by Ali Parker
I wanted that. I wanted that more than I wanted anything in the world, but I’d put it so far back on the burner that it felt like it would be forever out of my reach. I had other things to worry about besides my love life, like mine and my family’s financial freedom. Not to mention my track record of investing so much of myself into guys who were no good for me. Guys who wanted to use me.
I peered down at the bag with the dress in it at my feet.
Was going to the event this weekend a bad idea? I wanted love so badly that now I was beginning to wonder what would really happen if I was chosen as the one woman for the Casanova men. If I made it to the end and fell for one of them, what would I do? Would I take the money? That would be the sane and logical choice. It was the reason I signed up to do this whole thing in the first place. But would it be what my heart wanted?
Or would I say yes to the proposal? To love?
I shook my head.
No, I would take the money. I had to. I owed that to my mom and dad and brother. To Aldo and his little girl. Hell, I owed it to myself, too. I’d passed up on too many opportunities all because of money.
But what if it was real love like what my mom and dad had? What if it was the burning, deep, committed, honest sort of love they shared? The love that brought them together and let them build a family. The love that started Piper’s Paradise. The love that proved that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.
I buried my face in my hands and took a deep breath. “Relax, Piper. It’s probably not going to happen anyway. And if it does, you have a year to figure it out.”
I looked out the window. The snowflakes were getting puffier and clinging to the sidewalk. The cup of coffee before me was only half full, but I wanted to make it home before the snow really started to come down. I got a lid, snapped it on, and set off back to the apartment, hoping Janie would be there to talk some sense into me and lift my spirits.
Once this weekend was over, everything would go back to normal. All of this fretting and worry and stress was probably for nothing.
I’d wake up on Monday and do the same thing I did every week: go to the restaurant, open up shop, and make coffee for customers who weren’t coming.
Chapter 18
Jackson
It was easy to recall what my first night had been like when I was about to embark on the year-long journey that led me to my wife.
I’d been here, in this very bar, hanging back and watching as the women flirted with the men and everyone became a little more intoxicated with every passing hour.
The same thing was happening this year. A few of the guys had left, like Asher and Miles, but most were still at the bar. Some were even getting a little wild.
It felt like a bachelor party.
A bachelor party with women.
Jeremiah, the logger, waved me over to join him and a couple other guys at one of the tables. He was sitting with Aaron, the author, and Joshua, the Canadian. I went over and took a seat.
“What do you think so far, Jackson?” Jeremiah asked. “You think this group of assholes has a shot at finding true love in all this?”
The other guys around the table all chuckled, but I could feel the curiosity in their stares as they turned their attention to me. I’d been in the same position as them last year. I’d come into this whole thing thinking it was a waste of time and wishing I’d never gone through with it.
Then my wife walked through the doors, and everything stopped for me. She was the girl I’d been waiting for, and I knew the second I saw her that there was potential there.
“I think there’s a very good chance things will work out this year, yes,” I said.
“Why?” Joshua asked.
I shrugged. “Well, it worked for me. Why not someone else?”
“Is this what it was like on your first night then?” Aaron asked.
“Sort of. These girls are a bit wilder, I suppose. The women in my year were a bit more low key. But when Julia walked through the door? Man, I just knew that she was worth putting it all on the line for. Everything about her put me on edge, and I just had to get more time with her. I knew it was a long shot, but I went for it anyway. And I wouldn’t change a damn thing about it. The trick is just getting out of your head and letting time take care of the rest.”
“Sounds pretty oversimplified to me,” Joshua said.
The others nodded.
“Is there something we should be looking for?” Jeremiah asked.
I thought about his question for a minute and then shook my head. “No. That’s putting unnecessary constraints on yourself. The whole point of this is to meet people you might not have ever been exposed to in your daily life. And it’s worth noting that these women all fit the criteria of what most men might be looking for. But love doesn’t have a checklist. And when you apply a list of things you want in a person, you might be eliminating those people out there who are perfect for you just because they don’t like the same type of sushi that you do.”
Aaron pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I need to write that down for future use. Love doesn’t have a checklist.”
“I’ll bet Cooper and Easton have an extensive checklist,” Jeremiah said as he picked up his beer bottle from the table and tipped it back to take a long swig. After he put it down, he dragged the back of his hand across his mouth. “What do you fellas think?”
“Of course they do,” Aaron agreed. “She should be smart but not too smart. Beautiful. Likes cooking and baking and tending house. Gives great blowjobs. Has a tight pussy and loves to fuck.”
Joshua laughed. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”
Aaron nodded toward the dance floor, where Easton and Cooper were both dancing with some of the women. A waitress was serving them shots from her tray, and it was attracting more women to the dance floor by the second.
Camden was also out there, and he was chatting up Heather, a sexy redhead. They did a shot, and then Camden caught us looking over at him. As he whispered something in her ear, Aaron said to the rest of us, “Camden is the guy we should worry the most about, right? I mean, we all know he was a playboy back in the day.”
“Key words being ‘back in the day’,” Joshua said casually.
“He’s still got game,” Aaron said.
“If we’re being honest, everyone in this room has game,” Joshua said.
“Fair,” Aaron agreed.
“He’s coming over here,” Jeremiah interjected, warning the rest of us that Camden was heading our way.
He dropped into the open chair beside me and flagged down a waitress, who he ordered a glass of water from. He looked around at the rest of us. “What are you fuckers doing just sitting on the sidelines like a bunch of bitches?”
Joshua chuckled. Aaron and Jeremiah did not.
“Are you having fun, letting the women know you’re the biggest player in the room?” Jeremiah asked.
Camden raked his fingers through his hair. “Don’t hate on me for getting pussy, man. I’m just playing the field and seeing what we might have to work with. If I’m being honest, none of them are really floating my boat. You know what I mean?”
“They’re all stunning,” Aaron said.
Camden nodded. “Yes, of course they are. And if I wasn’t bound by contract not to fuck any women right now, I’d take a bunch of them up to my room with me tonight. But just because I’d like to have sex with them doesn’t mean I think they’re potential marriage material.”
“Give me a break.” Aaron chuckled. “You’re the biggest playboy out of all of us.”
“Damn straight. And look where it got me. I’m in a club full of hot women I can’t fuck because I’m in a competition with eleven other dicks to win the heart of a money-hungry chick. Some might call it cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Some might call it lucky,” Joshua said.
“You’re a glass half full kind of man, aren’t you, monsieur?” Camden spoke the word “monsieur” somewhat scathingly
.
It didn’t ruffle Joshua’s feathers. The Canadian got to his feet and picked up his jacket, which was draped across the back of his chair. “I am, actually. And it’s served me quite well. I think I’m going to head out for the night, boys. See you all tomorrow.”
And with that, he left.
I was starting to feel the same way. I didn’t have any interest in hanging around the club any longer. It was well past midnight. I wanted to go back to my hotel room and listen to the voicemail I hoped my wife had left me. She’d promised to call, and if I didn’t answer, she always left me a message telling me about her day.
Being back in this place made me miss her. It reminded me of the first time we met and how hard the year had been when I had to share her with other men and let the process run its course. All I’d wanted was to go to her and beg her to choose me.
But I’d held strong and been patient.
And she chose me anyway.
I had no idea how this year was going to play out. I’d been thrown a couple curve balls, like a new addition at the literal last minute by a very persuasive and relentless employee. Janie had fed me a story that I pretended to believe. Mostly, I just liked the idea of mixing things up by letting the new girl in.
I wasn’t sure if the men would like the new addition. The girl was the polar opposite of the women the men had selected. Where these girls were beautiful but lacking in substance, the eleventh girl was full of potential. She didn’t fit any mold or label. I was more than a little curious to see how the men responded to her when they met her tomorrow afternoon.
I hoped I hadn’t wasted my time getting her into the contest.
I got to my feet. “I’m going to call it a night as well. I’ll see you all in the morning. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
The men I was sitting with all said goodbye, and I slipped out of the bar without being stopped by anyone else. I made my way down the hall to my private quarters and closed the door behind me. I could still hear the beat of the music in the bar, but I was too tired for it to keep me from sleeping.
I took my phone out from where I’d left it in the drawer of the nightstand and smiled when I saw the notification that I had three voicemails from my wife.
She must have had an eventful day. I couldn’t wait to hear all about it.
Chapter 19
Piper
It was only six in the morning when I woke up on Saturday. I had barely slept a wink due to the nerves that had settled in my stomach after I got home from the cafe the night before.
I was incredibly anxious about today.
I got out of bed and slipped out of my room to hurry down the hall and shower. I wanted to let my hair air dry before Janie helped me style it later in the afternoon. It was way too thick and long and took at least four hours to dry out. Even then, I might need to blow dry it.
Time passed with agonizing slowness. Every second that crept by seemed to last a whole minute.
I couldn’t believe I was going to be standing in a room full of billionaire bachelors in less than twelve hours. What were they going to think of me? Was I going to stick out like a sore thumb? Would they know as soon as they saw me that I didn’t belong there?
It was impossible to imagine a scenario where that didn’t happen.
The other women I’d be up against would surely fit the part better than me. They would effortlessly pull off the makeup and the long hair and the whole walking in heels shtick. I hadn’t walked around in pumps since high school, and I’d been a wobbling klutz back then. There was no telling how much damage I could do in the five-inch pumps I’d bought yesterday at the thrift store. I would probably be singlehandedly responsible for some rich asshole’s skewered foot or dismembered limb.
I shook my head. The control of my thoughts was in my hands, and I couldn’t let it all spiral into out of control. Not now when I was so close to seeing this thing through. I could freak out later.
Or come home and cry into a bucket of ice cream when they sent me home for being way too below their standards.
When Janie got up in the morning, I was glad for her company. She sat down with me in the living room after we made a pot of coffee, and she crossed her legs as she tucked herself into her favorite corner of the sofa. “So,” she said. “I know we haven’t talked about this as much as you would like. Do you have questions?”
I frowned. “I did. I had a lot of them. But now, I can’t remember.”
“That’s okay. We have time. You don’t have to be there until around two today.”
“I thought you said my slot was at three?” I asked.
“It is.”
“Oh,” I said.
She chuckled softly. “You have to be there early just to make sure everything goes smoothly. But it will all be fine. The President, my boss, will be there to guide you through it, and he’s actually really nice. Don’t let his looks scare you off.”
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek. “None of these dudes are going to want to fuck me this weekend, right?”
Janie burst out laughing. “Oh God, Piper! No! You don’t have to worry about that sort of thing. I mean, yeah, sex will come into play over the course of the year when you’re with them, but it’s not going to happen this weekend.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
She nodded. “Absolutely positive. It’s actually against the rules.”
That made me feel a lot better. It was something I’d found myself thinking about over the course of the last week and a half. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and despite how curious I was about the whole thing, the sex part freaked me out a bit. I hadn’t slept with a guy in over a year.
The last guy I’d slept with had been my boyfriend from my first year of college, and he was a total loser. He never even gave me an orgasm. In fact, I’d never had one that wasn’t self induced.
“Is there anything I should avoid saying or doing?” I asked. “Should I tell them the truth about my mom and dad and how poor we are? Will they care?”
Janie smiled at me. “Just be yourself, Piper. That’s the only way this thing can work. You can’t pretend to be someone you’re not. They’ll see right through you.”
“Really? Since when are men that intuitive?”
“These aren’t the sorts of men you’re used to being around. Just take my word for it. Be yourself and have fun. Any other strategy won’t work. I can guarantee it.” She reached over and patted my knee. “It’s going to be fine.”
Janie and I spent the rest of the morning talking things over. I wasn’t able to finish my coffee. My stomach was twisted into too many knots for me to eat or drink anything besides water.
When ten o’clock rolled around, Janie had me get up, and we went into her room so she could do my hair and makeup. I knew it was going to be a process, but I didn’t really have a good idea of how much was going to involved.
It was eye opening.
As a girl who didn’t wear a ton of makeup, I found the whole face painting process to be quite impressive. Janie didn’t skip a step. She primped my face and applied foundation and concealer. Then she set it with a powder that went straight up my nose and made me sneeze.
“What time did you get home last night?” Janie asked as she gently tapped some bronzer off the tip of her makeup brush. “I didn’t hear you get in.”
“Oh. I don’t know. Maybe around midnight?”
“Did you have to work late?”
I shook my head. “No. My dad and I got into a bit of an argument, actually. He saw the dress Phillip bought for me and freaked out. He still thinks I’m traveling abroad for school—or at least contemplating it. And for some reason, he’s steadfastly against it. I don’t know what his problem is. You know what he said to me last night? He said he didn’t know what I’d been up to. All I’ve been up to since I was fourteen was working in the damn restaurant to stop them from going out of business.”
Janie swirled a new brush in a palette of rosy pink blush. She p
atted it on my cheeks. “Maybe he’s just stressed and is afraid of losing you?”
“Why would he lose me?” I asked.
“Maybe he’s afraid you’ll meet someone when you’re out of the country.”
“I wouldn’t—”
Janie gave me a deadpan look. “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s suspicious is all, and he has good reason to be. You are joining an elite dating club, Piper. He’s not wrong to wonder what’s going on.”
I sighed. “Yeah, but he still doesn’t have the right to criticize me like that.”
“No, maybe not. But you knew this would be hard when you asked me to make it happen. Now, here we are. You have to put your big girl panties on and deal with the consequences of what you chose.”
I stared at my friend as she swept highlighter on my cheeks. “When did you get so wise, Yoda?”
Janie giggled and shook her head at me. “I’ve always been this wise. You just were never very good at listening.”
“Sorry.”
She dusted the brush over the tip of my nose. “It’s all right. Pass me that purple thing beside you. No, the other one. Yes. Thank you.” She opened the purple palette I’d handed her. It was full of little squares of eye shadows of all different colors. “What color did you say your dress was again?”
“Royal blue. And velvet. Did you want to see it before you start?”
She shook her head. “I want to see it all at the end when it comes together. I know exactly what to do with your makeup. Don’t stress. We’re going to go with timeless classic. Vintage. Just wait and see. You’re going to look stunning.”
“I trust you.”
It took another half hour or so for Janie to finish my makeup. By the time she was done, I could see my own lashes, they were so thick with mascara. My lips felt plumper, and she’d painted them with a ruby-red lip stain and then added a bit of gloss on top. She had me smack my lips together before she told me I could look at myself in the mirror.
