Page 1 of The Billionaire Dating Game

CHAPTER ONE

Candice

Friday

“Oh good, you’re here!”

Candice Harper rolled her eyes at her roommate’s excited squeal. Where else would she be?

They’d shared a tiny apartment since the beginning of grad school, and their summers were always the same. Anna went on whirlwind adventures. Candice looked for work, and this year was no different.

Except, this was their last summer together and she still couldn’t find an affordable place to live. She didn’t need big or flashy. All she wanted was to live in a safe neighborhood surrounded by her people. But safe wasn’t cheap. Hell, a decent place costs money. The only reason the view outside her bedroom window wasn’t of rundown houses, or that she didn’t have to take a fifty-minute bus ride to campus, was because she shared a place with Anna. Her roommate was a creature that required comfort.

Anna threw herself against her bed, and the metal frame protested with a rusty squeak. The bed was second-hand, or in her case fourth, just like the desk, chair, and dresser braced against the wall. Every single piece of furniture was mismatched.

The two pillows on the bed though were brand spanking new. Cheap as a two-for-one deal at Mickey D’s but still new. She wasn’t laying her head where someone else drooled.She had standards.

A deep chesty cough that sounded painful racked Anna’s chest.

“I swear Anna, if you get me sick—”

“You’ll kill me.” She waved a hand in the air dismissively. “Got it. But before you do, cook me up some of your chicken noodle soup.”

“There is a bowl of it in the fridge.”

“Great. Warm it up for me then?”

Candice cringed when Anna sniffed. Her friend looked halfway toward death. Her usually tidy brunette mane was in disarray, fanned across the bed. Her red nose glowed against her pale skin from days of blowing, and her voice, usually alluring, sounded worse than a rusty chainsaw. On the regular, her friend looked like she stepped off a runway. Seductive. Not today. “Shouldn’t you be on a jet halfway around the world by now?”

Anna tossed her a cheeky smile. A smile that always meant trouble. “That’s what I came to talk to you about.”

“Uh-huh.” Candice continued scrolling through job applications, paying her friend no mind.

“It’s perfect for you,” Anna said.

Anna meant perfect for Candice’s broke ass.“Whatever it is, the answer is no.”

Anna propped herself onto her elbows. “Come on, Candice, when was the last time I asked you for a favor?”

“Last summer.” She’d gone on a date for Anna with a freshman who wanted to impress his buddies. After a few drinks, the guy barfed all over her shoes—well, Anna’s shoes. If she knew she had to hold the guy’s hair back, she would have stood two feet away. Candice shuddered. Getting friend-zoned or worse, sister-zoned, wasn’t new, but it always stung.

“So, I haven’t asked for a favor in forever then.”

Candice narrowed her eyes. “Let’s not forget your insistence on matchmaking.”

“You owe me,” Anna protested, falling against the bed. “And you know I wouldn’t give up a free trip if I wasn’t sick.”

Candice sighed.So she was going to bring that up.

She owed Anna big time for helping her pay her tuition last year. She never asked where Anna got the funds and part of her was afraid to know but was grateful. The favors Anna asked for always had something to do with a guy or going on a date. What if Candice liked one of these guys? How did she explain the bait and switch routine? Deception didn’t sit well at all, but she was a team player.

Candice closed the job application on her laptop and faced her friend. “What’s the favor?” Her stomach flipped as the question left her mouth. She didn’t like this one bit, but how could she say no.

Anna grinned. “It’s a date.”

Candice groaned. “Anything but that.” Last year Anna got it into her head to use a high-end dating app, except she wasn’t using it to find the love of her life. She was using it to be a rich guy's perfect date.

“It’s not that bad, I promise, and this isn’t even the same app!”

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