The Bachelor's Baby

Chapter One

Chapter One

Theo

This must be some kind of joke.

“So, you think I would want to be on some reality show where I end up getting married?” There was not even one part of me that wanted to entertain the thought of getting married. And to a virtual stranger to boot? No thanks!

“Hear me out, Mr. Decker.” Randy had introduced himself to me as the producer of a hot, sexy, new reality series. Although he tried desperately to keep my attention, the word “marriage” had any interests I might have had waning at supersonic speed. “Imagine yourself on a secluded tropical island paradise, surrounded by gorgeous women, all of whom only want one thing from you.”

“My money.” That had to be what the women who had signed up for this thing wanted. No one could actually fall in love in such a short amount of time. Especially not me.

“Well, no, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“You are only asking billionaire bachelors to do this thing. The women who agree to come on the show are all looking for one thing. Money.” I was not some foolish young kid believing anything anyone told me.

“Love,” he said, as if correcting me.

Which was truly absurd. “Bullshit.”

“No bullshit,” he countered. “These women have been thoroughly interviewed. None of them are in it for the money. They merely want the chance to connect with men, maybe fall in love, maybe even end up married to a man who has experienced success to a higher degree than normal. These women want the father of their children to be at the high end of the gene pool. Surely you can understand how some women want only the very best for their children.”

Now he’s bringing up kids?

“Look, you are barking up the wrong tree here.” Marriage was bad enough, but kids too? Forget about it. “Randy, you do not know me. I am a busy man, and this appointment is over.”

“I do know you, Theodore Decker.”

“No, you do not. People who know me—”

He quickly interjected, “Call you Theo. Yes, I know that. I know more about you than you even realize. You graduated summa c*m laude thirteen years ago. By the time you were twenty-six, you had made your first billion.”

“Anyone with a computer who knows how to use Google can find that stuff out.” I was not impressed. I drummed my fingers on the dark oak finish of my one-hundred-year-old desk. I had grown bored of this conversation. “You can see yourself out.”

He leaned forward—it was obvious the man had training in sales and did not know how to take no for an answer. “Theo, being on the show does not mean that you have to get married.” Steepling his fingers, he rested his elbows on the desk and propped his chin on them, obviously trying to look studious. “There will be an awful lot of grade A, prime a*s on that island. Those girls will do anything to gain a husband. You get where I’m going with this?”

Laughing, I couldn’t help but be amused by the man. “Randy, if you are insinuating that I need help getting my s****l needs met, you could not be more wrong. I practically have to beat the willing females off with a stick, if you get where I’m going with this.”

“And that’s why you would be perfect for this series. The girls are going to fight like hell to be the one you pick in the end. You’ll get to date as many of these women as you want. Then you will narrow them down to just a few, then two, and then just one—the one you will spend some alone time with.”

That was not anything I even remotely wanted. “I’m good. Thanks for the invitation, but this is not for me.”

“Having beautiful women at your beck and call is not for you, Theo? Come on. Tell me the real reason you’re turning down the opportunity of a lifetime.”

I had to hand it to the man—he was persistent. “Randy, I like your style. Unfortunately for you, I am also a well-trained salesman. I haven’t sold thousands of properties by taking no for an answer. But you are in over your head with me. Sorry. When I say no, I mean it.”

He shook his head, it seemed I had finally gotten through to the man. But then he opened his mouth and out spilled words I had not expected to hear, “You’re in your mid-thirties. There have been no long-term relationships in your past. What are the chances that in the next five or even ten years, you’ll find a woman who you want to have a real relationship with?” He held up his hand, gesturing that he was not finished telling me what he thought of me and my situation as a single man. “Don’t try to answer that because you don’t have the statistics that I do. Chances for a man who is thirty-four and has never had even one serious relationship are phenomenally low…”

I had to stop him there. “I have had serious relationships.”

He c****d one dark brow at me. “Not on record, you haven’t.”

“I had a life before I became a success in the real estate industry.”

“So, what are the names of these women you had serious relationships with?” He looked a little too eager to hear this information.

“I have no intention of telling you about the women who were in my life so many years ago. They have lives now, and I don’t think it would be right of me to bring their names to light.”

“So, these relationships are more than…let’s say…thirteen years old?” he asked with an expression that indicated he was busily doing mental math.

“I am not going to discuss that.”

His eyes narrowed in on mine. “Theo, if it’s been that long since you have been in a serious relationship, then the chances of you ever finding true love, lasting love, the kind of love that stays with you all the way through your entire life, are slim to none. Come on the show. You might be surprised to find that some feelings have been lying dormant inside of you.”

I had no desire to feel things that I had not felt in many years. “Again, thanks for the invitation, but I do not want to go on television, play footsie with a bunch of hot chicks, then leave without a wife, breaking more hearts at once than I have ever broken. I am not an animal. I do care about women’s feelings. The kind of women I keep company with are like-minded individuals who have too much going on in their business lives to spend much time on personal relationships.”

“That sounds like a pretty empty life if you ask me.”

“It’s not empty at all. I can have a date within minutes. If I want one.”

“Sounds like you’ve been hiring escorts.”

“Not at all. I don’t need to pay for my dates. There are plenty of women who will drop everything to spend some time with me.”

“What about love?” he asked with dancing eyes, thinking he could intrigue me with those three little words.

“Love,” I whispered, letting the word slither around my tongue as it escaped my lips. It had been a very long time since I last uttered the word. Once upon a time, I had said it many times each and every day. For two years, I had told one young woman that I loved her. And she had told me the same thing.

Our love was true. It was the kind of love that a person never forgets. It was an honest love. It was a purely unselfish love. Loving that woman made me the man I was today.

We let each other go when I graduated from college. She had two more years to go before she graduated. Neither of us wanted to get in the other’s way of making a success of ourselves. Our breakup had been amicable, and we wished nothing but the best for each other.

The last day I saw her was the last time the word “love” came out of my mouth.

“So, what do you think about love?” he asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

“I have experienced it.”

“Was it a good experience? Or did it end badly, making you never want to feel like that again?”

“It was the best experience I’ve ever had. And to be honest, I don’t think any woman can make me feel the way she did.”

“And her name is?”

I had to laugh. “I am not going to tell you that. And why do you want to know anyway?”

With a slight shrug, he said, “No reason, really. Curiosity, I suppose. Theo Decker has never had a serious relationship with anyone, as far as the records on you state. If there was one that got away, that might make a good story too.”

“She did not get away. We were young, with our futures ahead of us. We didn’t want to get in each other’s way. Our careers took us in different directions, that’s all. But the love we shared was the purest kind of love. She didn’t have a selfish bone in her body, and she made that happen within me too. She had this way of making me feel good all the time. Honestly, she made me a better man. Even when I had to leave her to pursue the right path for me, she left me with a smile and a wave, the words ‘I love you’ on her sweet, plump, pink lips. She was perfect. No woman has ever stacked up against her.”

“Ah ha!” He jumped to his feet, slamming his hands down hard on my desk. “That’s it. You are pining away for this woman who you felt you had to leave behind. No woman will ever be able to take her place! I knew there was some explanation for your bad boy ways.”

My bad boy ways were kind of a funny thing. I had never acted that way before I met my one and only love. Maybe Randy was right. Maybe I was afraid that no one could live up to the woman I had loved. “Well, none of that matters. And I’m not pining away for anyone. I’m sure she’s not pining away for me either.”

“But how do you know that for sure?” he asked as he sat back down. “Have you tried looking her up on social media?”

“I am much too busy for that sort of thing. I have accounts that one of my assistants takes care of, of course. I have to keep my name out there, and that’s the best way to do it.”

“I wonder if she’s one of your followers,” he mused.

I hadn’t even thought of that. “I don’t know. I have this guy who takes care of that sort of thing, and I don’t ask about things like the names of my followers. But I would assume that if she were following me on any social media, she would reach out. And my assistant would relay the information.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Mostly.” Social media was not on my radar. “Anyway, like I said before, thanks for asking me, but the answer is still no.”

Pulling out his phone, he swiped the screen, then slid it across the desk to me. “Here are some of the women we already have lined up to be on this series. I just thought you should see what you’re missing out on.”

Going through the photos, I had to admit that the ladies were indeed lovely. “I see you’ve found some of the hottest girls on the planet.” Looking up, I asked, “How many billionaire bachelors have signed up for this thing?”

“We have ten, so far. We are only bringing on twelve. So, if you don’t accept now, you might miss the boat on this series. Think about it.”

Ten men in the same league as me had signed up for this thing. Is it possible they know something that I don’t?

My cell rang, and I saw that it was a friend of mine and fellow billionaire investor calling. “This is my friend, Jay Briggs, calling. Let me run this idea by him before I say anything else to you, Randy. He’s a wealthy investor just like me and got married not too long ago. Maybe he can tell me if this is something I should do or not. I respect his opinion on most matters.”

The smile the man wore told me he was happy that I was finally contemplating his offer. But it was not a done deal yet. “Hey, Jay, I’m actually glad you called.”

“Are you not always glad when I call you?” He laughed throatily.

“Yes, I’m always glad to talk to you. So, I have this guy in my office right now, and he has made me this really weird offer.”

“Like what kind of offer?”

“He wants me to come on this televised reality series. The objective is to find a wife out of the many women they bring onto this island.”

“Marry a stranger?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know…”

“Yeah, me neither. I’ve said no.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” he said. “You haven’t had anyone in like forever. As a married man with kids, I can tell you that there’s a lot to be said for having a partner in life. Have you asked him if you can just quit the show if it’s something you don’t like?”

“No, I haven’t asked that.” Looking at Randy, I asked, “So, if I don’t like doing the show, then what happens?”

“You can leave at any time, Theo. We’re not going to force anyone to stay and participate, especially someone who doesn’t want to. And if you don’t pick one girl by the time that’s supposed to happen, you’ll be going home anyway.”

“You know what, Randy, you should have opened with that information.” I could only shake my head at the man. “So, did you hear what the man said, Jay?”

“I think you should try it, Theo. You have nothing to lose. Married life can be great, if you find the right woman for you. And so far, all you have found are wives for the night. Maybe it’s time to go about things another way.”

The grin on Randy’s face told me he was about to be a very happy man once he had my answer. “Come on, Theo. Your friend is right. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain by being on this show.”

“I can’t believe you made me change my mind, Randy. It’s not common for me to switch a no into a yes, at least not this fast.”

“So, that is a yes then?” he asked with hope in his dark eyes.

Nodding, I gave the man what he had come for, “That is a yes. I’m in. Hey, what is this show going to be called anyway?”

“Matches Made in Heaven,” he said with a beaming smile. “You know, ‘cause the island is like paradise, and Heaven is paradise.”

“Well, Jay, I’ll let you know how things go. Hope your advice helps the way it has so far.”

“Me too, Theo. Me too.”

I hope this doesn’t bite me in the a*s.