How to Marry a Billionaire

by Ally Blake

  CARA watched in rapt amazement as Chris and Maggie declared their love for one another on the balcony where they had first met. If the rest of the shoot had felt like some sort of hyper-reality, this felt like a fairy tale, pure and simple. The candles, the star-spangled night sky, the trailing ivy, it was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. How could a girl refuse a proposal in such surroundings?

  But she knew that Maggie would not have refused Chris’s hand if they had been sitting across from one another in some dingy milk bar instead.

  Cara wiped away a tear. While she felt so excited for Chris, her own heart was breaking. This was what she was giving up. But if she did as Chris suggested and told Adam how she felt, she would only be setting herself up for ever worse heartache. Adam had it in him to feel as strongly as Chris did, she knew that without a doubt. But she was not sure that he was ready to admit it.

  She sniffed back her sadness and concentrated on the scene in front of her. Chris was about to drop the second part of his bombshell and she could not wait to see how Maggie would react. Would she jump for joy, would she faint, or would the news hit her as it did Cara and make her want to run for her life?

  Chris took a deep breath and squeezed Maggie’s hands. A small shy smile flitted across his face. ‘Oh, and by the way,’ he said, ‘I am a billionaire.’

  The whole crew held its collective breath.

  Maggie’s response could not have been more unexpected. With a big grin, she slapped Chris on the arm and said, ‘Well, good for you!’

  As Chris wrapped Maggie up in a delighted embrace the whole crew burst into spontaneous laughter and applause.

  Cara stared at the couple in shock. What a response. Good for him. He’s rich. Now let’s get on with things.

  The simplicity of it all hit her like a kick to the stomach. Her heart rate struck up a solid rhythm as she suddenly realised what she had to do.

  Adam leant against the doorway, his chosen spot affording a view through the cameras and assorted equipment to his friend who stood on the balcony of the Ivy Hotel.

  But more importantly, it afforded him an unimpeded view of Cara. She stood by the central camera, ready to be a rock of support to Chris in this, the most important moment of his life.

  She was dressed down in jeans and T-shirt, obviously making sure she was not about to outshine the woman of the moment, the delightfully unshockable Maggie.

  As the sweet blonde girl was released from Chris’s embrace, she stumbled. Chris reached out to catch her, and the two of them faced each other with matching blushes. Adam’s heart jerked in his chest. Damn it! He even felt something akin to tears burning the backs of his eyes.

  Maggie whispered something that had Chris and the crew laughing. Adam moved away from his hiding spot and quietly eased closer to the action. He slowly walked around the outside of the room until he found a spot at the far right of the cameras. He was still in the shadows, but from there he could see Cara’s face. Her hands were covering her mouth and she had tears pouring down her face.

  With her heart on her sleeve she looked more beautiful to him than she ever had before. Adam wanted to go to her, and hug her and kiss the tears from her cheeks.

  Who was he kidding? He wanted to do more than that. He wasn’t looking for a date for Saturday night, he wasn’t looking for a month-long fling. He wanted to wake up looking into those bright green eyes, he wanted to kiss those beautiful lips, and he wanted to caress those soft curls every day for the rest of his life. He wanted to introduce her to his father, for heaven’s sake!

  He finally realised that all the signs led to one thing. He was head over heels in love.

  At that moment, the rain that had been threatening to wash down on the city all day finally hit. It rained with such unceasing force it would have drowned out the couple’s voices if it had come but a minute earlier.

  Everyone on the balcony sprinted inside the ballroom. Jeff grabbed every spare guy to help shut the balcony doors to shield their precious equipment from the rain buffeting the outside of the hotel.

  Cara went straight to Chris and Maggie, making sure they were OK. She all but hugged the life out of each of them.

  Then once the rain was no more than a steady hum against the windows, Jeff called out, ‘And that’s a wrap! See you all at the wrap party at Lunar on Friday night!’

  The crew exploded into raucous cheers, hugging and clapping and generally whooping it up. Then as quickly as they started, they stopped, and with happy chatter they began to pack up the equipment. Before Adam had time to catch his breath, one by one they began to leave. Almost immediately the room started to clear. He watched as Cara gave everyone a hug, saying goodbye. It was over. It was all over.

  They were leaving. Cara was leaving. And if he wanted to do those things with her for the rest of his life, it would be up to him to tell her so. Adam remembered back to the Saturday Night Cocktails dinner where Kelly had professed that was exactly what she needed.

  ‘Cara. Stay.’ The words wrenched from him with such power the whole set went quiet. The grips slowly lowered their bags; the sound guys stopped their unplugging; Adam felt every eye swing his way, but there was only one set of eyes he cared about. A pair of glittering cat’s eyes that belonged to the woman who had long since awoken his dormant heart.

  Cara turned, her expression puzzled. ‘Adam?’

  She had every right to be confused. He had avoided her for days. But since he no longer had an ounce of confusion remaining in his body he got on with what he had to do.

  ‘I said, stay.’

  She blinked and it took all of his strength not to run to her and drag her into his arms and kiss that gorgeous puzzled look from her face. Instead he sent her his most encouraging grin, lifted a finger, and beckoned her to him.

  What the hell does he think he’s doing?

  Cara looked about her. The whole crew had stopped packing and were watching in smiling silence. Whatever Adam was up to, there was no way they were going to miss a minute of it.

  Cara hastened to Adam’s side.

  ‘What do you think you are doing?’ she asked through gritted teeth.

  ‘Something I should have done a long time ago.’

  Adam grabbed her hand and tugged her to him so fast her breath released on a shocked sigh. He tipped her back and planted a long, hard kiss upon her mouth. Over the sound of angels singing in her ears Cara heard whooping and catcalls of two dozen crew members.

  Finally, when Adam deigned to release her from his liquefying embrace, Cara pulled away and brought a shaking hand to her mouth.

  ‘Cara,’ Adam said. ‘I’m asking you to stay. With me. I’m asking you to be mine.’

  She had barely recovered from his delicious kiss, and any words he had to say came to her as outright gibberish. Surely he couldn’t have said he was asking her to be his?

  ‘But why?’ she asked.

  He offered her a lopsided smile that had her smiling right back. ‘Are you really telling me that you haven’t seen the signs?’ he asked. ‘For a guy who is a professed bachelor, have you not seen that I have had eyes for no one but you since the moment you walked into my life on your sexy red shoes?’

  Cara swallowed, unsure, uncertain, desperate for him to tell her what she needed to hear. Then he smiled at her and her knees turned to jelly and she was glad she was wrapped tight in his arms. He shifted his grip so that she was moulded so perfectly against him she could barely breathe. His words then came to her, low and alluring, and soft enough for only her to hear.

  ‘Hmm. Not a good enough reason? How about because no two people ever tried so hard to deny what was best for them? And only if the both of us take the leap can we ever see if what we feel is real.’

  Somebody gave a great big sniff and Cara came back down to earth with a thud. The two dozen others in the room came back into sharp focus.

  ‘Why couldn’t you be the one with the fear of public speaking?’ she asked through gritted teeth.


  Adam turned to the crew and said, ‘Would you guys mind giving us a minute?’

  ‘Change of plans!’ Jeff called out instantaneously. ‘Wrap party is in my room, right now!’

  The crew hustled as though a whip were cracking at their backs. Chris and Maggie blew the pair of them a big kiss before heading out a hidden side door together.

  When Adam and Cara were alone, with nothing more than the sound of steady rain on the balcony as a companion, Cara asked, ‘Do you know what you are asking?’

  ‘Mmm hmm,’ he whispered against her ear.

  ‘But are you sure you’re ready for this? Ready for me?’

  ‘More than ready.’

  ‘And what do you think this is exactly?’ His breath against her neck was making her giddy.

  ‘I don’t know if I can put it into words,’

  ‘Mr Tyler, I thought your special gift was words.’

  ‘It is. This is bigger than words. But whatever this is, I don’t ever want it to go away. So what do you say, Ms Marlowe?’ Adam said, burying his face beneath the hair curling at her neck, his hot breath sending pulsating shivers down her back. ‘Do you promise to be mine for as long as we can stand each other?’

  Cara suddenly could not have cared if they were standing in the middle of the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a packed stadium looking on. This moment was too important to worry about such trivial details as location.

  Now was the time to swallow her own fear and be true. She felt a calm come over her as she said, ‘I promise to be yours for ever.’

  Adam stopped nuzzling. ‘Say that again,’ he demanded softly.

  He waited until she lowered her gaze and looked directly into his eyes. He held his breath and had no desire to take another until he had heard those words again.

  ‘Adam,’ she said with a vulnerable shrug, ‘I am hopelessly in love with you. And if you will have me, I promise to be yours for ever.’

  He hadn’t been able to put the feeling into words, but she, ever the strong one, had. She deserved as good as she gave. He took her face in his hands and said what had to be said.

  ‘Cara, sweetheart, there is nothing hopeless about a love that is returned to you tenfold.’ He swept her into his arms once more, bruising her lips with as much passion as he could give.

  ‘But I want you to know I want nothing from you,’ she said when she next had the chance.

  ‘Tough. You take me, you get everything I have to give.’

  ‘Adam, no.’

  ‘OK, then. So long as you promise not to give me anything of yours either.’ He had her just where he wanted her. With a rising smile he added, ‘I will never want your strange little apartment block. You can keep it for ever.’

  Cara slapped him on the chest. ‘You rotter! St Kilda Storeys is a fantastic piece of real estate, I’ll have you know. It’s worth twenty-five per cent more now than the day I bought it.’

  Adam grabbed Cara by the hand to stop her struggling. ‘I don’t care what it’s worth. But I want you to know I know how much the place means to you. How much your independence means to you. So, though I am never going to let you out of my arms for another minute, I want you to keep your building,’ he reiterated. ‘For you alone. As a safety net.’

  She believed him. He saw it in her eyes. He felt it in her touch as she melted against him. Then just as suddenly she threw herself wholly into his arms and Adam rocked back at the force.

  ‘Whoa, sweetheart,’ Adam said. ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘It’s for being an amazing man.’

  She pulled away and looked into his eyes, the love she felt for him hitting him in waves, and it was all he could do not to wrench her back and kiss her for all she meant to him.

  ‘Adam, don’t you understand?’ she said. ‘You have no choice. What’s mine is yours. You get me, you get too many clothes in your closet, you get Kelly and Gracie on our doorstep at least once a week, and you get my old place.’

  He screwed up his nose. ‘And what am I meant to do with it?’

  She slapped him on the arm. ‘Don’t you screw your nose up at my beautiful building. Or I’ll make you live in it.’

  Adam made to pull away, his feet shuffling on the spot as though if she let him go he would bolt for the hills like the Road Runner. It made her laugh and that sweet tinkling sound was the final straw.

  He stopped pulling, he stopped shuffling, and he wrapped his arms so far around her he was almost hugging himself.

  ‘So we’ll live in your cosy little building, then.’

  Her beautiful eyes narrowed. ‘Are you serious?’

  He shrugged. ‘Wherever you are, I am. Whether it be in my nice, new, air-conditioned home with its guest rooms, its salt-water pool, its billiard room, its acres of tended gardens, or in your St Kilda Storeys apartment where Gracie will pop in every morning with her news of the previous night’s marriage proposal.’

  Cara bit at her lip and he knew he almost had her.

  ‘So there we’ll stay,’ Adam continued. ‘No sleeping in…together. Scenic views of the next-door neighbour’s garage wall. A spare couch for Kelly and Simon to sleep on after a late night DVD jag—’

  ‘OK, stop!’ she finally acquiesced. ‘Stop. You’ve made your point.’

  She hugged him tight back and he couldn’t believe how wonderful he felt.

  ‘And a good point it is,’ she said. ‘I will move in with you instead?’ He could hear the uncertainty in her voice so he kissed her sweet nose.

  ‘Sweetheart, you are coming home with me as of today if I have to carry you over my shoulder kicking and screaming to get you there.’

  She grinned back at him with such force he knew he had her.

  ‘And so what will we do with St Kilda Storeys?’ he asked.

  Still wrapped tight in his arms she looked up at him. ‘I think we’ll keep it for ever and ever. It has served beautifully as a place for young strays and I wouldn’t want to take that opportunity away from the next generation. If I sold it they’d probably tear it down and build gleaming new condos. Nope. St Kilda Storeys stays.’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Besides, where else would Gracie go?’

  A month later, Cara went back to her bottom-floor apartment of St Kilda Storeys to spend one last night. And she went with a bang.

  Kelly and Simon came over bearing a cask of sparkling apple juice. Chris and his fiancée Maggie joined them, neither of them remembering to bring the bags of crisps that had been sitting on their kitchen bench. Gracie arrived late, but had managed to pick up an industrial-sized box of Belgian chocolates from a visiting gentleman who had given them to all the cute young croupiers in the high rollers room as a tip.

  While Kelly set up the room with borrowed cushions from Gracie’s couch upstairs and beanbags from another neighbour, Simon moved the television from Cara’s old bedroom into the lounge, and Adam made caramel popcorn.

  ‘Wow,’ Cara whispered in Adam’s ear as he piled the snack into a big bowl. ‘The man can cook. I am impressed.’

  ‘Dad’s third wife. She lived on the stuff.’

  ‘And you said they gave you nothing. Caramel popcorn is not nothing.’

  Adam caught her around the waist, pulling her to him and placing a kiss upon her nose. ‘My little eternal optimist. You are too good for me.’

  ‘Not too good. Just about perfect.’

  ‘Come on, guys!’ Kelly yelled from her seat in the lounge. ‘It’s starting!’

  Cara grabbed the first full bowl and took it into the lounge where she was greeted with a mass of flailing arms reaching for the popcorn.

  ‘Turn it up,’ someone demanded and Gracie did the honours.

  Then as the first episode of The Billionaire Bachelor lit the screen a barrage of popcorn hit the television.

  ‘Hey,’ Cara called out, ‘I just had the carpet professionally cleaned.’ But the popcorn merely flew thicker and faster.

  ‘Look, there’s Maggie.’ Chris shifted so quickly
in his beanbag Maggie all but rolled off his lap.

  ‘Wait up, cowboy, I’m right here too, you know,’ Maggie said, her bright blue eyes glinting.

  Chris’s ears burned red. ‘So you are.’ Then he gave her a light, lingering kiss on the mouth.

  Cara sighed as she watched them. Two young people in love. Two young people who had found each other under the most trying, unusual circumstances, and it was obvious to all how right they were for each other.

  As though picking up on the romance in the air, Kelly and Simon snuggled closer on the couch, Simon’s hand reaching out to rest on Kelly’s tummy as she laid her head on his shoulder.

  Cara’s gaze was immediately drawn to Adam, his bulk taking up so much of the small kitchen. He was leaning back against the kitchen counter, and his arms were crossed, but the latent frustration that had blazed from him since the day they had met was gone. His relaxed pose was all real as he watched the gang with a smile on his face. It was a smile full of understanding and hope.

  Then, as though sensing she was watching him, he blinked and turned his eyes her way. And his smile changed. Where it had been lit by hope, it was now lit by the fulfilment of that hope. She knew, as if he had whispered the words in her ear, that he owed it all to her. Cara’s breath caught in her throat, the impact of his loving gaze was so great. So great but so beautiful.

  With a slight flick of his head he beckoned her. And without argument she went to him, burying herself in his solid embrace, breathing deep of his glorious scent and feeling more than safe enveloped in his amazing warmth. After several long moments feeling as if she were floating on air, she heard the voices of her friends cut in.

  ‘Come on, guys! Come join us!’

  Adam pulled away from the kitchen bench and, with his arms still wrapped about her, led Cara to the leather couch. Simon and Kelly shuffled up. And Cara tucked her feet beneath her as she snuggled against Adam on the couch.

  Gracie shot them a big grin from her spot lying on the cushions on the floor.

  ‘So I’m taking bets,’ Gracie said as the show went to its first ad break, half of which was taken up with Revolution Wireless’s new campaign. ‘Who do you reckon our bachelor is going to choose? And how long until they break up?’