My stomach rumbled in response. "We're supposed to take time to talk, relax, work up an appetite."
"Okay." She paused. "We've done that."
I cocked my head and regarded her for a moment. i invited her, so whatever she wanted, I was determined to get it for her. "I'll wave someone over."
I placed my hands to either side of me on the chair and pushed myself up high enough to see over the other diners. I smiled at a server and gave her my best 'please help' face.
Almost immediately, she bustled over with menus and melted away between the tables.
"Mine doesn't have prices on it," Becca said. She pulled down the front of my menu. Her eyes widened. "I thought this was one of those places where only the men had prices, so women didn't have to worry their 'pretty little heads' over the price, but yours doesn't have them either."
"Right," I agreed. "This is one of those 'no one worries their pretty little heads' places. Until they get their credit card bill at the end of the month."
She shook her head, a frown creasing her forehead. "That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. And debt. People are supposed to be more careful with money these days, not less."
I drew in a breath. "A lot of the customers who dine here don't have to think about money," I said. "The cost of this place is barely a drop in the ocean."
She looked slightly sick, her face pale at the thought. "I know you give to lots of charities and things, but…"
"You're not impressed with a guy who can buy you anything you want without blinking?" I suggested. Great, did I make her hate me even more? That wasn’t the plan. How did I manage to keep screwing up when it came to this woman?
She hesitated for a long while. "I know, in some ways, having money can make life easier for people. Never having to thinkabout the next bill, or whether you can replace a broken fridge, or…" She shook her head. "But overt displays of wealth are another thing."
"So youareimpressed with a guy who can buy you anything without blinking?" I grinned.
She socked me on the arm, which I totally deserved. But she smiled a little, which was all I wanted.
"You're obnoxious," she said.
"You aren't the first person to say that," I said with no shame at all. "You won't be the last. So you know about the charities, hmmm? What else do you know about me?"
She seemed relieved, as though she wanted me to ask. "There are photos of you and a woman."
"There's more than one." I looked at her for a moment longer, then added, "But you mean someone in particular." I should have known.
She pulled out her phone, tapped the screen and held it out to me. A younger version of myself looked toward a topless Kyla. This site hadn't bothered to block out her nipples. I'd forgotten what an amazing set of?—
I cleared my throat. "What do you want to know?"
Becca pulled the phone back and put it away. "Who is she? Are you and her…"
"Together?" I asked. "No. Not for a long time. She had other priorities and moved away. She's married now, having babies, living her best life."
"She left?" Becca echoed. "It wasn't your choice to end it?"
I sat back. This suddenly felt like an interview, which was not the game plan. She was supposed to interview me after she won, which she wasn’t going to. I didn’t want to lie about it though.
"No, it wasn't my choice," I admitted. "I asked her to stay. She couldn't. Wouldn't. Didn't."
"How did that make you feel?" Becca asked.
I shrugged with one shoulder. "Pissed. Hurt. At the time. Now? It's in the past. What I felt, thought I felt, is gone." It was gone so quickly I was either in denial or cared less than I'd thought. "It's over. Dead and buried. Okay?"
Becca nodded. "Okay. What about all the others? I know tabloids are full of shit, but you've been linked with everyone from movie stars to that English princess."
I stared for a moment, then laughed. "I haven't even met most of them." Princess? Who made up that rubbish? Not that I wouldn't make a dashing prince. Maybe I should look at buying a castle, or a chateau…
"The ones you have met?" she asked.
