Memo: The Billionaire's Proposal

“Gemma told me you were engaged.” He glanced at her left hand, at her bare ring finger to be exact. “I thought you’d be married by now.”

Her, too. “Nope.”

“Let me guess, you found the long-term investment strategy lacking.”

Her cheeks burned when she remembered what she’d said to him five years ago. If she’d known then…Who was she kidding? She probably wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“No,” Chaney admitted. “He did.”

Drake reached his hand toward her, but she stepped away from him. “Chaney—”

“I’m not looking for sympathy,” she interrupted. “I got enough of that when Tyler, my fiancé, broke up with me.”

“I wasn’t going to say I’m sorry, because I’m not. The man is obviously an idiot.”

She bit back a smile. She’d forgotten how Drake could put things into perspective with only a few words. “He married my sister.”

“Then your brother-in-law is an idiot,” Drake said.

Chaney laughed. “You’re right about that.”

“You’re too young to settle down.”

“Well, I don’t plan on settling down anytime soon.”

“We have something in common.”

“That makes two things,” she said.

Drake gave her a puzzled look.

“Gemma.” Chaney picked up her clipboard from the top of the box. “We have her in common.”

His eyes darkened. “Yes, we do.”

“I don’t see her much, but thank goodness for the Internet. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“Me, neither.”

The emotion in the two words, as well as the concern in his eyes, caught her off guard. “You know, Gemma’s going to be fine. Her baby, too. I spoke with her this morning after I arrived. She is sure the bed rest is temporary, and with the way Oliver is spoiling her, she’ll be good to go for the rest of this season’s tapings.”

“Let’s hope so, but until then…” A smile touched Drake’s lips. “I have you.”

The approval in his eyes let Chaney know he liked what he saw. She wouldn’t let herself care.

“Only on the set,” she said crisply.

“Of course.” His eyes laughed at her.

Flustered, she clutched her clipboard. “I’ll make sure things stay on schedule so you can catch your flight out of Heathrow. Gemma said that was important.”

“Still the same industrious, competent Chaney. This arrangement should work out well.”

She raised her chin. “I think so.”

His lips curved into a full smile, showing two rows of straight, white teeth. He did have a nice smile. “I always knew you’d go far, but I thought you were going to work with your father, not take your financial skills and go into show business.”

“Well, my parents did name me after Lon Chaney,” she admitted.

“Lon Chaney, that old actor?”

“They were die-hard horror fans, but preferred the older black-and-white flicks to the newer slasher movies.” She remembered how Drake had kept their conversations focused on business when she was an intern. Well, except for her goingaway party. “I once called my mom ‘mummy’ and she gave me a cookie.”

“That’s—”

“Weird, I know, but Chaney’s better than Karloff or Lorre. Though Bela might not have been too bad,” she admitted. “But in spite of my name, I actually got my first taste of television during my internship when you acquired the Dragon Network. That experience led me to the job at the studio where I work.”

“It’s amazing how an internship can change a career path.”

He had no idea. She nodded.

“And now you’re back in England working on the show we brainstormed.”

Her mouth gaped. She closed it. “You remember?”

“Your name is in the credits.”

“That was a nice gesture, but it’s not the same show we’d talked about.”

“Maybe not, but The Billionaire’s Playground wouldn’t exist if not for that meeting you attended.”

His words meant a lot to her and echoed what Gemma had said. “Thank you.”

“So how does it feel?” Drake asked.

“Pretty cool.” Chaney wiggled her toes. “I remember watching the premiere episode and thinking, wow, this is what all those ideas we were tossing back and forth turned into. Though I never thought you’d host the show.”

“Me, neither,” he admitted. “But I had a free weekend when they were set to shoot the pilot. We hadn’t found the right talent to host, and Gem said I should do it. I had fun, so I decided to make it a regular gig. Though we’ve started using guest hosts.”

“Gemma told me.”

“Do you have a favorite episode?” he asked.

“I’d have to say it’s the one with kite surfing on the coast of Greenland.”

“That was an exciting episode to tape,” he said. “The Google guys took a vacation there and gave us the idea.”

“Whose idea was it to use a medieval castle this weekend?”