Oh, he definitely wanted to come in last night.
Stephanie was usually an early riser, but the morning after the date she lay in bed for a long time, pondering everything that had happened the night before.
The date should have been a chore, but it hadn’t been like that. In fact, she had kind of enjoyed herself. The basketball game had been an objectively good time—she’d never have been able to sit courtside on her own, and to see the game up close like that had been a great experience. And then, afterward, going to that steakhouse, getting to dine on expensive food and having it all paid for…
Which I don’t need to feel guilty about. Yes, I’m using him, but he has plenty of money. More than anyone needs. If that wasn’t true, he would have a job, at the very least.
And besides, the fact that he kept trying to get her to take him home was proof enough, in her eyes, that he wasn’t boyfriend material. A gentleman would wait until he was invited.
I mean, it isn’t like he tried to force his way into the house or anything. He was just clearly hoping for it.That wasn’t so bad…
She sighed and sat up in bed, anxious to stop thinking about all this. After she had returned home last night, she had fired off a quick email to Oliver Norcross letting him know what had happened on the date. No doubt there would be a response this morning, and she was eager for validation, for him to tell her that she was doing the job well and that he was going to follow through on his end of the bargain. She also wanted a firm timeline on exactly how long she could expect this arrangement to last—he hadn’t told her that. She needed to know the release date of the app he was working on, because once that came out, she would be able to cut things off with Elijah.
She made her way into the kitchen where she greeted Bruno and started the coffee brewing before turning to her computer to see what her email had to say.
Sure enough, there was a message from Oliver. It had come over last night, about fifteen minutes after the one she had sent. She clicked it open.
Ms. Vincent,
This all sounds great. A very respectable first date. Keep up the good work, and keep me informed. See him at least one more time this week, please. I want to make sure he stays interested in this.
Let me know if you have any questions. If not, we’ll regroup at the beginning of next week as previously discussed.
So he approved of what she had done, and everything was going well. She was about to close the computer when she heard thepingof an incoming message. Glancing down, she saw that this message was also from Oliver Norcross.
Stephanie frowned. What did he have to add? He’d said they weren’t going to talk anymore until next week, but maybe he had forgotten something—something like the timeline on all this. She definitely needed that.
She clicked open the newest email.
Ms. Vincent,
Have you seen this yet? Job remarkably well done! Keep up the great work!
There was a link following the text of the email, and she clicked it.
The website of a local tabloid popped up. She frowned at it, wondering why Oliver Norcross would send her this—and then the relevant words caught her eye.
Son of Business Mogul Oliver Norcross Steps Out with Local Woman.
Stephanie’s heart raced. She clicked open the article. Right there at the top, under the headline, was a photo of herself and Elijah at the basketball game.
She recognized the moment. It was when he had been leaning in to explain to her what a jump ball was. But you couldn’t tell that just from looking at the picture. All you could see was that he was whispering in her ear, and though she didn’t recall feeling any joy or amusement in that moment, the expression on her face looked suspiciously like a smile.
Was I smiling? I suppose it was funny that he thought he had to explain something like that to me.
But in the picture, it didn’t look like she was laughing at him. Her expression was softer than that. Her face was relaxed, her eyes merry. It was the gentle amusement of a joke between two people who really liked one another.
It was a good picture. It really looked like the two of them were on a date—and she hadn’t even been trying to accomplish that. She hadn’t dreamed they were being photographed. This was completely candid, unposed.
She scrolled down to the article.
Elijah Norcross, perennial playboy and son of financier and banking developer Oliver Norcross, was spotted with local business owner Stephanie Vincent, founder of SilkSoft Skincare.
Stephanie was jarred. They had gotten her name? But how? Someone must have used the image to do a search and found her company’s website. If she had known that was going to happen, would she have gone on this date?
A nervous fluttering kicked to life in the pit of her stomach.I didn’t think at all about how this was going to impactmyreputation. What if it makes me look bad and my brand equity is tanked?
Nervously, she read on—but there wasn’t much else about her or her company. They’d stopped at the name. In fact, there wasn’t much else said about yesterday’s date. The tabloid reporter had noted that the two of them seemed close, that they had celebrated together when the Vipers had won the game, and that they had left arm in arm. She could see why Oliver Norcross wasexcited about this article—it was exactly the kind of thing he had hoped they would show in their time together.
