Chapter 3

Drake held onto Emily’s hand and pulled her with him back into the house. He couldn’t wait to spend some alone time with her. Emily’s date seemed so long ago, although it had only been a couple of days.

The truth was that everyone’s dates seemed very far away to Drake now that he had reached the end. It was a little bit of a blur to him as he remembered each date, but there was no going back. Drake had to keep moving forward one step at a time until he came to the woman that he was going to pick to date.

When the whole contest started, Drake thought he might even want to get married to the woman he was picking. But then he second guessed that idea. Getting married seemed a little too grand for Drake. But he was interested in a long-term dating thing with whomever he picked. Certainly they could start there, and then if things went well, they could consider marriage.

“So, you have a big decision to make today,” Emily said.

“Yeah, I really hate it.”

“You didn’t think this idea through to the end, did you?” She laughed.

The truth was, Drake hadn’t thought about the idea much past thinking that it would be great to get to know some amazing women. Of course, his libido also liked the idea that he’d get to make love with those women too. Drake hadn’t prepared himself at all for what the end would look like. And when he thought about it, he hadn’t even imagined that he would find the woman of his dreams.

Sure, there had been a small hope in the back of his mind, but he didn’t think it would really happen. Drake genuinely thought he wasn’t going to find a woman that was up to his standards. Yet, instead, he found several women that exceeded his standards.

“If I choose you, what would your plans be? Would you want to move out here with me?”

“Of course, I’d love to come out here and be with you, if you decided I was the best match out of the women.”

Drake leaned in and kissed Emily. His lips felt comfortable with her, but there did seem to be something missing now that he had met all the other women. Emily was a great woman, but as he kissed her, Drake realized she wasn’t the right one for him.

It surprised him how easily he was able to come to that conclusion. He had been positive that it would take him hours to think about each woman and decide if they were right for him or not. But as Drake sat there with Emily, something came over him, and he knew what the right decision was.

Emily kissed him back, and as Drake pulled away, she climbed onto his lap. Her beautiful eyes looked down at him, and Drake felt the pain of the decision he had ahead of him. She was adorable, smart, fit and totally fun to be around. There wasn’t a thing wrong with Emily, only Drake felt that he had a stronger connection with Lauren.

And in his head, he was pitting the two of them against each other. If he could only have Emily or Lauren, Drake knew that he wanted Lauren.

He gathered up the strength and pulled Emily away from him. She instantly saw the look in his eyes, and Drake knew she could tell what was coming. It was a sad look. But it wasn’t as bad as Drake thought things could get.

Women were emotional creatures, and Drake knew that. He wasn’t prepared for tears or tantrums. He just wanted to tell the women where things stood and let them move on with their lives while he moved on with his.

“Emily, you’re a great girl. I mean seriously amazing,” Drake started to say. “I don’t think the connection we have is quite as strong as what I have with the other women.”

The tears started to well up in Emily’s eyes, and Drake felt totally unprepared to deal with them. Emily handled it well, and she certainly wasn’t making a scene or anything like that, but as she started to answer Drake, the tears flowed down her eyes.

“I understand,” she took a deep breath. “Should I go grab my things?”

Drake was instantly grateful that Samantha had told all the women to have their things packed up and ready to go that morning. He would have felt even worse if he had to tell them they were leaving and then wait for them to pack everything.

Samantha was a great assistant, she proved it more and more every single day. He couldn’t help thinking of her again and the kiss they had shared only an hour before. Samantha would have been Drake’s choice if she was one of the women in the house. He knew he would have picked her. But unfortunately, Samantha wasn’t one of the available choices. Samantha had made it very clear that she wasn’t going to change her mind. Drake couldn’t spend his life waiting for her, he wanted to be happy.

“How about I come up with you and help you grab your things? I’ll walk you out.”

Emily didn’t respond, mostly because she could hardly catch her breath through her tears. She knew what the rules were, and it wasn’t that she was entirely shocked, but it still hurt to have hoped that something was going to work out and then figure that it wasn’t working in your favor at all.

Drake stood at the door as Emily grabbed her things. He took the heavy bag from her and walked with her to the front of the house where there was a car waiting for her. She had stopped crying, but there was a defeated look on her face that Drake couldn’t stand to look at. He hoped that all the other women handled things as well as Emily did, though. Her exit had been pretty uneventful.

“Is there something I could have done differently?” she asked.

“Oh, my God, no. Absolutely not. You are an amazing woman, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I’ll always remember that date, and I want you to email me after your lunch date with Julia Roberts. I bought that for you because I knew it would make you happy, and that’s all I hope for you. I hope you’ll find the man that’s the perfect match for you someday.”

“It was amazing getting to meet you. I hope whoever you choose ends up making you happy for the rest of your life.”

“Thank you, Emily.”

The two of them hugged, and Drake held onto her for a little longer than she held onto him. He wanted her to know that their time had been important to him. Even though he wasn’t choosing her at the end of it all, Drake really did love getting to meet her. Emily was someone that he knew who was going to be famous someday. Maybe she’d even be the novelist that she had dreamed of.

“I’m going to go now,” Emily said sadly as she moved toward the car. “It’s your last chance to change your mind,” she joked.

“Your humor is one of your best traits, never lose it.”

“I’ll let you know how my lunch with Julia goes. Thank you again,” Emily said.

She climbed into the car, and Drake felt his heart pound with guilt. It was going to be a very long day, he was sure of it. He waved good-bye to Emily as the car pulled away and took a minute to himself. He knew for a fact that he would choose Lauren over Emily, at least he had made that much of a decision.

The weight of the day had already started to drain Drake’s energy. The funny thing was that when everything started, Drake thought the week was going to be filled with orgies and craziness. It had been a much different week for him. Certainly, he had had some really fun times, but now it was time to make some decisions.

“Where’s Emily?” Robert asked.

“I sent her home. Could you grab Lauren for me?” Drake asked Robert before he had a chance to say anything else.

Robert turned right around and went back outside. He saw the glum look on Drake’s face and knew the rest of the day wasn’t going to be much fun. Samantha had totally disappeared and left Drake and Robert to run things, which seemed very out of the norm for her.

Robert knew how much Samantha and Drake cared for each other. It had actually surprised him very much that they never tried to have a go at a relationship. But whatever they were doing seemed to have been working over the years, and Robert wasn’t sure he liked the new tension that was between them.

Drake flashed a smile at Lauren as she walked inside from the pool area. Robert was obviously trying to calm her down, but she was still shaking like a leaf. Although she was able to make a little eye contact, Drake knew he was in for a rough conversation.

The truth was that five of the women were going to get broken up that day. There was no way around it. Drake just needed to keep things as much on point as he could while he navigated the next few hours.

“Hey Lauren, how are you doing?”

“Um, I just saw Emily go home, so I’m feeling a little like a turd about to be flushed.”

Drake and Robert both broke out in laughter at her comment. Laughter and humor were certainly something that Lauren had plenty of, there was no doubt about that. Drake was very happy with his choice to have Lauren stay and to send Emily home. He wasn’t sure if Lauren was going to be his final pick, but so far so good.

“Would you mind going for a walk so we can talk a bit?” Drake asked.

“Of course, I like moving around when I’m nervous, it keeps me busy.”

Drake reached for Lauren’s hand and held onto it as they left the house. Her hand was shaking horribly, and he felt the nervousness from her as it brushed off on him. Lauren was dressed in a cute pink sundress with her hair pulled up in a ponytail. Out of all the women, she was probably the closest style to Drake.

He liked to be as casual as possible as much as possible. Sure, Drake would get dressed up for work and even when he went out to clubs, but his heart belonged to T-shirts and shorts whenever he could wear them. He felt comfortable with Lauren, and Drake knew he wasn’t ready to send her home yet.

“I just sent Emily home,” Drake said softly as they walked down the sidewalk through his neighborhood.

“Am I next?”

“Not right now; I still don’t really know who I’m choosing, though. I know that probably sounds horrible. But it’s much harder than I thought it would be.”

“Like choosing between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. They are both delicious, and you’ll probably not regret either choice you make, but there is one that you really love the most.”

Drake laughed again. He wasn’t sure if choosing one of the women should really be compared to ice cream, but he did like the analogy. Lauren seemed really nervous as she continued to crack jokes. But that was how Drake got when he was nervous, he talked way more than he should.

“Yeah, sort of like that.”

“So, I guess you need to decide the kind of life you want with the woman you choose.”

Lauren’s words sat heavily on him. It was such a true statement. As Drake had been out on each of the dates with the women, he couldn’t help thinking about what his life would be like if he were with them. Victoria was certainly going to enjoy very different things than Lauren would, as would each of the women. And although Drake would still like the same things he did, he would want to make his woman happy and enjoy live events with her. So what kind of life did he really want to have? He had no idea.

“Very true. What kind of life would I have with you?”

Lauren flashed a huge smile before answering Drake’s question. Drake loved her smile. Lauren’s smile was genuine and came from such an honest place that it was impossible to ignore. It was impossible not to smile right back at her when she flashed you a smile.

“Fun. We would have a lot of fun. Traveling to my events all over the world when you had the time. Spending amazing vacations in tropical locations. Camping, hiking, all that outdoor stuff. Pretty much like our date on steroids.”

Drake shook his head as Lauren talked. That was the kind of life he wanted to lead as he got older. Drake wanted to be the guy who was always doing fun and interesting outdoor things, and up until that point, he had forced Samantha to go with him most of the time.

He hadn’t wanted to commit to events and then have to take a woman he didn’t really like, so he made Samantha go with him. Luckily, she also liked the outdoor stuff and didn’t mind him having her tag along. But it would be nice to have a woman in his life who also liked to do the same things he did.

The one area Drake knew would be difficult for Lauren was the amount of time he really needed to work. Sure, he could travel when he wanted, and he had a lot of control over that. But Drake did have to work often while he was traveling and had to be back at the office a lot too. He wouldn’t be able to go with her to every surfing event she had, and he didn’t know if Lauren was mature enough to be alright with that much time apart.

“How many events do you go to each year?” Drake asked.

“Between twenty and thirty usually.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of events. You know I have a big company to run and wouldn’t be able to get to all of those with you.”

Lauren stopped walking and pulled Drake closer to her. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him gently. Drake flashed back to his memory of their date and when he found her in the storage shed. It had been pretty intense from the very beginning. There was no doubt that the sexual chemistry was there between him and Lauren.

“That’s what video chat is for. We could talk whenever we wanted to, and we wouldn’t be apart all that much. My events are usually only one or two days long.”

Drake liked the way Lauren put a positive spin on things.

“Hmmm, a little sexting and video chat to keep us close. That’s a fun idea.”

“It’s how I keep in touch with all my family and friends. Not very many people can actually travel as much as I do.”

“You sext your family and friend?” Drake teased.

“No, ewww. Drake!”

Lauren hit Drake on the arm, but he grabbed hold of her and started to kiss her, right there in the street. Drake wasn’t sure it was appropriate since he might have to send Lauren home later in the day, but he felt compelled to grab her, so he did. The whole week, all he could do was what he thought was best. He had been guessing all along the way.

Her lips were sweet with the taste of whatever she had been drinking out by the pool. Drake felt chemistry between them, but more than he had felt between Emily and him. So far, he was making the right decisions. Now if only he could continue to make good decisions for the rest of the day.

“I’m not very good at all this. Thank you for hanging in with me today. It’s going to be a rough day, but I really do appreciate your humor and ability to lighten the mood.”

“At your service,” Lauren said between gentle kisses to Drake.

She wasn’t prepared to let him go just yet. If that moment was going to be the last one she had with Drake, Lauren didn’t want it to end yet. Her hands stayed wrapped around his neck, and she continued to look up at Drake and offer additional kisses. He was the man of her dreams, and she didn’t want to have to let him go. Of course, it wasn’t up to her, but Lauren didn’t want to have to let him go.

“Well, we better get back in there,” Drake said as he practically pulled Lauren off of him.

Her arms were seriously stuck on him, and he knew she wanted him to pick her. Hell, all the women wanted him to pick them, or they wouldn’t be there. Drake wasn’t sure he was ready to announce that Lauren was the one he was choosing, but he did know that he wasn’t ready to send her home just yet.

“One more kiss,” Lauren said as she pulled Drake toward him.

He couldn’t resist. They leaned up against a tree, and Drake let his hand rest on the rough bark as his lips played with her. If only he could have spent the whole day right there kissing her, Drake was pretty sure he would have been happy.

But the truth was, he had other women who were waiting for him. They were inside, just as nervous as Lauren was, and Drake was very aware of that. He had to keep moving forward and try to find some sort of solution for their day of worries.

Lauren’s hands moved to Drake’s pants and started to rub up and down on his body. There was no stopping the reaction he had, but Drake wasn’t about to let things get any further. It was the last day, and if he slept with any of the women, it wouldn’t look good for him at all. Of course, unless it was Scarlett since he hadn’t had a chance to sleep with her yet.

Scarlett had been the woman Drake thought he would choose for sure. But as his lips kissed Lauren, Drake was no longer sure of himself or who he wanted to pick. Things weren’t going to be as easy as he had once thought they were going to be.

Drake chuckled to himself at the thought of things being easy. He couldn’t even understand why he had thought such a thing. Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy to manage the hearts of seven women. What made him think that it would be?

Drake sometimes wondered how Samantha and Robert even dealt with him. They must have thought he was crazy for the things he came up with at times. Certainly, they couldn’t have thought it was normal for him to want to have seven women in his home.

“Why are you laughing?” Lauren asked.

“Because this whole week has been so crazy. I was thinking about Robert and Samantha and how they looked at me when I first suggested it.”

“Did they think you were out of your mind?”

“I’m pretty sure they must have,” Drake remarked as they got closer to the house. “They are really good to me and try and tell me when I come up with stupid ideas, so I’m surprised they let this idea get so far.”

“You think it was a stupid idea?”

Drake paused before opening the front door. He didn’t exactly think the idea was stupid anymore, but that was because he had so many women that seemed to match up to him almost perfectly. Certainly, things could have turned out much worse.

“No, I just think it must have sounded so odd to Robert and Samantha.”

“Yeah, I’m sure this isn’t the weirdest thing they’ve seen you do.” She winked at him.

“Ha, no way. I don’t normally do crazy things, and this one was pretty out of the ordinary for me. Sam and Robert are pretty used to me asking for difficult things, but not really things that are this crazy.”

“Well, I’m glad we got another moment to talk to each other. I’ll look forward to seeing you at the end of all this when you pick me.”

Lauren flashed her beautiful teeth at Drake, shrugging her shoulders as she made her way inside the house with Drake following her. He wasn’t ready to go back out to the pool area just yet, though.

Instead, Drake needed to call Samantha. Her voice was all he needed, just to hear it and to be able to think through things with her. Samantha was his sounding board and his voice of reason; he wanted to know what she was thinking, even if she was mad at him.