The Billionaire's Counterfeit Girlfriend by Nadia Lee

vanish. Women didn’t run after he kissed them. They clung to him and rocked against him and ripped his clothes off.
    A part of him wanted to go after her. But then what? It’d get heavy and serious, wouldn’t it? Then what would he do? Act like it was all still easy and fun after he’d run after her like an idiot?
    “Good god, was that Gavin’s secretary?”
    Mark jerked his head upward at his father’s incredulous voice. “When did you get here?” he asked sharply.
    “Just a moment ago. I was going over some details of the party with the groundskeeper. I heard you were seeing her, but I thought it was a joke.”
    “You weren’t at the concert last night,” Mark said, suddenly realizing he hadn’t seen his dad there.
    “Something came up at the last minute, and I had to cancel. Eliza doesn’t mind so long as she gets my money.” Salazar sat down on the blanket and folded his long frame so that he wouldn’t wrinkle his suit. He was one of the few people—other than lawyers and accountants—who wore suits in L.A. “She’s not your type, you know.”
    This was getting old. “You don’t know what my type is.”
    “Of course I do. Young blondes with boob jobs. Everyone knows this.”
    “Am I really that obvious?”
    Salazar shrugged. “You’re young and having fun.”
    “Am I?”
    “Aren’t you?”
    Mark didn’t answer.
    “If it’s not fun, why do it?” Salazar asked.
    Mark mulled that over. “Is it fun for you?”
    A small muscle in Salazar’s cheek ticked. “It’s what I am, Mark.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “We all have our flaws. We can’t change just because we want to. It doesn’t work that way.” Salazar sighed. “If it did, we’d do everything we put our minds to. No matter how much I will it, I’ll never climb Mount Everest.”
    “Is that why you didn’t divorce Mom to be with
her?
”
    Salazar started. But cool indifference quickly masked his face.
    “You cared a great deal for Georgia Love, didn’t you?” Mark said.
    “What makes you say that?”
    “You flinched. And you gave Blaine fifty million,” Mark said, referring to the son his father had had with that other woman. Georgia Love Davis was the only one Salazar had looked up from time to time. She must’ve been special. Salazar wasn’t the type to reminisce about his exes. There were too many to give a damn about.
    “I did care for her, but she wasn’t like most women I dated. She could’ve forgiven all my flaws except my inability to stay faithful. It would’ve wounded her too gravely. I couldn’t do it.”
    Mark felt something bitter and poisonous unfurling inside him. It ran its claws along the old and ugly memories that he’d sworn never to remember again. “But you could do it to Mom.”
    “Your mother knew what she was getting into,” Salazar said, his voice without inflection. “She still chose to marry me, even after having read the prenup. Her lawyer reviewed it, so I’m quite certain she understood exactly what it meant.”
    “She gave you five children.”
    “That too was her choice. I never asked her for so many. I only wanted one son.”
    “Yes. Dane, who doesn’t give a damn about anybody. Sort of like you in a way.”
    “Mark.” There was a sharp warning in Salazar’s voice.
    “Do you give a shit about anybody but yourself?” Mark rose and glared down at his father, who remained seated. “Have you ever wondered why she had five children with you?”
    “Yes, I have.” Salazar’s voice gained in volume and intensity. “She wanted to use them—use
you
—to control me. It’s not my fault she thought wrong. We can’t always change who we are. That’s why we live the lives we live.”
    “That’s not true,” Mark said. “Mom’s changed. She used to smile a lot, spend time with all of us. Now she doesn’t. Something’s snapped, and she rarely smiles, and she rarely spends time with any of us.”
    “Perhaps she’d smile more if you agreed to date the heiress she picked out