Bedding The Billionaire (Bedding the Bachelors Book 3) (5 page)

“That’ll be wonderful, Lucy,” Melina said.

“How was it at the funeral?” Grace asked. “I wish you’d let us go with you.”

“You know I appreciated the offer but…” Lucy shook her head. “I needed to go alone. Most people didn’t even know who I was.”

“What about your parents?”

“I could actually see the pain etched into my father’s face. He ignored me, but my mom…she grabbed me and hugged me so tight when I got there.” Lucy closed her eyes at the memory. “I wanted so badly to ease her grief but it just didn’t seem to be my place.”

“I’m sure they felt the same way, Lucy. That they knew you were hurting and wanted to comfort you, too. Did you get a chance to talk about a future visit?” The hope in Grace’s voice was obvious. She’d often said Lucy was only hurting herself by allowing the rift between her and her family to continue after all these years. Lucy knew she was right, but how could she even begin to repair fifteen years of separation at a time when her parents had just lost Gail? No, it was best to let them grieve in peace.

She simply shook her head, but Grace didn’t let the matter drop as she’d expected her to.

“Maybe this is the time, Lucy. I know reconnecting with them isn’t going to be as easy as sliding off a greasy log backward, but they’ve already lost one daughter for good.”

Lucy couldn’t help smiling at Grace’s words; it was always a treat when she threw a southern idiom into her speech. But even though she knew her friend meant well, she’d never experienced being an outcast in her own family. “I can’t replace Gail and I’m still not the kind of daughter they want.”

“Lucy—” Melina began

Lucy interrupted even as she blinked back a sudden rush of tears. “I’m sorry, ladies, but I’d rather not talk about it. I appreciate the two of you always being here for me more than I can say, but let’s talk about something joyful—like the grand opening tomorrow.”

After several seconds of awkward silence, Grace said, “Jamie will be there.”

Lucy let out a genuine if slightly watery laugh. “You’re like a bulldog, aren’t you?”

“What?” Grace said, innocently. “I was changing the subject, like you asked.”

“He’s in town already,” Melina added. “Rhys told me they had lunch earlier. He’s here for his sister’s fiancé’s bachelor party tonight. He and his friends were in the limo when they picked up Max and Rhys.”

“Those men are all so different yet all so incredibly sexy,” Grace said.

“Different how?” Lucy asked, surprising herself by how curious she was about Jamie’s life outside the university. “I mean, he talked to a few of his friends on the phone sometimes when we dated. I even saw a picture of one of them—a cutie in a fire fighter’s outfit. But he never told me much about them.”

“The fireman is Ryan,” Melina said. “Very handsome. Looks a bit like the boy next door until you see his devilish smile.”

“Definitely the tom-cat’s kitten. There was also this mysterious guy with sunglasses,” Grace said. “Luke, I think. He looked like he could be carved out of granite. He had this quiet intensity about him. Like a cop. Or a drug lord. Knowing Jamie, I’m betting cop.”

“I’d take that bet,” Lucy said. “What about the friend who’s marrying his sister?”

“That’s Eric,” Melina said. “Super model gorgeous in a buttoned-up kind of way.”

“So who’s left?”

“Cole, who looks like a cross between a Mack truck and a clean Hell’s Angel. And Gabe. So exotic and elegant, but so obviously a bad ass. I can just imagine the sound of women sighing and panties dropping when that crew walks by.”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be a fun time,” Lucy said even as she wondered if Jamie would avail himself of any of those pantie-less women. How would he let loose with his friends? Strip clubs? Lap dances? More? She felt something perilously close to jealousy but quickly shut the emotion down. “I still don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t been there when I found out about Gail. He’s called several times since, checking up on me. He offered to attend the funeral with me, too, did I tell you that?” Just as it had with her friends, his offer of continuing support had thoroughly touched her.

“Maybe you should have him around more often,” Grace said with a slow smile.

“He has his own life in Los Angeles, and it’s an extremely busy one now that’s he’s working with his father again. Besides, he’s not what I need.”

“What’s that?” Melina asked. “A good friend, a shoulder to cry on, a handsome face, a hot body, and an intelligent mind?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. He’s a nice guy who comes from an upper class background. I’d never be accepted in his world and I’d get tired of trying to be what people expect me to be.”

“You’re being ridiculous about all of that,” Melina told her, far more bluntly than Lucy would have ever expected. Obviously seeing she’d taken Lucy aback, she quickly said, ‘I’m sorry, Lucy, but as much as you tout living only for yourself, you let the opinions of others matter too much. You’re fun and refreshing to be around. All you have to do is be yourself and acceptance will come. There are always going to be people who don’t accept you for whatever reason. That’s just life. You deal with it and move on.”

“She’s right,” Grace said. “Besides, Jamie cares an awful lot about you. Even if there are those who don’t understand you at first, he’d do everything he could to make sure you’re accepted and treated well.”

“Besides myself,” she said, trying to explain, “the only people I need acceptance from is the two of you. I’m not going to grovel for it from anyone else. Even if Jamie championed me, that kind of thing gets old fast. Imagine having to defend your significant other against things that people say, which in my case would probably all be true. I don’t conform and therefore I make people uncomfortable. In high society, I’m like a red rubber duckie in a bathtub full of yellow ones.” Of course, Mason had used much more hurtful words when he’d broken up with her. And so had Lucy’s father, when he’d been
encouraging
Mason to break up with her. Words like “vulgar,” “shameless,” and “embarrassing.”

“Your dad just knows we’re not suited. Sometimes I love being with you, Lucy,” Mason had said when he’d told her things were over. “But sometimes you embarrass me. Like when you went skinny dipping after the homecoming picnic. And showed up in that skimpy dress for my cousin’s wedding. And when you cuss too much…”

Squeals came from the baby monitor on the table, jarring Lucy from her thoughts.

“Oh, there are my twin terrors,” Melina said with a smile.

Lucy blinked, shaking off the painful memories, and clapped her hands. “Yay! I was afraid they’d sleep all day. I can’t wait to see them.”

“Let me get them changed and I’ll bring them out,” Melina said.

When she was gone, Lucy asked, “So where’s the bachelor party?”

Grace laughed.

“What?” Lucy asked. “I’m just curious what kind of boys’ night out a billionaire plans.”

“It’s at Divine.”

“Rick Tyler’s club? Isn’t that where they have Open Strip Night? It’s going to be pretty wild.”

Melina walked back in with a baby in each arm just as Grace said, “It sure is. Max and Rhys were like two peas in a pod—they didn’t even want to go. We had to convince them to go for Jamie and have some fun. Max swears he’ll be home in an hour.”

“Rhys, too,” Melina said. “He says he’d rather be here playing with his babies.”

Lucy held out her arms and said, “I can see why.” Melina put both Charlie and Tabitha in her arms and Lucy said, “Look at you two, you’ve gotten so big!”

She received a gurgle and a coo in response. “They’re so smart. I think they’re trying to talk already. Oh Mama, you are going to be in so much trouble when these two are teenagers. Imagine not only having the prettiest girl in the school, but the best looking boy, too.”

“Rhys already says he has a baseball bat to leave at the front door and beat away all the prospects,” Melina said.

Lucy cooed and gooed and baby-talked with the twins for half an hour before they began to fuss and Melina said they were ready for a bottle. Lucy insisted on carrying Tabby in while Grace carried Charlie. They watched Melina heat the pumped breast milk for the bottles and Lucy asked if she could feed her.

Melina handed her the bottle and Lucy took Tabby into the living room, sat in the big, comfy rocking chair, and rocked and sang to her while she drank her bottle. Lucy looked around at Melina and Rhys’s home. It was filled with wedding photos and pictures of their babies. There were playpens and toys strewn here and there, and the whole place smelled like baby powder. Sometimes Lucy wished that she could have all of this. Not the big house or the big bank account or even necessarily the babies, but the powerful and enduring love between Melina and Rhys, and Grace and Max.

That thought brought her back to Jamie again. She felt a sharp pang in her chest. She missed him more than she would ever admit, but she was determined to find a way to get past that. She had to, after all, if they were going to be friends. She didn’t want to lose him from her life completely. After Gail died and he was so kind, she’d actually begun to think about the possibility of making a life with him. And it seemed sometimes, when he called, that he was struggling to move on just as much as she was. But they had to move on. They
had
to.

How could she help them both move on, once and for all?

Sometimes I love being with you, Lucy, but sometimes you embarrass me.

Mason’s words came to her once more. She remembered the “skimpy” outfit she’d worn to his cousin’s wedding, a darling sundress she’d thought was cute and sexy, not trashy.

She thought about Jamie at Rick’s club tonight partying with his friends….

Suddenly, an idea came to her.

She’d be taking a risk. If she did what she was thinking, it might result in Jamie not wanting to be her friend at all. But what other choice did she have? She was feeling desperate over her continued longing to be with him…and over her suspicion that he still had feelings for her, as well. They kept a spark of hope alive inside her that she had to extinguish.

She’d never fit in Jamie’s world as anything more than a friend. She could never be his girlfriend…fiancée…wife. She was too out there, too sensual, too outspoken, to blunt to fit into his world and make him a good mate. Maybe the way to convince herself was to prove it to
him
once and for all in a way he couldn’t possibly deny.

* * *

From a corner in the hottest nightclub in Vegas, a beautiful brunette flashed Jamie a wide smile. She was definitely hot, but instead of buying her a drink, he turned his back.

“Come on man, you can’t tell me
she’s
not your type,” his friend Gabe murmured next to him.

“Hell, that girl is everybody’s type,” Cole, another friend, said.

Jamie shrugged. They were right; she could easily be his type if her conversation skills were half as good as her body. All he had to do was confirm that was the case by accepting her silent invitation to get to know her better.

He didn’t want to do that, however; hot or not, she wasn’t the woman he wanted.

He was in Sin City, at a bachelor party no less. He should have been having the time of his life, enjoying the hell out of all the hard bodies and naked flesh dancing around him.

Instead, he couldn’t get Lucy out of his head. He also couldn’t stop focusing on one thing…the fact that she was in Vegas, too. And that they’d both be attending the opening night of Rhys and Max Dalton’s new magic show tomorrow.

At the thought of seeing her again, Jamie’s cock twitched. He didn’t know how or why Lucy had gotten under his skin, but she had, and no matter how much she insisted they could only be friends, he could still feel her there. Only one other woman had ever made him feel that before, and she hadn’t been able to deal with the fact Jamie came from money either.

Except with Lucy, he’d
thought
she’d be able to deal. That her sense of self was strong enough that she’d be able to adapt and, if necessary, stand toe to toe with those who might try to lord over her.

He’d just wanted to enjoy more time with her before he told her about his background.

In the end, he’d been wrong about her ability to deal.

Hell, just the knowledge that he came from money had sent her into a tailspin.

Ultimately, that meant Lucy was right. They really couldn’t be more than friends.

He just had to keep reminding himself that.

“I’m not interested,” he finally said to Gabe. “You go for it. Or you,” he said to Cole.

Jamie had been friends with Gabe and the other guys at the bachelor party since college. They came from diverse backgrounds but without fail, they got together at least once a year, and even more important, they had each other’s backs.
At least some things were meant to last.

“I think I’ll pass, too,” Gabe said. “Gotta keep my head space clear to focus on my best man duties in case Eric gets cold feet and decides to make a break for it.”

Jamie chuckled. “Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.”

For some reason, Gabe’s jaw tightened for a few seconds before he said, “How’s the transition from academia to the business world going? Any regrets?”