Not Daddy Material (Billionaire's Contract Duet 2)

He grabbed my hands and locked them around his chest. The muscles under his shirt felt as hard as I imagined. Wait, I hadn’t imagined what they would felt like, had I?

He walked us backward and then revved the bike forward, leaving the wine bar and Pottery Paints behind us. Funny, I was freezing, but I loved the bike. I felt free, even wrapped around Beau.

Within minutes, he pulled into my gravel driveway. Not sure how long I should keep my hands on his chest, I dropped the embrace as soon as he took off his helmet.

“Thanks, Beau. I had fun tonight.” I hesitated before handing him the helmet. I didn’t know how fake dates were supposed to end. Nina’s nagging voice echoed in the back of my head. She would want me to invite him in. Instead, I spun on my heels and walked toward the front door. “See you in class.”

“Night, London.” He revved the engine a few times and spun out of the driveway.

What was it I called Beau only a few hours ago? Regular? After our fake date tonight, I wasn’t sure that was entirely true. I watched his taillights round the corner. I needed to get inside, start working on the blog, and stop thinking about Beau Anderson.

5

Beau didn’t strike me as the type of overachieving student that I had always been. He seemed too cool and calm, as if nothing ever worked him up. When he texted me the morning after our wine and pottery date, I did a double take.

Finished my blog. Check it out.

His work was finished before mine. Nervously, I logged into the site he had created for us on Blog Hits and read his rendition of our fake date.

First Date: Re-creation of Victoria and Bachelors painting pottery and private wine bar party

Show Myth to Debunk: Mandatory fun and alcohol consumption create bonding moments, bringing couples closer together

This is my first blog chronicling the Love Match dates I’m going on each week with my Comm 224 partner, London James. For those of you who have read my other blogs, you know I don’t hold back—I’m honest and to the point. Expect nothing less from my accounts during this project.

London and I met at the wine bar. My date was late. I guess it wasn’t too far off from a real date. When is a girl ever ready on time? After we ordered a glass of wine, we sat on the upper terrace. We had the entire rooftop to ourselves. This is the part of the show when the bachelors usually reveal something private and revealing about themselves. And this sudden revelation of true deep dark secrets is supposed to bring the couple closer together. That didn?

?t happen with us.

Hmm. I nervously read the last line. I didn’t share much with Beau on the rooftop, but talking to him about Candace and Pearce did make me feel a little closer to him. Maybe I was only divulging the troubles in my roommates’ lives, but it felt like opening the door to something. Like I could tell him more—tell him about my parents or about the problems with the play, or just talk about anything and he would listen. I reread the words and wondered if he was trying to protect Candace’s privacy or if the exchange just didn’t have the same effect on him.

Next up, we walked over to Pottery Paints. To do what? You guessed it: paint some pottery. I made an awesome championship plate. Pics to be posted soon. I discovered my date isn’t a sports fan. I know there are a lot of girls out there who don’t like sports, so guys, this can happen to anyone. Once I knew that, it was hard to come up with other things to talk about. Little bonding commenced over painting.

After the first date re-creation, I can say with confidence that after date one, we are sticking to our hypothesis: the show is a complete fake. Until next week’s dating report—B.A.

What? I didn’t know what I expected him to write, but reading those words made the whole date seem like a terrible evening. It wasn’t terrible. I liked the rooftop, and his funny plate drawing, and he left out the part where I rode behind him on the motorcycle with my hands planted on his firm chest. Ok, maybe he didn’t need to add that part.

My phone buzzed.

Have you read it yet?

I wanted to be cool and casual like Beau. Technically, there wasn’t anything wrong with what he had written. It was all true. Why was I even debating the merits of his blog? I should be relieved I had found a partner who was as committed to the project as I was. We would certainly win over Professor Garcia with our dating accounts. That was all I needed—an A for graduation.

He eagerly texted me again.

I nailed the theory for this week. What do you think? Should I change it?

He did make sure to bring in the theory we were focused on debunking. It didn’t make sense to argue with him or make a big deal out of nothing.

It’s great. Loading my post now.

This whole dating scenario was fake, but the feelings bouncing around in my chest felt real. The opposite of what I wanted.

Date Two: Muscles and Margaritas

Dressing for this non-date was more complicated than last time. We were trying to combine two dates since I had to take some time for extra rehearsals for Spoiled Hearts. Beau seemed easygoing about the schedule and had come up with an athletic, night out mix-up. I was already doubting my physical abilities. It was hard to deny that the nearness of Beau seemed to throw off all of my training and innate talents.

I waited for him outside of Fetzer Gym. In a matter of seconds, I heard the roar of his bike. He pulled up to the front and threw down the kickstand.