The Billionaire Daddy Test Read online

  The Billionaire Daddy Test

  Billionaire Online Dating Series Book #4

  Elle James

  Twisted Page Inc

  Contents

  The Billionaire Daddy Test

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Voodoo on the Bayou

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Also by Elle James

  The Billionaire Daddy Test

  Billionaire Online Dating Series Book #4

  New York Times & USA Today

  Bestselling Author

  * * *

  ELLE JAMES

  Copyright © 2019 by Elle James

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Dedicated to my husband for marrying a ready-made family and making it work. Our children learned a lot from you and are proud to call you Dad.

  Elle James

  Author’s Note

  Billionaire Online Dating Service

  The Billionaire Husband Test (#1)

  The Billionaire Cinderella Test (#2)

  The Billionaire Bride Test (#3)

  The Billionaire Daddy Test (#4)

  The Billionaire Matchmaker Test (#5)

  Visit ellejames.com for more titles and release dates

  For hot cowboys, visit her alter ego Myla Jackson at mylajackson.com

  and join Elle James and Myla Jackson's Newsletter at Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  “Just because three of you have found the women of your dreams through BODS doesn’t mean I will.” Sean O’Leary tipped his bottle of beer back and took a long swallow.

  “Leslie’s dating system works,” his friend Tag said. “You’ve got the proof right in front of you.” He tipped his head toward the dance floor. “Have you ever seen Coop, Gage, or Moose happier than you see them now?”

  Coop Johnson led his fiancée around the crowded floor of the Ugly Stick Saloon in a lively Texas Two-Step, smiling like a fool in love. In just a few short days, he would marry Emma and settle into his sprawling ranch house on his thousand-acre ranch, where they would live full, rich lives.

  Not far behind him, Gage Tate and his fiancée, Fiona McKenzie, twirled and nearly ran into Coop and Emma. The four of them laughed out loud.

  Former model Jane Gentry, tried to keep superstar NFL football player Moose Smith from crashing into other dancers as they made their way around the floor.

  Taggert Bronson sat beside Sean, his gaze on his friends, a smile pulling at his lips. “Yeah, Leslie has a gold mine in her system. We’ll all be married before you know it.”

  Sean held up his hands. “Whoa, there. Who said I wanted to get married?”

  Tag redirected his attention to Sean, a frown marring his brow. “Bud, every one of us made that vow all those years ago when we were so broke we didn’t have a nickel to rub together between us.”

  “I agreed to the billionaire part, but I don’t remember agreeing to the “being married with children” clause of that vow.”

  “What do you have against being married with children?” Tag said.

  Sean stiffened. “I don’t have anything against being married with children, as long as it’s not me.”

  “Why not you?” Tag asked.

  “I don’t think I’d be good at it.” He gave Tag the side-eye. “You met my father. He wasn’t the best example.”

  “Sean,” Tag leaned forward, setting down his empty beer bottle. “You’re not your father.”

  “No, but why risk it?” He nodded toward their friends on the dance floor. “Leave the marriage and kids to the guys who are happy to jump in with both feet.”

  Tag shook his head. “You’re missing out on a lifetime of love.”

  “Your opinion. Not mine.”

  “What opinion?” a female voice said from behind Sean. The woman at the root of all the happily-ever-afters pulled up a chair between Sean and Tag and set her wine glass on the table.

  Tag leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Hey, beautiful.”

  She smiled. “Hey.”

  “Hi, Leslie,” Sean said with a crooked grin.

  “Hi, Sean.” She smiled at him. “Sorry I’m late. I just hired an assistant and was showing her how to log onto the computer. It took longer than I expected.” She raised an eyebrow and repeated, “What opinion? What’s going on?”

  “That Sean, here, is going to miss out on a lifetime of love if he doesn’t marry and have kids,” Tag said.

  “Why are you so concerned about me getting married and having kids?” Sean waved at one of the waitresses and held up his empty beer bottle before he gave Tag a pointed stare. “I don’t see you all fired up to try Leslie’s service.”

  “I told you…I’m working on something I need to finish before I go searching for love on BODS.” He winked at Leslie. “Besides, I know the system works. When I’m ready, I’ll let you all know.”

  “Good,” Leslie said. “You’ve been selling it to all your friends, and you haven’t even tried it yourself.”

  “Right. You’re not setting a good example, bro,” Sean said. “And what’s with the name? BODS.” He shook his head. “Couldn’t you come up with a better acronym?”

  “If I get out of the billionaire business, I’ll consider it,” Leslie said. “In the meantime, it is what it is.”

  Tag chuckled. “And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” He winked at Leslie.

  “What is it you don’t like about the Billionaire Online Dating Service?” Leslie asked. “Is it the whole marriage thing? Or is it going on a blind date that bothers you most?”

  Sean shrugged. “It might be both.”

  Leslie tilted her head to the side. “Explain.”

  “Frankly, I don’t want to get married.” Sean looked around the bar at the single women seated in clumps. “I don’t mind a blind date. But what I do mind are unrealistic expectations. From my experience, most women are looking for a lasting relationship. I’m not.”

  “Is that why you haven’t been dating for some time?” Tag asked.

  “Yes.” Sean said. He lifted his chin toward the long, polished bar. “Take that little brunette sitting at the bar, sipping on a mixed drink. She’s pretty. She looks like she’d be fun. I’d take her out once or twice. She’d start to get clingy. If we went on to the fifth or sixth date, she would expect me to put a ring on her finger.”

  “You don’t know that,” Leslie said. “There are many women who have opted to remain single. With the national average of marriages ending in divorce ranging between forty and fifty percent, many women would rather not marry and end up in a nasty divorce.”

  “You’re not doing a very good job of selling your system,” Sean said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  Leslie raised an eyebrow. “If you recall, the name of the service is Billionaire Online Dating Service. It’s designed to pair like-minded people. Not necessarily for marriage. Although that has been a happy result of the pairings.” Leslie touched Sean’s arm. “You can state plainly in the application that you do not intend to marry. There are plenty of women out there who have no intention of marrying, but who would like to date.”

  Sean brow furrowed. “You’re telling me that these women actually put that in t
heir profiles? That they don’t want to marry?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Leslie said. “The whole idea behind the service is to help line up a few dates with like-minded individuals.”

  Sean sat quietly, digesting Leslie’s words. He’d thought all women wanted to get married and have babies. Preferably, before they got too old to conceive. “Are you serious? There are women among your clients who do not want to get hitched?”

  “Absolutely,” Leslie said. “It’s one of the many questions we pose to clients. Then the service takes some of the guesswork out of finding a date. You put in your preferences, she puts in her preferences. If your preferences are a match and you like what you see on her profile, and she likes what she sees about yours, you communicate online. If the chat makes you want to meet each other, then you do. If it doesn’t, you can keep looking.”

  “For other women who have no interest in getting married…?” Sean asked.

  The waitress arrived with another long-neck bottle of beer, setting it on the table.

  Sean snagged the bottle and tipped it up, swallowing half before he returned it to the table. “Still, I don’t know if I want a computer setting me up on a blind date.”

  Leslie nodded toward the pretty brunette sitting at the bar. “If you prefer to take your chances by dating that woman sipping a fruity drink, by all means, go for it. You know nothing about her. She might be all into yoga and you might not be. She could be a vegetarian, while you like steak and lobster. She might be planning to marry and have four kids before she turns thirty.” Leslie raised her eyebrows. “Again, you’re taking your chances and wading into the unknown. With BODS, you at least get a few things clear before you even communicate for the first time…through an email or instant messaging. Your preference.”

  “You’ve heard Leslie’s pitch on a number of occasions,” Tag pointed out. “Weren’t you listening?”

  Sean’s frown deepened, and he aimed it at Tag. “I heard.”

  “But were you listening?” Tag shook his head. “If you say you aren’t interested in marriage, the women who are interested in marriage will not be interested in connecting.”

  “Exactly,” Leslie said. “Only the women who are equally uninterested in marriage will.”

  Sean had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that some women weren’t interested in marriage.

  “I can sign up for dating only?” Sean wanted to be perfectly clear.

  “Yes,” Leslie answered. “There really are women out there who only want to date.”

  Tag leaned toward his friend. “So, are you game for a go at BODS?”

  Sean glared at Tag. “Don’t push.”

  “The longer you wait, the smaller the pool of women your age who will be available,” Tag reminded him.

  “If it wasn’t meant to be, I won’t lose any sleep. Besides, I don’t need a computer to find me a date.”

  “And you’re back to taking your chances.” Leslie smiled. “The brunette at the bar is smiling your way. Why don’t you go ask her out?”

  Sean considered the woman who smiled his way and flicked her hair back over her shoulder.

  “She’s interested.” Leslie said. “You can tell by her body language.”

  Oh, her body was fine. But what language was she speaking?

  Hey, darlin’, wanna take me home and make love to me? After that, we can get married and have half a dozen children to trip over.

  Sean shuddered and turned away from the brunette to face Leslie. “Are you sure there are women out there who aren’t interested in getting married?”

  She held up her hand as if swearing in court. “Positive.”

  “Fine. I’ll be your next guinea pig.”

  Tag laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Believe me, brother, you won’t regret it.”

  Sean scowled. “I’m beginning to regret it already.”

  * * *

  “I made notes on everything you taught me yesterday. Right now, it’s all scrambled in my head,” Ava Swan said. “I want to do a good job for you. I don’t want you to regret hiring me.” She twisted her hands in her lap.

  She hadn’t had a new job in seven years. She’d worked for the same doctor’s office all that time and knew the system inside and out. That job had been the one stable thing in her life when her world came crashing in around her. Unfortunately, that doctor had retired, and Ava had been forced to find new work.

  “Ava, honey,” Leslie said. “How long have we known each other?”

  Ava gave her friend a shaky smile. “What, five years now?”

  Leslie nodded her head. “I wouldn’t have hired you, if I didn’t think you could do the job.”

  “I know,” Ava said. “I just don’t want to disappoint you or mess up your new system. BODS is your baby, and I know how much it means to you.”

  “I built the program, making it pretty foolproof.” Leslie pulled up a chair beside Ava. “The best way to learn the system is to fill it out like you were one of our clients.”

  “But I’m not a client,” Ava said. “I have no intention of ever dating again. Especially, while Mica is young.”

  “Ava, it’s been more than five years since your husband’s death. Don’t you think it’s time that you started dating again?”

  “I’m not ready for a relationship,” Ava said.

  “You don’t need to be ready for a relationship,” Leslie said. “But it wouldn’t hurt to date.”

  “I don’t know,” Ava hedged. “I really don’t want to bring a man into Mica’s life. It would confuse her. And I don’t want any man to assume the role of stepfather. Been there, done that. I don’t want Mica to have to go through what I did with my mother’s second husband.”

  “So, you had a bad experience,” Leslie said. “That doesn’t mean every man will make a bad stepfather.”

  Ava shook her head. “I don’t want to risk that kind of unhappiness with Mica.” Ava twisted the ring on her finger. She still wore her wedding ring, even though it had been years since her husband’s death. “It’s bad enough that she’s growing up without a father. I don’t want to compound the problem by introducing a stepfather who doesn’t love her.”

  Leslie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “I get that you don’t want to introduce a stepfather into your daughter’s life. But aren’t you lonely for some adult, male interaction?”

  Ava’s lips twisted into a smirk. “If you mean am I lonely for sex? Then the answer is no. I have BOB.” Her cheeks heated at the admission.

  “BOB?” Leslie frowned.

  “Battery Operated Boyfriend,” Ava said.

  Leslie shook her head. “You have BOB, but is BOB enough?”

  Ava shrugged. “He’s enough.”

  “Does BOB take you out to dinner?” Leslie asked.

  Ava frowned. “No.”

  “Does BOB talk to you and carry on a conversation that doesn’t involve electronic humming?”

  Ava squirmed in her chair. The intensity of Leslie’s questioning brought back memories of sitting across the table from her husband.

  They’d talked about politics, the weather, gossip, celebrities, music, movies and just about anything else. She missed that.

  She missed him. Michael had been her first date, her first love, her high school sweetheart, and her husband. She’d never dated any other man.

  She didn’t know how.

  Leslie took Ava’s hand in hers. “You and I have belonged to the Get A Grip Grief Group for more than five years. We’ve seen so many of our friends in that group get on with their lives. Don’t you think it’s about time for you to get on with yours?”

  Ava lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. But I really don’t know how to date.”

  Leslie smiled. “All the more reason for you to get back out there and practice.”

  Ava’s brow dipped. “Practice?”

  Leslie nodded. “Yes, practice. You know, getting dressed up, wearing jew
elry, applying date-night makeup, all the good stuff.”

  “But I already know how to do that,” Ava insisted. “I get dressed every day to come to work. I wear makeup. What more is there?”

  “Oh, honey…” Leslie clicked her tongue. “You dress like a mom.”

  Ava glanced down at her clothes. She liked her taupe-colored slacks, beige silk blouse and the matching beige cardigan. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  Leslie’s eyes opened wider. “Nothing’s wrong with what you’re wearing, if you only ever want to be known as Mica’s mother.”

  “So, what’s wrong with being known as Mica’s mother?” Ava asked.

  Leslie squeezed Ava’s hand. “There’s nothing wrong with being Mica’s mother. You’re a good mother to that child. But, you are more than just a mother. You’re a beautiful, vibrant, exciting woman.”

  Ava snorted. “Darling, how much did you have to drink last night?”

  “Not nearly enough,” Leslie drawled.

  “I’m not a beautiful, exciting, vibrant woman like you said,” Ava said.

  “Yes, you are.” Leslie took her other hand in hers and squeezed hard. “You’re beautiful. And, as much as you love your daughter, you need a life of your own.”

  “I have a life of my own.” Ava smiled. “I work for you. I can get all the adult conversation I want when I’m at work.”

  Leslie shook her head. “It’s not the same. You need stimulating conversation. With me, you’re very comfortable, you can say anything, and it’s just not enough.”

  “Yes, I am comfortable around you. And I feel like I can say anything that comes to my mind. You know me, and I know you.” Ava held out her hands, palms up. “What’s wrong with that?”