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CHAPTER ONE
Be a good girl andwear something sexy.
Was he joking?
Bella Montgomery stood in front of her closet and perused her options. On one side she had a selection of sensible items. Things she wore to her day job at the museum or around home. Jeans, boring black pants, leggings, and sweaters in a range of blues, grays, and blacks.
On the other side, she had a designer closet filled with labels many women would kill for.
Bella had an inside source.
Her family. Kind of.
More on that later.
Right now, she wondered whether she should mess with Blake, the man she was going on a date with tonight. Clearly his comment, after crashing into her at the museum earlier that day, was a poke at the plain-Jane outfit she’d been wearing.
She glanced at the comfortable, brown flat shoes she’d kicked off when she’d walked in the door and the pinafore dress she’d worn all day. Bella could see why he’d made assumptions about her, but it didn’t make his comment any less rude.
Except for the tiny fact that his words had made my core clench, and I’d barely suppressed my moan as his big frame hovered over me.
Damn him.
Bella flopped down on the bed and tugged the wet towel around her. Her long black hair dripped down her back. She had less than an hour to get dressed and take an Uber to The Red Door restaurant. Yet again she wondered why she was going on this double date.
For her best friend, that’s why.
Bella never believed the story Rhonda had given her. Her blonde-haired friend had been interested in her colleague, Taylor, for nearly a year. Bella had reminded Rhonda she was a successful Wall Street broker and that it wasn’t 1988, so she should just ask him out.
“No. God, no. It’s too awkward. We work together. Taylor is more senior than me and rich. Really rich.” Rhonda sighed.
So?
Bella wasn’t impressed by money and didn’t consider it a reason to date, or not date, someone. If you liked them, go for it. Not that she was an expert. She’d had one boyfriend her whole life excluding her first kiss and a few other short-term crushes while she was in high school. Now at twenty-four, she probably should have dated more, but she hadn’t.
“Rich people are just people with money.” Bella had shrugged. She knew this firsthand. “Plus, you’re hardly standing in line at the food bank, Rhonda. He knows you’re successful, so stop looking for excuses and go for it.”
“I know. I know, you’re right. But what if he laughs at me? What if our banter is just friendly office banter and I’ve read this all wrong?” Rhonda groaned, covering her face. “I would die!”
Bella totally understood the fear of rejection. Most people did. She had no comeback to that, so Rhonda had continued flirting with Taylor and it never went anywhere.
Until now.
Probably.
Taylor had given Rhonda some cockamamie story about his friend Blake. Apparently, he’d seen a photo on her Instagram of the two girls vacationing in Mexico and said he wanted to meet Bella.
Rhonda believed him.
Bella had snorted.
“This is a setup. He wants to take you out.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. But Blake is cute, so will you come? Please.” Rhonda had begged.
Of course, the answer was yes. She’d been excited for her friend.
Obviously, Taylor liked her enough to set up this stupid fake double date so he could cross that friend line. Good for him.
