AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d found Pip’s profile on Divinely Yours, a dating app for the wealthy and elite. Not quite A-listers, but not D either. The app was recommended to her about a year ago by a well-meaning friend. At the time she’d shrugged it off, too focused on the ThomKnox tablet launch to dream of throwing herself to the wolves on a dating app. But after filling out Taylor’s RSVP card under duress, Gia decided that the dating app might not be the worst idea ever.
Tonight, she’d find out.
She spotted Denver the moment he breezed through the entrance. He carried with him a certain amount of charisma that turned more than her head. As the hostess walked him over, Gia tested her own reaction. She’d seen photos, and videos, online, but this was Denver Pippen in the flesh. That was always a different experience.
His longish dark blond hair was messy and wavy. He wore a baggy T-shirt and jeans—casual but designer, and Converse sneakers. He shot her a smile that took up most of his face in the most charming way imaginable.
Yes. He’d do nicely.
“You must be Pip,” she said, offering her hand.
She hadn’t expected a demure kiss to the hand and wasn’t disappointed. Instead he said her first name, dragging it into a prolonged “Jee-ahh” and kissed her on the cheek.
When he backed away she noticed the silver scar on his eyebrow, and another on his upper lip. She knew from videos of his skateboarding stunts that Denver also had plenty of scars on his upper arms and calves. Somehow, on him, the messy hair and scar combo worked.
“Fancy place.” His lazy speech was half surfer dude and half stoner.
“I ordered already. I’m terribly impatient.” She fingered the stem of her martini.
“Rad.” He flagged down a waitress and ordered a beer. He was polite and brought forth a genuine smile from the waitress. Nice. Had he been rude, Gia would have had to leave and gone back to square one. He was doing well so far.
“So, ThomKnox. Computers. Cell phones. All that techy stuff.” He wiggled his fingers as if he were talking about sorcery instead.
“That’s the gist of it.”
“What’s your jam over there?”
“I run the marketing department.”
“Rad.”
She sipped her martini, hiding a smile. Rad, indeed. She’d always thought that with her MIT degree she’d be running the tech team, but that position had gone to Jay.
Her father had assured her that Jayson was the right fit, and that he’d preferred Gia to be in a higher position, one of more prestige at ThomKnox. But when Jack’s own CEO position had come up for grabs, Gia was content to let her brothers duke it out. Literally, as it were.
Newly divorced, she’d cashed in on another interest and opted to run Marketing instead. On good days she stood behind her decision to nurture her need to lie low. On bad days, she wished she’d insisted on taking over the department she loved.
Pip rapped his knuckles on their table to the beat of the music and drew her from her musings. With her eyes, she traced the scars on his hands.
“How did skateboarding become a passion?” she asked.
“My dad bought me a board when I was twelve. He used to do it. He was killer. Once I landed my first big jump, I was hooked.” He held up one injured hand, where his middle finger bent at an unnatural angle. “Never deterred by danger.”
“I guess not.” From what she’d read on his Wikipedia page, Denver Pippen had broken bones. A lot of them. “Once I crashed, I’d be done. I’m not much of a risk taker.”
She winced at the truth behind that admission, recalling the way she’d ducked out of the tech department after the divorce. She’d loved her job, but after she and Jayson split she couldn’t bear to be “under” his authority another second. She needed space, and while she didn’t have it in physical form, since her office was still on the tech floor, at least they weren’t quibbling over who ran the weekly meetings.
“Why would you risk ruining those beautiful brains?” Denver flipped his palm over and motioned for her hand. Intrigued, she slipped her hand into his. Rough. Calloused. “I looked you up. MIT, smarty-pants. You’re the prize Knox. So why’d you swipe on my mug on Divinely Yours?”
Good question. She’d waded through a sea of billionaires, millionaires, actors and video game creators. Pip was wildly different from someone she would normally choose—different from who anyone would choose for her. Pip was a guy who would be a good short-term solution to a problem. Since she wasn’t ready to submerge herself entirely into the dating pool, she figured he’d be a perfectly good date to the wedding. He wouldn’t have the wrong impression about how serious they were, and he’d likely walk away without looking back.
Instead of telling him he was a convenient solution, she went with a more palatable answer. “I liked your face.”
He grinned. It was a handsome face.
“I like your face, too, Jee-ahh. So what’s up? Drinks on a Monday at six o’clock? This screams trial.” He drank from his beer glass. “What’s the real gig?”
He was sharper than he wanted others to believe. And direct.
