep. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

  “What… Why? I’m just getting warmed up, honey,” she said in what she must’ve thought was a sexy voice, but it came out rough and garbled. “Stay a little longer!”

  Chase shook his head, hating Grace all over again, and hurried out the pub. He texted Dexter the second he was clear of the crowd and paced up and down the sidewalk, running his hands through his hair as he tried to get his focus in order. His heart was already in pieces. He didn’t think it could break any more, but as memory after memory hit him of Grace’s touch, her laugh, that damn smile it was so hard at first to pull from her, his heart exploded until there was no putting it back together.

  The limo pulled up to the curb and he slid inside, telling Dexter to take him to the office.

  “Not home, sir? Are you feeling alright?”

  “Fine, just fine,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to staunch the anger and pain flooding him. “Just… I can’t go home, not right now.”

  His penthouse was filled with too many memories of Grace to return to for another night. She haunted his waking mind, and his soul tore itself apart, nagging him about what was really going on. Without a word, he exited the limo when they reached his office building, told Dexter to head home for the night, and trudged up to his office. No one else was in the building except the night security, and he told the guy he’d be working late in his office. In reality, all he could do when he reached it and closed himself in was pace restlessly from one side to the other, pulling his jacket off and chucking the thing over a chair.

  Ever since Tiffany, his anger had been hard to control and his trust in people shattered. She hadn’t been the first one to use him for his money and his position, but she’d been the worst, had killed any hope he’d ever had of actually finding someone who would see past the money.

  Until Graceland. She could’ve asked for more money when he first offered her the job, but she didn’t. Could’ve demanded he pay up and pay her more for continuing to act like his fiancée, but all she did was tell him to hold onto it and they’d talk about it later. Nothing she did gave off the vibe that she was after his money or even that she realized how much he was actually worth. In fact, she’d seemed oblivious to his family background and anything to do with his business until he filled her in on the necessities.

  And you approached her, didn’t you?

  His feet stilled, and he stared, wide-eyed, at the far wall. If she’d been planning a scam against him, how would she have known he’d hire her in the first place? Whatever she’d been hiding from him while they were together, it couldn’t have been a scam. Otherwise she was the worst grafter in the city.

  Chase hung his head and sank into the couch in his office. He wanted to believe her after giving her his trust so easily, but he just couldn’t. Not right then. His head aching and chest tight with worry, fear, and confusion, he lay down and closed his eyes, praying sleep would come fast for once and give him a chance to work through the scenarios plaguing him.

  Chapter 13

  Margot Valentine checked the slip of paper in her hand before she knocked on the apartment door in the old, rundown building. It was extremely early on Sunday morning, and she hoped she wasn’t waking Grace up, but she needed to talk to the woman face to face. She knocked again, louder, and took a step back when she heard steps on the other side. When the door swung open, however, she frowned.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I think I have the wrong apartment,” she said with a smile.

  “Who were you looking for?” the tall man with a bandage over his nose and a black eye asked, but not unkindly.

  “Graceland Summers. I thought she lived here.”

  “She does,” the man said and held out his hand. “I’m her friend and roommate, Jimmy Pharris.”

  Margot took his hand, tilting her head at the name. “Margot Valentine. She mentioned you on the yacht—actor, yes?”

  He smiled proudly. “Yes, ma’am, that would be me, and you must be Chase’s mother.” Margot nodded. “Well, Graceland went out for a morning run. She’s going to be gone for a while. Want to come in for some coffee?”

  Margot considered saying she’d come back later, but coffee would hit the spot and this man was Grace’s best friend. That was what she told Margot over the previous weekend. Maybe she could get him to help with the current predicament.

  “Yes, thank you, that would be perfect,” she said with a smile and stepped inside.

  The apartment was tiny, definitely not what she expected to find after meeting Grace, but learning who she really was, she sighed. The furniture was old and sparse, and there were no decorations or fancy things, nothing besides what was necessary. Jimmy busied himself in the tiny kitchenette while she looked around.

  He glanced over his shoulder and told her to have a seat on the couch then cursed. “Sorry, forgot to put away my bed.” He folded up the blankets spread over the couch and tossed them onto a chair in the corner. “Take anything in your coffee?” He returned to the kitchen, and Margot sat down.

  “No, just black is fine. You sleep in here?”

  “Yeah. Grace gets the bedroom. We used to switch off and on, but it’s a pain. We split the closet and everything else, so not really a big deal,” he said as he walked to her with a steaming cup of coffee. “Hope it’s not too strong.”

  Margot took a sip and thanked him before setting the mug down and clasping her hands together. “So, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Graceland told you everything about what happened?”

  “The cruise or the blow up Wednesday night?”

  She cringed, remembering how hurt the woman had looked
as she stumbled out the door. “Both. I spent the whole weekend with your friend, and I must say, I see how Chase fell for her so quickly.”

  Jimmy smirked. “Yeah, she called me in a panic over what to do when she realized what she’d really gotten herself into. Worried about what would happen if he found out the truth. Guess she was right.”

  Margot sighed, hanging her head. “As a mother, I usually always defend my child, but after what he did at dinner, I want to smack some sense into him. He had no right to do what he did to her.”

  “And he still doesn’t know the truth,” he added.

  “What is the truth?”

  Jimmy sagged in the folding chair that made up part of the furniture in the room and scratched at the back of his neck. “It’s a long story.”

  Margot picked up her coffee. “I have a full cup.”

  He nodded and fell into the story of Grace’s life—the real story. As he spoke, Margot’s smile fell as her heart broke for the young woman and what she’d been through. To have a mother do that to her was bad enough, but then Jimmy told her the reason for the weekend and about the conversation Chase said he’d overheard. When he reached the end, Margot’s stomach was in knots, and she couldn’t finish her coffee for fear of being sick.

  “That’s horrible. Are you alright?” she asked, taking in Jimmy’s beat up face with new insight.

  “I’m fine. My face will heal, but that’s not what I’m mad about. She’s going to be stuck in this life with no way out, and the debt she owes is so large even I can’t bail her out with what I have.”

  “And she was going to break it off with Chase to save him from it,” Margot finished quietly. “She is a brave woman, your friend.”

  Jimmy laughed harshly. “Brave, stupid, and scared. If she told him the truth, maybe he wouldn’t have thrown her out the way he did.”

  “My son’s had trust issues with women for a long time. They’re always after his money but with Grace… with Grace, it was different. I have a feeling that before that phone call, he was ready to propose to her for real,” Margot said, leaning back in the couch. “Listen, I came here to tell her that my son is being an idiot. He’s walking around like a corpse, pissed at himself and the world for what happened, but he’s hurt, and by the look on your face, I’d say he’s not alone.”

  “No,” he told her. “No, he’s not. She hasn’t smiled once, and working at the pub under the man she owes money to… It’s going to kill her slowly. I don’t want to watch that.”

  “Right, then,” she said and slapped her hands against her thighs as she stood. “Will you help me?”

  Jimmy was on his feet in a shot. “Of course. What’s your plan?”

  “Chase needs to know the truth and realize the woman he thought loved him really does and he’d be a damned fool not to see it.”

  Jimmy grinned and grabbed his keys for the apartment. He scribbled a note for Grace and a burst of hope filled Margot’s chest. This would work, it had to. Her son might be as stubborn as the damn viking he looked like, but she needed him to see past what he thought happened to what really did or he’d never move on and neither would Grace.

  They were meant to be together, and if it took her dragging him across the city by his earlobe, that’s exactly what she would do.

  ***

  Chase groaned when he squinted his eyes open. He was in his office, his cheek stuck to the leather couch he’d passed out on last night. Sunday. It was Sunday, and he had no idea what time it was. His whole body ached, and he turned his head to bury it in the darkness of the couch when someone cleared her throat close by.

  He shot up wildly and saw his mom standing close by, glaring down at him, her arms crossed over her chest. “Mom? What the hell are you doing here?” He shifted and rolled completely off the couch with a thud. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

  “I don’t give a damn what you think you want right now,” she snapped as he pushed himself to a sitting position. “You’re going to sit there and listen.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are, because I’m not letting you leave otherwise,” a man’s voice he vaguely recognized said from the door.

  Chase blinked his eyes and opened them wider. He glared furiously at the man. “You! Get out, you bastard! You’re probably the partner she was working with!”

  Jimmy shook his head sadly. “You know, they say you’re smart, but I’m beginning to wonder why.”

  He growled and slowly managed to gain his footing. He pointed towards the door. “Get out, both of you—out!”

  “No,” his mom said simply and sat down behind his desk. “I think we’ll stay and tell you a little story about the woman you love.”

  Chase’s jaw clenched as he spat, “I don’t love her.”

  “Yes, you do. Stop lying to yourself,” his mom replied quietly. “I’m tired of this, Chase. I know Tiffany broke your trust. I understand, but what I saw last weekend—despite you telling me it was an act—was anything but an act!”

  He turned away and glared out the windows so neither one would see the pain roll across his face like thunderheads.

  “I know love when I see it, and that was it.”

  “What’s your point, Mom? She lied to me,” he muttered darkly.

  “Lies happen when you protect the one you love,” Jimmy told him. “She didn’t tell you because she was worried you’d get dragged into the same dangerous situation she was in.”

  Chase shot the man a look, noticing the black eye and bandaged nose. “What happened to your face?”

  Jimmy touched his nose gingerly. “A dangerous situation.”

  A new anger flared to life inside of him. If someone had done that to Jimmy, what happened to Graceland? “Where is she? Is she alright?”

  “She’s unharmed—physically—but she’s in deep with the wrong person because she refused to take your money,” Jimmy said. “And because her mom is a bitch.”

  “Her mom? I don’t understand.”

  “Son, sit down,” his mom said. “We’re going to tell you most of what happened, and at some point, I have a feeling you’ll run off to see for yourself just how true it is.”

  She leaned back in the chair, waiting. Chase looked from her to Jimmy and back again. If his anger had indeed blinded him to what Grace was really doing, he should stay and hear them out. His feet wanted to run, his heart was not sure if it could handle anymore lies or hurt. Did he really want to hear all of this?

  Yes, you do, he whispered to himself. Because your mom is right and you know it. Words he never thought he’d think. Sighing, he took a chair in front of his desk as Jimmy joined him.

  “Tell me,” he finally said. “Who’s the real Graceland Summers?”

  ***

  It was past one in the morning when Grace finally got home from her shift at the pub, fuming and tired. She kicked off her boots, chucking them hard against the couch. “Jimmy! You home?”

  There was no reply so she went to her room and tossed her bag on the bed, cursing about Mickey and how she’d gotten herself into this mess. Still no sign or word from her mom, and she had a feeling she’d never hear from her again. Probably for the best. Grace had entertained herself, lately, with ways to get revenge on her mom, and none of them ended well.

  The front door opened and the living room light flipped on. Keys jangled. Jimmy.

  “Good, you’re home,” she called out, turning to the closet. “I’m going to eat that entire tub of ice cream, so if you want some, better claim it now. That asshole was pushing again. If he touches my ass one more time, I’m going to smash a bottle over his head!” She pulled her yoga pants and a batman t-shirt out and changed quickly, thinking she heard a mumbled curse from Jimmy. “Yeah, I know. He outright asked me for sex today.”

  Something broke in the living room, and after she had changed, Grace peered out her bedroom door.

  “Jimmy? What are you doing?” When he didn’t answer, her heart pounded and she wondered for a h
orrible second if it were even Jimmy she heard come in. Grabbing the baseball bat she kept near her door, she crept from her room, ready to whack whomever was in her place. When she cleared the hall and the tall man in her living room turned around, the bat fell from her numb fingers and all she could do was stare.

  “Hi, Graceland,” Chase said roughly, holding what remained of a lamp in his hands. “Sorry. I… uh, lost it a bit when I heard what you said.”

  She nodded once, unsure what to do. He set the broken pieces down and took a step towards her, but she backed away quickly. “No, you don’t get to do this,” she snapped, holding up her hand. “You can’t just walk into my place, break something, and expect me to… What? I don’t even know! Just get out!”

  “Wait, please,” he said, but she shook her head.

  “No! You threw me out, you jackass!”

  He hung his head and sucked in a deep breath. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  His words stilled her, but she couldn’t believe him. “What did you say?”

  Raising his head, those glimmering green eyes held hers as he repeated, “I’m sorry, Graceland. I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am.”

  His words hit her one after the other, but she was not giving in that quickly. “What changed?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “You wouldn’t even listen to me, but all of a sudden, you’re here.”

  He tugged at the coin around his neck. “I had some visitors today,” he said quietly, his face reddening. “They told me some things.”

  “Like what?” she demanded.

  “Why you took the job I offered you in the first place.”

  Grace frowned. “Who would’ve—Jimmy! That bastard!”

  “He wasn’t alone. My mom was with him,” he said. “She came looking for you and found your friend instead.”