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I stare at her. “What?”
“Holy shit, Alice, he’s a billionaire.”
“What?”
“That’s nine zeroes.”
“What?”
Her giggle holds a touch of hysteria. “Oh my God. What was he doing on Tinder?”
My brain is refusing to compute. “I’m guessing he likes being anonymous. I would think billionaires have trouble with women being after their money, don’t you?”
“Oh Alice. Did you have any idea?”
I think about Saxon’s Aston Martin. The way Kip ordered the most expensive wine on the menu. His Apple watch and brand-new iPhone. His exquisite, tailored shirt. The inner confidence that radiated from him. “I guess there were signs he was wealthy. But that’s different from being…”
“Fuck-off rich?”
“Well, yeah.”
She looks back at her phone. “‘When Kip was twelve years old, he witnessed the death of his cousin, Christian Chevalier, who drowned in a sea cave after a pile of rocks collapsed. Kip swam to get help while his brothers attempted to free his cousin, but Christian died before the paramedics arrived.’”
“Oh, shit. How awful.”
“God, yeah.”
We’re both quiet for a moment, our hearts going out to the young lad who experienced such a traumatic event.
Charlie looks back at her phone. “It says ‘Kip had a relationship with Lesley Nicholls for two years, but they parted in 2021.” She clicks on Lesley’s name. “She’s a model.”
“She texted him while we were together. He said they broke up when she accepted a job in Australia without telling him. Then she came back a year later, and they dated for a few months before she went back. She really hurt his feelings, I think.”
“It says here that she’s getting married now.”
“She wanted to hook up with him last night.”
Charlie’s eyebrows rise. “But he obviously didn’t.”
“No.” I smile. “He chose me.”
“Over a model.” Charlie puts on a stunned face, and we both laugh.
“Does it mention anyone else?” I ask her.
“No. It says ‘Kip is currently single.’” Her lips twitch. “It doesn’t mention you.”
I give a short laugh at the thought of me being linked with a relatively famous billionaire. “What a shock.”
“There’s also a philanthropy and charity section here. ‘Kip is the patron of a number of New Zealand charities, including the Kiwi Cancer Society, and he has received several awards for the development of computer-aided technology in facial prosthetics, which are often required by cancer patients following the removal of facial anatomy. He is also the president of the Chevalier Trust, a family-run, multi-cause charitable enterprise that is active across a broad range of areas including young people and education. Kip himself takes a personal interest in the provision of computer technology in low-decile schools and is the patron of Computers in Homes, which aims to make computers and Internet services available to all New Zealand children.’”
She puts her phone down. “Is he a saint?”
“Most definitely not,” I say, thinking about how he pulled my sweater over my head and told me off for wriggling.
“He sounds amazing though. Are you really not going to see him again?”
“Like I said, we live nine hours away.”
