The Billionaire Bride Test

by Elle James

  “Hi, Layne.” Jane balanced her cellphone between her chin and shoulder and continued to stuff cookies into plastic bags. “What’s up?”

  “I wanted to see if you’d changed your mind about retiring?”

  “Nope,” she said. “I’m out of the modeling business. I have enough other interests to keep me busy and off the runway.”

  “Are you sure? I have a great opportunity in Paris next month,” he said. “They’re asking for you.”

  “We’ve been through this. I’m done. Don’t commit me for anything else.”

  “You’re still on for the charity event in Dallas, aren’t you? They’re counting on you. They’ve got a lot of celebrities lined up to be there and are expecting the donations to far exceed last year’s event.”

  Jane sighed. “I told you I wouldn’t let the kids down. But it’s the last modeling assignment for me. You’ve been really great to work with, but I’m tired, and I want a real life. If I don’t start now, it won’t happen.”

  “I understand. I get it.” Jane could hear the tap, tap, tap of a pen on Layne’s wood desktop. “I just hate losing you as a client.”

  “And I’m sorry to let you down. I know you’re going to lose the commissions, but I’ll be sure to recommend you to any up and coming stars that shine my way.”

  “There will never be another Angel Gentry.”

  “There will be dozens,” she assured him. “By the way, do you like chocolate chip cookies?”

  “Of course. They’re the family favorite,” he answered. “Why?”

  “No reason,” she said. “Give your wife my love and kiss the kids for me.”

  “Will do, Jane. Gonna miss you. And if you decide retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be …”

  “You’ll be the first one I call right after my therapist.” She chuckled as she ended the call. Then she set aside a bag of cookies she’d box and overnight to Layne and his family in LA.

  After she’d packaged all the cookies, she filled the sink full of soapy water and washed the pans and racks. With her arms up to her elbows in suds and the water running, she didn’t hear her cellphone ringing until it had rung a few times.

  When she finally did, she dove for it on the counter behind her, sloshing soap bubbles across the floor.

  The number on the screen wasn’t familiar. Her heart raced and her breath caught in her throat as she answered, “Hello.”

  “Jane?” Max’s deep voice sounded in her ear, causing all kinds of sensory stimulation to her head, her hand and her entire body.

  Her tongue tied as she struggled to form a coherent thought. “Yes,” she managed to eke out.

  “Max here.”

  She held the cellphone away from her face and cleared her throat before responding in as calm a manner as she could manage, “Hi, Max.”

  “Are you recovered from your adventure on the ranch?” he asked.

  “Nothing to recover from,” she said. “I had a nice time.”

  “Nice might be stretching it, but I’m glad you did.” He hesitated, but then continued, “I’m calling to see if you’d like to get some coffee.”

  “I have coffee here at my house,” she said. Having waited all day by the phone, she had no qualms over making him work for it…but not too hard.

  “I mean, would you like to go get coffee with me tomorrow morning.”

  “Don’t you have to work?” she asked.

  “Uh. I have flexible hours,” he said. “I’m there when I need to be,” Max explained. “That could be pulling an all-nighter with a sick horse or working through the weekend to get the hay in before it rains.”

  “I see. In that case, yes. I’d like to have coffee with you tomorrow.”

  “Okay then. Want to meet at the same place I picked you up yesterday?”

  “That will work,” she said, feeling awkward and wishing she didn’t.

  “I’ll see you there at nine o’clock?”

  “Make it eight. I like my coffee first thing in the morning,” Jane said and ended the call before she chickened out and told Max she’d agree to any time, just to see him. If he’d wanted to meet in an hour, she’d have dropped everything and jumped in her car.

  Wow. When had she become desperate?

  When she’d met a man who’d taken her four-wheeling and taught her how to two-step, all on the same date.

  She’d go back out to the ranch and roll in the mud all over again, if that was what he wanted. Hell, the man had asked her out for coffee after seeing her covered in mud from head to toe. He couldn’t have been too frightened. And he’d held her hand in the starlight.

  Warmth spread through her at the memory of his big, work-roughened hand holding hers.

  Happiness bubbled up inside of her, and Jane spun around with a little squeal of delight. Then she grabbed her phone and called Leslie.

  Chapter 10

  Max arrived thirty minutes early at the designated coffee shop. For the next ten minutes he drove around the block several times, feeling ridiculous. Finally, he parked in front of the coffee shop and watched people go in and out and pull through the drive-through window.

  Eight o’clock came and went. By five minutes past the hour, Max was convinced Jane wasn’t coming. He worried she’d been in a wreck trying to get to the coffee shop during rush-hour traffic. All manner of scenarios roiled through his mind until he lifted his cellphone, ready to call 911 and report a missing person.

  Then her white Lexus pulled in beside his truck, and she got out.

  A rush of relief rolled over him, and he dropped down out of the cab of his pickup. “Good morning,” he said and drank in the sight of her.

  She’d worn a soft, powder blue T-shirt dress that hung past her knees and had a belt cinched at her tiny waist. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun at the crown of her head with loose tendrils framing her face.

  Again, she’d worn no makeup and didn’t need to. Her violet eyes shone from her pale face, and her smile lit the morning.

  “Good morning,” she said, ducking her head, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

  He liked the color rising in her cheeks and wanted to be the one who always made her smile. He cupped her elbow and guided her toward the door. “I didn’t think to ask, but you do like coffee, don’t you?”

  “If I didn’t, would you think less of me?” she asked and tilted her head to the side to look up at him.

  “Not at all. Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t so dependent on it to get me going in the morning.”

  “I’m sure your form of coffee is different than mine. I like mine fully loaded with everything and very little coffee.”

  He nodded. “And I like mine black, one teaspoon of sugar.” He opened the door and held it as she walked through.

  Jane turned to him. “Did you recover your four-wheeler from the creek side?”

  “I did. The carburetor will have to be rebuilt, but it’ll run again soon.”

  “I’m glad. I can imagine ATVs can be quite useful on a ranch. They aren’t as temperamental as horses.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve had some that waited until I was the farthest away possible from the barn when they quit working. Of course, I was alone those times and had to walk all the way back from where I’d left the ATV.” He smirked. “But then I’ve had a horse throw me just about as far from the ranch house and high-tail it back to the barn without me. So, yes, in that respect, an ATV can be less temperamental than a horse.”

  They stood in line and placed their orders, then waited a few steps away for the barista to create their coffee.

  Once they had their drinks in hand, Max turned and started toward the far-right corner of the little shop. He glanced at a poster on the wall and nearly dropped his scalding hot coffee in the middle of the floor.

  He caught it before it fell or spilled, but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  On the wall hung a large poster of him in his Texas Ramblers NFL football jersey with his number 57 written in
giant blue letters across his chest. He remembered that particular photo shoot, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and his helmet in the other. He’d been paid well for that endorsement, and he genuinely liked the coffee. He just wished the ad campaign hadn’t started until after his coffee date with Jane.

  Positioning his body between Jane and the poster, he prayed she didn’t see him in all his football gear. He didn’t want her to know he was something more than a simple rancher. He wasn’t ready to expose that part of his life to her. He wanted her to like him for the man he was in the blue jeans, not the jersey.

  Maneuvering her to a seat facing away from the advertisement, Max held her chair and waited for her to take her seat.

  Once she was seated, he took his seat, trying to focus on her and not the fact his face was posted on the wall behind Jane, larger than life and staring at him accusingly. He should confess. He just wasn’t ready.

  They spent a nice hour talking about the ranch, the work he was doing to rebuild the ATV engine after it had been waterlogged and the fact Jane had baked cookies the day before. She’d brought him a tin of them, and they enjoyed eating them as they drank their coffee. He relaxed and almost forgot about the poster.

  When the hour was over, Max suggested they go for a walk in a nearby park. Getting her out of the coffee shop proved more of a challenge and a young male barista, arriving for his shift, nearly blew Max’s cover.

  “Hey, are you the guy on the poster?” the kid behind the counter asked.

  Max shook his head. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You look just like Moose Smithson from the Texas Ramblers.”

  He gave the guy a crooked grin. “I get that a lot, but nope. Not me.” He hooked Jane’s elbow and hustled her past the counter and outside the building before she had a chance to look at the poster on the wall. He didn’t breathe until they’d reached his truck.

  He helped her up into the passenger seat and rounded the other side to climb behind the wheel.

  “You do have a striking resemblance to the football player on the poster in the coffee shop,” Jane said as she fastened her seatbelt across her lap.

  Max shrugged. “What can I say? We have the same facial structure.” Internally, he kicked himself. He should have taken that opportunity to tell her the truth.

  A quick glance at Jane reminded him that she was a sweet, quiet woman who probably wouldn’t like the lifestyle of a celebrity.

  When he wasn’t performing organized publicity stunts, Max worked hard to avoid recognition. Paparazzi seemed to always be where he’d least expect them. His truck was registered under his ranch’s name, a name that had nothing to do with Maxwell “Moose” Smithson, the NFL football player. He kept his private life as private as he could.

  Being in Austin left him open to “sightings”. Thankfully, most people didn’t recognize him without his jersey and pads. Unless he happened to be standing next to a poster with his face on it in a coffee shop.

  The walk in the park was very nice. As they walked, he held her hand. When they came to the small lake at the center of the park, he led her to a park bench. They sat and talked about the ducks and geese on the water, the weather and the best place to go to watch the bats fly out of their caves by the thousands.

  He didn’t want the time to end, but eventually, they got up to walk back to the truck. He drove her to the coffee shop and helped her down from the passenger seat.

  For a long moment, they stood toe to toe, holding hands.

  “I enjoyed coffee and the walk,” she said.

  “I did, too.” He lifted one of her hands to his lips and brushed the backs of her knuckles with a light kiss. “Thank you.”

  Though he wanted to pull her into his arms and crush her to him, he stepped back, allowing her to walk to her car. As he held her door for her, she slid into the driver’s seat. “I’ll call you,” he said.

  She smiled up at him. “I’d like that.”

  He closed the door and stood there like a damned lump while Jane drove away.

  Why did dating have to take so long?

  The young man who’d spotted him earlier emerged from the coffee shop with the poster in his hands. “It’s you. I just know it’s you.”

  “Hold on.” Max shot a glance toward Jane’s car. She had just pulled out of the parking lot onto the busy road. After she’d turned the next corner, he returned his attention to the young man holding the poster and a pen.

  “Could I get your autograph?”

  “Sure.”

  “I told Beth it was you. I’d know Moose Smithson anywhere. I’ll never forget that Hail Mary you threw at your last Super Bowl. It was amazing.”

  “Thank you.” Max took the pen. “What’s your name?”

  “Jason. But if you could sign it to my father, I know he’d get a huge kick out of it. He’ll be green with envy that I met Moose Smithson. I can’t wait to tell him.”

  “Your father’s name?” Max asked.

  “Charles.”

  Max signed the poster to Charles and scribbled his signature across one corner. He added a postscript, Jason’s a good son.

  “Thank you, Mr. Smithson,” Jason said. “Beth thought she recognized your girlfriend, but she couldn’t put her finger on her name.” He snorted. “But you’re hard to miss. I can’t believe I’ve met Moose Smithson.”

  Unfortunately, what Jason said was true. Being a big guy was part of playing football, which also made Max stand out. Thus, the reason for wearing sunglasses or hats when he was out in public. Max hadn’t expected to walk into a coffee shop with a poster of him hanging on the wall.

  He really needed to tell Jane the truth about himself. And he would…just not right now. They were getting along so well, and he wanted to see where the relationship would go over the next few days.

  If BODS was truly the matchmaker of all time, Jane could be his future bride. He didn’t want to mess up his chances of that happening. Max could almost hear the wedding march playing, and it didn’t scare him as much as he thought it would. He loved how relaxed and natural he felt with Jane. She wasn’t one of those high-maintenance women like he’d dated throughout his professional football career. She didn’t hide behind layers of makeup and fancy clothing. She was…Jane.

  He climbed into his truck, lifted his cellphone and called her. So what if it was so soon after leaving her. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  Jane was halfway back to her house when the call came through on her cellphone. She glanced at the caller ID on the screen and laughed, delighted he’d called so soon after leaving her. She had wanted to dial his number as soon as she’d pulled out of the parking lot, but she didn’t want to appear too eager. Leslie had cautioned her to play a little hard to get. Not too much, but enough to make the man want her all the more.

  She let the cellphone ring three times before she answered with a chuckle. “Did you lock yourself out of your truck?”

  “No,” he said. “But I just remembered, I didn’t ask when we could see each other again.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “How’s next week?”

  “How about tomorrow night? I could take you out on a real date and treat you to a real dinner.”

  “Hmmm. I liked our not-so-real date.”

  “I’d like to show you I can be a gentleman when I want to be.” He sighed into the phone. “And you make me want to be.”

  “Really? I’d rather make you want to wear blue jeans and ride ATVs.”

  “You do that already, but I owe you a nice dinner where there’s no chance of falling in the mud.”

  She laughed, her chest swelling with warmth and more. “Okay. Tomorrow it is.”

  “I’ll even pick you up this time.”

  She hesitated. He was a rancher. Angel Gentry owned a swanky house in one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Austin. How would she explain that Plain Jane lived there? “I don’t want you to go so far out of your way. I know you’ll be coming in from
out of town. Let me meet you at the restaurant.”

  “Are you sure you’re not hiding a husband somewhere?”

  She snorted. “Hardly.” Thus, the reason for going with Leslie’s online dating service. Jane hadn’t had time to meet and marry anyone. “I live in a gated community and it’s more hassle than it’s worth to bring someone through the gate when I can get in and out on my own.”

  “Then we’ll meet at the restaurant.”

  “Which one?” she asked.

  “Are you up for Italian?”

  “Always,” she answered.

  “Great,” he said. “Then we’ll meet at Riomaggiore. Have you heard of it?”

  Not only had she heard of it, she’d worked a private fashion show for charity there. Plates had sold for one thousand dollars, and all had been bought by local Austin socialites and celebrities. She almost asked Max to pick a different location, but she’d just told him she loved Italian.

  Short of sounding like a fool, she sucked it up and vowed to cover her face with sunglasses and wear her hair long and curly. In all her modeling, she’d straightened her hair or worn it slicked back.

  “I’ve heard of Riomaggiore. What time?”

  “I made the reservation for seven o’clock.”

  “You were that sure I’d agree to go out to dinner with you?” Jane asked.

  “Not at all. But I knew if I wanted to get a reservation for tomorrow night, I had to make it last night.”

  “Wow. You had all this planned out?”

  “I didn’t know if you’d go with me, but I made the plans in case you decided I was worth the risk.”

  Oh, he was definitely worth the risk. “I’m impressed.”

  “Don’t be. I had to make up for taking you mud riding on the ranch.”

  “Really, Max, I loved it. I’d never been on an ATV before I met you. Now, I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

  “And I’ll take you, again.” He paused. “After I show you that I can be a gentleman.”

  “I thought you were the perfect gentleman on the ranch,” she insisted. “And you taught me how to two-step.”

  “Without music, in the dust,” he reminded her.