Though all the men went home unfulfilled sexually, they all had managed to get their women to agree to the weekend dates where they planned on scaring them off the marriage paths the men thought they were on.

Ethan hired a car to take him and Kel up to see his grandmother. A woman who wasn’t really his grandmother but an actress he’d hired to play the part. He’d hired an entire comedy troupe to fool Kel.

Stopping to enjoy a nice lunch in New Jersey, had the two getting into an in-depth discussion neither had planned on as they watched a couple with two young children as the parents tried to get the kids to act right and take their seats at the table rather than roaming around the little café.

The little girl, who seemed to be about three, wandered up to Ethan and pointed to his hair. “You have pretty hair.”

The little girl had blond ringlets that Ethen pointed to. “I think your hair is prettier than mine.”

She palmed her curls. “No, your hair’s prettier.”

“Jo Beth, come sit down and eat,” her father called out to her. Then looked at Ethan. “Sorry, sir.”

“For what?” Ethan said with a chuckle. “I just received a great compliment from your little girl, she’s made my day.” He gave the kid a wink before her mother swooped in and picked her up.

Kel watched the little exchange as she ate her turkey on rye bread then took a sip of her root beer. “So, you like kids, huh?”

“Sure, who doesn’t?” Ethan said then leaned forward to twirl a lock of Kel’s hair around one finger. “And you and I would make some really cute ones, love.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long legs. “How many should we have?”

She laughed at him as she knew exactly what he was up to. “Oh, five or so. And I’d start trying for them as soon as I was married. I can’t wait to settle down and start up the large family I dream about having. I just need to meet Mr. Right, and then I’ll get right to that.”

He raised his thick brows as he grinned at her. “Is that right?”

She nodded and finished her sandwich. Ethan had finished before her, so she was ready to get going. “Yes. I’m done. We can get back on the road if you’re ready to. I really can’t wait to meet your grandmother.”

Ethan got up and held out his hand for her to take. “And she can’t wait to meet you. My cousin, Tommy’s there too. He’s a little bit special. I hope you won’t hold that against him.”

Kel gave him a frown as he escorted her out of the little café. “Ethan! I’d never hold anything like that against anyone! Do you think I’m some kind of monster?”

“No,” he said as he opened the car door and let her get in first. He slid in beside her, putting his arm around her and kissing the side of her head. “It’s just that I’ve had more than a few comments on my family. Not all have been kind.”

Kel looked at him and wondered if he was being honest. If that was true, she felt terrible for the man. “Oh, Ethan that makes me sad. If you have someone with a disability in your family, no one should judge you on that.”

“But some do, love.” He kissed her with a light kiss as he cupped her chin. “I think you’ll be wonderful to have around my family. Such a caring and sweet woman. Honest to the core.”

She knew why he threw in the last part about the honesty. It was pretty clear he wanted her to come clean about the husband wrangling, the sisters had made up. But she wanted him to come clean about the bet. So, they were at an impasse, neither would budge on.

Meanwhile, Cait and Jess were at the airport with their men. Each couple was waiting on private jets to be readied, and Cait and Jess were beginning to get an idea about just how much money the men really had.

“I know you said you were a salesman for your family’s business, Griff, but just how much do you make doing that?” she asked him as he brought her a cup of coffee and a bagel.

“Here, baby. You should eat something.” He handed her the bagel, and the coffee then took a seat next to her. “I don’t like to talk about money.”

“I can see that. But I don’t like to be clueless about how much the man I’m seeing makes a year.” She took a bite of the bagel and waited for his answer.

“My money isn’t calculated on a yearly basis. It’s just always available to me.” It hit him that she was sizing up how much he was worth so she could try to get him to marry her and pay her damn bills. But he’d be teaching her that being married to him would be far from the picnic she thought it’d be.

So what if the things he was about to show and tell her were completely false? Jess would never know about that.

At that point, none of the men cared who won the bet. Things had changed. They saw it as their manly duties to teach the women a lesson about using men for their money.

If during that time any of them did score, that was purely a bonus!

“How is it you have access to money all the time without working, Griff? Are you some kind of a millionaire?” Jess asked him.

He decided to let her in on his financial state and wanted to gauge her reaction to that news. “Millionaire?” He chuckled as he shook his head. “Billionaire is the word most people use. My family is extremely well off.”

“Shut the fu…” Jess said then stopped as he kissed her.

When he pulled his lips away from hers. “You won’t hold that against me, will you?”

“Um, no,” she said then bit into her bagel again. She wasn’t sure if she should even believe him. Men think women fall all over themselves if they think they have money. He was most likely just saying it to win the bet.

“Good, a lot of wealthy people, have issues with building relationships due to the fact they have a hard time knowing if the person loves them for who they are or for their money.”

“That’s just shallow,” Jess said, earning a frown from Griffin who thought about how she and her sisters were looking to trick men into marrying them so their bills could be paid off.

“Yeah, it’s as shallow as it gets, Jess.”

For a moment, Jess had forgotten what she and her sisters had done and went on to say, “I could never do that. Just know this, Griff, if I tell you that I love you then it’s true. I’m not a money grubber or a liar.”

Griffin was shocked at how sincerely she could say the lie. “That’s good to know.”

But it wasn’t good to know at all. The woman was a master of deception!

Cait and Phoenix were getting on the jet he’d chartered. As he helped her to sit in the window seat, he buckled her in then kissed her.

She placed her hands on his cheeks and asked, “This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”

He smiled and sat down next to her. “Oh, yeah. I’m about to show you how I live.”

They held hands as the jet took off. Cait felt a twinge of guilt for going off with him on false pretenses, but her sisters had begged her not to tell their secret. Even though she wanted to in the worst possible way.

“Phoenix, I’ve never been to Texas. Is it really as big as everyone says? I mean, I’ve seen the size of the state on a map but come on, it’s not really that big, is it?”

“It feels even bigger when you drive it,” he said with a smile. “And now I want you to know a bit more about me, Caity-cat.”

She began to have hope that he was about to be honest. If he told her the truth, then she’d tell him the truth about her and ask him not to ruin it for her sisters. Cait was sure he’d do that for her.

“I’d love to know more about you, Phoenix. Like, nothing would make me any happier.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze.

“Cait, I’m a rich man.” He watched her reaction and was surprised when she barely changed her expression.

That was because she wasn’t sure if she should believe him. “Are you. And how’s that?”

“I inherited some land. And that land ended up being on top of a giant oilfield. So, you’re sitting next to an oil tycoon. Does that make you think any differently about me?” He looked a bit worried which made Cait want to laugh.

She didn’t, though. “I don’t much care if you have millions of bucks or not.”

“Billions,” he said as he watched her carefully.

“Billions, huh?” She tapped her chin. “So, what?”

“Do you really think that? I mean, can I trust you not to use me for my money?” he asked her with the hopes he’d see greed in her eyes.

“Why in the world why I use you for your money, Phoenix? I did start talking to you on the pretense that you were a mere mortal man and not a superhero billionaire.” She laughed, and so did he.

But Phoenix knew she was after a man with money. He did think she’d be on cloud nine, knowing the man she was plotting to trick into marriage was more than a little wealthy.

So, her reaction was confusing, to say the least. He ventured further as he asked, “Does the smell of oil bother you?”

“I don’t recall ever smelling it.” She looked at him with a curious expression. “Why would you ask that?”

“There’s a house in the middle of that oilfield that I live in,” he said. He had a beach house too, but he was planning on tricking her into thinking he really wanted to have a family and live in the stinky oilfield house.

“I thought you had a beach house with a dog. Isn’t that where we’re going? Because I brought bathing suits and shorts with that location in mind.”

“I wanted to take you somewhere special to me. The place I want to make my real home. I want to live in the middle of the place that made me who I am today.”

“Well, if you’re all into that place then, by all means, take me to see what you want to do with your life, Phoenix.” She laid her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes.

The guilt was beginning to pile up inside of her. The man was either being real with her, or he was a fantastic liar. Either way, she was getting tired of the charade. And she had to wonder if he was too.

“Cait, by the end of this weekend I hope we find ourselves a lot closer. I have to be honest with you. I’ve never been this interested in anyone. If you have the same vision I do then I don’t want to wait,” he said, making her open her eyes to look at him.

“Phoenix, you should be very careful what you say to me. I may seem tough, but I’m just human. If you cut me, I do bleed.” She eyed him warily.

Cait knew that if he gave her a phony marriage proposal, she’d lose the feelings she’d come to have for the incredible man. She still had hope that he’d see fit to tell her the truth and things could begin to go in the right direction for them.

He could be her Prince Charming. But he’d have to end the bet to do it.