Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend
Billionaire Series Book 2
Victorine E. Lieske
Published by: Victorine E. Lieske
SCOTTSBLUFF, NEBRASKA
Copyright © 2017 by Victorine E. Lieske
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Victorine E. Lieske
PO Box 493
Scottsbluff, NE 69363
www.victorinelieske.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend/ Victorine E. Lieske. -- 1st ed.
This book is dedicated to all my alpha and beta readers who help me so much! I can’t do this without you. Amy Linnabary, Judy Corry, Michelle Pennington, Kierstin Marquet, Paige Edwards, Rose Castro, Rachel John, Jackie Dishman, Dee Feeken Schmidt, Charlie Volnek, Mary Unger, Gina Barlean, Joe Williams, and Kathy Gilmore. I love you all! And a special thank you to my editor, Hayley Brooks. You’re awesome! And I can’t forget my husband, who puts up with all my craziness as I’m writing. I love you sweetie.
Chapter 1
Drew’s phone lit up and “Ain’t No Sunshine” rang out. Miranda’s smiling face appeared on the screen. Drew set down his gaming controller and exhaled, hating the way his pulse immediately jumped. Was his high school crush ever going to fade away? It had been eleven years since they’d graduated.
He didn’t want to speak to Miranda. Not when all she wanted to talk about was her upcoming wedding. He knew about every flower she’d picked, every song they would play, and how much she loved her dress. And every stinking detail drove another knife into his chest.
He paused before answering. Maybe she’d give up. He picked up the controller and continued his quest. But the song kept playing, and he steeled himself for whatever it was Miranda wanted to say. He grabbed the phone and slid his finger across the screen. “Hello?”
Only silence came through. “Hello?” he repeated.
A choking sob sounded.
Drew sat up and clutched the phone tight. “Miranda? Are you okay?”
“No,” she finally managed.
“What’s wrong? Have you been in an accident? Are you hurt?” Terrible things raced through his mind, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
“No, I’m okay.”
“You don’t sound okay. What’s wrong?”
“Walt broke up with me. The wedding’s off.”
Drew shook his head to clear it. She couldn’t have said that Walt broke it off. He was imagining it. “What?”
“He said. . . .” Her voice broke. “He said he didn’t love me anymore!” More sobs came.
Drew stood and began pacing his game room. “That can’t be true. He’s just confused.”
Miranda was silent for a moment, and Drew’s chest constricted. “Miranda?”
“I’m here.” She sniffed. “I don’t think he’s confused. He said we were through. There’s not going to be a wedding.”
The wedding was all Miranda had talked about since she got engaged last year. She’d been so excited. She must be devastated now. Drew’s heart ached for her. “Are you okay?” he asked again.
“No,” she said, quietly.
He hated to ask, but the words came out anyway. “Do you need me to get on a plane? I can be there in three hours.” Three hours and ten minutes. That’s how long it took to fly from New York to the small town in Kansas where they’d grown up. He should know. He’d flown it often enough.
“No. . .” she said, but she stretched it out, so it sounded more like a “maybe” to him.
Drew glanced at the clock. “I can be there by midnight,” he said, his voice quiet. Why did he do this to himself? She’d been through other breakups, and he’d always run to her. But it never produced the outcome he wanted: she still only saw him as a friend.
“Now you’re bragging. Yes, you have a fancy jet. Big deal.”
He chuckled at her ability to tease him, even when she was distraught. “I’m serious. I’d come if you needed me to.”
She paused, and he gripped the phone tighter. Would she say yes? Would he really be seeing Miranda tonight? It had been a year since he’d talked with her face-to-face.
“What would Shelly say to that?”
Oh. Right. Shelly. His gaze shifted to the border collie curled up on his couch. He patted her fur. He hadn’t meant to lie to Miranda about having a girlfriend—it sort of just happened. Shelly panted at him, her tongue sticking out. “I’ll ask, but I don’t think she’d mind. She knows we’re just friends.”
“Would you really come?” Miranda’s voice was barely audible.
“Anything for you,” he said, his heart stabbing. If she only knew how true those words were.
She sniffed. “Okay.”
He turned off his gaming system and walked down the hallway toward his kitchen. Shelly jumped off the couch and followed him, her nails clicking on the hardwood floor. “I’ll call my assistant and get the jet ready.”
“Yeah, there you go again. We all know you’re a billionaire. You don’t have to keep flaunting it.” Her nose sounded plugged, but at least she wasn’t sobbing anymore.
“I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.” He pulled on his jacket while holding the phone to his ear, then grabbed his keys.
“Drew?” she said after a moment of silence.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
He hung up the phone and dialed his assistant to make the arrangements. He rubbed Shelly’s head and her tail wagged. “Here you go, girl,” he said as he filled her bowl. “I’ll be back soon. I promise. Don’t worry, Natalie will take care of you.”
Shelly ignored him, chowing down on the dried food bits. She didn’t care who fed her, as long as she got her meals. She’d been neglected before he adopted her, and it had pained him to see her lanky figure. Now she was a healthy weight, but Drew could tell she was nervous she wouldn’t get her next meal.
He tossed some things into his suitcase and locked the door. His heart pounded as he got in his Aston Martin, flinging his hastily packed suitcase on to the passenger seat. He’d about given up on ever seeing Miranda again. When she got engaged last year, he’d decided it was time to cut the cord; he’d stopped flying to Hollington and tried to get her out of his head.
A part of him couldn’t believe he was en route to Miranda again. A lot had happened since he’d last seen her. He’d hired a personal trainer and started working out regularly. He’d gained more than muscle: he felt more co
nfident. At least, he had until now. Somehow the thought of seeing Miranda again put him back into his high school geek role. He pushed up his glasses with one finger and changed lanes.
Tension and anxiety cramped his stomach. He had this strange love-hate thing going on in his gut. Miranda said he was her best friend, and that’s exactly how she treated him. He was her listening ear. Her buddy. Her confidant. And it ate him up inside.
He sped up to pass a truck, his hands gripping the steering wheel. The radio blared “Achy Breaky Heart” as he turned it off. Why did he decide to run to her side? He really was a glutton for punishment. He should have stuck with his plan from a year ago and cut all ties.
He pulled into his airport hangar and parked his car, a new idea forming in his mind. If he could see her without all those old high school feelings making him lose judgement, maybe he could finally break the Miranda Cycle and move on.
The flight took exactly three hours and ten minutes, just as he knew it would. Soon he was in a rental car driving to Miranda’s apartment. It only took ten minutes, and he was walking to her door. Before he could even knock, she flung the door open and rushed at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck. “Thank you for coming,” she whispered.
His heart raced as he set his suitcase down to pull her close. She felt so good in his arms; he almost sighed. Her familiar scent wafted over him. Miranda pulled back to look at him, her eyes shining with moisture. Her brown hair was a little longer now, but just as silky soft as ever. She kissed his cheek and his breath caught.
So much for moving on.
***
Miranda hugged Drew close to her. Something was different. She pulled back and looked at him. His arms were thicker. Muscled. His chest had filled out, too. “Have you been working out?”
His lopsided grin showed his dimple. “You noticed.”
Um, yeah, she noticed. Since when did Drew grow up? Why did he suddenly look like a man? Where was the little kid who used to sneak her chocolate popsicles from his mom’s fridge?
She tugged her sweater around her tighter, the chilly October breeze making her shiver. She wouldn’t be surprised to see frost on her windows soon. “It’s cold out here—come inside. You must be tired.”
“I’m actually wide awake.” He followed her inside her small apartment.
“Here, let me take your suitcase.” She grabbed it, walked to the spare bedroom, and set it on the floor. Her roommate moved out a couple of months ago; she’d left the room vacant since she’d been planning on marrying and moving in with Walt.
Walt. Unwanted memories of him pushed their way into her head. Tears sprang to her eyes and she furiously tried to blink them away before turning back to Drew, who had followed her into the room. He must have noticed because he put his hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”
She turned around and wiped at her eyes. “Not really.”
He pulled her into his arms and the floodgates opened. She didn’t even know why she was crying. Things with Walt had been strained for quite a while, but she’d hoped it had been all the wedding plans. Looking back, it had been stupid to think that things would get better.
Drew rubbed her back while she tried to stop crying. She didn’t think she had any more tears in her, but they just kept coming. Finally, she gathered herself together enough to pull back and smile at him. “Thanks. I needed that.”
He reached up with his thumb and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Want to talk about it?”
She didn’t really, but this was Drew. Her best friend. She needed to talk to him. “Let’s sit in the living room.”
After she was seated on the couch, she grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest. “I really thought he was the one, Drew.”
“Has it been rocky?” he asked, scooting a little closer to her.
“Looking back, I can see how he was distancing himself from me. I was blind to it, but it’s obvious now. He didn’t want to marry me.” It hurt to say, and she cringed. His exact words? “It was all your idea anyway. I never wanted this.”
“I’m not sure that’s true,” Drew said, taking her hand in his. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have asked you.”
Miranda hid her face behind the throw pillow. “He didn’t ask me,” she said, the sound of her voice muffled.
“What do you mean?”
She peeked at him. “You’re going to think I’m the stupidest girl in the world.”
His features softened. “I could never think that about you.”
Just wait until he found out. She sighed. “I asked him.”
Miranda could tell he was trying not to react. Trying not to bust up laughing. She pinched his leg.
“Ouch. What did you do that for?”
“You’re laughing at me.”
He held up his hands in protest, but his lips had a hard time not curling up into a smile. “I did nothing of the sort. I was just waiting for you to go on.”
She huffed and folded her arms. “I know you’re laughing on the inside. The thing is, I know how lame this sounds. I can see now that he didn’t want any of it. But he went along with it because I was so happy and excited.”
Drew sobered. “He’s a fool if he didn’t want to marry you.”
The way he said it, with such conviction, melted her heart. “You’re such a good friend.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Drew pulled her to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She could fall asleep easily in his arms. He made her feel so safe. Drew always made her feel this way.
He cleared his throat. “It’s late. You’d better get some rest. Do you work in the morning?”
“No. I took this week off to finish up with…” She couldn’t bring herself to say “the wedding,” so she let her voice trail off.
“I understand. We’ll do something to take your mind off things.”
She looked into his light brown eyes. They’d always held kindness and a bit of something else she couldn’t put her finger on. “Thank you. For everything.”
He nodded, a slight smile on his face, his dimple showing again. “Anything for you.”
The familiar phrase from their childhood made her heart warm. He really was her best friend. She reached over and tussled his hair like she used to do when they were younger.
“Goodnight, squirt.” She’d started calling him that once she’d found out she was nine days older than him. It just grew into a habit and she kept saying it, even though he no longer looked the part.
He laughed and stood up from the couch. “Goodnight, Miranda.”
She stood as well. Time to get some sleep. After brushing her teeth, she stared at her puffy eyes in the mirror. At least it was only Drew. He didn’t care if she looked like a disaster.
She pulled her nightshirt over her head and climbed into bed. Things would look better tomorrow, right?
Ugh. Tomorrow. She would have to call everyone who got a wedding invitation and tell them it was off. And then there was the caterer and the cake . . . she shoved her pillow over her head, not ready to think about all the arrangements and the money already spent on everything.
What a mess.
Chapter 2
Light filtered into Miranda’s room and she opened her eyes. She hadn’t had a nightmare last night. Relief poured over her. Maybe she was finally leaving that part of her history behind. It had been two weeks since her past had come back to haunt her in the night. That was a good sign.
She sniffed. Was that bacon? She didn’t have any bacon in the house. Her stomach rumbled and she climbed out of bed. She went into the kitchen, not really caring about being dressed in only her nightshirt. It covered her scar, and that’s all that mattered. Drew was standing at the stove, a pair of tongs in one hand, a pan of sizzling bacon on the burner. “Oh my gosh, that smells divine.”
“Good morning to you, too,” he said, a smile in his eyes. He wore a light blue dress shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged him perfectly. He looked like he belonged in
a magazine, except for his black-rimmed glasses. His gaze lingered on her legs for a moment before he looked back at the frying pan.
What was he doing? Was he checking out her legs? He’d never noticed her legs before. Weird. “Did you go to the store?”
He pointed the spatula at her. “Your refrigerator was bare. How do you eat?”
“I was getting ready to move in with. . .” She stopped and swallowed. Another reminder of her upcoming wedding that wasn’t going to happen.
“Well, now it’s not empty anymore. You were still sleeping, so I ran to the store to get some things.” Drew picked up a piece of bacon with his tongs and flipped it over. “What should we do today? Want to go shopping?”
Miranda made a face. All she’d been doing the last few months was shopping. For the wedding. Now she had a billion things that needed to be taken back. But she didn’t want to think about those right now. “No.”
“Want to binge-watch Star Venture? All the seasons are on Netflix.”
Star Venture. The show they used to watch together as teens. She bit her lip, trying to keep more tears at bay.
Drew glanced at her and froze. “What’s wrong?” He set his tongs down and came to her, taking her hands in his. “What did I say?”
She blinked back the tears. “I was waiting to tell you, because I know how much you like Star Venture, and I didn’t want you to be jealous.”
“What is it?”
“Walt and I . . . we booked a cabin on the Star Venture cruise for our honeymoon.” She pulled back from him and sank down into one of her vinyl kitchen chairs. “Now that’s ruined, too.”
Drew frowned and stepped back to the stove. “I didn’t realize Walt was into Star Venture.”
“He’s not. I convinced him it would be fun, even for a non-Venturer. He agreed to go because the ship stops in Belize, and the cave tubing excursion looked amazing.” She shook her head. She’d saved for months to pay for her dream honeymoon, and now she had to give it up. “I can’t believe Walt did this to me. He knows how long I’ve been wanting to go on the Star Venture cruise.”
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