Between Desire and Denial: A Fake Dating Romance (Hardy Billionaires)

I’d taken an Uber thirty minutes out of town to meet up with Mr. Perfect.

I’d put on my best red dress, my best shoes, and my best makeup while FaceTiming Kee and Pink for help. Pink stared at the phone for a second before saying, “More red lipstick and the red flower in your hair.”

“Are you sure?” I switched out my normal pink plumeria to a red one. “What do you think?”

“Fucking hot.” Pink nodded at me and Kee smiled.

“I’m so excited for you.” Kee looked like she might even tear up.

“I’m nervous he won’t show or won’t look like I want him to.”

“You’ve barely talked with the guy, right?” Pink shrugged. “So, if he’s terrible, who cares?”

“He’s the only one I’ve talked to in a couple weeks. And I haven’t been matching with anyone else in this area.” I wasn’t going to admit I really hadn’t been trying because of Dimitri.

“This is good. Get out there. Try out some new men.” Pink was rattling off things now. “Forget your ex ever existed. Jump back in the saddle, ride a cowboy and—”

“Enough.” I heard a deep voice in the background.

“What, Bane?” Pink handed the phone to Kee who started to walk away from them. “It’s the truth. We all need to forget about the past.”

I heard his growl and then, “You’re never forgetting about anything with me.”

Kee laughed as she walked into another room and gave me a look. “So, Bane just arrived on a private jet to see Pink. She’s not happy about him showing up, obviously.”

“How’s that going?”

“About as well as you’d expect.” Bane and Pink had a complicated history that none of us completely knew the specifics of, but we were aware of their love and extreme hate for one another. “Anyway, call me after your date. It’s going to be great.”

“I will. We’ll catch up then. It feels like forever since I’ve seen you.”

“You and Dimitri. You two are stealing each other from me.” She turned the corner, and Dex was there to put his arm around her neck.

“Looks like you’re doing just fine without us. Love you, and I better go because my Uber is here.”

I ran out in my wedges and hopped into the car. After ten minutes or so, Dimitri texted me.

Dimitri: Tell me you reconsidered your date.

Me: Can’t do that. In an Uber.

Dimitri: Send me the driver details and your location.

Me: Get real.

Dimitri: Don’t make me act unhinged and find a way to hack your phone.

Me: This is ridiculous. I’m on my way there already.

Dimitri: What place are you going to?

Me: A little bar I’m sure you haven’t heard of.

Dimitri: What’s the name?

Me: Rooster Rock. Dive bar outside of town where no one will see me.

Dimitri: That’s thirty minutes from our house if I’m speeding. Send me your damn location so I can track the driver.

Me: Fine. Sent. Happy?

Dimitri: No. You’re going on a date when you’re my girlfriend. Why the hell would I be happy?

Me: We’re CASUALLY dating.

Dimitri: Did it feel casual when my cock was so far inside you that I could practically feel your heart beating?

Me: What we say and feel during sex is sorta moot outside of it, don’t you think?

Dimitri: Is it really? Because I hope I knocked you up.

Me: Dimitri, that’s nearly impossible.

Dimitri: But still possible. And then I get you forever.

Me: People raise kids separately all the time.

Dimitri: So you’d keep our kid?

Me: I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation. I’m not pregnant!

Dimitri: We’ll see, Honeybee.

Me: Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve got engagements and people all around the world that you need to commit your time to.

Dimitri: What if the only one I care about committing to is in an Uber on their way to see another guy?

I looked around the bar for a tall man who would make it clear he was here to see me. I didn’t see him at first, so I sat down in a booth and ordered a drink.

One minute passed.

Then another.

I stared at my phone until a text came through. Not from Mr. Perfect though.

Jameson: Lunch sometime next week at Paradise Grove Golf Club? Preferably before the board meeting and before you turn your article in.

Me: Just let me know the day and time.

It was only five more minutes into me sitting there sipping on a drink that I saw him. Tall, probably six six with green eyes, perfect navy suit, and a devilish smile on his face. When he got to my table he leaned in and whispered, “Hey, Flower Girl.”

Dimitri Hardy. Not Mr. Perfect.

My breath caught on the way he said the nickname, how he smelled, how my body ached immediately to touch him and pull him in for a kiss. I bit my lip to try to restrain myself from all of it. I’d missed him but he didn’t get to know that. “What did you just call me?”

“You heard me.” He pulled at one of my curls and then he sat down across from me.

“Dimitri, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Meeting my girlfriend for a date.” He tilted his head and then looked me up and down. “Or ruining the date she thought she’d be on. One or the other.”

“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not possible. Where’s Mr. Perfect?”

“Mr. Perfect was a douche.” He sucked on his perfect teeth as he looked toward the ceiling for a second before he said, “I’m having a hard time seeing you in that stunning dress. Red, Honeybee? For a guy other than me?”

I glanced down at my dress and smoothed the fabric on my hips. “I wanted to look good for someone.”

“You always look good. In a sweater. In your glasses. Without them. With red lipstick. Without it, even though your lips look hot as hell now that I’m imagining them wrapped around me, which means some other guy would have been imagining it too. With red flowers in your hair. And a gold necklace around your neck.” He reached out to play with the chain and studied it. “This new?”

He recognized it so quickly, something that was different in my appearance that it made my center hot with need. I took a deep breath before I answered, “It was my mom’s. It meant a lot to her. She used to wear it before …”

“It looks stunning on you.” Then his eyes swept up and down my body. I chewed the side of my cheek, trying to wait for the heat in my body to cool off but it just spread further through me. “Fuck, I missed seeing you.”

I felt the blush heat my cheeks and hated that my thighs clenched at his assessment. “Should I ask again? Where is Mr. Perfect?” I whispered.

“Mr. Perfect wasn’t perfect. Not for you.” He looked a tad remorseful, and I grabbed my drink to take a big gulp of it. I figured I was going to need it, and I was right when he admitted, “I bought the dating app you were on, Olive. I needed to make sure you wouldn’t date anyone but me.”

I choked on the drink. It literally spewed out of my mouth before I grabbed a napkin to wipe it away. “You what?”

“In my defense, you said it was a great dating app.”

“It’s a terrible dating app. It just started!” I slammed down my drink and it sloshed over.

“True. The start-up only launched about a year ago, and I’m pretty sure they were happy with my offer of a couple million, which means they weren’t making much.”

“You dropped millions on a start-up app? For what? Because I said it was good?! That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I dropped a couple mil on an app because you were on it trying to find a match when you’re my only match.” He said it so casually as he leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms across the booth.

And that’s when the anger bubbled inside me. “I’m … not … yours,” I stuttered out, trying to piece together everything that had just happened. “Did you—? What happened to Mr. Perfect? How did you get his information?”

“I got access to all the profiles, obviously.” He shrugged. “And when I looked him up to learn more about him, I found you weren’t a good match.”

“You helped match me with him! How could you possibly know that?”

“He wasn’t me, Honeybee. I’m the only match for you.”

“We’ll see. Let me meet Mr. Perfect, and I’ll tell you.”

“Not possible. I took over his profile for a fair price.”

“You paid him off?”

“I’ll pay off every guy who matches with you from here on out.”

“I haven’t matched with anyone in … You aren’t giving me matches, are you?”

“Again, they aren’t me.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“Or you’re in denial about the fact that you’re my exclusive girlfriend at this point.”

“We’ve barely spoken this past week.”

“You barely answered me, sure. I’ve been texting and calling your ass nonstop.”

“You know, I thought your brother was crazy over Kee.”

“I’m crazier than him.”

“It’s not something to be proud of.” I stared out at the people in the bar. “I don’t need a boyfriend. I had one, and he was—”

“Absolutely an asshole to you. I won’t be.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” I shook my head at him but then a laugh bubbled up from inside me, and I hiccuped. “When did you buy the app?”

“The day after you matched with him.”

“So, it’s been you the whole time?” I narrowed my eyes. “You got the picture of my legs.”

“That’s why I called you immediately.” His hand crinkled a napkin on our table. “You were sending pics to some other guy.”

“You were flying around the world meeting up with women,” I blurted out.

He frowned. “What?”

“I—” My mouth snapped shut. “I might have talked myself into thinking that you were. Because Ruff—’

“I’m not him.” Dimitri cut me off. “I’ll never be someone like him.”

Then, I rubbed at my temples. “I think we need to get through this business with Paradise Grove first.”

“Agree to see only me and we will.”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you.” It totally did. “So, no more dating apps?” I tried to sound dejected, but I hadn’t been putting in any effort towards them anyway.

“You think I’m not going to be enough for you? You need another man to fulfill your every need?”

It was at that moment that my phone lit up, still face up on the table, and a text came through.

Jameson: Franny’s still gone next week, so I can do 1 p.m. on Tuesday for lunch to talk more?

When my eyes shot up to meet Dimitri’s, his were burning with that jealous green ember that my body reacted to.

And all he said was, “No.”