Page 22 of Bargain with the Bachelor
I shook my head. “Nah. She’s not interested.”
Hap waggled his brows. “Ialwaysthought she was interested.”
Seeing my instant glower, he clarified quickly. “In you, dude, not in me. Whoa—get a grip. You’re dopier than Dopey when it comes to that girl.” He hooked his thumb at Josh.
“I hate that nickname,” Josh said in an I’ve-told-you-this-a-thousand-times tone.
One of our best friends from high school, Josh was literally a genius, but sometimes the minutiae of real life eluded his understanding.
In other words, he could be a real airhead. He could finish a thick book in an hour and write complex code like he was making a grocery list, but he often wore mismatched clothes and almost never got a joke.
“Sorry, Josh,” I said before turning back to Hap. “You’re wrong. She wasn’t interested then, and she’s not interested now. I blew it today at lunch. I was just as tongue-tied and awkward as I was back in high school. I think I might have even insulted her. There’s no hope.”
Hap slapped his own leg. “Iknewsomething was wrong. You didn’t even gripe about that bag of nasty fast food on the coffee table.”
“Hey—” Reid wore his usual glower. “Those weremyclam cakes, and they were damn good.”
Hap ignored our grumpy friend, keeping his focus on me.
“You know what your problem is? You’re theman—you always have been—but you didn’t believe it then, and you don’t believe it now. More money’s not gonna fix that. You’ve gotta realize you’ve always had everything you needed. The right woman’s gonna see that—if she’s not right for you, no amount of money will matter.”
“Nothing matters,” Reid growled. “If she’s not interested, she’s not interested. You can’tmakesomeone love you.”
I felt bad for the guy. At one time, he’d been as happy-go-lucky as Hap, but Reid hadn’t been the same since his high school sweetheart Mara had left town without warning and had refused to even speak to him since then.
If anyone understood the pain of unrequited love, it was me, but for my friend’s sake, I hoped Reid would get over it soon.
Mara had been gone for years—last I’d heard she was a TV reporter in Mississippi, of all places, and hadn’t even returned to visit her mom in years.
Paul sneezed loudly then blew his nose with a honk before speaking in his perpetually congested voice. “She’s taken, anyway. I heard she’s with Harry McAllen.”
“They broke up,” I said.
“Oh.” Paul sneezed again. “Where’d you say she works?”
The party was almost over.
I’d spent way more time here than I would have liked and made far more small talk than I wanted to—I had too much work to do to waste time hobnobbing with the Eastport Bay elite.
But I couldn’t leave. Not until I made absolutely sure Kristal wouldn’t show up.
I’d gone to the Cliffhouse a couple more times over the past week, but both times I’d been told she wasn’t working that day.
Knowing better than to ask for her number or home address, I’d asked the waiter who’d taken over for her at lunch the last time—Jana—when Kristal’s next shift was.
She said she wasn’t sure.
I would just keep trying to catch her. I needed to tell her I was sorry for making her feel like a beggar, and I needed to find out what could possibly have happened to cause the foreclosure of her family’s home.
When I’d gotten the invitation to tonight’s cocktail party, I’d immediately RSVP’dyes, hoping she’d be here. The hosts were her family’s long-time next-door neighbors.
So far, she was a no-show. Unfortunately, the one Bianco Ididn’twant to seewashere and had just spotted me.
“Hunter Bestia,” Margot said, slinking up to me and sliding a hand around my arm. She squeezed my bicep and raised a brow in apparent appreciation for its size and firmness. “Just the man I wanted to see.”
“Hello Mrs. Bianco.”
She pursed her lips and gave me a simpering smile. “Call me Margot.Please.No need for such formalities any longer. We’re both adults now—not even that far apart in age. I marriedveryyoung.”
