“I will treat her good, and I have no doubt she’s amazing.”
“Thanks for setting up our picnic,” Lauren said, hugging her friend.
As Ramsey took off down the beach, Drake and Lauren made themselves comfortable on the blanket. It wasn’t something Drake did very often, but he liked being there with Lauren. The sun was moving quickly down the horizon, and they were going to sip their wine and watch the sunset; it was rather romantic.
Lauren wasn’t normally a girl who valued romantic gestures. But the beach was her life, and it did seem to make sense to bring Drake there so they could spend the rest of their date talking and watching the sunset. Lauren had talked to the other women and knew a lot about Drake, but she wanted to give him the chance to get to know her a little bit more before he had to make his decision.
She had seen hundreds of sunsets on the beach, but never one so romantically as that moment. Drake was the perfect partner for her, and she knew it. His mix of business with her mix of fun would make them a super couple, and she just knew it. The problem was, she wasn’t able to fully let go and relax when she knew that there were six other women who had growing feelings for the same man.
“Do you want to have children?” Lauren blurted out before she could stop herself.
She didn’t want to ask him that question; she had just been thinking about it and it had come out. Lauren wanted children; she wanted a lot of them, though, and it was something that was very important to her in the man she chose. Even when she went on regular dates, she always got around to the question of if they wanted to have kids. It was no use continuing to date a guy if he wasn’t interested in having kids. Lauren was going to be a mother someday; she knew it and was excited for that part of her life.
“Yes, I do.”
She instantly smiled at his response. It was a relief. A man of Drake’s age could have easily decided he didn’t want to go down that path. But Lauren didn’t care that Drake was almost 40 years old. She would still like to get to know him more, and from what she knew so far, she thought he would make a pretty outstanding father.
“I do too. Family is really important to me. I can’t wait for that part of my life.”
“Well, you should wait. Have fun, do your career for a while. Kids will always be there.”
“Yeah, I mean I might wait for a couple of years. But I can’t wait to be a mother.”
Drake could see the happiness in Lauren’s eyes, and he certainly didn’t question that she would make a great mother. She was a kind soul that seemed to genuinely care for the people around her; those were traits of his own mother, so he knew they were good ones.
“When you pick the girl, do you plan on moving to where she lives? Or how is that all going to work when this week is done?” Drake hadn’t really thought about all of the specifics of picking the right woman. When he started the process, he really wasn’t sure he would find women that he even liked. The pure high level of women that were at his home had surprised him and picking one would have to be based on more than just her geographic location.
“I think it will work out no matter which woman I pick. If things are meant to be, they will be.”
“That’s a great way of thinking. I think that way also. If you find someone that you care enough for, you’ll make it work out, no matter where she lives. Plus, all of us women are pretty well traveled; a long-distance thing would certainly work.”
“Aren’t you located here in California?”
“Yes, but I mean if you picked someone else.”
There was a sudden sadness on Lauren’s face that felt like a knife going through Drake’s heart. He might not pick her, and that was the reality of the situation. It killed him to see that sadness in her eyes, though. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Lauren or any of the girls. He could see himself with Lauren, just as he could see himself with the other women. His heart was heavy as he tried to navigate what had turned into an awkward conversation.
“Well, this conversation has taken a turn for the worse,” Drake joked light-heartedly.
“Yes, let’s drink some more and have some sex,” Lauren said as she laughed and smiled.
Chapter 6
They spent hours on the beach watching the sun go down and talking. It was nice to see a more serious side of Lauren, but she was still sweet as could be. They talked about college, friends, food, and family. For Drake, it was one of the most real conversations he had had all week long. He felt relaxed and comfortable with Lauren and like he could say what was on his mind without worrying at all.
“Let’s get under the covers,” Lauren said, starting to shiver from the night air.
The beach was abandoned. They had it all to themselves, and as they tucked in under the blanket, the first thing Lauren did was reach for Drake’s pants and start unbuckling them. She had a bucket list item that she wanted to accomplish, and Drake was just the person to do it with.
After spending years and years on the beach, Lauren had always thought about how exciting it would be to make love there. She had tried it with a boyfriend once before, but they decided to stop before things got going too far. This time, Lauren was going to complete her bucket list item of having sex on the beach.
“No, no, no, not on the beach,” Drake protested, but only slightly.
“No one’s around,” Lauren said as she pulled a condom from her back pocket.
Drake looked around with a paranoid expression and then shook his head in agreement as Lauren slid the protection over him. Drake was a risk taker in some aspects of his life, but admittedly he was not a big voyeur. He was perfectly happy making love in a bed or somewhere else around his home. But the excitement of the moment was exhilaration, and Lauren was straddling him in no time.
They kept the blanket over them for some semblance of privacy, and Lauren moved her hips in motion with him as they made love on the beach. She had spent so much time on the beach over the years; of course, she had a fantasy about making love there. Her heart pounded with excitement and her body pulsed as it built up with excitement.
There was something so primal about making love outdoors. There were no fancy sheets and no fancy houses, just two people who wanted to be together. She thrust her hips harder and harder against Drake as her body built up with pleasure and she got closer and closer to exploding.
“Excuse me,” a deep voice said from the other side of their blanket.
Lauren immediately stopped moving, and Drake pulled the blanket back a tiny bit so he could see who was there. As he looked out, his heart sank when he realized it was a police officer. The officer had a small flashlight that he flashed on Drake’s face and then over the blanket that was covering him.
“Hello officer,” Drake said as he gently slid Lauren off him so she could get herself dressed while still under the blanket.
“You two do know that it’s illegal to make love on the beach, right?”
“Um, officer, we were just kissing,” Drake tried to say.
Lauren zipped Drake’s pants up and then pulled the blanket down so she could try and go along with the story. Her hair was tousled, and her cheeks flushed, but at least, they were both fully dressed.
The officer didn’t respond and instead moved the flashlight around the couple and on the ground near them. Lauren saw it at exactly the same time as the officer spotted the condom, but it was too late. He had all the evidence he needed; the condom was sitting on the ground, and they couldn’t argue that they weren’t making love.
“Please stand up and put your hands behind your backs.”
“Officer, there isn’t anyone around. Please, could we pay a fine or something?” Drake asked as he went to pull his wallet out of his back pocket.
“Are you trying to bribe an officer?” the officer said sternly.
It was clear that this police officer wasn’t interested in anything Drake or Lauren had to say. He was going to be arresting them, and that was all there was to it. They could either go with h
im willingly or cause a big scene, and he could start adding on additional charges.
“No Officer, I was just going to show you my identification.”
“I don’t care who you are or what film you’ve been in. You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent …” the officer continued with their rights, and neither Drake nor Lauren decided to talk as they walked with the officer toward his vehicle.
The officer didn’t handcuff them, and certainly one of the two of them could have run off and avoided being arrested. But both Lauren and Drake were relatively law-abiding citizens, and they followed dutifully to the police officer’s car.
By the time they arrived at the vehicle, there was a female officer there waiting to cuff Lauren after she patted down her pockets. Drake couldn’t help laughing as the female officer pulled the handcuffs out of Lauren’s back pocket.
“What’s in your pocket?” the officer asked when she felt the handcuffs Lauren’s friend had given her.
“Um, handcuffs,” Lauren said embarrassed.
Drake couldn’t hold his laughter for another moment, and he thought he saw both of the officers laugh as well, but they hid it as much as possible. The female officer grabbed an evidence bag and put the handcuffs in there before using a regulation pair to handcuff Lauren.
Lauren could feel the tears building as they put her into the police car with the female officer and Drake went with the male officer. She had never been arrested or had to deal with the police at all. Getting separated from Drake made it all too real, and she felt herself crying before the car door was even shut. Lauren didn’t know who to call or what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to call a lawyer? She didn’t know any lawyers.
By the time she got to the police station, Lauren was in full crying mode and shaking because she was so afraid. What had been an almost perfect day had just ended in the most horrific way possible. Surely Drake wasn’t going to pick her after she got them arrested.
Lauren was upset with herself for pushing things so far; she was upset they got arrested, and she was scared. There weren’t that many times in her life that she truly could remember being afraid, but being put into a jail cell and having them close the bars behind her would go down in history as one of her most fearful moments.
“Am I supposed to call a lawyer?” she asked the female guard quietly.
“I’ll come grab you in a few minutes to do your processing, and you can call someone then.”
“OK, thank you.”
Lauren continued to cry on the bench in the cell and hardly noticed the other women in the room with her. It was clear they didn’t want anything to do with her since she was sobbing like a child. They all just stuck to their own area of the room. Lauren tried to get herself together and be tough, but the emotions were just so much for her.
Lauren looked up a few times to see who all was in there with her, and surprisingly everyone seemed pretty normal. She had pictured jail as a place where only scary murdering women went, so as she looked around and saw some normal looking women, it did put her at ease a bit.
Growing up, she had always been the good girl, even when she was out seeking thrills; Lauren didn’t break the law. She wanted to impress her father and make her mother happy. When her tears stopped, Lauren looked around the room again and tried to assess the situation. She needed to call her father. It would be better to call him than it would be to call a lawyer since she didn’t know any lawyers. Her father had always been there for her, and Lauren was confident he would be able to get her out of jail quickly.
Drake wasn’t having nearly as hard a time in his jail cell as Lauren. After getting booked, he quickly got to call Samantha, and she was down to the police station within thirty minutes. The look on her face was priceless as she tried not to laugh when they brought Drake out to be released.
“You’ll need to show up to court on the day noted here,” the officer said as he pointed to a piece of paper and then handed it to Drake.
“Thank you, sir,” Drake said with a serious expression, and the officer turned back toward the door he had come out of.
“Oh, my God, Drake how the hell did you get yourself arrested?” Samantha screamed and then quieted herself down.
It was exciting for her to see Drake getting in trouble. He wasn’t normally getting himself into this kind of trouble, and Samantha couldn’t help thinking that she had one more piece of evidence to secretly blackmail him with. She chuckled to herself at all the crazy dirty things she knew about Drake. But despite knowing all of those things about him, she still liked him. That was a sign of a true friend.
“Where were the paparazzi when I needed them? I could have used some more publicity for my sex life,” Drake joked. “We better get Lauren released too.”
“I’ve already paid the bail; they are getting her now.”
Drake looked at Samantha and had to fight the urge to grab her and pull her close to him. That urge was coming more and more often, and he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to avoid it for very much longer. Something had gotten stirred up between the two of them, and Drake wanted to see where it went, but he knew that was never going to happen.
Sure, he understood that Samantha didn’t want things to get awkward with them at work. But they were both grownups; surely, they could navigate a workplace romance without turning against each other. But then Drake thought about all of his previous ex-girlfriends. He wasn’t really friends with any of them, and they were all angry with him. Samantha was probably right in keeping their relationship as friends and business co-workers.
“Thanks for bailing us out,” Drake said as he let a finger graze against Samantha’s forearm.
It was a simple touch, but the jolt of longing that it gave Samantha wasn’t what she wanted to be feeling around Drake. He was off limits. No matter how bad she wanted him, no matter what thoughts went through her head, Drake Leblanc was totally and utterly off limits. But Samantha didn’t move her arm away as she looked toward Drake and smiled. His touch felt good, and for that brief moment, she wanted to feel good.
“Of course, I couldn’t just leave you in here.”
As Lauren walked out of the jail with the officer at her side, her heart sank when she saw the look that Samantha was giving Drake. It was a look Lauren knew very well. It was a longing for him that Samantha had in her eyes. Lauren could understand totally how Samantha could fall for Drake because Lauren herself was falling for him. And so were a half-dozen other women.
“Hey, there she is,” Drake said as he quickly pulled his hand away from Samantha and turned his attention toward Lauren. “I hope it wasn’t too bad in there.”
“Oh, darling, you’re shaking,” Samantha said, noticing Lauren’s tear-dried face and shaking hands.
Samantha quickly wrapped her arm around Lauren and walked with her out of the building. It was second nature to Samantha to take care of her friends, and Lauren was no different. Samantha could see that it had been a rough evening for her, and she hated that Lauren had to go through that.
“I’m okay; I was just a little scared.”
“God, yeah, I would totally be freaked out.”
Drake followed the women as he tried to get his mind straight again. Never in all of his business dealings had Drake struggled so much with making a decision. In business, he was decisive and quick. He knew right away what a good decision was, and he made it without hesitating. But his quick decision-making skills didn’t seem to be too helpful when it came to his love life. Love was such a harder thing for Drake to navigate. He wished he could have such a decisive decision-making ability with his love life.
Throughout college, Drake had dated plenty of women, but it was college; there wasn’t an end date where he had to make a decision. Now he did have to make a decision. There were only a couple days left until Drake needed to choose one of these women to move forward with and date. There wasn’t enough time. Drake wanted to spend weeks with each of them. He had loved getting t
o know them and spending time with each of the women in the house. There was no doubt that he would have asked each of them on a second date, probably even a third. The women in the house were the cream of the crop; they were the elite women of the world and all better than he thought he deserved.
Not that Drake really knew what kind of woman he deserved. But deep down, he didn’t think it was someone as great as the women in his house. Perhaps that had been what had held him back from seriously dating before. Maybe the idea that he wasn’t ready, or he wasn’t good enough to get married and be happy had always been in the back of his head. Drake wasn’t really sure at all anymore. He wasn’t confident in his choices and felt more wishy-washy than he could ever remember.
Chapter 7
As much as Drake wanted to talk with Samantha some more about what was going on between them, he didn’t want to take away time from Lauren. So, when Samantha pulled into the driveway and dropped them off, Drake didn’t make a move to talk to her. He needed to finish out his week with the women he had to choose from, and Samantha wasn’t one of them.
“Thanks for bailing us out. You’re a lifesaver.”
“No problem,” Samantha said as her eyes met Drake’s.
She held her gaze on his as she thought about saying something to him. Samantha wanted to tell him she had feelings for him. She wanted to tell him that she thought they should give at least one date a try, but she couldn’t get up the guts. Samantha had made the rules between the two of them; she couldn’t be the one who broke them. Plus, Drake was finally surrounded by women that Samantha actually liked. She would be happy with any one of the women from the house in his life, and Samantha wasn’t going to ruin that for him.
As Drake and Lauren walked up the stairs toward her room, Lauren seemed distracted. She normally had a huge smile, but it was noticeably absent as they made their way up toward her room.
“What’s up?” Drake asked.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 115
