Page 6 of One Night Billionaire

“Hey,” Lucy said before she could leave the table. “Rick and I are going to head up to our room. Lost track of Andrew but I think he picked up some chick already.”

Anna laughed. “That was fast, even for him.” She turned away from the men. “I hope I’m there the day that one woman catches his heart.”

Rick tried and failed to hold back his laugh. “I swear if that ever happens, I will let you know.”

“I’ll bake him a cake that says ‘Retired Man Whore’ across it,” Anna teased. “I mean, I can’t bake, but I don’t think I’m in any danger of needing to make it anytime soon.”

They all laughed, the men forgotten.

“I think I’ll head up to my room, too. It’s been a long day,” Anna said. That and it would save her from dying of embarrassment here.

“Long day?” Rick asked. “I thought you guys went to the spa?”

“It was exhausting, honey. It takes a lot of work to look this good,” Lucy teased. “Call me if you need me,” Lucy told her.

“Of course,” Anna said, knowing full well her friend was about to be too busy to answer. She wouldn’t need them anyway.

“Excuse me?” A gruff voice said as Rick and Lucy walked away.

Anna turned back to the man that had already rebuked her. “How can I help you?” She went with a professional tone.

“I wanted to ask you a question,” he said.

Anna waited without a word. It was no doubt going to be some crap.

“I may have assumed something and I wanted to know how wrong I was. Are you here, at the lodge, with anyone?”

“My friends, I didn’t make this trip alone,” she huffed. It took a second and then it clicked. “Oh my gosh, Andrew? Absolutely not. No way.”

“I see that I did misjudge things. I apologize,” he said.

“You thought I was leaving my date to come over here and flirt with you?” she asked, still shocked.

“I apologize. It says more about me than you,” Brian told her.

“I don’t see how that’s true. It seems a lot like you thought I was a real piece of work.” Anna put her hands on her hips as she spoke.

“I thought a lot of things, it started with how pretty you were,” he soothed.

“Oh no, too late to be charming.” She said the words, but his had worked, and she was already caving.

“Then I thought you were nervous here. And that the dress looks great on you, but you aren’t

comfortable in it.”

He was perceptive. At the mention of the dress, she tugged it down again.

“You keep doing that. It’s not that short,” he told her.

“It is for me,” she groaned.

“Can I request a second chance at a first impression?” Brian asked.

Anna flushed and fiddled with her skirt. It was vacation so she could be more forgiving. It wasn’t like she would see him again. What harm was there in flirting?

“Hmm,” she pretended to be thinking about it. “I don’t know that you can redo the first impression. How about just a chance to make up for it?”

“I’ll take it.” He put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the bar. “What are you drinking?”

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