“For what?” Ethan said with a chuckle. “I just received a great compliment from your little girl; she’s made my day.” He gave the kid a wink before her mother swooped in and picked her up.
Kel watched the little exchange as she ate her turkey on rye bread then took a sip of her root beer. “So, you like kids, huh?”
“Sure, who doesn’t?” Ethan said, then leaned forward to twirl a lock of Kel’s hair around one finger. “And you and I would make some really cute ones, love.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long legs. “How many should we have?”
She laughed at him as she knew exactly what he was up to. “Oh, five or so. And I’d start trying for them as soon as I was married. I can’t wait to settle down and start up the large family I dream about having. I just need to meet Mr. Right, and then I’ll get right to that.”
He raised his thick brows as he grinned at her. “Is that right?”
She nodded and finished her sandwich. Ethan had finished before her, so she was ready to get going. “Yes. I’m done. We can get back on the road if you’re ready to. I really can’t wait to meet your grandmother.”
Ethan got up and held out his hand for her to take. “And she can’t wait to meet you. My cousin Tommy’s there too. He’s a little bit special. I hope you won’t hold that against him.”
Kel gave him a frown as he escorted her out of the little café. “Ethan! I’d never hold anything like that against anyone! Do you think I’m some kind of monster?”
“No,” he said as he opened the car door and let her get in first. He slid in beside her, putting his arm around her and kissing the side of her head. “It’s just that I’ve had more than a few comments on my family. Not all have been kind.”
Kel looked at him and wondered if he was being honest. If that was true, she felt terrible for the man. “Oh, Ethan, that makes me sad. If you have someone with a disability in your family, no one should judge you on that.”
“But some do, love.” He kissed her with a light kiss as he cupped her chin. “I think you’ll be wonderful to have around my family. Such a caring and sweet woman. Honest to the core.”
She knew why he had thrown in the last part about the honesty. It was pretty clear he wanted her to come clean about the husband wrangling that the sisters had made up. But she wanted him to come clean about the bet. So they were at an impasse that neither would budge on.
Meanwhile, Cait and Jess were at the airport with their men. Each couple was waiting on private jets to be readied, and Cait and Jess were beginning to get an idea about just how much money the men really had.
“I know you said you were a salesman for your family’s business, Griff, but just how much do you make doing that?” she asked him as he brought her a cup of coffee and a bagel.
“Here, baby. You should eat something.” He handed her the bagel, and the coffee, then took a seat next to her. “I don’t like to talk about money.”
“I can see that. But I don’t like to be clueless about how much the man I’m seeing makes a year.” She took a bite of the bagel and waited for his answer.
“My money isn’t calculated on a yearly basis. It’s just always available to me.” It hit him that she was sizing up how much he was worth so she could try to get him to marry her and pay her damn bills. But he’d be teaching her that being married to him would be far from the picnic she thought it’d be.
So what if the things he was about to show and tell her were completely false? Jess would never know about that.
At that point, none of the men cared who won the bet. Things had changed. They saw it as their manly duties to teach the women a lesson about using men for their money.
If during that time any of them did score, that was purely a bonus!
“How is it you have access to money all the time without working, Griff? Are you some kind of a millionaire?” Jess asked him.
He decided to let her in on his financial state and wanted to gauge her reaction to that news. “Millionaire?” He chuckled as he shook his head. “Billionaire is the word most people use. My family is extremely well off.”
“Shut the fu …” Jess said then stopped as he kissed her.
When he pulled his lips away from hers, he asked, “You won’t hold that against me, will you?”
“Um, no,” she said then bit into her bagel again. She wasn’t sure if she should even believe him. Men thought women fell all over themselves if they thought they had money. He was most likely just saying it to win the bet.
“Good. A lot of wealthy people have issues with building relationships due to the fact they have a hard time knowing if the person loves them for who they are or for their money.”
“That’s just shallow,” Jess said, earning a frown from Griffin who thought about how she and her sisters were looking to trick men into marrying them so their bills could be paid off.
“Yeah, it’s as shallow as it gets, Jess.”
For a moment, Jess had forgotten what she and her sisters had done and went on to say, “I could never do that. Just know this, Griff; if I tell you that I love you then it’s true. I’m not a money grubber or a liar.”
Griffin was shocked at how sincerely she could say the lie. “That’s good to know.”
But it wasn’t good to know at all.
The woman was a master of deception!
Cait and Phoenix were getting on the jet he’d chartered. As he helped her to sit in the window seat, he buckled her in, then kissed her.
She placed her hands on his cheeks and asked, “This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”
He smiled and sat down next to her. “Oh, yeah. I’m about to show you how I live.”
They held hands as the jet took off. Cait felt a twinge of guilt for going off with him on false pretenses, but her sisters had begged her not to tell their secret, even though she wanted to in the worst possible way.
“Phoenix, I’ve never been to Texas. Is it really as big as everyone says? I mean, I’ve seen the size of the state on a map but, come on, it’s not really that big, is it?”
“It feels even bigger when you drive it,” he said with a smile. “And now I want you to know a bit more about me, Caity-cat.”
She began to have hope that he was about to be honest. If he told her the truth, then she’d tell him the truth about her and ask him not to ruin it for her sisters. Cait was sure he’d do that for her.
“I’d love to know more about you, Phoenix. Like, nothing would make me any happier.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze.
“Cait, I’m a rich man.” He watched her reaction and was surprised when she barely changed her expression.
That was because she wasn’t sure if she should believe him. “Are you? And how’s that?”
“I inherited some land. And that land ended up being on top of a giant oilfield. So, you’re sitting next to an oil tycoon. Does that make you think any differently about me?” He looked a bit worried, which made Cait want to laugh.
She didn’t, though. “I don’t much care if you have millions of bucks or not.”
“Billions,” he said as he watched her carefully.
“Billions, huh?” She tapped her chin. “So what?”
“Do you really think that? I mean, can I trust you not to use me for my money?” he asked her with the hopes he’d see greed in her eyes.
“Why in the world why I use you for your money, Phoenix? I did start talking to you on the pretense that you were a mere mortal man and not a superhero billionaire.” She laughed, and so did he.
But Phoenix knew she was after a man with money. He did think she’d be on cloud nine, knowing the man she was plotting to trick into marriage was more than a little wealthy.
So her reaction was confusing, to say the least. He ventured further as he asked, “Does the smell of oil bother you?”
“I don’t recall ever smelling it.” She looked at him with a curious expression. “Why would you ask that?”
“There’s a house in the middle of that oilfi
eld that I live in,” he said. He had a beach house too, but he was planning on tricking her into thinking he really wanted to have a family and live in the stinky oilfield house.
“I thought you had a beach house with a dog. Isn’t that where we’re going? Because I brought bathing suits and shorts with that location in mind.”
“I wanted to take you somewhere special to me. The place I want to make my real home. I want to live in the middle of the place that made me who I am today.”
“Well, if you’re all into that place then, by all means, take me to see what you want to do with your life, Phoenix.” She laid her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes.
The guilt was beginning to pile up inside of her. The man was either being real with her, or he was a fantastic liar. Either way, she was getting tired of the charade. And she had to wonder if he was too.
“Cait, by the end of this weekend I hope we find ourselves a lot closer. I have to be honest with you. I’ve never been this interested in anyone. If you have the same vision I do, then I don’t want to wait,” he said, making her open her eyes to look at him.
“Phoenix, you should be very careful what you say to me. I may seem tough, but I’m just human. If you cut me, I do bleed.” She eyed him warily.
Cait knew that if he gave her a phony marriage proposal, she’d lose the feelings she’d come to have for the incredible man. She still had hope that he’d see fit to tell her the truth and things could begin to go in the right direction for them.
He could be her Prince Charming. But he’d have to end the bet to do it.
Chapter 29
Arriving at Ethan’s grandmother’s house had Kel feeling a bit nervous about getting that close to the man who was trying desperately to dupe her into a roll in the hay. She knew introducing her to his grandmother and some other family members was going too far, but she wasn’t ready to call him out on the bet just yet, curious to see how far the man would go.
The estate he took her to was enormous. As they drove up a winding drive, a few deer with their fawns frolicked alongside them for part of the way. “How cute they are, Ethan. Are they pets?”
He had no idea. He’d rented the place for the weekend and had actors waiting for their arrival. But he could improvise, so he said, “My grandmother has a way with wild animals. While those deer are not pets, they’re her friends.”
“A Dr. Doolittle?” Kel asked with a grin on her face. She was certain Ethan was kidding with her.
“I guess you could call her that,” he said, then wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “I can’t wait for you to meet my Granny, Kel. I think you two will hit it off. She’s a real spitfire.”
“And why’s she in America?” Kel asked. “Since you’re from Scotland?”
“Oh, she’s American. You see, she’s my step-grandmother. My blood grandmother died at only 47. Grandfather married a few years later.”
“Oh? Is he here too?” Kel asked as she looked at the fancy entrance of the home. A red rose-covered arch formed the entrance that was filled with more red rose bushes. While it all looked inviting, Kel knew it was full of prickly thorns and one shouldn’t stray from the narrow pathway that led to the green painted wooden door.
“He’s dead too. Six years ago. That’s why Granny moved here.” Ethan got out of the car and held out his hand for Kel to take. “Don’t mention him, Kel. It makes her sad.”
The door swung open just as Kel got out of the car and an old woman shouted, “There he is! My big boy!”
Kel marveled at how old the woman looked.
She was ancient!
The old lady strode right up to Ethan with an odd hobbled gait and kissed Ethan smack on the lips. His eyes went wide as did Kel’s as the old woman even tried to slip him the tongue, a situation which he expertly handled, pulling her to one side as he introduced Kel, “Granny, this is my girl, Kel.”
Without so much as a glance, as the old woman’s eyes were glued to Ethan, she said, “Great. Hi, Kel. Come on inside, Ethan; your cousins are visiting me this weekend. I bet you’ve missed Herbert and Crenshaw.”
Kel laughed, as their names sounded like the title of a law firm. And she earned Ethan’s granny’s attention for that. A scowl moved over her wrinkly face, prompting Ethan to take her hand and lead her away from Kel. “I have missed the boys from my youth very much.”
“Crenshaw’s a girl, sweetheart,” Granny corrected him.
Ethan was stuck as to what to say. He should’ve known the sex of his own cousins, after all. But when the other two met them at the door, he found it easy to fix his little mistake. They both looked like men. Odd men. One wore a helmet like a bicycle racer would, in electric blue. He had on a tight little unitard in the same color. The other wore blue jean overalls and had a stick of some kind he was chewing on. The ragged cut of his hair, the shapeless clothing, and the fact that they both had manly features made it impossible to figure out which one was the female out of the two.
Looking at Kel over his shoulder, he whispered, “See why I called them both boys, now?”
She nodded and tried not to laugh at the weird-looking duo. “’Sup, Ethan?” the unitard-wearing man called out as they walked into the house.
“Not much.” Ethan looked at the old woman, who was clinging to him, for some help getting which guy that one was.
“Oh, Herbert, do you have to use such language?” she asked the helmet-wearing man playing the part of Ethan’s cousin.
“Sorry, Granny,” Herbert said then set his eyes on Kel. “Howdy, pretty lady.”
Kel smiled. “Hi, Herbert.” She extended her hand to the other she then realized was the woman named Crenshaw. “Hello, Crenshaw. How are you?”
Holding onto the straps that held up her overalls, she didn’t bother to shake Kel’s hand. Instead she turned around with a huff. “She ain’t so great.”
Ethan looked at Kel with a frown. “Don’t listen to her. You’re fantastic, love.”
Granny patted Ethan on his arm. “Never mind her. She’s had a crush on Mr. Tall and Handsome here since they were kids.”
“Not your blood cousins, huh, Ethan?” Kel asked, as they had no accents at all.
“Oh, yes, they are. My uncle moved here before they were born. He married a woman from the hills of Tennessee,” Ethan lied.
Kel was a little taken aback but shrugged it off as she leaned in to whisper, “I suppose their mother’s blood line was a bit muddled with incest.”
“Well, to be truthful, that runs on both sides.” Ethan stifled a grin as he followed the cousins to a large room with more red roses, filling vases around the room.
The expression that covered Kel’s face nearly made Ethan laugh, but he managed to hold it in. He’d told the little acting troupe to lay it on thick, and they were off to a remarkable start.
When Herbert shouted at the top of his lungs, “Shit fire and save the matches!” Kel froze as she watched the man’s arms fly into the air as if he was praising God or something.
Ethan leaned in close to whisper, “He has Tourette’s Syndrome. Please don’t be offended by anything he does or says. He can’t help it. Things just burst out of him.”
“Oh,” she whispered back as she watched Herbert walk in a circle three times then sit on the sofa. “And the circling behavior? What’s that called?”
Ethan had no idea, so he made something up. “Poor guy thinks he’s a puppy sometimes.”
“That’s awful. How’d that happen? Did he have an accident and damage his brain? Is that why he wears a helmet?” she asked.
“No, he wears a helmet because he thinks it looks cool, Kel. You should compliment him on it,” he told her as he held back the urge to laugh. “And the Tourette’s is genetic. We have 12 people in the family who have it.”
“So anyone could get it then?” she asked him as her head swam.
“Yes. One in my family never knows if any of their children will end up with it. The luck of the draw, I suppose.�
� He took a seat as the woman playing his grandmother took hers after a lengthy time of trying to ease her crooked body into the chair.
Kel couldn’t help but notice the hump that was already beginning to form on Crenshaw’s back. “Is the hump thing something a lot of your family has too?”
“Mostly only the women,” Ethan said as he sat back and pulled her close to him.
“Well, I think if it’s caught early enough, doctors can do something about that.” Kel looked around the room at the many roses and wondered why in the world one would have so many of the same flower around the inside and outside of the house.
“I don’t know. Crenshaw wore a brace for most of her younger years. It didn’t seem to help her any,” Ethan said as he watched frown lines form in the middle of Kel’s forehead.
He was happy with her reaction to the mess of a family he’d created. When his fake granny let a whirlwind of gas blow her up off her chair a bit, Kel gasped as the old woman said, “Soap!”
The others echoed her, leaving Kel stupefied. Granny decided to explain, “I have terrible insides, honey. If I apologized every time gas escaped me, then I’d never stop. So we came up with one word. Soap.”
“Soap,” Kel said. “How um, uh, clever. Yeah, that’s the word I was looking for, clever.”
“She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she, love?” Ethan cooed in her ear.
Kel didn’t think the old woman was sweet at all, but she nodded. “Sure is.”
Ethen pushed it a bit further as he asked, “Think you could get used to this?”
Kel stared at him without blinking and wondered why he’d ask such a thing. Was he really going to go so far as to give her what he thought she wanted, a marriage proposal?
Chapter 30
No one was around as the car stopped in front of the ranch house in Montana where Griffin lived. Jess loved it. There were cows and horses in the pastures that were on each side of the road they went up. A mountain was the backdrop behind the sprawling home.
“Griff, this is gorgeous,” she said as they got out of the car and went inside. “And no one’s here at all, you said?”
Nobody's Girl: A Billionaire Romance Novel Page 42