AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, Cara. How’d the showing go?”
I looked over at my sister and then at my parents. We were all sitting on the porch, bundled up in blankets and sipping red wine. It was enclosed in glass, protecting us from the cold and rainy January night.
Mom clapped her hands together. “Yes, Cara, we’ve been dying to hear! How was Danny?”
Katie glared. “I didn’t ask aboutDanny. I asked aboutthe showing.”
“Same difference!”
I chewed on my lower lip. I’d managed to avoid the subject during dinner. I didn’t know where to begin with the showing. The more I thought about it on the way over, the more surreal it felt. Losing my job, a near-death experience, a sexy DILF, and a mysterious proposition, all in the span of half an hour? I didn’t know where to begin. “It was good, I think.”
Katie laughed. “You think?”
“Well, I loved the building. It’s just perfect. I mean, it needs a lot of work, but I knew that going in. I was ready to try and make a deal today, but there was another buyer there. Danny didn’t tell me about that.”
Dad shrugged. “That’s the way it works, kiddo.”
“Right, but from our conversations, he made it seem like it was aprivateshowing. So imagine my surprise when another guy showed up. And not just like a normal person. Someone with money.”
Katie leaned in. “How’d you know he has money?”
I thought about the man who’d saved my life. His whole being screamed the wordexpensive. From his car to the scent of his cologne to the cut of his coat, it was obvious. “I could just tell. The rest of the time, I was just stumbling over myself and didn’t know what to say. I looked pathetic.”
“Oh, honey…” Mom wrapped her arm around me and squeezed me close to her. “I’m sure it wasn’t all that bad.”
“It was bad enough that the guy offered to teach me the art of negotiation.”
Katie’s expression turned with disgust. “That’ssocondescending!”
“Maybe. I don’t know. He wasn’t a total jerk about it. He actually suggested we get coffee on Monday.”
Dad frowned. “To teach you how to negotiate?”
To be honest, I didn’t know exactly what the man wanted from me. I hadn’t had an opportunity to ask any questions before he waltzed off to his car, leaving me completely bewildered.
Maybe we can help each other? What the hell does that mean?
If this guy thought I was going to do some kinky sexual favors for him in exchange for…well, I didn’t even know what, he had another thing coming.
“I guess?”
“What’s his name?” Katie whipped out her phone.Here she goes with the googling. She was a quintessential twentysomething, eager to do FBI level investigation on anyone with just a first name and a few keywords.
“Gosh. You know, I’ve forgotten. Something with aT, maybe?” From the moment I left the showing, the business card felt heavy in my pocket. “Wait. I’ve got his business card right here.” I reached into my jeans and whipped it out.
Katie snatched it from me and read. Her eyes went wide. “Holy shit, Car.”
“Language, Katie,” Dad scolded.
“You metWesley Taves?”
I looked around. I didn’t know the name, but it was clear everyone else did. “Should I know who that is?”
“Um, yeah! He’s only, like, one of the biggest business moguls of the twenty-first century! Look!” She quickly tapped something out on her phone and then held it up to me.
There I was, face-to-face with the man who had saved me, except he was on the cover ofTimemagazine. His sandy hair was coiffed perfectly, like it had been effortlessly tousled by a beachy breeze, and his dark brown eyes intrigued me in a way I’d never experienced. He was captivating. The title read, “Wesley Taves: The World’s Best Billionaire.”
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. “Billionaire?! He’s a —”
