Southern Charmed Billionaire (6 page)

“Thanks so much! I got … well, my stylist got it for me.”
 

“Excellent stylist you have.” She laughed politely and tossed her head to the side. “My goodness, where are my manners. Hi, I’m Kendra Banks. And you are?”
 

“Kate. Kate Longhouse.” We shook hands, and she walked away and whispered something to the gossip columnist standing nearby.
 

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Had I just made a mistake talking to this stranger? The room began to spin as I scanned the room and drank another sip of my wine very nervously. I slid my fingers down to the stem thinking about what Brittany had said, and took a sip, feeling irritated as hell.
 

The truth was, I didn’t want to be like a fish out of water. I placed the wine glass down and slid it away. Mental note: always have champagne.
 

“So imagine this for headlines: Kate Longhouse, private chef without a website, but according to Google had a very successful taco truck business that shut down from crippling debt—also known as bankruptcy. Too bad it had raving reviews. So, this poor cook received not only her very first spa treatment the day she accompanies one of the most important men in Charleston, but she also insulted her date’s twin sister, receiving her first cold shoulder instead of a warm welcome by the woman who matters most in this scene.” I blinked taken aback at this woman’s audacity.
 

“You are aware that you just brushed off the most important woman in Charleston's scene aren’t you? Most women would be aware of who Brittany is. But you really are a woman out of her habitat. Tell me, are you an escort?”
 

“No! Why does…why would you even think that?”
 

“People are talking. It’s the most logical answer. We’ve never seen you before.”
 

“So? Atticus and I met in New York.”
 

“Oh? And why he was there?”
 

“On business.”
 

“Doing what?”
 

I shook my head nervously, my heart caught in my throat. I hated lying. I hated it desperately.
 

“It’s honestly none of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
 

“Honey, do not fool yourself. You stand out like a monkey in a high-end shoe store.”
 

“Monkey?” I was taken aback by the choice of words.
 

“You just come off a little…overly enthusiastic in conversations, smiling like you're competing for Miss USA. Not cool, collected, and calm by any means for a seasoned aristocrat. I'm a trained people watcher. It’s what I do for a living. Now, why don’t you really tell me what's going on here, and maybe I can compensate you for your secrets.”
 

I shook my head, trying to keep my insecurities at bay. That was one thing I refused to be: an obvious fish out of water, even if that really was what I was. Did I really look that obvious? Or was she trying to poke the hornets' nest? Maybe this wasn’t for me. Atticus was pulled away by another man as a group of girls huddled around Brittany, and they laughed and talked in hushed tones and looked my way like a flock of hungry wolves.
 

I gulped. I felt so alone. Never had I felt more out of place at an event than right now.
 

I held my chin up high though.
This is a job. A job, I will not let people intimidate me. I will not…
 

“So what
does
your daddy do, Kate Longhouse?” The journalist asked me with
careful eyes.
 

What does my daddy do?
 

It was enough to scare me away fast.
 

I turned on my heel and headed for the closest exit I could find for fresh air I was talking to the wrong people and I didn’t need the very place I was looking to make a brand-new life for myself to be muddied by my father’s sins.
 

Such crooked fairs that landed him in jail, including forgery and major credit card fraud, using my name.
 

Chapter Five
 

Kate
 

I stormed out of the building to a street I’d never been to before. I knew I was in the gaslight district, though, and I would find my way back somehow. Atticus had my phone turned on for me while I was at the spa. If all else failed, I could take another Uber back to Claire’s.
 

I had worked my ass off and kept my dignity to live a respectable life by careful design. But being publically ridiculed wasn’t something I easily tolerated.
 

Fuming and needing to calm down, I welcomed the chilly early spring air against my heated skin.
 

Just because you have more money than God, doesn’t give you the right to treat me like a piece of trash!
 

I passed by a bakery, the warm smell of cookies and bread making my stomach growl. There was only one thing to do to lift me out of this mood: my happy place in the kitchen.
 

With my arms tightly wrapped around me, I scrolled through my map on my new iPhone, which I would have to give back to Atticus, since I just blew my job. A Whole Foods grocery store with raving reviews was just a few blocks away.
 

Half an hour later, I emptied my bank account. All of it. I really needed that check from my cousin to keep me afloat while I found another job. I’d go back to cleaning houses. Anything. I'd rather clean shitty toilets than be treated like shit by a toilet on legs, aka the bitchiest girl I’ve ever met in my life.
 

 My feet hurt in the swanky designer heels, and I totally forgot all about my other clothes. Actually, I had no idea where my actual bag was, including the keys to the apartment. Thrift store purses don’t exactly go well with high-end Couture.
 

I was in a pickle. And my favorite kitten heels! Ugh, I really couldn’t stand to see his face again. I was mortified. Embarrassed that I had stooped so low and let his sister have it like that in front of a gossip writer. But I couldn’t live without my favorite heels. We had a history and had survived so much together.
 

I placed the paper bags down on Claire’s front porch and rang the doorbell,
feeling impatient. The cold had finally caught up with me, and I could see fog in the air from my breath.
 

I knocked between ringing the door bell.
 

“Please be home!” I muttered to nobody.
 

The door slowly opened. Claire’s eyes were red.
 

Great. That Andy better watch his back. Bastard.
 

“Hey, you okay?”
 

“Um, sorry Kate.” She leaned against the door. She barely had it open, as if she were hiding something. “This really isn’t a good time right now. Um, Andy’s here and well, we’re trying to patch things over.”
 

“Seriously?”
 

“Yeah, and well, I really hate to do this, but is there anywhere else you can go tonight? Andy thinks that you’re kind of cramming our space here, and with things on eggshells as they are, I really need to fix this. We can’t let the band break up. I flipped out. I overreacted. I mean, he is a rock star after all. And he was drunk. It just happened, and it doesn’t mean anything.”
 

She eyed my bags.
 

“Three times though?”
 

She shrugged her shoulders.
 

“I’m really sorry. And by the way, you look ah-maz-ing. How the hell did you afford all that?”
 

“It’s complicated.”
 

“Well, I understand that word more than you know. Look, can I just get you an Air B&B or something? Whatever you find, just send me the link and I’ll foot the bill.” She reached for my bag by the door.
 

“I packed this for you.”
 

“So, you’re serious.”
 

“I’m sorry, coz.”
 

She shut the door quickly as I sat down on the step, defeated.
 

“It’s okay.”
 

I sat there quietly for a moment before letting the rant out.
 

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck me.”
 

I mumbled into my hands, unaware of the lightly purring Bugatti that had pulled up in front of me.
 

It was him.
 

“Oh my god.” I stood up weakly, feeling like a coward for just disappearing like that. I didn’t expect for him to follow me. Honestly, I didn’t even know what to expect; I wasn’t thinking.
 

“Are you, um… following me?”
 

“Well, you are wearing company clothing, technically. And jewelry.”
 

“Fuck…me.”
 

His eyes darkened for a flash, and I felt all weak and woozy from the sight of him.
 

“Well, if you want to be that forward. I could jump from first base to home run tonight. Told ya, you want a piece of this diiiiick.” He winked. “You are aware you just asked me to have sex with you? And as I mentioned to you earlier today, that’s a very, very bad word.”
 

Feeling heat soar through my body teasing me of what it would be like to sleep with a man like that; well, my emotions went from 0 to 100 real quick. Real fucking quick. Thanks, Drake.
 

“I’m sorry? Really sorry. I didn’t think about all of that when I left.”
 

“Ah, it’s okay. I had your location turned on when I activated your phone, so tracking you down was easy.” The door opened, and he walked across the front of the car towards me. “Why don’t you allow me to grab your bags. Come with me?”
 

I must have stared at him for a long time; it was one of those out-of-body moments where time stood still. You see, I found myself once again in the presence of this very handsome man, this rich man, who now wanted to take me in his car somewhere. Who just mentioned his dick.
 

“I’m not an ax murderer, I can assure you. I can see you’re cold.”
 

Defeated, I stood there, considering my options. I was just kicked out of my cousin’s house, after all.
 

He opened the car door for me like a perfect gentleman before shutting it smoothly. It was the first time in my life a man had ever done that to me.
 

This was the fanciest, richest car I’d ever taken in my life. The smell of the leather, the sound of the engine, I was afraid to even move in fear I’d mess something up.
 

“Are you running away? Overnight bag?” He eyed everything speculatively.
 

I blew out air, still soaking in the realization that Claire practically kicked me out.
 

“It’s…complicated. But to answer your question, my plan of going to sleep in my normal bedroom was on track until my bag was packed for me. My cousin and her on-again-off-again boyfriend are trying to work it out, and apparently I’m causing tension. Are you sure you’re okay with my groceries back there in the backseat?” I suddenly felt acutely concerned by the richness of the car.
 

“What’s that?”
 

“The food? I doubt you’ve ever had food back there.”
 

He tilted his chin thoughtfully, a small smile playing across his lips.
 

“Guilty. Red-handed. I doubt anything would spill, anyway.”
 

“So where are we going?”
 

“I’m taking you to your new home.”
 

“With you?”
 

“With me.”
 

“Where you live?”
 

“Where you’re going to live. We have to keep this as believable as possible. It’s one of our corporate houses. It’s the least I can do for you. I think you’ll like it a lot.”
 

$1,000.
 

That was the rate I was to earn, was supposed to have earned if I still was employee-assistant. And I blew it.
 

“I’m sorry I ruined my job. But you don’t have to extend the courtesy. I understand if you want to find someone else.”
 

“Ruined? Nothing’s ruined.”
 

“It’s not?”
 

God, his accent was so damn sexy.
 

“The job is still yours, if you’d like it. Brittany got to you before I could prevent it. I wasn’t expecting anything less from her. Told you she was a handful.”
 

“So you mean I’m still to be paid for my 'assistance' tonight?”
 

“Certainly.”
 

“But I left early. I caused a scene for your social circle. I’m actually embarrassed. I don’t…I don’t think I can go back. Especially with what will be printed tomorrow by that gossip columnist.”
 

“Well, I’m used to all of that commotion. And something about you from meeting you last night tells me you’re a tough cookie. You can handle rough waters.”
 

That’s for sure. But I was too tired to answer. Too tired and too in awe of being next to him again. Alone again. I thought back to just meeting him earlier today, nearly twelve hours ago. Shirtless.
 

Fuck. I bit my lip, thinking about seeing his muscles, and the sweat drizzling down his face. The way he wiped his face with a nearby towel, looking as natural as can be. That was the first good look I had at him. And I couldn’t shake it from my mind. I couldn’t believe he said the job was still mine. I was elated. Yes, I needed the money. But I still felt like if I blinked wrong or held my breath for too long, that this strange, easy job would just vanish out from under me. Not because of his doing, but because of my own doing and luck.
 

Maybe Momma’s on the other side in Heaven, pulling her strings. Maybe all these past years the lines have been busy in Angel World to finally be up and running. Because I sure felt like I was getting a pretty good break.