The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “I’m interested.” He grinned.

  My heart skipped. Oh thank god. I had put myself out there and for a split second I didn’t think anything was going to come of it. I had no clue if he even wanted to see me again. He had made it sound like he did this morning, but maybe that had changed.

  Since we’d sat down for dinner he’d been … off. Or maybe I was just reading into things too much. No, I thought as I stood up. I’m not. He’s hardly been talking to me. He barely said anything to me during dinner, despite the fact we were sitting beside each other the whole time. Instead, he seemed more interested in a group conversation, and it was hard for me to try and rationalize it without feeling like it was somehow my fault. However, I was trying.

  I turned, and with Jeff behind me, headed for the door. We didn’t say anything for a while as we made our way out of the building and into the warm air. Despite the setting sun, it was still warm enough for me not to need a sweater.

  “Did you get up to much today?” I asked as we headed for my room. I wasn’t sure if I was just super nervous, or if it was actually awkward as we walked. It’s just because I’m nervous, I told myself. It was what I wanted to believe, so I chose to believe it.

  “Not really. I just got work done around the ranch.”

  “Like what?” I honestly had no clue what kind of work ranchers did.

  “Mostly unloading trucks that came in today. Then I had a couple repairs to do. A few fences that needed to be fixed, a few of the farm trucks needed an oil change, stuff like that.”

  My heart skipped a beat as we entered my room. I opened the door; I hadn’t bothered to lock it. I didn’t realize he was so handy. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it was more hot than anything else.

  “Okay, close your eyes.”

  I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he did it before stripping out of my clothing and heading for the bag with my dress. Thankfully it was a fast on, fast off kind of dress, so it didn’t take me long to change. I spun to face Jeff. His eyes were still closed and I had to give him credit for that. I would have tried to peek.

  “You can look now.”

  His eyes opened. He looked me up and down slowly. I watched his eyes widen. Yes, the blue lace dress was a little shorter than I would normally buy, but it was damn cute. The fabric covering my body ended just below my butt and the lace took over, the skin under the lace clearly showing through.

  “Damn,” he muttered, closing the distance between us.

  “I thought you might like to see what your money got me,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing his cheek softly. My lips made their way to his ear and then nibbled his earlobe.

  His hands touched my hips gently; his fingers pressed into my skin. I moaned, pulling myself closer to him.

  “So you like it?”

  “I love it,” he whispered next to my ear.

  My pulse raced, excitement overwhelming me because he liked my dress. I would never admit that to anyone, though. I didn’t want anyone to think his approval mattered or something like that. Even though it does.

  The thought almost killed me. I never wanted to be that kind of girl. I had been when I was younger and I knew better now.

  Jeff pulled away from me. He looked over my body, then toward the floor. “You bought that in town, then?”

  “Yes.” I felt him tense again, like he had this morning. I bit my lip. “Is it an issue we went to town?” Had he expected me to spend the whole day with him or something? Or is there more to it than that?

  “No,” he said quickly.

  I didn’t believe him, so I didn’t say anything. I just raised an eyebrow and watched him. He still wouldn’t look at me. “Really?” I sighed. “Because it seems like you’re lying to me. I’m not dumb, Jeff.”

  He turned away from me. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever they said is probably right.” He stepped toward the door.

  “What do you mean ‘whatever they said’? What do you think they said to me?” Why would he even think they said something?

  “We’re not oblivious. We know what they say about us. And you … you’re young and pretty and …” he trailed off. Jeff turned to me and I could see how sad he looked. “I wish you hadn’t gone. I wish you hadn’t heard whatever it was you heard. I wish I could have given you a chance to show you we’re not like that.” Still, he wouldn’t meet my gaze.

  “What if I don’t believe what they say?” I stared at him, waiting to see if he would meet my eyes. Wait. What was that about me being young? How old was this guy? I took a deep breath. One thing at a time. Not that I minded an older man.

  Jeff didn’t say anything for a long time. I watched him try to process what I had just said. The challenge I had given him that, maybe, I was willing to take his side. I was willing to bet it wasn’t something he was used to.

  “Why wouldn’t you believe them?”

  “Because I don’t know them. Why the fuck do I care what your personality is or if you’ve slept with other girls who stay here? It’s not like you seduced me or anything. I made the choice to sleep with you. It’s not like I thought for a second we’d have a future.” As I said it, I couldn’t help feeling a little sad.

  Stupid, I thought. I’d known all along this was something fun to do while we were here. It doesn’t even make sense. I’d been hooking up for a long time, so what was it about this guy that made me feel more than I had for others?

  “It’s not that simple. There is a reason why they hate us.”

  “Why? From what I heard, if it wasn’t for you guys buying this place, their town wouldn’t be doing half as well as it is.”

  From what we were told, even though most of the people seemed to hate the guys who ran the ranch, they were willing to admit that if it hadn’t been for them buying the place, no one would stop in that town. When they first bought the ranch the town had less than half the buildings they have now. “So why do you say they hate you?”

  “Because.” Jeff turned away from me again. He walked over to the bed and sat down, staring at the floor. “Because I fell in love with a local girl.”

  My heart sank. He was in love with someone? Now? I felt my knees get weak.

  “I broke her heart and she broke mine. I hurt her more than I can ever put into words.”

  “But that is in the past,” I rationalized. “I mean, if it’s in the past they should forgive you. It’s not like you meant –”

  “She killed herself.”

  Jeff

  I hadn’t meant to let it out. I had promised myself I would never talk about it. But there it was, out in the open.

  Natasha stepped toward me, closing the distance in a couple of quick paces and sat down beside me. “That couldn’t have been your fault.”

  I understood her point, but it didn’t matter. I still felt like it was my fault. Despite her and all the guys here saying it wasn’t.

  “Obviously the townspeople think it was.” And how could they not? It happened less than a month after I broke things off with her, all because I wanted to get another piece of action. No. I’d broken things off with her because she was young. But I moved on fast. I moved onto girls who were coming to the ranch.

  And I still did. Meaningless sex was fine. Sex with no feelings was fine. But Jamie hadn’t been meaningless sex. I’d loved her.

  “Why did you break things off with her?” Natasha reached out and put her hand on my knee. I’d never told a girl this before.

  “Because we were on different pages. She hadn’t even gone to college, she didn’t know what she wanted out of life, she … she was still a little girl.” Like you.

  “How old was she?”

  “Nineteen. I was younger then, too. But still, I wasn’t in the same place as her. She thought we could make it work, and I knew we couldn’t.”

  Natasha moved closer to me. My body tensed. “And how old are you now?”

  I looked over at her, my brow furrowed. “How old are you?” I didn’t answer he
r question. I felt my stomach turn. Sure, she was younger than me; I was pretty sure of that. But I was certain she was past twenty-five.

  “Twenty-two.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but words wouldn’t come out.

  Natasha

  I felt my cheeks burn as I stared at him. “But none of that matters,” I said quickly. “I mean, we’re not going to fall in love, right? So it shouldn’t matter. I’m of legal age.” Anger, fear, hurt. All of it collided inside me and I had no clue which one I should be feeling.

  Anger at the people who held it against Jeff that a girl had killed herself.

  Fear he’d just get up and leave.

  Hurt I wouldn’t be able to blame him if he did.

  I tried to push it all away and ignore it. I sucked in a deep breath. He still hadn’t answered me. “Right?”

  He shrugged. Not much more of an answer than I already hadn’t been given, but I took it.

  I rested my head against his shoulder and stared down at my hand on his knee. I’d brought him in here so we could have sex. Now here I was trying to comfort him. I sighed. This was not what I had in mind, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. Instead, we just sat there in silence. This time, it wasn’t awkward, even though it probably should have been.

  “So what now?” he finally asked.

  “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I lifted my head from his shoulder and looked at him.

  “But I don’t just want to fuck you, Natasha. I want …”

  He trailed off and I let him. I didn’t want to know what he wanted from me. I didn’t want to face that, so I ignored it. I moved, straddling his lap. My lips touched his.

  “Let’s work on one thing at a time, okay?” I whispered against him.

  His arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a kiss.

  Our kiss grew more passionate as the seconds ticked by. My hand reached into his hair, finding a place to call home for now. I wonder if he likes his hair pulled, I wondered. Most guys didn’t, but I’d met a couple who were really into it.

  His hands caressed my body, slipping down to my butt, then lower to my thighs. He guided me down onto the bed and rolled on top of me, his lips touching my neck softly, his teeth nipping lightly as a moan escaped my lips. I caught his eyes as he grinned down at me. His lips touched mine.

  “Would you just fuck me already?” I teased. “You said you wanted to, so what’s stopping you?”

  Jeff laughed as he pulled away from me. He undid his jeans and shoved them down to his knees along with his boxers. I inhaled sharply as I stared at his hard cock. My mouth watered. I watched as he reached for his pocket and pulled out a condom. I grinned as he met my gaze.

  “I didn’t want to be unprepared again,” he explained.

  I laughed softly. “Good. I don’t know if I could take it if we had to get up now.” I watched as he rolled the condom over himself. My heart raced.

  He grabbed my legs and spread them as he settled down between them. My eyes met his. Jeff grabbed my hips and pulled me toward him. I gasped, my hips arching as he thrust into me. My nails dug into the bedding.

  Jeff brushed the skirt of my dress up and out of the way as he pulled me closer to him. One hand traced over the fabric as the other held my thigh.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Love it.” He thrust into me faster and faster. His hand tightened against my leg. “Very country-girl-inspired. It’s cute, but only because you’re not trying to be a country girl.”

  I snorted. I didn’t mean to; it was totally unsexy and I knew that, but it came out before I could stop it. “I have no interest in trying to be something I’m not.” Though I was beginning to like it out here more than back home in the city, I knew I was far from a country girl. “Now shut up and fuck your country girl good.”

  He slammed into me. I gasped, my hips arching. His fingers dug into the fabric of my new dress as he pushed in and out of me, faster and faster. Harder and harder.

  I moaned, grabbing his arm, my nails digging into him. He thrust again and again.

  “Oh fuck, yes.” My eyes rolled back and my head felt light. I could feel my orgasm coming. He slammed into me. Faster and harder with each thrust.

  I gasped as my orgasm flooded my body, waves of pleasure crashing through me. I cried out, my hips bucking against him as he pinned me down, thrusting into me faster and faster. I moaned, wave after wave of pleasure consuming me. The next wave was so soft I hardly felt it. I opened my eyes and stared up at the man above me.

  His fingers tightened around my thigh. I watched his eyes roll back as he slammed into me again. He groaned, his body quivering as he hammered into me. Harder. Harder.

  “Oh yes,” I moaned, my nails digging into him as he thrust into me again. Once more.

  His eyes opened and he stared down at me. His lips touched mine as he slid out of me and off the bed.

  I sat up and watched as he headed for the bathroom and threw the condom out. Slipping out of the dress, my mind raced. I felt light headed and tired from the intensity of my orgasm. I crawled under the blankets as Jeff came over to the bed and joined me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. I pulled away and rested against the headboard, closing my eyes.

  I sat there on the bed, the blankets around me and Jeff beside me. He looked happy. Not that I blamed him. I might be a little offended if he didn’t look happy, or at least if he looked sad. I dropped down and leaned against his bare chest, taking a deep breath as my face rested against his muscles. I closed my eyes.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. Slow and steady, his heart beat. I could hear it perfectly. I could hear every soft movement.

  His fingers tangled into my hair, massaging my scalp softly. I took a deep breath. It was almost enough to make me fall asleep right then and there.

  See, this is why cuddling isn’t a good idea. Cuddling led to feelings. But they were already there, weren’t they? Let’s not be stupid. I had feelings for him. No. No, no, no. I tried to deny it, but I knew it was a lie. I’ll get over him. It wouldn’t be hard. I could easily get over him whenever I wanted.

  Still, the scalp massage felt fucking good.

  I smiled as I let myself relax in the arms of a man. It was different than it normally was. Normally it was just a quick curtesy cuddle. You know, just to make it seem like I wouldn’t ignore his phone call if he ever called me, which they normally didn’t.

  “Do you and your friend have anything planned tomorrow?”

  “Nope. Christy and I haven’t made any plans yet.”

  “Does that mean I can steal you?”

  Yes. I opened my mouth to say it, but there was just one issue. The whole getting attached thing. I had already gotten attached. “Sure.” I thought about what we had talked about before having sex. It was clear we both knew this could only last for a few days. But it’s not a bad idea to make the most of it. “Sure, if you have plans for me.”

  A wide grin spread over Jeff’s face. “Well then, I guess I get you for the day tomorrow.”

  He pulled me down into his arms and held me tight. I reached up, turned out the light, and closed my eyes.

  ~~~~

  I sat on top of the horse. It was my first time and I had no fucking clue what I was doing, but he wanted to take me horseback riding. So here I was agreeing to it. He sat beside me on a horse of his own. He had a backpack behind him and a grin on his face.

  “Ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  I still felt bad for making plans with him. Even though Christy said she understood, I could tell she was upset about it. I hadn’t meant to make her feel ditched, and I was pretty sure that’s exactly what I had done. I thought about staying behind after I told her I was going to be busy, and Jeff suggested it, but I knew she would just tell me to leave and go have fun. She’s too nice some days. Not that it didn’t mean a lot to me she was considering my feelings.

&n
bsp; Jeff stepped out in front of me with his horse and we started the trail ride. He said there was going to be something special. I had no clue what ‘something special’ meant, but I was a mixture of nervous, excited, and worried.

  The horse I was riding fell into stride behind Jeff’s and seemed to follow him as we went over the hills along a small path. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to do too much, so I was able to take some time and look around as much as I wanted. Wow. It was gorgeous out here. The pictures on the website weren’t fake, or if they were, it didn’t matter because the scenery out here was better than what we’d seen online. And that’s including the shirtless cowboy. I grinned for a fraction of a second. The sky was open and today there were only a couple clouds. The land stretched out in front of us. There were a few hills and a little bit of a forest, which looked like where we were headed.

  The horses traveled down the faint outline of a path and toward a river. As we made our way along the edge, I stared down into the water and watched the fish. Some were little, some were big. They swam around without paying any attention to us or the horses. It was still cool enough I could wear my sweatshirt, but I was pretty sure that would change soon. Not that I minded.

  I stared in front of me for a few seconds, my body weight shifting as the horse walked. I focused at the man in front of me. It must have been so hard. We hadn’t talked about the girl he fell in love with since last night. I didn’t want to say anything about it; after all it wasn’t my place. But I wanted to know everything there was to know about him and his relationship with her. He doesn’t deserve to feel like it’s his fault. And he didn’t deserve to be treated like it was.

  I wanted to say something to let him know I didn’t think it was his fault, but I knew it would be a bad idea. So, here we were in silence as I took in everything around us. It was gorgeous.

  The horse ride was slow going along the creek as we headed up a hill. “Lean forward; it will help the horse a little.”

  I nodded, even though he didn’t see it, and leaned forward. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since we’d been out here, but it was starting to feel like a while, and it was starting to warm up. I could feel the heat against my back now. Against my black sweater. I’ll take it off the second I get a chance.