Page 25 of The Billionaire's Catch

A new voice interrupted the planned misdirection, “Laura, you found the lady Jason is always talking about.” Another beautiful woman strode to them, holding out her hand. She had fine features and a friendly expression. “I’m Kaitlyn Drake. I know Jason though my husband, Cameron, who is one of Jason’s friends.”

And another member of the Billionaire’s of Miami. “It’s nice to meet you.” Dara shook her hand. “When you say Jason talks about me, I assume you mean my work with the Dragons.”

“Actually, he talks more about personal things.” Kaitlyn winked. “He also said you like to run into him.”

Oh my goodness. Did everyone know she regularly ran into him? Did they know what else she did?

All the matching smiles said yes. Kaitlyn waved another woman over. “Hey, Adrianna, come here. This is–”

“Dara Everett.” The woman’s soft nature matched her friends. “It’s so great to finally meet the woman who’s gotten to Jason Sterling. I’m Adrianna Knight.”

Dara gestured across the three ladies. “I’ve heard about all of you. You guys are practically famous.” Actually, not practically famous, but bona fide famous. They, along with their husbands, lit up social media on a regular basis. They all had unusual love stories, and now lived fascinating lives. They were also known for their generous charity projects, which benefited myriad vital causes.

The women exchanged wry glances, and Dara held up her hand. She wouldn’t make them uncomfortable when they had been so welcoming. “Don’t worry, I don’t believe everything I read on social media. They make up most of that stuff anyway.”

“Actually, most of what you read about us is probably true.” Kaitlyn leaned in with a whisper. “When I met my husband, I thought he was an actor. I hired him to be my boyfriend.”

Dara stared. “You didn’t.”

“I did. The confounding man didn’t see the need to correct me.” Her grimace turned into a grin. “Fortunately, everything turned out all right in the end.”

Now that was a secret. “What did you say when you found out the truth?”

“I can’t give away the climax of the story.” Kaitlyn laughed. “When you have time, I’ll tell you the whole tale of the undercover billionaire. For now, let’s just say I married my true love. Business is booming, and life has never been better. It’s amazing what can come from a tumultuous start.” She pointed to the women next to her. “I’m not the only one with an unusual story.”

Adrianna took the cue. “My husband was also a billionaire in disguise.” She waved at a good-looking man across the room. His expression was warm with love, as he gazed at the woman he’d married. “He pretended to be an intern but was actually the CEO of the company. I invited him home to meet my family – as my pretend beau.”

How do you respond to that? Carefully. “It looks like it ended well.”

“It’s been amazing,” Adrianna admitted. “We complement each other perfectly, and now there are no more secrets. Of course, things can get a little hectic when I take him home. My family is as in love with him as I am.”

“I know what that’s like.” Dara turned to the last remaining woman. “Was your husband also a hidden billionaire?”

“My secret was a little more involved,” Laura spoke quietly. Her eyes flittered to her daughter, and she rubbed her protruding belly softly. “Let just say my husband didn’t know about certain things for a few years. Now all is well, and we can’t wait for our new addition.”

Dara looked between the kindhearted ladies. They were as lovely on the inside as they were on the outside. “Those are amazing stories. I can’t believe they’re true.”

“As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.” Adrianna winked. “Although don’t worry. We don’t believe everything they say about you and Jason.”

Do not blush. Do not stammer. Do not admit everything they read was probably true. “I appreciate that. They say crazy things.” She should’ve left it at that, and yet as always when Jason was involved, her mouth missed the exit ramp. “There definitely wasn’t an incident involving a locker room or a towel or mouth to mouth or an unfortunate attempt at cleaning up.” Not only had her mouth missed the exit ramp, but it had barreled straight through the guard rail and into a ditch.

Three sets of eyes blinked at her.

Yeah, she was fooling no one. But the benevolent ladies didn’t respond, at least not with anything beyond knowing looks. Yet she couldn’t be upset with the ladies. The Billionaires of Miami were known as close friends, but clearly the ladies had bonded as well. “Thank you all for coming, especially so far from Miami. Did you have a function out here?”

“Absolutely.” Adrianna gestured to the revelers dancing around them. “This.”

Dara gaped at them. “You travelled across the country just for this event?”

“We’re making it a little getaway,” she confided. “We’ll be at the games, too, of course. Jason convinced us to come for this great cause. I hope we helped.”

“You did,” Dara replied sincerely. “The organizers said the event earned twice as much as normal this year, and a lot can be attributed to the extra star power. Thank you so much.”

“You’ll have to thank Jason. He’s the one who convinced us to come.”

How wonderful and unexpected. The man who minimized her efforts went out of his way to make them a success. If he worked so hard, why wasn’t he here?

Apparently, the women had the same question, as they all scanned the crowd. “I haven’t seen him tonight.,” Laura said. “When is he supposed to arrive?”

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