Page 21 of 5 Golden Flings

“This is Molly,” Ben said. “I asked her to marry me.”

“Yeah, but that was…” Molly began.

“She hasn’t said yes yet, but she hasn’t said no, either.” Ben gave her a little squeeze. “She said she’d think about it, and I’m determined to get a yes from her this week. The wedding activities should get her in the mood.”

Rosie looked as if she wanted to stomp her foot and scream. She didn’t. “Why didn’t Tristan tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“We’ve been keeping it a secret.”

Rosie glared at Molly. Great. What was she, twenty-one? Maybe twenty-two? College age, for sure. She was a little slow to the party, but Molly got it now. Ben wanted to use her to scare off his friend’s adoring little sister.

The young woman shifted her focus to Ben again. “Be careful. She might be after your money.”

He was quick to respond. “To be honest, the first time I asked her to marry me I was dead broke.”

“I’m pretty sure you had a couple bucks on you at the time,” Molly said.

“I did have some Christmas money from Granny, so… yeah.”

Rosie rolled her eyes, spun around, and walked away.Therewas that stomp.

Ben kept his arm around Molly’s shoulder as they headed toward the elevator. He sped up a little when Rosie confronted her brother and pointed their way. While everyone else was talking, visiting, and now speculating, they got on the elevator. Tristan headed toward them, but Ben pushed the button to close the elevator doors. When they were safely out of sight he sighed and dropped his arm.

“What the hell…” Molly began.

“Sorry. I freaked out a little and there you were, and it seemed like the perfect solution.”

“How is it going to work when everyone finds out you lied?”

“I didn’t actually lie,” he said. “I did ask you to marry me. No need to share all the details, the how and the when.”

“But we’re not…”

“How about we pretend we are, for a few days?”

The elevator doors opened on their floor. Molly exited first, and fast. “You want me to play at being your girlfriend.”

“Fiancée.”

“For the next three days.” They headed for their rooms, side by side but no longer touching. “I’m not sure I can do that.” She’d have to lie to Nat. No one else in the mix mattered all that much, she’d lie to Rosie with no problem, and she didn’t know the other people in the wedding party. But if Natalie knew the truth she’d tell Tristan, who’d tell his sister, and soon everyone would know. Rosie had the look of a blabbermouth.

“I’ll pay you,” Ben said.

Molly stopped in front of his door. “You’llpayme?”

He had the good sense to look ashamed. “You said you were just fired. You need a job, this is a job. An unusual one, but still…”

“I’ll think about it,” Molly snapped. She turned her back on Ben and headed to her own room. One step did the trick.

He got in one last suggestion. “A walk on the beach this afternoon would look great.”

CHAPTER 4

A quick onlinesearch told Molly more about Ben than she wanted to know. Yeah, he had money. The stinker was filthy rich! Who knew playing a game could be so lucrative? She scrolled past the stats and rehashed games and went for the personal stuff. Judging by the photos she found he dated models and actresses. Not just one in particular, but an absolute parade of skinny, gorgeous, famous ladies. If he deigned to share his time with a normal woman, it didn’t make the news.

Benjy was a player.

Several pages into her search she found mention of a divorce a few years ago, but that tidbit wasn’t interesting enough for pictures and juicy details. He’d been new to the major leagues when that happened, if her math was correct.

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