Page 2 of The Fake Girlfriend's Billionaire Match
Money. It needed to be good. A healthy sum, but not too crazy. Finally, he typed in two hundred thousand. The terms were set, the time frame was settled, and at the end, they’d go their separate ways.
The pointer hovered over the publish button as he thought through his plan. He’d be lying to his family. Bringing someone into his home and asking them to lie too.
Just then, tiny cries came from the baby monitor, reminding him he’d be the single lone wolf of the holidays if he didn’t do it. His time was up. In one swift motion, he clicked the publish button, pushed out of the chair, and said a silent prayer.
For now, he’d tend to his niece and hope his wild scheme didn’t come back to bite him.
Chapter 2
Sinking into her couch, Winnie Fordham felt lower than dirt. “She took all of it, Mom.”
“All of it? Winifred Fordham.” Law voice. The exact thing Winnie didn’t need from her mom at the moment. “You need to tell your father.”
“I made you promise not to tell him before I told you what happened. Give me a little time to talk to Tammy. Maybe she’ll have a change of heart and return it.”
If Winnie’s dad knew the money he’d given her was missing, he’d call her dream done and expect her to show up in his Houston law firm promptly by the next business day. Something she desperately didn’t want to do. Law was dry and boring. It didn’t give Winnie the joy cooking did.
Her mom inhaled, and Winnie could picture her pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know. This is big. Where are you going to find that kind of money? Didn’t you have a location picked out?”
Winnie pulled her open laptop onto her legs and sighed as she scrolled through the pictures of a downtown San Antonio space right on the Riverwalk. The rent was ridiculous, but location was everything. It was perfect.
Her hand brushed against her trackpad, and the next thing she knew, a new tab opened with Mr. Matchmaker’s website filling up the screen. Like she needed that. Life was complicated enough without a man in it.
“Yeah,” Winnie replied as she watched profiles seamlessly change from one person to the next. “I love it too. The landlord is currently in the process of evicting the current tenant.”
“And that’s a good spot for a new restaurant?” Her mom’s voice rose an octave. “If they didn’t make it, what makes you think you will?”
Winnie barked a laugh. “I’ll start by not failing four health inspections in a row and sending three tourists to the emergency room for food poisoning.”
“Oh, wow. Just remember, my specialty is divorce. Not saying I couldn’t handle a restaurant lawsuit, but don’t make me have to.” She paused, exhaling heavily. “Back to the missing money. Just tell your father.”
A photo slid to the center of the screen, and Winnie’s eyebrows lifted to her forehead. Who would put a photo of themselves looking like a mountain man on a website like this? Out of curiosity, Winnie clicked the photograph with the intent of mocking him to ease some of the stress she was under.
“I’m not telling Dad, and you can’t either.” Using the wheel of her mouse, she scrolled down, landing on his biography. Texas rancher. Maybe that wasn’t mud after all. She’d been to a cattle farm. Big animals produced big poop.
Her mom groaned. “Then what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” She reached the end of the biography, and her mouth dropped open as she sat up straight. “No way.”
“What?” Her mom’s question came out in a rush. “What’s wrong?”
The guy was willing to pay someone two hundred thousand dollars to pretend to be his girlfriend for the holidays and cook for his family. Who offered someone that kind of money to fake date them for six weeks? Better yet, who answered something like that? Perhaps someone who’d just had their dream swiped from under them?
“Winnie? Are you okay?” Now her mom sounded frantic.
Shaking her head, Winnie replied, “I’m fine. Just…I noticed something else about the location, and I’m sad that I might lose it.”
“Oh, okay. For a second there, I wasn’t sure what happened.” She paused. “Winnie, your stepdad and I can loan you more money. You can pay us back when your restaurant is up and running.”
“Let me think about it, okay?” She stared at her laptop screen. Maybe she wouldn’t need the loan. Maybe it was fate that the dating website had popped up right at that moment. “I think I’m going to get some sleep and try to call Tammy again tomorrow.”
“All right, but think about it, seriously. We love you, and we don’t mind.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
They said their goodbyes as Winnie pushed off the couch and began pacing. As she debated the pros and cons, she threw glances at the laptop, trying to decide if she should throw her name into the ring. Two hundred thousand dollars. That was twice what her dad had given her. She could pay him backandhave the money to open her restaurant. Then she wouldn’t have the deal with him looming over her head. And what were the chances that the man was looking for someone who could cook?
