Chapter Five
Josh was regretting this dinner date as his twin more and more. The restaurant was too posh. He had to wear a damn monkey suit and the portions were tiny. Not only that, Hailey, sitting across from him, looked like a perky princess of sunshine, and he couldn’t stop soaking her in. Dammit. The woman was glowing, animated and enthusiastic. She was never like that with him, only for billionaire Jake. With Josh, she was always huffy with her nose in the air.
He might’ve had a little something to do with that.
She was so easy to rile up, and he couldn’t seem to help himself. But tonight, he was being Jake, and she was all smiling enthusiasm to every boring fact he spit out about his fancy lifestyle. He did it just to see how much she was into the money thing and, boy, was she ever. He fought the urge to loosen his tie before he laid it on thick, bragging about his six-thousand-square-foot home with a pool and a view of the bay. How he’d hired the best architect, best interior designer, blah, blah, blah.
“That sounds wonderful,” Hailey enthused.
He was both miffed with her rapt attention to all this boring shit and in the throes of unwanted lust. Her white dress was ruffled on top and off-the-shoulder, exposing creamy shoulders that he wanted to sink his teeth into. He hadn’t missed the way the dress clung to her perfect body—full breasts, curvy hips and ass, shapely legs. He scowled and pulled out his cell phone. As usual, Hailey had him teetering between two extremes, an uncomfortable feeling for his purposefully laid-back life. “You’ll love this,” he told her, swiping through the photos until he got to the one of his brother on his huge yacht. He showed it to her.
“Wow! So cool!” she exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to try sailing.”
Even he knew you didn’t sail on a yacht. “It’s more like boating. No sail, see?”
She flushed pink all the way to her neck. “Of course. I don’t know the first thing about boats. Tell me more about Dat Cloud.”
He stifled a groan. More boring shit. What did you think it would be like impersonating your twin? Jake had a damn boring job, though the lifestyle wasn’t bad. He told her what he could remember about Dat Cloud, including the impressive fact that the top-secret underpinnings of their application still hadn’t been replicated successfully anywhere. Though those motherfuckers at competing firms tried. She was all smiles and enthusiasm, so he went on with Dat Cloud’s uses both domestically and abroad. He was putting himself to sleep.
Dammit. He’d wanted to teach her a lesson. A big reveal to show her that lowly bartenders were just as good to hang with as gold-plated guys, but she was proving to really like the glitter. That automatically put her out of the running for his brother. Jake had his share of gold diggers. With a perverse sense of justice, he decided not to tell her who he really was at the end of the date. He wasn’t a fan of beauty queens looking for the next ladder up to money. Oh, yeah, he’d looked her up. She had multiple tiaras to her name. He hated that whole pageant business. It made women obsessed with their looks. He didn’t have to look any further than his own beauty-queen mom bailing on her six kids for greener pastures as a prime example.
She was chattering on now about her dreams of travel. He’d seen more than enough of the world and was happy to plant himself in the sleepy small town of Clover Park.
“Though I confess I haven’t made it west of the Mississippi,” she said, leaning forward in a conspiratorial whisper. He stared at her soft pink lips. At least they looked soft and probably tasted sweet. He forced his eyes back to hers. “Maybe I could visit you one day in California and see Dat Cloud headquarters.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “That was presumptuous.”
“Why the hell not,” he said, shoving a microscopic piece of prime rib in his mouth. It came like that, all tiny thin slices in a tiny white ramekin. Most of his plate was white space. “Easy enough with my private jet.”
Her light blue eyes widened. “Where do you like to travel?”
“Wherever the wind takes me,” he replied dryly.
She tossed her light red hair over one bare smooth shoulder. Raw lust shot through him. He shifted uncomfortably and forced himself to focus on the fact that the dress was probably silk, some expensive designer number. He preferred flannel shirts, worn tees, and ripped jeans. He and Hailey were nothing alike. What was he doing here? Why couldn’t he keep away from her?
But his body knew. It was an itch that wouldn’t let up, no matter how much he tried to deny it. He couldn’t deny her requests to go to weddings, though he made a big deal of it, like it was a hardship on account of the monkey suit and all that lovey-dovey business he had to sit through. The first time she’d asked, three months ago, he’d said she’d have to make it worth his while in an admittedly piss-poor attempt at flirting. She’d countered that she’d only asked him out in a professional capacity and offered cash up front for his time. Feeling like a fool for his uncharacteristic awkwardness with a beautiful woman, he took the cash. And kept taking it for two more weddings and three platonic blind dates whenever she snapped her fingers. He should probably see a shrink or something. Clearly he was insane to want someone that he didn’t even like.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear in a self-conscious gesture.
Except maybe he kinda did like her.
“That must be nice to have no limits on travel like that,” she said, daintily slicing a piece of chicken. Her manners were polished, her movements always graceful and poised. Everything about her said upper-class beauty queen. “Just wherever the wind takes you,” she said dreamily. “I’d definitely head to Paris and then Italy, Spain, ooh, maybe Morocco too.”
He inclined his head. “Been to all those places.” And worse.
“Tell me all about Paris,” she said.
“I’d much rather hear where you’ve traveled.” He was sick of hearing himself brag about Jake.
She flushed pink. “It’s nothing special.”
“Tell me anyway.”
She started chattering about Connecticut, a trip to Atlantic City when she turned twenty-one, and a field trip to Washington, DC, with her eighth-grade class, all places within driving distance. Strange. He would’ve thought with all the pageants and money she’d won, not to mention her fancy designer duds, she would’ve done a lot of luxury travel. A tickling of unease went through him. Could she afford to pay him for wedding dates and blind dates all in the name of her business? Was that tax deductible? She paid him in cash, and he stuffed it in a shoebox on the top of his closet. To give it back meant admitting he couldn’t stop hanging around her, and he’d confess only with a knife to the throat that he took out those other women for a purely platonic blind date just to make her jealous.
He finished his wine in one long swallow as she kept talking. He’d never considered spending her money, even though he was still saving for his dream—a bar with good food, pool tables, and a dance floor with an old-fashioned jukebox. He wouldn’t hit up Jake for the funds, and he wouldn’t use her money because he needed to know the bar was all his. He consoled himself with the knowledge the money would go back to her one day, he just hadn’t worked out how.
He clamped his mouth shut against the questions he had about her and her financial situation, unwilling to learn more about her as Jake. This was fucked up. He’d finish dinner, drop her off, and that would be the end of it.
No more platonic blind dates at her request.
No more weddings either.
He looked away from her bright blue eyes, her pink-tinged cheeks, her rosy mouth, her long neck, her exposed delicate collarbone, and scowled.
He never should’ve tangled with her in the first place.
~ ~ ~
Hailey could feel her mouth getting away from her, babbling on and on, but Jake was so quiet now, and she’d never been to such a fancy restaurant. There was actually a man just in charge of the wine! She feared the superwealthy patrons would know she was wearing last season’s dress. She shopped at the consignment shop in Greenport religiously every Tuesday when they marked stuff down to make room for the next batch of donations. She knew her designers and what would look good on her, even if they were a season or two out of date. She’d grown up poor, the only child of a single mom (a former model turned high-end boutique sales clerk who regularly flaked on work), and had clawed her way up ever since. Beauty pageants had taught her poise and composure, and the winnings had helped pay her way through college.
She was flagging in her enthusiasm. She finished her glass of ridiculously expensive chardonnay that cost more than her entire outfit. For one glass! She scrambled to think of another conversation starter. She’d accepted his invitation for dinner, through a text from Josh, for the rare chance to pick the brain of a really successful businessman. She wanted to know more about his business and how he built it up. She wanted to talk profit and loss, when he’d scaled up with employees, when he’d ramped up investment back in the business, at what point he’d decided to take the company public, but he showed zero interest in the topic. She couldn’t believe he ran a global company with so little enthusiasm for the task. If she were to build her wedding planning business as big as she wanted, making it the go-to destination of every bride’s dream, why, she’d be gushing!
She hated to admit it, but Jake was kind of…boring. And a little bit braggy about his mansion and his yacht.
She shut up for the first time all night and focused on finishing her dinner of roast chicken, five tiny potatoes, and three baby carrots. The portions were so tiny here. She figured it was to make sure people would have room for dessert. Though she wasn’t so sure she wanted to extend dinner. Her mind wandered to the details she had to firm up for the Wilson-Cruz wedding. She stifled a yawn, realized she was being rude, and offered a smile to her boring companion.
He gave her a half-smile, only pulling up one corner of his mouth. He did have nice soulful deep brown eyes. Reminded her of Josh with the depth of intelligence to them, the way he held her gaze as he spoke. He didn’t smile as much as Josh did, though. Of course, Josh’s smiles were only because he was teasing her, or she was handing him cold hard cash to be her wedding date. Yes, Josh was her paid escort. She needed dependable dates to weddings, and he needed cash. Seriously, she couldn’t be a professional matchmaking wedding planner and always show up alone at weddings. She was too busy building a business from the ground up and a secure future for herself to spend any time looking for love. Josh was safe. He understood it was a professional transaction. They’d happened upon the arrangement when she’d desperately needed a date to Julia’s wedding, the most important one of her career so far because Julia was a globally bestselling author and movie star Claire would be in attendance. (The guy Hailey was supposed to go with totally flaked.) She’d asked Josh, who’d obviously needed some incentive to attend a wedding—it really was an event more for the bride—so she’d offered cash. He’d said it would come in handy for his own future business. This pleased her. Two businesspeople taking care of business. She was building the foundation of her wedding planning business, and Josh was saving money for the bar he wanted to open one day.
She took a sip of wine. Between the bestselling author and the movie star, Hailey had been sure Clover Park would become the wedding destination. Not so much. Business was steady, but hadn’t exploded as she’d hoped. In any case, she appreciated Josh’s dependability and punctuality. The guys her age, early twenties, were so unreliable. Half the time they didn’t show, or they’d show but really late. Josh conveniently lived and worked in town. Also, he was easy on the eyes, though she’d admit it only at gunpoint.
Hanging on the edge of a cliff.
By her fingernails.
Because he was an obnoxious, arrogant cad. Until he got his money, then he was a charming gentleman. See? Cad.
She finished her tiny dinner. Josh was such a charming, gentlemanly paid escort, she’d come up with the idea of loaning him out to singles looking for love, hoping he’d boost their confidence enough to spark a love quest. Not with him, of course, they were both up front with the single ladies that the date would be fun and only one time. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement that she and Josh had.
She finished her wine while Jake dug around for more meat in the tiny ramekin. She felt good about her two-year strong business. Even the bit with Josh. She both hated his teasing at the end of every wedding date and looked forward to it. She’d always been a woman of contradictions. She believed women should be a little mysterious. It was something her mom had taught her at an early age. Though Josh brought out more of her unmysterious practical self. He pushed all her buttons—hot, bothered, and not going there. She was a professional Love Junkie. It said so on her card.
Three months ago, when Josh had been her escort for the first time at Julia and Angelo’s wedding, he let slip a little tidbit that he had brothers and that got her pumped because her singles book club desperately needed men! He was suddenly immensely useful to her. Indispensable, really. If she didn’t keep up a constant stream of weddings, she’d lose her job. This was her dream gig—planning the happiest day in a couple’s life, making sure the event ran smoothly, all while living in her beloved hometown—and she wanted to keep it. Clover Park had the gorgeous mansion and the homegrown businesses to support weddings. The problem was the residents were mostly families. She needed an influx of single men. She already had five eligible single women in book club, some from Clover Park and some from nearby towns, ready and waiting for love. Their happy-ever-afters were in her capable hands.
“Wait!” she’d called after Josh. He was leaving their wedding date because his time was up. “I want to hear about your brothers.”
He turned. “Are you extending our date past the originally agreed four hours? That sounds like overtime.”
She ignored that obnoxious remark. Like she had to pay him just to talk to her! “Can I meet them?”
“No.”
She rushed to his side, eager to know more. “What are their names?”
He ticked them off on his fingers. “No, no, no, and no.”
“So there’s four of them?”
“Maybe.”
“Can’t you tell me anything?” she asked in exasperation.
He cocked his head. “What’s it worth to ya?”
She checked her purse. Seven dollars left. “Five dollars.”
“You insult me.”
“Seven.”
“Ha!”
She frowned and then immediately corrected to a neutral expression so she wouldn’t get frown lines. “That’s all I have.”
He leaned close. “Well, princess, there are other ways of paying up.” The “princess” wasn’t a compliment. It was a dig at how perky she was, how goody-goody. She was merely a pleasant person. This obnoxious arrogant cad was making her think of taking up yoga just to keep her cool. Ohm. Bastard. As if she had the time.
At the hot look in his eyes, she swallowed hard. She was not going to fall into that leading trap of what “other” ways she might pay up. He was just teasing her again, trying to get her worked up, and she refused to take the bait.
He told her anyway. “One kiss for one question answered.”
He was a scoundrel. Their arrangement was purely professional. He knew she’d never take him up on that. Right? They’d agreed the wedding date was good for both of their business plans.
She went straight for the questions. Let him think he’d get his devious payment later. “How many brothers? Are they single? And how old?”
He grinned. “That’s three questions. That’ll cost more, and I want payment up front.”
Darn. She’d planned on bailing right after she found out what she needed to know.
He leered at her just to annoy her.
“Fine!” she said, tossing her purse over her shoulder. “Forget it! I’ll ask Mad.” That was his younger sister, who was in singles book club. They were friends. Sort of.
“Good luck with that,” Josh said. “Mad is a vault.” His lips played at a smile. “Last chance.”
“I’ll call you the next time I need your services,” she said coolly.
“Bring cash,” he said and left.
She blinked, suddenly returning to the present. Jake was standing at her side, waiting for her to get up. She had to stop daydreaming about work. He must’ve already paid, and she hadn’t even noticed.
She stood. “Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome.”
He held her by the elbow with a light and surprisingly warm touch, guiding her out of the restaurant. It was the kind of gentlemanly move Josh always did. She wondered how Josh’s date was going tonight with Claire. She kinda wished she were enjoying a quiet little picnic in the woods right about now.
They stepped out onto the sidewalk where the limo they’d arrived in was waiting. Jake must’ve called the driver while she was daydreaming. The city was busy with people and cars and light, and it made her tired. She just wanted to get home to her cozy basement apartment in Clover Park. It was her woman cave filled with romance novels, romantic movies, scented candles, and stacks of bridal magazines. The furniture was secondhand, the cushions of the floral sofa nice and mushy, and the scarred wood of the coffee table and bookcases felt well loved by the generations. Like she was carrying on history just by having them.
She suddenly realized he was standing very close to her, and he smelled so good. Like the warm spice aftershave Josh wore when he bothered to shave. Twins probably favored similar products. She stepped back, a little startled to find she wanted to stay close after that incredibly boring business dinner.
He gazed at her for a long moment, the intense heat in those brown eyes making her breath catch. He’d seemed so standoffish before.
He turned abruptly to open the limo door for her. She got in, careful to keep her dress discreetly tucked around her, and he shut the door behind her.
She powered down the window. “Aren’t you coming?”
A muscle ticked in his clenched jaw. Maybe something came up with work while she was in la-la land. “I’ll be staying in the city. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” she said. “Thanks again for dinner.”
He tapped the roof of the car, and the driver pulled away from the curb. Huh. That was kinda strange. She turned in her seat, watching him, hands in his pockets, walking in the opposite direction.
She faced front. What a night. She watched the bright lights of the city zoom past on the limo ride home and had to admit her paid escort dates with Josh were far superior to having dinner with his twin. One thing she could say about Josh, no matter how much he teased, she was never bored. Not that she thought dinner with Jake was a date. It had been business for her, one entrepreneur to another, talking shop. At least that was what she’d hoped it would be.
She sighed and slid off her heels, flexing her feet. She’d created her dream job herself and here she was two years later, still going strong. And the best was yet to come. Especially once she got Josh to introduce her to all those Campbells! She just hoped they weren’t as obnoxious as Josh or as boring as Jake or as hostile as Mad.
Hmm…maybe she needed a new plan.