Chapter 8

“Okay ladies, I have an announcement,” Drake said boldly as he stood up in front of Scarlett, Samantha, and Lauren.

The three women all looked up at him and waited to see what he had to say. Drake felt the pressure of the moment as their eyes stared at him. But he had made his mind up; Scarlett was the one he was picking, and that was the end of it. He just had to get through the part where he announced it without hurting Lauren too much.

“I’m going to head into the kitchen,” Samantha said.

“Oh, no you’re not. You stay in here with us,” Drake said as he grabbed her arm and prevented her from walking into the kitchen.

Samantha looked back at Drake, and he saw what looked like tears forming in her eyes. She was definitely misty-eyed, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. The two of them stood there with Drake holding onto Samantha’s arm in silence.

Drake knew Samantha well enough to know that she didn’t have tears in her eyes on a normal basis. In fact, the Sam he knew hardly ever cried. Instead of crying, Sam just plowed through what had to get done until she wasn’t around people anymore. But at that moment, he saw sadness in her eyes, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and comfort her.

“Get a room you two,” Lauren joked, and her voice broke up their locked gaze.

Samantha went and sat in a chair behind Drake and let him continue with what he was saying. Drake turned back to Scarlett and Lauren, but he had lost his train of thought and wasn’t sure where to start. His mind was on Samantha, and he wanted to go to her. Drake wanted to know what was going on and why she was sad.

There wasn’t really anything sad about that day for Drake or for Samantha. Unless she was particularly attached to one of the women. Then he figured it out. Sam must have been sad that her friend might be going away. She and Scarlett were close, and Drake knew how emotional women could get when their friends were going away. He chalked it up to the emotions of a friend possibly losing contact with another friend.

“Okay, so where was I?”

“You were about to put one of us out of our misery and break the other one’s heart,” Lauren answered.

“Well, if you put it that way, I should get on with this. First, like I told the other women, I’m really glad you came here this week, both of you. There are no other circumstances in which I would have gotten to meet you so I’m happy that this worked out, and we were able to step into each other’s world for a short period of time.”

Drake made eye contact with Lauren, who was smiling and looking up at him, eager to hear what he had to say. Then he looked at Scarlett, who was now looking past Drake over to Samantha.

“I know this feels like some sort of reality show, but it is real life, and I’ve been agonizing over my decision. I think you are really wonderful women, and I hope you don’t think of this as a winner and loser thing.”

“Drake, before you continue on, I have something I need to say,” Scarlett said as she stood up.

Drake looked at Scarlett and then turned to look at Samantha. Even Samantha seemed surprised by what was going on, and she was certainly paying attention. Samantha looked at Scarlett and shook her head slightly when she started to realize whatever it was that Scarlett had to say.

“I was just about to announce my choice, can it wait?”

“No, I better go first. Lauren, I think you are a vibrant, smart, and amazing woman. Please don’t be offended,” Scarlett started as she looked at Lauren and then back toward Drake. “Drake, I’m going to pull myself out of the running.”

Drake looked at Scarlett and then over at Samantha; he had no idea what was going on, but there certainly was something up between the two of them. Maybe they had been talking about something, and it was upsetting Samantha? Drake really had no idea what was going on.

“What’s going on, why do you keep looking at Sam?”

“Here’s the deal. I was told by both of you that there is nothing between you two but a friendship, and I wanted to believe it. But whether you two decide to act on this now or three years down the road, there is something between you. We all see it, don’t we, Lauren?”

Lauren nodded her head yes as she looked at Scarlett then over to Drake and Sam.

“We’ve already talked about this, Scarlett. Drake and I are just friends,” Samantha said as she stood up and came over to join the other three.

“I hear you, but I plan on being your friend when I move out here, and I couldn’t do that if I knew I had stolen the man you love. So now I’m stepping back and being extremely clear that I will not be continuing on with Drake. He’s yours or Lauren’s, I couldn’t live with myself if I got between true love.”

“I’m with Scarlett,” Lauren said. “Let’s go get our things.”

Lauren had been thinking exactly the same thing Scarlett had just said. She knew there was something strong between Drake and Samantha, but she never wanted to be that kind of girl who was jealous already on a first date. Lauren didn’t wait for Scarlett before she turned and went upstairs. What Scarlett had said must have rang really true with Lauren since she willingly left before Drake had the chance to announce the winner.

Drake and Samantha stood in the living room watching the other two women as they went up the stairs, neither of them knew what to say. Their mouths were literally open in shock at the fact that both Scarlett and Lauren had just dropped out of the running and left Drake with no one. Well, no one except Samantha.

“See even they think we should give this a go,” Drake said sweetly as he took Samantha’s hands into his.

“Drake, I don’t know. I feel like my emotions have gone off the rails this week, and they are out of control. I don’t want to make a decision that I’ll regret.”

Samantha knew she wanted to be with Drake just as bad as he wanted her. But Sam wasn’t good at sharing her emotions and couldn’t bring herself to admit she cared for Drake. But the truth was, she had cared for Drake for the last five years. They had fought and made up, and they were dedicated to each other. It didn’t matter if they were in a relationship or not, Drake and Samantha cared for each other.

“Oh, just shut up already, Sam, and kiss him,” Scarlett said from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah, kiss him,” Lauren added.

“See even they agree.” Drake smiled.

He grabbed her and pulled her close to him. This time, he wasn’t going to let her go. He was holding onto her and showing her that he cared more for her than she could ever know. She had spent so long pushing him away that he pushed his own feelings down deep, but it was Samantha that he wanted; it had always been Samantha.

Throughout the years, they’d both had thoughts of letting things get closer between them. Both Sam and Drake had felt them. But they had tucked their feelings away and went on with things like they were supposed to. Samantha knew she wasn’t the only one who had thought being co-workers was a better idea than dating, Drake had thought the same thing. But there they were, both ready to explore the possibilities at the same time.

“You promise you won’t break my heart?”

“I can’t promise you that. But I can promise that I’ll do everything in my power to prevent it. I’ll cherish you like I have for the past five years. You don’t have to be afraid of this. We can make it work. You know me better than any human being on this planet. You know I’m going to make mistakes, but hopefully, you know that I’ll always try to right any wrongs I do.”

“Kiss him,” Scarlett and Lauren said simultaneously.

And just like that, Samantha gave in to her desires and kissed Drake. This time, she didn’t pull away, and she didn’t stop herself. Instead, Samantha was falling head first for her boss. The man she had always secretly loved but just never gave herself permission to be with. Drake was the man of her dreams, and she was jumping off the cliff and hoping that he would catch her.

Drake didn’t have the best reputation with women, and Samantha knew that better than most women. But she also knew that he was honest to a fault and wouldn’t cheat on her. He spent years avoiding relationships because he knew he wasn’t ready. The fact that he was ready to give one a try with her made Sam pretty confident that he knew he was ready to give it a go.

“And they lived happily ever after,” Scarlett said as she and Lauren walked down the stairs. “Okay, okay, you two lovebirds. Come over here and give me a hug.”

Drake held Samantha’s hand as they walked over to her and both hugged her. Then as Lauren came down, they all hugged her as well. It was surreal to be standing there with two of the women Drake thought he might have picked to date and possibly spend the rest of his life with. But he was happy, Samantha was happy, and both Scarlett and Lauren looked like they were genuinely happy for Drake and Sam. Drake really couldn’t have asked for a better ending to his week.

“I expect a wedding invite,” Lauren said as she giggled and looked at the group.

“Me too, plus I’ll be out here soon. Maybe we can all go to lunch.”

Scarlett, Lauren, Drake and Sam all stood in the middle of Drake’s living room, and as Lauren laughed, they all started to laugh. Never in a million years could any of them have predicted that their week would end up like it had. It had been an amazing time they would never forget – and when Drake noticed the genuinely happy look on Samantha’s face, he knew for sure what his heart had known for years: this woman was the right choice, and he and Samantha had a bright future ahead of them.

The Billionaire’s Hunt