Free The Engagement Game (Engaged to a Billionaire) by A. Gardner Page A

conversation.
    "You haven't met Holly," I sigh.   An alarm is sounding in my head.   I had to call Rex.   I had to call him fast and make our engagement official.   Tonight.
    "Not sure if I want to," Jack shudders.   "She sounds like a-"   I raise my eyebrows.   "Interesting person?"
    "What am I gonna do?"   I burry my head in my hands.
    "Don't kill me for saying this but didn't you just meet this guy?"   He cringes a little, waiting for me to object.   I let him talk, hoping for a brilliant solution.   Fat chance.   "Is he really worth all this?"   I s he ever!   Rex was the guy I'd waited for since college.   The guy that represented a lifetime of luxury.
    "I knew you wouldn't understand," I mutter under my breath.   Jack was a guy.   How was I supposed to explain the urgency I felt to finally land my soul mate?   Settle down and get married . . . and he happened to be a billionaire.   "Rex is . . . he's . . . I can't screw this up."
    "Right, he's loaded."
    "I'm not gonna lie," I reply, sipping my coffee.   "It would be nice to wear heels without having to tape down the blisters on my feet.   No triple shifts.   No nights."
    "So you're going to marry him?" Jack asks.
    "I'm almost thirty, Jack.   Yeah.   I'd like to be married."   Like?   That was practically the first thing that crossed my mind every time I met someone.   What would it be like to be married to this guy?   I knew what I had to do.   I finally stand up, more confident than I was a few minutes ago.
    "Where are you going?"
    "I have a phone call to make," I answer.
    "Don't you want my advice?"
    "I know.   I know.   Be yourself.   Ditch the traitor of a friend.   And date you."   I laugh.   My muscles start to relax from a morning of tense spasms.
    "Okay."   Jack stands up and pulls at his t-shirt.   "My second attempt at advice?"
    "I'd love it," I lie.
    "You want something?   Go get it.   Sometimes even the people we're closest to try to shut us down.   Quit being scared."
    "And when I get a wedding invitation in the mail with Rex and Holly's face on it?"
    "That won't happen."
    I roll my eyes again.   It was like I said before.   He didn't know Holly, and my window of opportunity was slowly closing.
    "And if it does," he continues.   "I'll let you . . . shave the scruff."
    "That's a dangerous promise," I giggle.   "Fine.   But only because Earl will thank me later."
     
    *          *          *
     
    Rex didn't answer my call but that didn't stop me.   I dashed straight home after my shift and grabbed my lucky bra.   I stuffed the essentials into my purse and braced myself for a night of romance.   A night in paradise.   My skin tingled as I thought of Rex holding me, telling me I was the one.   I walk into the lobby of his building.   It seems emptier and less intimidating than it did before.   But that doesn't stop me from anxiously twiddling my fingers as the man at the front desk eyes my trench coat while he dials Rex's number.   Yes.   I didn't have much on underneath.
    "Go on up."   The man gestures towards the elevators.   My heels echo on the tile floor as I step into the elevator, my heart beating faster than a baby hummingbird.   This was it.   No more daydreaming.   No more wondering what Rex looked like with his shirt off.   A typical thought that crossed my mind every morning when I did my makeup.   I would soon find out.
    With an abrupt ding the doors open.   I'm standing in the foyer of Rex's flat.   A wave of heat swirls underneath my trench coat as Rex comes around the corner looking surprised.
    "Hi."   I bite my lip, hoping for a hello kiss.   "I should have waited for you to call.   I know.   But-"
    "Kat," he exhales.   A slow burn fills my body as he walks close enough to grab me around the waist.   "I wasn't sure I'd be seeing you again . . . after last night.   I owe you an explanation."
    "Later."   I do something bold.   I tangle my fingers in his silky