“So what kind of guy do you think would be right for me?” Allison said as she snuggled up to Drake in the warm pool water.
“I’m pretty sure he’d be tall…maybe six foot one inches or so.”
“Oh, really? And what else?”
“He’d know how to use Skype so when his woman was away they could play over video chat. There’s no reason to miss your guy with the technology we have nowadays.”
“So he’s tall and tech savvy, got it,” Allison said as she pretended to write down notes on her hand.
“It’s going to be important that he has a good job. Something where he could travel freely, maybe he’s even the CEO of his company or something like that.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Those CEO types can be really full of themselves,” they both started to laugh.
It was easy to talk with Allison and Drake really liked that. He was interested in getting to know her to see if their connection could last past the first few minutes.
As his hands weaved with her fingers, Drake felt an energy between them. Simply by looking at him, Allison had his full attention. He didn’t have to pretend to be interested in her; Drake was actually extremely interested in what she had to say.
“Do you have trouble with the paparazzi?” Drake tried to change the subject a little.
“Yes, they always know when I’m landing in L.A. it’s really hard to avoid them. I’ve just given in to the fact that I’ll need to walk through a group of them every time I land. They aren’t as bad overseas, though. Sometimes I can travel for weeks without anyone taking my photo. But it also depends on who I’m dating.”
Drake laughed, he could only imagine how crazy the paparazzi would get if he and Allison were dating. They would be all over the place trying to snap photos and giving them cute nicknames.
Drake had been lucky though and he had never really had to deal with the paparazzi very much. They kept a respectable distance when he was out in public and never really seemed all that interested in him at all. Only when he would show up to movie premiers and things like that did the paparazzi really come out and try to get his picture and dirt on him. Otherwise, he was relatively left in the shadows of the trendy paparazzi world.
“I’ve had a few run-ins with them, but they are pretty respectful of my time. Probably because I’m just a businessman who has people writing stories about me. I’m not in any movies or commercials.”
Allison swam out into the middle of the pool as she continued her conversation with Drake. She needed to get a little physical separation from him, if only for a moment. It was becoming too hard to control herself as she sat next to Drake and she didn’t want to take things any farther with all the girls from the house looking out at them.
“You’d have a lot of paparazzi if you went out in public with me. I’m sure they would love you.”
Drake sat back and watched Allison as she swam around the pool. She was a beautiful girl. More of a traditional beauty but certainly still one of the most beautiful women he had known. Her long blonde hair tangled around her arms as she floated in the water, her big blue eyes sparkled when the sun hit them. But the thing that struck Drake the most about Allison was her huge smile. She seemed to have a thousand watt smile that could be seen from a mile away. He loved looking at her as she smiled, it gave him a sense of calm.
“Would you mind if I went and showered?” Drake said as he swam out to meet Allison in the middle of the pool.
“That sounds good. Do you have a tuxedo? You should put that on today. I think we are going to try and make an event.”
Drake’s interest was raised right away. A tuxedo was a pretty big event, even in Los Angeles. It was the afternoon though and only charity events and movie premieres had tuxedo attire in the middle of the day.
“Will you join me in the shower?” Drake asked in hopes that Allison would actually come with him.
“I need to call the organizers and tell them I’ll be there. I had canceled this morning when I didn’t know when you would be back.”
Instantly Drake felt horrible for not being around, but the very least he could do was make it up to Allison by coming with her to her event. He didn’t mind at all. In fact, Drake was happy to do whatever Allison wanted to do with her time. It was exciting to see what each of the women planned for their days and how they wanted to spend their time with him. Drake felt like it gave him real insight into what was important to each of the women.
“Then we better get looking fabulous for your day of fun. I’ll brush the cobwebs off my tuxedo and be downstairs in 30 minutes. Is that enough time for you to get ready?”
“I can be down in twenty,” Allison said as she swam to the side of the pool, jumped out and started to run upstairs.
Drake grabbed his things and chased after her up the stairs. He almost caught her but she slid into her room just before he made it to her.
“See you in fifteen minutes,” Drake teased.
Chapter 4
“I’m going to be able to make it after all,” Allison said over the phone to the event organizer.
“Oh, Allison that is so wonderful. The girls would have missed you horribly. I hadn’t announced that you canceled yet because I was hoping to find someone else to fill your spot, but I haven’t had any luck.”
“I’ll be there within the hour, is that enough time to rehearse?” Allison asked as she pulled her gown out of the bag she had it in.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. You can wing it, the girls won’t care. We are just so excited that you are coming.”
“Me too! I’m going to bring Drake Leblanc with me. Is that alright?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone and Allison knew exactly what was going on. The organizer of the event was probably jumping up and down going crazy with excitement over the news. Drake was probably a bigger deal amount the volunteers at the event than the girls that were there, though.
“Susanna?” Allison asked.
“Oh, yes. That would be just fine.”
Allison laughed a little as she thought she heard her friend Susanna a little out of breath. It was so fun to get to surprise them and their group and Allison was devastated when she didn’t think she was going to be able to make it.
“We will have a special table there for you and can’t wait to see you,” Susanna said as the women hung up their phones.
Allison knew that her conversation with Susanna had probably cost her the winning moment of getting ready faster than Drake, but it was alright. She took her time and pulled her dress on and then added a touch of makeup and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. The girls at this event weren’t’ going to be too concerned about Allison’s hair and makeup, they were just going to be excited to see her there
She descended the stairs slowly and looked around the living room for Drake. She expected to see him there and ready to gloat at how quickly he had gotten ready, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Then she looked around the corner at the base of the stairs and saw Drake laying on the couch and pretending to sleep. He started to snore loudly when she reached the bottom of the stairs and Allison couldn’t hold it together. She busted out laughing so hard that she had to cover her mouth so she didn’t spit all over the place.
“Oh, hey, that was a great nap,” Drake teased as he got up and stretched his arms.
“You weren’t down here that long don’t even try it!”
“I am well rested at least,” Drake said as he put his arm out for Allison to hold onto while they walked down the steps toward his vehicle. “Are you alright with me driving?”
“Um, I don’t have a driver’s license so you’ll have to drive.”
Drake stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Allison with his eyes about as big as they could get. He had never met a grown person who didn’t have a driver’s license. Allison was 24-years old he couldn’t fathom why she didn’t have a license.
Allison had seen that look of wonder on people's faces
before. She knew it was unusual not to have a license, but she had been a model since she was a teenager and people always sent cars to pick her up. She just never got around to studying for the test or going into the DMV and taking it. She used UBER, Taxi’s or had a car service everywhere she went.
She had vacillated between wanting a license and not needing one for many years. But the opportunity never presented itself for her to get her license. She never had the time to go wait at the DMV or to try and take the test. Although she felt like she probably could drive, she had watched others do it for so many years; how hard could it really be?
“It’s ok, I’m not a leper, I just don’t drive,” she laughed.
“I would offer to teach you, but I’m not that great at it myself. I’ve had a few tickets this year alone.”
“I don’t really feel like I need it right now in my life. I’ve always got a way around. This is the age of UBER, we don’t need licenses anymore.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” Drake joked as he opened the door for Allison to get into his SUV.
Allison just laughed. She knew that people didn’t understand her choice about a driver’s license. It wasn’t something new to her. Even her own mother hounded her to go get her license. Someday she probably would get her license, but for the time being she was just going to let Drake do all the driving.
“If you take Interstate 5 north I’ll let you know where we need to get off.” Allison leaned toward Drake and kissed his cheek “You do want me to tell you where to get off don’t you? Or would you prefer to MapQuest it?”
Drake felt his cock throb at Allison’s words and the idea of her getting him off. He knew she was talking about directions but his body just loved having her so close to him. She was a tantalizing beauty with a hilarious sense of humor. Drake wouldn’t put it past her if she were bringing him to some weird alternative movie premiere or something like that.
His driving was fast, but that was how Allison liked it. She never felt uncomfortable when people drove fast. It was a rush that she couldn’t get anywhere else. She leaned back in her seat and enjoyed the drive as they made their way north toward the event venue.
“What kind of charity work do you do?” Allison asked.
“Not nearly enough,” Drake said. Embarrassed to admit that he hardly did any. Only when Samantha arranged something and practice placed him at the event did Drake participate in any charity events. He did, however, donate a lot of money to charities that he thought were doing a great job. “Mostly financial donations.”
“It’s alright. I wasn’t asking to make you feel bad. I know you’re busy.”
“I really would like to do more events. I just get so caught up with work. I need a partner that I can do things with. Show up to events together and have a little date night while we do good.”
Allison reached over and held onto Drake’s hand. His words were like they had been taken right out of her mind. That was exactly why she had wanted to meet Drake. She thought it would be great to attend charity events, and other events, together as a team.
“Get off here and then turn toward the Chinese Theater,” Allison said as she pointed to the huge theater surrounded by cars and paparazzi.
“What is it?”
“It’s a beauty pageant, I’m the MC for the night,” Allison said with a huge smile on her face.
She could have told him that the event was a beauty pageant for girls with disabilities, but she didn’t want to take the fun out of it for him. Allison still remembered the first Miss Amazing pageant that she had watched and how exciting it was to see the women as they walked across the stage. The girls were between the ages of 5 and 55 and all had significant mental or physical disabilities. The Miss Amazing pageant made it possible for them to feel beautiful and participate in a program that built them up. It was near and dear to Allison’s heart.
Drake smiled and awkward smile as they parked and made their way quickly through the crowd behind the building and to the stage. Allison didn’t have time to practice at all and was just handed her cue cards and pushed up onto the stage.
The stage manager grabbed Drake and brought him out into the audience so he could sit in the front row and watch the show up close. He looked around the audience and saw a lot of families there. They all looked so excited.
It was cute to see all the mothers and fathers dressed in their best clothes. Drake was happy to see that he wasn’t the only person wearing a tuxedo though as many of the men in the audience had one on also.
As the lights dimmed and Allison came onto the stage, the audience erupted in applause. They were so excited to see her that they stood up and Drake did too. He couldn’t believe just how excited everyone was to see her.
“Hello everyone,” Allison began. “I’m so excited to be here hosting the Miss Amazing pageant today. You know it was six years ago that I first became a fan of this amazing organization and I’m a changed person because of all the wonderful girls I’ve met. Today, we are going to start with the little princesses.”
Drake looked to the edge of the stage where he saw a little girl about five or six years old standing near the curtain with a walker. There was a woman standing next to her and talking to her.
“First up we have Miss Abigail. This is her first year with Miss Amazing, let’s all give her a big applause.”
Drake felt his eyes start to water as the sweet little blonde haired girl pushed her walker onto the stage. She stood in one pose and then moved her walker so she could make another pose. It was the most precious thing he had seen. Even as a guy, Drake felt his heart clench as the little girl moved across the stage and the audience clapped for her. She was so excited to be up there that her face latterly beamed with light.
“Next up we have Ronna, she’s an old pro at this pageant and is ready to show us a little sass today.”
Ronna walked on the stage with the help of a man that appeared to be her father. He guided her to the center of the stage and then whispered something before he took a step back so she could do a few poses. When she was done Ronna reached out for her father and his arm was instantly there for her to hold onto and walk back to the spot on the stage where she would stand while the other contestants did their walks.
Drake felt the tears pouring down his face by the time the fifth girl was brought out on stage in a wheelchair and unable to lift her arms or head. She was dressed in a beautiful dress and had a huge smile on her face as her mother twirled her chair around the stage. Drake couldn’t stop himself from crying. He wasn’t sure why the little girls had gotten his heart strings going so much, but he just couldn’t stop himself.
Crying and emotions weren’t something that Drake normally gave in to. Most of his life he had been the tough guy who didn’t cry, not even when he fell and broke his arm as a child. But as an adult, Drake was open to crying a lot more. He found himself sometimes watching an emotional commercial and tears rolling down his face. But tears, and emotions, were certainly something that was new to him as he approached forty years of age. He definitely wouldn’t have been crying in that audience when he was in his twenties; no matter how cute the girls were on stage.
As the first group of girls left the stage and Allison prepared to read the names of the next group, he caught her focus and wiped his tears away. She playfully mocked him by pretending to wipe her own tears away and then brought him a small container of Kleenex that she had under the podium.
“I’m always prepared at this event. Sorry, I should have given you some of these before you sat down,” Allison said as she kissed Drake on the cheek and then went back up on stage.
Chapter 5
As the event continued on Drake watched Allison in awe. She was so at ease on the stage, nothing appeared to faze her at all and she showed the ultimate kindness to all the contestants.
He didn’t think he could be surprised by someone as much as Allison had surprised him that day. The Miss Amazing pageant put so much of life in perspec
tive. Here were girls that could hardly walk and they were on stage smiling and showing off their outfits. It wasn’t about who was prettiest, it was purely about having fun and recognizing girls.
While on stage, Allison kept looking at Drake to see if he was getting bored. A beauty pageant wasn’t probably the best date in the world, especially since Allison couldn’t even spend time with Drake for the first few hours they were there. But every time she looked at Drake he was smiling and enjoying the show; even though he was sometimes smiling through tears.
It was moving to see how much Drake appreciated what the young girls were going through to be up on stage. Allison had participated in traditional pageants when she was young and they were nothing like the non-profit she was helping with.
Finding a man who could share her passion for volunteering was important for Allison. She didn’t always have a lot of time to give to organizations, but Allison felt strongly about making some time each month for the groups that she felt strongly about.
There were so many celebrities, business people, and models that had the financial means to donate to organizations. But what many of those people didn’t know was that actually showing up to a function was much more powerful for the people involved. Allison had learned that lesson very well over the last few years.
Helping with the pageant was just one of the groups that she felt strongly about. It was essential for young girls to feel confident and empowered and that was why Allison loved that particular program so much.
As a teenager, Allison felt bullied by her peers in the pageant and felt like she could never be thin enough or pretty enough. But the Miss Amazing pageant wasn’t like that at all. Everyone there cheered for each other and came together to make the other girls feel good about themselves. It was certainly an amazing organization.
By the time the pageant ended and the winner had been crowned Allison and Drake had been at the pageant for almost three hours. When she came out from behind the stage to get Drake, one of the girls wrapped her arms around Allison’s waist and wouldn’t let go.
The Billionaire Bachelor - Box Set: The Billionaire's Hunt - A Complete Ten Book Alpha Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 31