The Protective Billionaire

by Christine Kersey

  Okay. He wasn’t laughing at her. That was a positive sign. “But that’s part of the problem. I’ll be in LA and you’ll be here.” Wait. Did he know she was talking about being pretend-married? Or did he think she was just asking for security? “We’re talking about the pretend marriage thing, right?” Now he was going to laugh. Heat blasted up her face in anticipation of being mortified.

  But he didn’t laugh. Instead, he nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

  Relieved, she felt herself relax. “So, for Tyler to be convinced that we’re actually married, we should probably be in the same town, right?”

  Now he laughed, but Aubree knew he wasn’t laughing at her.

  One of his eyebrows arched. “Especially if we’re newlyweds.”

  Her face heated again, but this time at the thought of actually being married to him. Pushing aside those thoughts, she nodded. “Right.”

  “I have a place in LA and I can work from anywhere, so that solves that problem. What other concerns do you have?”

  Wow. This might actually work. All the stress she’d been feeling for the last several days melted away.

  Wait. Was she really going to do this? Pretend she was married? Well, yes. If she wanted to get her life back. At least long enough to make the movie with Jason Evanson. Then she started worrying about something completely different. “Cameron, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, what’s in it for you?”

  He tapped a finger against his chin. “Hmm. Maybe you can introduce me to Jason Evanson.”

  Aubree laughed. “I’m sure that can be arranged. I met him at the audition and he seemed like a nice guy.” She paused. “Really though. Won’t being married,” she did air quotes, “cramp your style? You won’t be able to date anyone.” She narrowed her eyes in mock concern. “I mean, I would hope you wouldn’t date anyone while we’re married.”

  He laughed. “No. I wouldn’t. And really, it will be kind of nice to be off the market, as it were.”

  What did that mean? Were women throwing themselves at him all the time? He was super hot. And extremely nice. And if he had money like he hinted at, then yeah, she could see why women might behave that way.

  “How long were you thinking our marriage would last?” she asked, trying to think of any hitches in the plan. “Until I’m done filming? Until the premiere?”

  Cameron could hardly believe she’d agreed to his harebrained idea. Still, he was thrilled he would be able to help her achieve an important career milestone and keep her safe.

  Why he felt this overpowering need to protect her, he had no idea. But he did. And he would do whatever he could to make it happen.

  “As long as you need us to be married, we’ll be married,” he said in reply.

  “But what if you meet someone else? Someone you want to go out with? I…I don’t want to be an obstacle to your happiness.”

  Somehow, he couldn’t imagine her being an obstacle to anything. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Okay? If something like that happens then we’ll deal with it.”

  She nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “Since you’ll start filming soon, what do you think of getting back to LA this weekend and announcing our marriage?”

  Her eyes went wide, like she hadn’t thought it would all happen so fast. “Uh…”

  Was she having second thoughts? “It’s completely up to you, Aubree. We can forget the whole thing if you want.”

  Her jaw set. “No. I want to do this.” Then she nodded once. “This weekend. Let’s plan on it.”

  “Okay. I’ll arrange transportation and then I’ll introduce you as my bride.”

  “Okay.” She glanced around the peaceful space and wondered if she was nuts. But really, what was the worst that could happen? Tyler would get flushed out where he could be arrested and locked up? That would be a good thing, right?

  “You know,” she said as a thought occurred to her, “I don’t even know your last name.” Chuckling softly, she added, “I should probably know that.”

  Cameron smiled. “True. It’s Shah. Cameron Shah.”

  “Nice to meet you Mr. Shah.” She reached out to shake his hand, and when his larger hand encompassed hers, energy burst inside her.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Shah.”

  Hearing those words made that energy ignite into an unexpected fire of anticipation.

  This was going to be an interesting “marriage”. Although she had to clarify one thing. “Since this marriage isn’t real, and since I’m about to be in this movie, I’ll need to keep my name as Aubree Nichols.”

  He nodded. “Of course. That makes sense.”

  Later that afternoon, after Cameron had left, Aubree did an Internet search on Cameron Shah. And then she called Janie.

  “The man’s a billionaire,” Aubree said after she’d explained the entire scheme and told Janie what she’d found about Cameron online.

  “One, I can’t believe you’re doing this, and two, I can’t believe I have a billionaire for a neighbor.”

  Aubree laughed. “He said he would hire security. Now that I know he can afford it, I feel less guilty. Not totally without guilt, mind you, but not quite as bad.”

  “Remember, this was completely his idea, so you don’t need to feel bad at all.”

  “Good point. But still, I hope he doesn’t regret it once we get to LA. I mean, why is he really doing this?”

  “I’m sure he has his reasons. You said he mentioned the relief of being ‘off the market’. Maybe he’s tired of women who are only interested in him for his money.”

  “Yeah. You could be right. Anyway, I’m super stoked to get back to LA and begin filming.”

  “I’m so proud of you, Aubs. You deserve all the good that’s coming to you.”

  “Aw, thanks, Janie.”

  “And don’t forget. If it wasn’t for me, you never would have met Cameron.”

  Aubree laughed. “Oh, I know. And I’ll be sure to invite you over so you can meet my ‘husband’.”

  “Find out if he has a brother.”

  That brought another bout of laughter. “All right. See you soon.”

  “Bye, sweetie.”

  They disconnected, and Aubree began making a list of what she needed to do before she and Cameron went to LA.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When Friday rolled around, Aubree was both excited and nervous. She and Cameron had talked a few times on the phone as they’d gotten ready to go to LA, but she hadn’t told him that she’d discovered he was Cameron Shah, Billionaire. She’d thought it best to wait to divulge that bit of information until she saw him in person.

  Now, as she waited for him to pick her and Maya up, she found herself twisting her fingers together on her lap as she sat on the front porch and tried to enjoy the beauty of Janie’s cabin for a few more minutes.

  Maya suddenly leapt to her feet and began panting with excitement.

  “Is he coming? Do you hear his Jeep?”

  Moments later Cameron’s black Jeep came into view, and when he stepped out of the car, Aubree looked at him with new eyes. He didn’t look like a billionaire—no fancy suit, no swagger, nothing to indicate he was more than a regular guy. But now that she knew the truth about him, she couldn’t help but have a deeper sense of awe for all he’d accomplished. That, plus knowing he was such a sweet, down-to-earth man, made him that much more attractive. And she was going to be spending a lot more time with him. As his pretend-wife.

  What if he did meet someone he wanted to date and then wanted to end their pretend marriage? Jealousy, sharp and painful, pricked her. It was at that moment that she decided she couldn’t let herself get too close to him.

  “Hi there,” he said, a bright smile on his face. Then he knelt to pet Maya, who had dashed out to greet him. “And you too, pretty girl.”

  Maya’s tail wagged hard.

  “I think she missed you,” Aubree said, then was surprised to discover that she’d missed him as well.<
br />
  Keeping her distance was going to be harder than she thought.

  Cameron stood and walked toward Aubree, her white-blonde hair gleaming in the early afternoon sun. He was still kind of stunned that she’d agreed to be his pretend-wife. Was he nuts to suggest it? What was in it for him? Besides getting to spend time with her and not having to deal with dating for a while. Yeah, it was going to be interesting.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yes. My luggage is just inside the front door.”

  She turned to retrieve it.

  “I’ll get it,” he said, wanting to show he was a gentleman.

  “Are you sure? There are quite a few pieces.” A dazzling smile lit her face, knocking him off balance for a moment.

  He smiled in return but knew his smile couldn’t compete with hers. He just hoped it was sufficient to let her know he was happy to help. “I’m sure.”

  Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Okay. I’ll get Maya’s stuff.”

  Once everything was loaded—including Maya—Cameron opened the passenger door for Aubree and helped her inside.

  As they drove away from the cabin, Cameron expected Aubree to ask him how they were going to get to LA, but she stayed silent. After he’d given her his last name, had she looked him up? Discovered he was a billionaire? If so, what did she think? She’d given nothing away, so he had to wonder if she’d Googled him.

  With a glance in her direction, he hoped she had looked him up and that she was impressed. He was eager to impress her.

  Aubree tried to focus on the here and now and not on the fact that her life was about to change in so many ways. Being in a major film, pretending to be married to a billionaire, making herself vulnerable to stalkers and crazies. Would this pretend marriage compound her problems? Make her more of a target? Was this whole setup with Cameron a mistake?

  Panic, swift and powerful, surged through her, and she gripped the armrest on her right, whitening her knuckles.

  “Everything okay?” Cameron asked.

  No. Everything was most definitely not okay. But as she thought about her other option—go back to her apartment and be even more vulnerable—she knew the best alternative was to see this through. “Just a little nervous about…well, about everything.”

  “Speaking of that…”

  She glanced his way and saw one side of his mouth quirk up. Maybe he was having second thoughts too. After all, he was tying himself to her, making himself unavailable to other women. Was he about to back out? Then what would she do? Alarmed by this possible outcome, she asked, “What’s wrong? What are you thinking?”

  His smile was relaxed. “Nothing’s wrong. We just need to get on the same page. You know, about our whirlwind courtship.” He winked at her. “And marriage.”

  Relieved that he hadn’t changed his mind, yet sobered by the word marriage, a nervous laugh climbed her throat. “Right.”

  “So. Have you thought about our cover story?”

  She hadn’t. She’d been too focused on how her life was going to shift so dramatically. But she thought about it now. A storyline from Love & Lies jumped to mind and she blurted, “You found me unconscious on the side of the road and nursed me back to health at your cabin where we fell in love and got married.”

  Cameron burst out laughing. “Where’d you come up with that?”

  She had to admit it was over the top and she softly chuckled. “It was a storyline on the soap I was on.”

  “Uh-huh. Yeah. I don’t think that’ll work.”

  She looked his way. “Come on. It could totally work.”

  He met her gaze and one eyebrow arched. “Don’t you think the media would dig into that and find out it’s not true? I mean, since you’re a celebrity.”

  And since you’re a billionaire she wanted to add but kept her thoughts to herself. “Yes. You’re right. Okay. What have you come up with?”

  His mouth stretched into a grimace as he glanced at her. “You’re going to laugh.”

  So, he’d been thinking about this? “Try me. Besides, it couldn’t be any worse than my idea.”

  He laughed. “That’s for sure.”

  She wanted to reach over and shove his arm in a playful way, but that felt a little too intimate for this stage of their relationship. Then she considered that they were about to tell the world they were married. And she was afraid to reach out and touch him? Holding back a laugh, she shook her head.

  “What is it?” he asked, obviously noticing her reaction.

  “Nothing.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “If we’re going to pull this off, we need to be honest with each other.”

  Without thinking, her eyebrows shot up. He’d failed to mention he was a billionaire.

  “What?” he asked.

  Deciding to wait and see if he was going to tell her, she shook her head. “This is going to be interesting, that’s all.”

  He chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”

  “You were going to tell me what you came up with, remember?”

  “Oh yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Okay. Here goes.” He glanced at her before looking back at the road. “So, we both attended some sort of dinner.” He looked at her. “Say, a charity dinner.” He faced the road again. “We ended up sitting next to each other and got to talking. One thing led to another…” He looked her way again. “And now we’re married.”

  “Okay. Possible. Boring, but possible.”

  He laughed. “You like your unconscious on the side of the road story better?”

  A smile curved her lips. “Kind of, yeah. But there’s a problem with your story.”

  His eyebrows rose. “What problem?”

  “There was no dinner. And the media would know it.”

  “Fine. So, it was a dinner hosted by mutual friends.”

  “But we don’t have any mutual friends.”

  “How do you know that?”

  True as that may be, she still doubted it. “If we did, don’t you think we would have met, or at least heard of each other?”

  His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Not necessarily.”

  “Okay. Do you have friends who will corroborate this story?”

  He looked thoughtful. “Yeah. I think I have a friend who will get on board with this whole charade.”

  Charade. She didn’t like that word. Even though it was true. It sounded so fake. Then she reminded herself that their marriage was fake. Totally fake. But she was only doing it to protect herself. Nothing more. Still, she preferred to think of it as an extended acting part. Because really, that’s how she was going to treat it.

  “So,” Cameron asked. “What do you think? Should we go with the dinner story?”

  “Sure.”

  They drove for a while longer, eventually reaching an airport. Aubree had assumed they’d fly to LA, but when she saw that it was a small airport, she wondered if he owned a private jet. And when they climbed aboard a small plane and were belted in and he still hadn’t told her that he was a billionaire, she decided it was time to come right out and ask.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Nice plane,” Aubree said as she settled into her seat, which faced Cameron’s across a smooth-topped table. “Yours?”

  Cameron laughed. “Are you comfortable?”

  Annoyed that he was resisting answering, she pursed her lips. “I’d be more comfortable if I knew the truth about my husband.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “The truth?”

  She didn’t want to make this awkward. After all, he was doing her a huge favor. But come on. “This is your plane, isn’t it?”

  He shook his head with a laugh. “No. I don’t own any airplanes.”

  Now she felt kind of dumb. What if she’d been wrong about him? But the Internet searches said he was beyond wealthy. “It’s obviously a private plane.”

  “Yes. You can charter them, you know.”

  Now it was Aubree’s turn to laugh. “For your information, I’ve only flown a few
times in my life. And when I did, I flew commercial.”

  Cameron smiled. “If you prefer, we can grab a flight on a bus with wings.”

  Aubree’s smile grew. “Oh no. I much prefer this.” She spread her hands out as she looked around the cabin that held only the two of them with Maya lying at her feet.

  “Okay,” Cameron said. “What is it you’re really asking?”

  Why was he giving her a hard time? He wasn’t sure, although he suspected he was kind of testing her to see her reaction to his wealth. Did it matter to her? He’d liked getting to know her without the obstacle of his wealth. Well, it wasn’t exactly an obstacle. More like a blaring neon sign that got in the way of a woman getting to know him as a regular guy.

  With her chin down and her eyes on him, she said, “I looked you up online.”

  “And?”

  “You’re not who I thought you were.”

  Holding back a chuckle, he said, “Who did you think I was?”

  She crossed one slender leg over the other. “Just a regular guy who lived in a cabin in the woods.”

  “I am a regular guy. With a cabin in the woods.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Okay.”

  Cameron leaned forward, placing his forearms on the top of the table. “I’m an app developer who’s had some success. But as far as I’m concerned, it could all go away tomorrow.”

  She nodded. “That’s fair. I feel the same way about any success I’ve enjoyed, so I understand.”

  He leaned back, pleased that she probably did have an inkling how he felt. “Okay. Now that that’s out of the way, what other questions do you have?”

  “Are there any people I should know about? Like, anyone you would have told about me?”

  “That’s the beauty of our whirlwind courtship. It all happened too fast for anyone to know about it but us.”

  “True,” Aubree said with a laugh, which lit up her whole face, and Cameron nearly had to pinch himself to convince himself that this beautiful, intriguing woman was really going to pretend to be married to him. “What about your family?” she asked. “Anything I should know about them?”