“Please tell me he’s taking you somewhere fancy,” she said. “Please. I can’t believe you went dumpster diving with a billionaire.”
I rolled my eyes at her, simultaneously realizing why Bryce had been so shy about it. “It’s cool—he sees beauty where most people see flaws.”
Rei looked at me.
“What?” I asked, feeling like a bug under a microscope.
“You like him.”
I gave her a look.
“You like him, like him.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh my gosh, get outta here with that.”
She chuckled, her laughter infectious. “I’m excited for you, really.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking a bite of my sandwich before I forgot to eat altogether. Usually that wasn’t a problem I had, but my mind was all over the place. “And for the record, we’re going to dinner and dancing. Glamma has my outfit planned and everything... You need to find sticky-note man so we can have a double date.”
Rei gave me the biggest eye roll as she bit from her sandwich. “What would we talk about? Yellow versus bright green? Ballpoint pens versus felt tips?”
I shook my head. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”
She swallowed down her food and took a sip of water. “He’s not off to war—he’s right here. He could talk to me.” Her eyebrows perked up. “Or she. I know nothing about this person. Other than they have good handwriting.” She shrugged. “Maybe we can do a letter-writing campaign together. Any causes you want to support?”
I chuckled. “I’ll get back to you on that.”
Her eyes widened. “Holy shit, what’s he doing here?”
Following the direction of her stare, I noticed a tall, heavier-set black man standing at the coffee counter. He wore a charcoal suit, hands clasped in front of him while he waited for Dom to stop flirting with the woman ahead of him.
“Who is that?” I asked, confused. He looked like just another businessman—the kind who walked in and out of this building all day long.
Rei stared at me. “You don’t know who that is?” She leaned forward and whispered, even though there was no way he could hear us.
I shook my head. “Not a clue.”
“That’s the CFO of the whole company. One of the founders,” she explained. “Bryce has never talked about him?”
I wracked my brain for answers, my lunch long forgotten. “He talks about the founders but hasn’t said who the CFO is specifically.” Trying to be more subtle, I glanced over at the man again. He was talking to Dominic now, a semi-serious look on his face. Dom’s jokes clearly weren’t having an effect on him.
Rei said, “I wonder what he’s doing down here. There’s gotta be a reason.”
I gestured toward the coffee counter. “Needed some caffeine.”
Rei cast me an annoyed glance.
I held back a laugh.
“He’s moving!” she said.
I glanced over at him again, seeing him sit alone at a table. He was so big, he made the table look small. When I looked back at Rei, she was eating her sandwich. “Weird,” she mumbled over her food.
I shrugged.
“You’ll probably get to know him soon,” Rei pointed out, “if things keep progressing between you and Bryce.”
I tilted my head to the side, contemplating that as I finished off my sandwich. My calendar was booked for the next few weeks with Bryce. I’d be meeting his friends, his family, before ultimately marrying him.
