Kate was checking the text Drew had sent her when her navigation app told her she'd arrived at his home. She didn't know what she had expected, but she wasn't prepared for this. The house number on the towering wrought-iron gates matched the address on her phone, so she pulled her Jetta next to the keypad and punched in the code. A moment later, the gates swung wide open. She drove on the long asphalt drive that led to Drew's house. Palm trees and bushes lined the way, but soon, Drew's modern-style home—which was more like a mansion—came into view.

Kate's mouth hung open. She knew Drew was rich, but she had no idea he lived in a place like this. It was so different from his mom's one-story home around the corner from her parents’ house. Just one of those huge windows probably cost more than Kate made in a year.

She pulled her car forward on the stone driveway, and then climbed out, suddenly feeling way too underdressed to even be there. Drew had been wearing a suit the day before. Was there some sort of dress code required to enter? Should she hurry home and put on her old prom dress?

She shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Drew wouldn't have rules like that, she hoped. He'd seemed down to earth during their interactions so far this week. She didn't think he'd let all that money go to his head. At least she hoped so. It would be sad if the only reason he hadn't gotten engaged in the end was because none of the girls were fancy enough for him and his new billionaire lifestyle.

She smoothed her light purple button-up shirt and took a breath before ringing the doorbell.

A few minutes later, a beautiful Hispanic woman in her fifties opened the door.

"Hi, I'm here to meet with Mr. Burrows," Kate said, unsure if she was supposed to refer to him that way or not. He'd always just been Drew in the past.

"You must be Mrs. Dawson." The woman stepped aside to welcome Kate into the house.

The first thing Kate noticed was the freestanding staircase with decorative wrought-iron handrails that led to the floor above. The walls, ceilings, and tile flooring were a soothing creamy white that instantly made her feel like she was at home.

The housekeeper led her past the staircase into a large living room with a giant sectional couch and chairs. A huge TV was mounted above a long open fireplace. She wanted to run her hands along everything and feel the richness of her surroundings. It was like she'd walked into a whole different world, one she'd never been to before, but one she never wanted to leave. This was a peaceful place. Drew's sanctuary from the outside world and all its chaos.

"Have a seat. Mr. Burrows is still in a meeting, but I'll let him know that you're here."

Kate nodded and sank into the gray leather couch. How much did a place like this even cost? She wondered as she looked around, craning her neck to see everything in her view. Ten million? Twenty?

Footsteps sounded from behind her a few minutes later. She turned to find Drew, who was wearing another expensive suit that accentuated his toned, muscular physique perfectly. She'd seen enough of the show’s promos to know he'd look just as good on the beach in swim trunks as he did in a suit. And she wasn't too proud to admit that she may have paused her screen for a moment to count out if he had a six pack or an eight pack.

Of course he had an eight pack. Drew was an overachiever, after all. And she doubted that many women would be that disappointed if he never did get engaged to the girl he was currently dating. They'd probably be ecstatic that he wasn't completely off the market.

"Sorry to make you wait," he said, loosening his tie. “Those in my board of directors don’t always see eye to eye.”

"It's no problem." Kate swallowed, still having a hard time reconciling this new version of Drew with the one she'd known growing up. He'd always excelled in school and sports, and been wiser than his years, but it was hard to believe that a guy in his late twenties could have so much responsibility resting on his shoulders.

"I'm sure you have other places to be today, so do you want to get started?" Drew asked, undoing his tie the rest of the way so it hung loose around his neck.

"You're not going to give me a tour?" Kate asked. "This house is amazing. You can't just invite me here and not show me the place."

An embarrassed look crossed Drew's face but he sighed and said, "Ok, sure. My legs could use a good stretch after sitting for the past few hours." There was uncertainty in his deep blue eyes. "Where do you want to go first?"

Kate pointed to her left. "That way looks promising."

Drew led her into the kitchen, which was very sleek and modern. Windows lined the curved main wall, and the island curled around in the shape of a "c."

Kate ran her fingers along the white granite countertop. "Do you cook in here often?"

Drew shrugged, an almost embarrassed expression taking shape on his face. "No, not often. I don't have the time these days, so Carmella takes good care of me."

"Is that the lady who let me in?" Kate asked.

"Yes, she pretty much runs this whole house for me. Takes care of everything so I don't have to worry about it."

"Except for when she's sick and you have to buy your own milk." Kate winked.

"Can't have that happening again." Drew's cheeks pinked slightly. He was probably remembering how they'd both looked when they'd met in the store. Not either of their best looks.

She followed Drew out of the kitchen to another sitting area that overlooked the backyard. Her gaze caught on his broad shoulders for a moment before her attention was pulled to the yard’s landscape. They walked through glass doors and onto a patio that dropped down to a huge infinity pool that had a view of the whole city. She could only imagine how much more amazing the view became at night with all the lights from L.A.

"Do you have pool parties out here very often?" Kate asked. There were several lounge chairs on the sides, some even sitting in the shallow end of the pool.

"Not really. But my sister and her family do come to town every once in a while and we have a good time."

Hmm. Interesting. If she had a place like this she'd have her friends over every weekend. But maybe parties weren't Drew's scene. He had always been more of the homebody type than the life of the party. Which seemed to have suited him well. At least he'd made a ton of money with his interest in coding.

Kate stepped across the stones in the shallow end of the pool. Drew held his hand out to help her step down. His gentle touch sent shivers up her arm, and the fact that he'd thought to help her warmed her heart. Nolan had never done things like this.

After showing her the putting green, barbecue area, and fire pit, Drew pushed open another door to the house and waited for her to walk inside first.

"So now that I've signed that big confidentiality contract, can you tell me how your experience as the bachelor really went?" Kate asked.

"I guess I can tell you everything now, huh?" He blew out a deep breath and gripped the handrail to a staircase before leading her upstairs. "It was pretty crazy and overwhelming. That first night with twenty-five women was so long. Of course I was excited to see who I would meet—you know, find out if my future wife was in the room. And then I just had the hardest time remembering all their names and the conversations we had. I don't know if you know this, since you've only seen the show from the camera’s viewpoint…"

"Yeah, poor old non-famous me." Kate pouted.

Drew laughed when they reached the top of the stairs. "Anyway, they actually have a producer right there next to me and the women, taking notes of our conversations so I'll remember them later. Then they'd give them to me, so I could study up before each date. There are just so many conversations that they tend to all blend together." He gestured for her to take the curved hall to the right. The wall had huge canvas paintings of lighthouses and nautical scenes.

"So would the producer, like, whisper the girl’s name to you before she walked up?"

A guilty expression made its way across Drew's face. "Yeah. Though I didn't need help with all of them."

"I would hope not."

"Anyway, the guest rooms are in here, here, and here." He pointed to the doorways to the three rooms. "They're pretty typical, nothing too exciting."

Kate peeked her head inside. Each room was the size of the living room in her apartment, and at least twice the size of her bedroom. They had queen-sized beds and large dressers for guests, but she could imagine his future children loving the space they'd have to run around and store all their toys. His kids would probably be cute. She'd seen a photo of Gwen at the studio. She was a gorgeous blonde, with emerald green eyes that almost caught you off guard with how bright they were. And her heart-shaped face endeared you to her immediately. Drew had always gone for blondes, so Gwen was the total package as far as Kate could tell. Their kids would hit the genetic jackpot with parents as attractive as they were.

Drew cleared his throat, breaking Kate’s thoughts away from his future family. "My room is down this way." He gestured back the way they'd come. They walked past the staircase, past a huge game room and another sitting area. Eventually, they came to a set of double doors.

Drew revealed the room inside.

Kate hovered in the doorway, taking in the luxury that he got to experience every day. Gray-brown wood flooring lined the room. Off to one side was a small sitting area with a couch, coffee table, fireplace, and TV. Further back were more double doors that led to a balcony. She looked the other way and saw a king-sized bed, and behind that was another door that she assumed led to the master bath and closet area.

"I promise to be a complete gentleman. You can walk inside and not have to worry about Nolan needing to beat me up afterward." He winked, and her heart banged in her chest. She knew she didn't have to worry about Drew making a pass at her. But it still seemed surreal to step into such a private area. He slept in here. He relaxed in here. Showered in here.

She cleared her throat and stepped inside the suite. Kate started talking about Drew’s girlfriend in the hopes that it would help calm her racing heart. "Did you and Gwen hit it off right from the start? Or was it more of a slow burn?"

Drew scrubbed his hand through his hair and shrugged. "Um, I don't know. It was different. She was beautiful, so I noticed that right off, but we didn't really click until later. I actually almost sent her home that first night. I was pretty sure about twelve of the women when it came time to decide who to keep and who to let go, but I couldn't make up my mind about the last three. This is where the producers came in handy. They'd taken the time to get to know me pretty well, and they'd had a chance to talk with the girls…probably more than I did. So when Dion named Gwen as a good choice, I followed his intuition."

Kate nodded. Dion did seem to have a good read on people. "Thank goodness for Dion."

"I know, right? To think I could have sent her home that first night. That would have made this season even more of a mess."

Kate ran her fingers along his white comforter, unable to resist discovering if it felt as soft as it looked. "So what made you stop from taking the final step that last day in Antigua?" She had to know what had kept Drew back from proposing. "You're still dating now, right?" She looked up through her lashes just in time to see him swallow and nod. "Then why not just do it then? It's what the show is all about, isn't it?"

A tortured look crossed Drew's face and she instantly regretted bringing it up. She was about to tell him it was none of her business when he said, "I don't know. There was just something that wasn't there between us, and I couldn't tell her that I envisioned us being together forever. You know?" He paused. "And part of me still didn't trust that the girls were really there for me and not my money. Plus, I had vowed to myself that I wouldn't make any promises I couldn't keep. I didn't want to lead anyone on. And I only wanted to get engaged once."

Kate tried to keep her face from falling at his mention of a one-time engagement. What would he think of her when he found out she'd not only gotten engaged to someone and not have it work out, but went all the way and gotten married? He'd think she was a flimflam girl who jumped in and out of relationships at the drop of a hat.

Drew continued, "I knew my heart wasn't there yet, so I couldn't promise something I wasn't sure of myself. I'm really hoping I'll be ready ten weeks from now, because ready or not, I guess I'm gonna have to man up and do it. I just need to talk to Gwen about everything so she understands what's going on. I'd hate to lead her on just for the sake of saving the show."

Kate liked how sincere Drew was about the whole thing. Most bachelors would have just gone through the motions right from the start. But she could tell that this was so real to Drew. He did everything with the purest of intentions. And she was even more determined to make sure that he was happy when everything was said and done. She'd do her job the best she could, but she'd also make sure Drew's heart didn't get hung out on the line.

Kate peeked inside the bathroom and closet before leaving. Just like she expected, they were gorgeous and had everything she'd ever dreamed of in a billionaire's bathroom. There was a huge soaking tub in the middle of the room, and a separate shower and toilet area. Double sinks so he wouldn't have to worry about his future wife's stuff cluttering up his side. And his closet… She literally gasped when she stepped inside. It had drawers and cupboards, and a washer and dryer. There was a big round cushioned seat in the middle that he could sit on to put on his shoes. And even if he said he wasn't ready to get married yet, his closet told her otherwise. It was only half full. Less than halfway full, actually. He'd left plenty of space for his future bride to put her things.

Kate’s heart kind of hurt thinking about it. She wasn't necessarily jealous of his future wife, just jealous that Drew had already put so much thought toward a future with his soon-to-be bride—Nolan hadn't even cared to have one with her.

She switched off the light to the closet and found Drew sitting on his bed.

He stood when he saw her. "Do you want to get started on those interview questions?"

"Yes, let's get to work. Alexis told me your last practice didn't go exactly as planned."

Drew groaned. "Yeah, you might be here for a while." His eyes darted behind her. "Actually, do you mind if I change into something more comfortable real quick?"

He was going to change? Right now? Her cheeks heated when an image of him without a shirt popped into her mind. She needed to get out of his bedroom. "Um, yeah. I'll, uh, meet you downstairs."

* * *

Drew couldn't act to save his life, Kate mused, as they prepped for his upcoming interviews. But there was something so endearing about it that she couldn't help but smile at all his answers. He was trying so hard. Maybe that was the problem. It reminded her of middle school, when he'd helped her with her films. Back then, Kate had used all her free time to create extravagant screenplays, and then she coerced Aiden and Drew into recording them with her and her friends.

"Do you remember what we did when we were younger?" Kate asked once they'd made it through the list of questions one more time.

Drew looked confused. "Could you be more specific? I've known you since I was eleven…we did a lot of things together."

"I'm talking about when you helped me run lines for my films."

Inspiration dawned on Drew's face. "Like when you let me use the script as more of a guideline for the scene?"

Kate nodded. "I was thinking you could use Alexis's answers as more of a guide, but use your own words so it doesn't sound so robotic. You don't talk like this—your way of speaking is much more relaxed and languid. Alexis is more up and down, and precise. It's no wonder this hasn't been working."

Drew sighed with relief. "You're a genius, Kate. I was about to have an aneurism with these."

"Okay, let's start from the top." She glanced down at the sheet in her lap, sat up straight, and spoke in her best talk-show-host voice. "What was this experience like?"

Drew sat up in his chair as well. "It was great. I feel so lucky that I got to have this amazing opportunity, and I can't tell you enough how glad I am that it's over."

Kate scrunched her nose. "Maybe just leave off that last bit?"

He laughed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I guess you're right. They'd probably have a few questions about that, which Alexis would definitely not want me giving the answers to."

"Probably." Kate smiled. "But other than that, that was much better. It sounded so much more like you."

Drew sighed. "Good. Let's just hope Alexis is okay with us deviating from the script."

"I'm pretty sure she'll see you've only made improvements. I mean, I should know that. You always made mine way better."

"I still can't believe you talked me into dressing up like some pansy and tromping around your backyard like a fairy godmother all those years ago."

"I was pretty persuasive, wasn't I?"

"I don't know if that was it exactly. You certainly never got Aiden to make such a fool of himself."

"You were just way nicer to me than he was."

"Or maybe I understood that if we played with you for ten or twenty minutes, you'd leave us to our video games for the rest of the day."

"Well, whatever you say. But just think about it this way, if I hadn't been so annoying, you wouldn't have had any experience in TV or films. I should totally get all the credit for you being the star that you are."

Drew rolled his eyes and laughed. "I’m not a star. I just went on a lot of dates in the past few months."

"Well, the fact that your photo is now the wallpaper on all of my friends’ phones tells me otherwise."

His face paled at her joke. "You’re not serious about that, right?"

"The ‘me having friends’ part?" Kate smirked.

"No, the wallpaper part."

"Okay, fine. So only half of my friends has your face greeting them every time they use their phone."

Drew raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Just me," Kate said, unable to resist teasing him in the way she'd always done in high school.

"You're relentless." Drew laughed. "How does Nolan put up with you?"

She felt her smile falter. "Oh, you know." But then she couldn't really think of anything else to say, because Nolan hadn't put up with her. He'd found someone else instead.

And from the way Drew was studying her, she worried he might figure her secret out.