Page 61 of The Grumpy Billionaire
TWENTY
Dangerous Ride
Mara
I handed my keys to the valet and walked toward Waterplace Park Condominium’s glass-encased lobby.
The air was fragrant with wood smoke from Waterfire, an artistic display of cedar-filled braziers running the length of the two rivers, which intersected in the middle of Providence.
As Reid’s condo was right on the river, I’d had to fight a good bit of traffic getting here. On Waterfire nights, downtown was always crowded with couples and families and groups of students, walking the sidewalks along the rivers, listening to the unique mix of instrumental and world music, sampling treats from vendors or just finding a spot to sit and people-watch.
They came to breathe in the amazing scent and enjoy the beauty of the wood fires glowing atop the dark waterways.
The condominium towers overlooked Waterplace Park, a circular basin where boats, filled with wood and volunteer event crew members, circled and changed direction so they could head back up the river and make another pass, refilling fire baskets as their flames started burning low. The whole event lasted several hours.
It must have looked amazing from Reid’s balcony far above.
Before opening the lobby door, I stopped to look up at his building. Several residents were already out on their balconies, enjoying the night air and the spectacle below.
From my vantage point, their bodies were dark silhouettes against the reflective surface of the building. The tips of two cigarettes glowed in the darkness as one couple smoked together above me.
“Thinking of scaling the building?” A teasing voice came from nearby. “I recommend the elevator. It’s a long way to the top. And I’m not sure you’re dressed for a climb.”
Reid walked toward me from the open lobby door, smiling, and looking heart-stoppingly handsome in a pair of dark slacks and a luxurious soft-looking black blazer with a cream-colored dress shirt underneath, a couple of buttons unfastened at the neck.
“Pretty dress,” he said, reaching me and brushing my cheek with a meaningless, but still unexpected, greeting kiss.
Breathe, Mara,I disciplined myself, forcing a non-lustful smile. “Of course you’d have the penthouse.”
“Actually no. Mine’s one floor beneath it—some Hollywood actor bought the penthouse for his kid who’s going to Brown—but I do have an incredible deck. The view is great. I’ll show you later, before we eat. I thought we might walk down to the river first. Will you be okay to walk in those heels?”
“Oh sure, whatever. That’s fine.”
“It’s probably been a long time since you’ve gone to a Waterfire.” He placed his hand lightly against my lower back as we descended the stairs from his condo plaza to the river walk.
“Although I guess there may have been one sometime when you visited home from school,” he speculated. “Or work.”
“There may have been, but I haven’t gone to one since… high school,” I said.
When you and I went together.Back then, the two of us had walked hand in hand along the river, taking advantage of the shadowed spaces under the bridges to steal kisses, feeling anonymous in the crowd.
Reid gave a soft laugh. “Me either. It’s right outside my door, and I never make time to go.”
“Whatdoyou do with your free time, Mr. Mancini? Inquiring minds want to know,” I said, using my TV voice and holding an imaginary microphone under his chin.
He laughed and grabbed my hand, enclosing it in his with a brief squeeze. He let it drop, and we started walking the perimeter of the basin, watching a performance artist juggling fire batons for the crowd as he perched on a platform over the water.
“I work,” he finally answered. “Pretty boring, I guess, but it’s the truth.”
“But you must go out at night.” I held my arms out to both sides and twisted. “You’re surrounded by world-class restaurants, theaters, nightclubs. What’s the point of living downtown if you don’t go out?”
“To be close to work?” He screwed his face up into a comical that-sucks-doesn’t-it? expression. “I do enjoy the restaurants. I take clients out frequently.”
I noticed he said “clients,” not, “women.” My mind went back to what my father had said and to the photo of the stunning girl on display in his Eastport Bay mansion.
“What about dating?” It was a struggle to keep my voice casual as my heart pulled a sneak attack, drumming hard enough to compete with the Waterfire music.
Reid stared at me for a minute, his eyes reflecting the flames behind me.
