The Billionaire's Mistaken Match ( A BWWM Romance) (9 page)

              Back at the pier, Reid stood in utter shock at what had just happened. That had been Paloma. How in the world, with all the people in this town, had she found him here? It was one hell of a coincidence. One look at her and all the joy he had felt those couple of days he saw here came flooding back, as did all the heartache her little lies had caused him.

“Reid, sweetie, are you okay?” Jovie’s voice brought him back to the present.

Everyone else was over the spectacle of the women fleeing the beer garden, but Reid still stood there like he was expecting something more. He eased himself back down into his seat and pushed the funnel cake away from him. His appetite was gone. He downed what was left of his beer and flagged down a waiter for another one.

              “I’m okay. The commotion startled me is all.”

              “Oh good.  Do you mind if I order another glass of wine?” She was on her third, but at that point, he was far from caring.

              “No, go ahead.” When the waiter made his way back to the table with their orders, Reid took a long pull on his beer. “I’m sorry. What were we talking about?” He tried desperately to focus back on Jovie.

              “I was just asking you if maybe you wanted to go shopping with me. I know it’s not really a man’s favorite pastime, but I wanted to try on some new outfits and I thought you wouldn’t mind helping me make a choice.”

Reid nodded absently. He didn’t care about shopping. In fact, he was beginning to grow tired of Jovie. The first date had gone well, but now she would prattle on about a million different things that involved her and her alone. Selfishness annoyed him.

              “Hey, I’ve got a charity thing coming up next weekend. Would you like to go with me?”

              “Like a ball?” Her eyes glittered with excitement at the thought of getting to dress up and hobnob with the rich crowds. Reid could almost see diamonds in her eyes as she gazed at all the glitzy gems adorning the ears and wrists of those in attendance. There it was, what he was hoping he wouldn’t see. The more time he spent with her, the more he started to feel like something was off with Jovie.

              “No, nothing so dull as that. Actually, it’s a basketball tournament for the orphan home. We are holding a tourney of kids against donors to help raise even more money. They are also inviting potential adopters to come out and meet the kids in hopes that a few of them will find homes. It’s going to be fun and the kids are simply amazing.”

              “Kids? What day did you say that was?”

              “Saturday. A week from today. At 4:30 is when the games start so I should be there at around two.”

              Jovie screwed up her face in concentration, then took a sip of her wine. “I’m sorry. I actually have an event of my own that day. We are doing a huge sale in my store and I can’t be pulled away. I’d love to go, really, but I’m the owner after all.” Reid knew it was a lie, but he wasn’t going to fight her on it.

              “Oh, that’s a shame. Maybe next time.” He finished his beer and stood from the table. “I’d like to go do some looking around. Come on.” He held his hand out to her and she took it, allowing him to pull her up. They eased out of the beer garden and onto the pier. Instead of heading onto the beach, they moved further down the pier, towards the expanse of water at the end of the wooden planks. “Will you look at that. That is a beauty to behold there.” The water beneath them rolled and roiled, tossing small white caps into the air.

              “It’s breathtaking. This is the kind of water I would love to be on. My dad’s boat was one of the bigger ones and it handled this choppy water with no problem. We would ride out the sea like we were on a large roller coaster, daring Poseidon himself to come and knock us overboard.”

Reid let her prattle on while he stared out over the sea. He had stopped listening and lost himself in his thoughts. The gulls swooped down, fighting each other over the little scraps of food left on the beach. Food. There it was again. He could never think of food without thinking of her. She had made food sound sensual and sexy and more than just fuel.

              “I’m hungry.”

Jovie looked at him.

He must have interrupted her because she had an annoyed look on her face. “I really feel like something homey. Like maybe a chicken fried steak. Corn on the cob sounds good too. Let’s go get something.”

              “Right now?”

              “Well, yeah. I mean. I’m hungry.”

              Jovie huffed, clearly not at all pleased by the current situation. “I’m enjoying the pier.”

Reid looked at her, trying to figure out when she turned into a self-absorbed witch or if she had always been so and he was just too sorry to see it.

Finally she sighed. “Okay, if you’re that hungry, let’s go. The corn really does sound good. Your turn to buy, right?” Reid nodded and turned around, not waiting for her to attach herself to him again.

He had reverted back to his thought, thinking only about Paloma and trying to compare her lie to the wretchedness of every other woman he had come across on the site. Sure, Paloma had lied about having money, or a job even….or a place to live, but when they had talked, she had been genuine and open. He had been able to see inside of her to that little golden nugget that everyone shielded and kept safe because exposing it could tear out your heart. He had even shown her his. He had never been that comfortable with anyone. He couldn’t even bring himself to even kiss Jovie, even thought they had a good enough time together, he just couldn’t open up to her and get down to the deep and nitty gritty of things. When they got back to his car, Jovie heaved another sigh. Because of the nice day he had opted for the convertible.

At first she was enchanted with the little car, but now she seemed upset. She reached into her bag and pulled out a hair tie, muttering about the inconvenience of having to tie up her hair in order to have it be manageable in any way when they stopped. Reid considered leaving without her, but then realized that she, too, could just be hungry and be having a hard time concentrating. Athletic people like they were needed to eat a lot after all.

              He opened the door for her and made sure she was in before closing it. She muttered her thanks and he trotted over to his side. Before he got in, he pulled out his phone and searched for the best chicken fried steak in the city. With five-star reviews in hand he hit the gas and shot out away from the curb. The drive was a short one and they didn’t really have time to chat, nor was inclined to do so. Before long they pulled up in front of a run-down old house that seemed to serve as both the restaurant and a home. A young black man met them at their car and opened the door for Jovie.

              “Welcome, sir. We don’t get many in these parts with swift little race cars like that one.”

              Reid simply smiled at the man. “Well, I hear tell that you’ve got the best chicken fried steak in town and I’ve come to test it out for myself.”

              “My gran will be mighty happy to have someone like you in her kitchen. Come on in, you two, I’ll get you the best seat in the house.” He smiled, flashing one gold capped tooth.

Reid looked around the small dust lot. It was full of old pickups and rusted out cars from the 70s. Each one had its own little bit of class and personality and he wanted to stroll among them and take a closer look at them. Jovie caught his eye.

              “Is this really where you want to eat? It’s a rundown little shanty. There probably hasn’t been a health code inspection in this place in years.”

              Reid looked right at her then. “If you don’t care to join me, I can call you a cab and have you picked up. I’m staying.”

Jovie huffed but followed Reid into the house.

The young man had stopped just inside the door to wait for them. It was warm in the house. The ovens probably heated up the area and it didn’t seem to have any air conditioning to speak of. They were led through the house, which was packed with people eating what looked like mountains of food, and through another door out onto a covered and screened in patio. After the heat of the house, the breeze was nice and cool and made Reid feel instantly better.

              “Here you are, ma’am.” The young man pulled out the seat for Jovie. She sat and allowed him to slide her in to the table. Reid took his own seat. “Now, what can I get you two? Do you want to start off with drinks or go ahead and put in your order? Silly, me, let me grab you some menus.”

              “No need. I think I already know what I want.”

              “Chicken fried steak, right?”

              “Right, with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob.”

              “That’s our most famous meal. You’ve come to the right place for food like that. What about a drink?”

              “What do you recommend?”

              “Sweet tea is the only thing I’d recommend with Gran’s chicken fry.”

              “Sweet tea it is, then. Thank you.”

              “And for you miss?”

              “I’ll just have a salad with ranch and some water if you don’t mind.”

The boy nodded and took off back into the house.

              “That’s all you want?”

Jovie shrugged.

Reid leaned back in his chair, relishing the breeze and taking in all the smells that poured from inside the home. He was mildly surprised when his phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket to check the readout. “Winslow,” he said into the receiver.

              “Hey, Mr. Winslow, it’s Vivi. I’m calling today to do a simple follow-up. I haven’t heard from you in some time, so I assume it’s going well, but I still thought I’d touch base with you. How are you two getting along?” Reid glanced over at Jovie, who was picking idly at her nails and clearly trying not to touch anything. 

“Excuse me,” he said to her, making his way back through the house and out to the car again. “To be honest, Vivi, it’s not going so well. She was alright at first, but now that it’s been a couple dates, I’m starting to see that she’s just like everyone else. I’d just leave and go back to Paloma but I’m still really upset with her over her lie.”

“I’m sorry, what? I thought you were still with Paloma, what is going on?”

“No, I haven’t seen her in nearly two weeks.”

“You are going to have to elaborate.”

“Okay, I called your office to tell you how great it was going with Paloma, but you weren’t in. I didn’t expect you to be, it was late.” Reid was pacing in the lot now, kicking up dirt and covering his shoes. “Well, someone picked up and I told her how great Paloma was and how well things were going. She then told me that Paloma hadn’t passed the vetting and that she had no money and not even a home. I felt utterly betrayed and I cut things off with her. The assistant set me up with another girl. It went alright at first, but now I’m not so sure.”

“An assistant set you up?” There was the sound of typing. “Oh my. Paloma didn’t pass the vetting. Reid, I’m so sorry about that. I took a chance and went for it. I am terribly, terribly sorry.”

“The thing is I really liked Paloma. We hit is off so well. I was just betrayed at her lies. But she didn’t lie directly to me, she lied to you. The more I think about it, the less angry I am.”

“Who is this woman you were set up with instead?”

“Her name is Jovie Margaux.” There was silence on the line for some time.

“I don’t have a Jovie in my system.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I think she set you up. I don’t know what happened. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

“No, Vivi. I’ll get to the bottom of it.” Anger bubbled up inside him. He knew his face was red and he wouldn’t be surprised if he had steam coming out of his ears. He walked back into the restaurant and straight into the kitchen, startling the old woman at the oven. “I’m sorry to do this, but something’s come up. I was going to eat out on the porch, but now I’ve got to run. Can I get my food to go?”

The old woman scrunched up her lined face in a huge smile and motioned to the plate of food that sat steaming on the counter. She handed him a to-go box and he spooned his food and Jovie’s salad into it. “Thank you so much. I apologize for this. I hope this makes up for it.” He dug into his pocket and pulled a hundred dollar bill out, handing it to her. Her smile fell and then returned instantly.

“Bless you, young man.”  He passed the young waiter on his way out and asked him to send his date to the front of the restaurant. The boy agreed and Reid returned to the car. When she appeared, she looked utterly confused.

“What’s going on?”

“I thought about it and you were right, that place was a little like a shack. I grabbed our food to go and thought maybe we would eat at your place or something.” Her face brightened immediately. He drove through the streets back to her place. He was barely able to keep his anger under control but he didn’t want to fight in the car. He parked in front of her place, but didn’t get out. “Jovie, how did you get into the system?”

“What?”

“How did you get hooked up with me? Do you have a friend inside Lovers?”