Alpha Billionaire Series
A Fake Fiancée for Christmas Chapter 3

BAILEY

The following morning not much has changed except that I need to pay the electricity bill or we're going to be sitting here in the dark. I've put it off for as long as possible and now I need to bite the bullet and hit "pay." As I pull up the website and decide which personal credit card, I'm going to put this on, the office phone rings.

"Head Over Heels," I answer, trying to sound chipper.

"Hi, I'm interested in setting up an appointment and learning more about your services," a deep voice says. A smooth voice that brings to mind images of velvet and whiskey.

My heart speeds up because Velvet Voice is a potential client!

"Wonderful," I say. "May I ask how you heard of us?"

"My friend Ben Webber is friends with Rae McIntyre. Is that who I'm speaking with?" he asks.

I glance over at Rae who's making a pot of coffee. "Oh, okay. No, this is Bailey Briggs. Rae is my good friend and assistant." A referral is wonderful. I glance down at my wide-open calendar. "When are you free to come in?" "How about today at noon?"

Wow.That's fast and it makes me super happy. I need a new client to help get us through this slump and if Mr. Velvet Voice looks as good as he sounds then I will have no problem replaceing his match.

"Perfect. Can I get your name?"

"Jace Montgomery."

As I jot his name down, it sounds vaguely familiar. "Alright, Mr. Montgomery. I'll see you today at noon. Thank you for calling." "Thank you, Bailey." He hangs up.

A little shiver runs through me at the way he said my name. Kind of husky-like. I give myself a mental shake as Rae walks over. "Who was that?" she asks.

"A friend of Ben Webber who's friends with you."

"Oh, my gosh, I haven't talked to Ben in forever. And did you say Jace Montgomery is coming in? That's Ben's best friend and I've never met him, but I've heard everything about him."

"Who is he?" I ask, pulling up my search engine and typing in "Jace Montgomery." I'm not sure why his name sounds familiar.

"He's loaded, handsome and Ben said a producer from The Bachelor calls him for every season to be on the show, but he refuses."

Thousands of pages pop up and I scroll through endless photos of him with gorgeous women. "Why is he calling us?" I ask, completely dumbfounded. "From all of these pictures, I think it's safe to assume that he has zero trouble replaceing interested women. In fact, he probably has to beat them off with a stick."

Rae shrugs. "Maybe he's ready to get serious. He has quite the reputation for being a playboy."

Hmm. Interesting. A billionaire bachelor who refuses to settle down. And he's coming to me to help set him up with a potential love interest. The good thing is he can pay top dollar for my services and if I can replace him the love of his life then maybe he'd even invest in the company. All sorts of exciting ideas begin to fill my head.

"I'm going to replace this man the woman of his dreams," I declare, spinning my chair around and sliding open the cabinet drawer where I keep all the folders of potential women. Grabbing a stack, I set them on the desk and smile up at Rae. "Let's replace Mr. Montgomery a woman to love."

With a chuckle, Rae drops down in the seat behind her desk and we begin looking through bios. My gaze drifts back over to my laptop screen and I study Jace Montgomery. He has thick, dark hair, striking midnight blue eyes and wears a suit like only a true billionaire can. The man is s*x on a stick. A known heartbreaker with a track record a mile long.

So why is he coming to me?

The answer to that question arrives at precisely noon when Rae escorts Jace Montgomery into my office. The man oozes confidence and s*x appeal. He wears a long wool coat over a designer suit that I have no doubt fits him superbly and he's incredibly tall in person. Much taller than he looks in his pictures. And those eyes. My God, they pause me in my tracks, and I lose my train of thought when he looks directly at me.

For a moment, I can't speak. My words are lodged in my throat as I try to determine precisely what color his irises actually are. At first, I thought they were midnight, but now I'm thinking more sapphire. Or the navy. Or-

"Bailey Briggs?" he says in that deep, velvet voice of his. He holds out his hand. "I'm Jace Montgomery."

Oh, hello, Jace Montgomery. My insides flutter and, I swear to God, I swoon a little. It hasn't escaped my notice that Rae is also looking at Jace with little hearts in her eyes.

Pulling in a deep breath, I steady my nerves and reach out to shake his hand. It's large and warm and when his fingers gently squeeze, a zing shoots straight up my arm and pings around my body like there's a pinball game happening inside of me. I've never had a reaction like this with a man before and it throws me for a loop.

"Nice to meet you," I say, getting myself under control and smiling at him. "Please, have a seat."

Indigo.I realize his eyes are the deepest shade of indigo blue.

When Rae doesn't move to leave, I give her a look that clearly says goodbye. She doesn't seem to be getting the hint, so I say, "Thank you, Rae."

"Oh, um, sure," she manages and then walks out, closing the door behind her.

Jace removes his coat and takes a seat, while I walk around my small desk and sit, determined to ignore my personal attraction to the man. My job is to replace him his perfect woman. Damn, she's going to be a lucky girl, I think.

"Thank you for coming in," I begin and reach for my pen and notepad. Time to be a consummate professional and ignore the lust awakening in places in my body that have been long dormant. "I'd like to start by getting to know you better, so I have some questions to ask you. Simple things that will help me better determine who will be a perfect match for you."

"Perfect match, huh?" he repeats dryly.

I look up and frown. "Isn't that why you're here?"

His mouth edges up. "Look, I don't want to waste either of our time."

"I'm sorry?" If he isn't here for me to help him replace someone special, then why exactly is he here?

"Here's the deal," Jace says, cutting right to the chase. "I'm not looking for anything long-term-just someone to take up to meet my family over the holidays. It's a very temporary situation."

As I absorb his words, disappointment fills me. I had such grand plans that involved replaceing him the love of his life and investing in Head Over Heels. Dammit. "I'm not sure I understand. This isn't an escort service. That's not what I do. My job is to replace you a lifetime partner." He laughs. "Good luck with that."

His tone is flirty and when he smiles, I spot a dimple in his left cheek. Damn. I am a complete sucker for a man with dimples. But this isn't about me or the strange attraction I'm feeling for this man. "Why is that funny?" I ask. I nod to the folders on my desk. "I have quite a few options that might work and not to brag, but I'm really good at what I do."

He sighs. "I'm going to be completely transparent, Ms. Briggs. My grandmother mistakenly thinks I'm bringing a fiancée home over Christmas. She's 82 and her one wish is to see me settle down, fall in love, get married, blah, blah, blah," he says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That isn't going to happen, but I don't want to upset her. Hence, I need a temporary girlfriend who I can pass off as my fiancée and then call it a day once we leave Buffalo. Is that something you can help me with, or should I take my business elsewhere?"

"I can help you," I immediately answer because I can't afford to lose a client. Especially not a billionaire who can pay top dollar for my services and help this company survive a bit longer.

"Are you sure about that?" he asks, cocking a thick, dark brow.

"Positive," I say in a firm voice. I love a good challenge and Jace Montgomery just presented me with a huge one. No matter what he says, everyone wants to replace love. It's in our DNA. No one wants to die alone, and I'll pretend to go along with what he says, but really, I'm still planning on replaceing this man the perfect woman who will knock him on his Richie Rich a*s.

"Hmm." His dark blue gaze travels downward and I swear to God, he's checking me out. Swallowing hard, I shift in my seat, crossing my legs in the opposite direction.

"Can I ask you a few simple questions?"

"Like what?" he asks, voice husky, blue eyes moving back up and locking with mine.

Oh, my good God.I think my heart just fell out of my ass. There's some weird attraction happening between us, and I do my best to ignore it and focus on the questionnaire in front of me. But suddenly it begins to blur. "Um..."

For the first time in my life, a man makes me completely lose my train of thought. "Ms. Briggs?"

My gaze snaps up and there's an amused expression on his too-handsome face. "Hmm?"

"The questions?"

"Oh, right," I say, snapping back into the conversation. "Basically, I'd like to know your general interests, likes and dislikes when it comes to dating and a partner."

"Fire away," he murmurs, dark blue eyes holding mine.

I clear my throat and look back down at the questions I'd prepared. "When it comes to women and their physical attributes, please tell me what you replace most attractive. Favorite hair color?"

His gaze lazily moves over my hair, and he gives me a little smirk, his dimple appearing. "I prefer dark. Like a deep, rich chocolate. And a nice medium length is nice."

Swallowing hard, I write his answer down, knowing damn well that he's describing my hair. "Eye color?" I ask.

He looks directly into my eyes, and I can only blink. "I'm partial to blue. What shade would you say yours are?"

Holy hell.He's flirting with me. "Mine? Um, nothing special. Just a blue gray."

"They're very pretty. You can put that down as my answer- blue gray. Like the ocean."

"Sure," I respond, my pulse kicking up a notch. "And do you prefer more petite and shorter or tall?"

He studies me. "I'd say a nice middle height-like maybe 5'6"? That's a good height, don't you think? Tall enough that I don't tower over her, but still short enough that I can still tower over her if she's not in heels." "How, um, tall are you?" I ask, just out of sheer curiosity and trying to ignore the fact that I'm 5'6".

"Six four. And you?" he asks with a mischievous smile.

My eyes narrow. He's playing with me. I just know it. So, I lie: "I'm five-four."

"Really?" he drawls. "I would've thought you're a couple of inches taller."

I lay my pen down and cross my arms. "Mr. Montgomery, are you going to answer my questions truthfully or just continue to describe me?"

"I am being truthful," he says in a low voice. "Guess you just happen to be my exact type."

Butterflies swirl through my stomach and I clench my jaw, not sure what game he's playing. I clear my throat and use my most professional voice to address him. "I'm going to sort through the various candidates and email you a list of potentially perfect matches later this evening."

He doesn't say anything, just keeps staring at me with that intense dark blue gaze of his.

"And I'm sure you will hit it off with one of them," I say.

"I don't need to hit it off with anyone. What I need is a woman to take home for two weeks. She needs to be smart, well-spoken and fairly decent looking. And she needs to pretend to be my fiancée. Can you replace that for me, Ms. Briggs, or are we done here?" "I can replace that," I say with complete confidence. "Look for my email tonight. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed in your options."

But he doesn't look entirely convinced. "We'll see," he murmurs.

"You'll do more than see, Mr. Montgomery," I predict with a smile. "I'm going to replace you someone very special." And I will.

Because I can't afford to lose Jace Montgomery as a client.