Page 18 of The Billionaire Love Match

****

AN HOUR LATER, COLTwondered if he had been too hard on his mother. The cocktail party had been better than what he imagined. Not enjoyable, but the evening felt somehow free from her manipulations. No games, no surprises to stir up drama. Not that any more drama was needed when you have fifteen women and an open bar.

Clearly, the women had gotten started before Chris Haversham announced Colt’s arrival on the flagstone patio by the pool. No one had fallen down yet, but the night was young. Rather than the polite clapping from the night before, a few jeers, catcalls, and loud whistles rang out. His mother had made sure that Colt would be drinking ginger ale in a wine glass all night—one of the bullet points in his folder.

He had seen Casey from a distance when he first greeted the women, standing at the top of the water feature, looking at them across the turquoise waters of the pool. Unlike the sequined and formal evening gowns most of the women had on, Casey wore a simple and short yellow dress, almost the color of her hair, which was loose around her shoulders. And a different pair of cowboy boots, black this time. He knew she probably just liked wearing them, but hoped it was because that’s the nickname he used.

He watched her smooth down the fabric, looking as though she felt self-conscious and out of place. He didn’t miss the side-eye other women gave her and he wished that he could pull her aside and tell her that she was by far the most arresting woman there.

Instead, he tried not to focus his gaze on her, keeping an eye out for yellow in his periphery through the night.

“Ladies,” Chris Haversham said, “now that you’ve had a chance to mingle with Colt, we’re going to have one-on-one times with our bachelor. I’ll call you over to the gazebo area one at a time. You’ll each get ten minutes to make a first impression. At the end of the night, we’ll be announcing the group dates for the week with Colt. Are we ready to get started?”

Colt looked out over the women, who were looking back at him with hungry smiles like he was a steak.

Except for Casey. Who was doing something with her wine glass. His eyes rested on her for a moment until he realized. She was cupping the rounded globe itself, stem below her hand. And her fingers were doing something. His eyes widened as he recognized that she was tapping out S-O-S on her wine glass.

So she did understand his code from the night before. He had hoped she would, but she had seemed oblivious to it. Somehow he wanted to find a way to talk with her, off the cameras and off the books. Morse code was something he and his best friend Ty picked up, just as a hobby years before. They thought it was hilarious, a way to communicate in person if they wanted to. Sometimes they even sent dot and dash texts.

It had come to him on the car ride to Casey’s apartment. Code was the only way he was going to be able to keep his promise to her, to be honest. He could say whatever he wanted out loud in front of the cameras, all the while tapping out a hidden code on her wrist or hand or waist.

A quick smile flashed across his face. He realized that he was staring too long just at her and so turned his gaze to another cluster of women by the pool, raising his glass, as though he was simply smiling at them all in anticipation of the one-on-ones. When what he really wanted was to sit beside Casey on the one-on-one couch, where they could hold hands and talk to each other with their fingertips where no one else could see.

It seemed as though the one-on-ones would never end. Probably because every time Chris Haversham announced the next name, Colt hoped it would be Casey. He was having a hard enough time remembering all the women’s names. Being distracted by the thought of Casey tapping out S-O-S on her wine glass made it hard for him to concentrate.

“I’m sorry?” he said. “Could you say that again.”

The woman seated next to him on the outdoor sofa looked like she might cry. “It’s okay,” she said. “Clearly you’re not attracted to me.”

He felt terrible. Not that it wasn’t true, despite the fact that every woman here could be some kind of model, but he didn’t want to hurt anyone. Which would be impossible, he knew. He searched for her name: Kendall.

He reached out and touched her shoulder, bare in a blue strapless gown. “It’s not that, Kendall,” he said, giving his most winning smile. “I’m a little overwhelmed. Forgive me?”

She smiled and bit her lip, nodding.

Colt could almost hear his mother’s voice in his ear and was actually surprised in thinking about it that she didn’t have him wear an earpiece so she could direct him fully. He had only kissed one woman so far—or rather, had been kissed, as the half-drunk redhead had practically climbed into his lap and stuck her tongue down his throat.

Normally he would have thrown her off, but he kept seeing that list in his head: he had to kiss at least two women. So he tried to relax and let Becca kiss him, though it was definitely a matter of acting to kiss her back. When he had pulled away, gently but firmly, he could see eyes all around the pool glaring at them. She knew it too and smiled out at their audience, already reapplying her lipstick.

The one-on-one area was a raised gazebo area in full view of the pool to make sure that every woman could watch his one-on-ones. And clearly they had been instructed to do so as the entire group milled around the pool despite the heat that pressed through the late evening. Colt wished he could take off his suit jacket or jump in the pool. He knew if he did most of the women would follow suit just to be near him, even though they had on evening wear. But the idea of having fifteen women splashing around him in a pool made him feel claustrophobic.

He hoped Becca the redhead was on his mother’s do not fly list for the week. He would have paid not to have suffer through that kiss again.

Maybe she was one of the plants. If she were an actress, that might explain the mechanicalness of the kiss. As an actor, you learned quickly how to technically make a kiss look amazing on camera, but the best kisses were not the ones that necessarily looked good on the screen. He made a mental note to watch out for her.

Colt took a breath and touched Kendall’s face. A blush rose underneath his hand. He leaned in and gave her a kiss, chaste but unhurried. Pulling back, he smiled. Nothing compared to the grin on her face. She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. It was endearing.

“Time’s up,” Chris Haversham.

“Great to talk with you Kendall,” Colt said, feeling every bit the playboy bachelor the press always made him out to be. The thought made him feel ill.

There were only three women left. Which meant he needed to kiss at least one more that wasn’t Casey if he wanted to keep her off his mother’s watchful eye.

The next woman walking up to the pedestal was exotic and beautiful. He had seen her earlier with Casey, the only woman who didn’t give her a wide berth.

“Tessa,” she said, holding out a hand to Colt as she sat down. She held it as though expecting a handshake, but he kissed her knuckles instead. Too bad that wouldn’t fulfill his mother’s quota.

“I know,” he said.

---