Page 14 of Billionaire Hunt

“Alright, alright,” he said. He took a sip of his drink again and then started to talk. “Let’s start with the basics. I’m in real estate. I started off as a contractor, flipping houses. I ended up flipping million-dollar homes. Made some smart investments. And now I’m here.” He gestured toward the restaurant. “Here in the presence of a beautiful lady.”

“You’re a shameless flirt. And I feel like none of it is sincere.” Although I secretly hoped at least part of it was. It was nice to have the attention of a man. Whether I admitted it or not, Wyatt’s betrayal had even impacted my self-esteem. I found myself now questioning my looks, my decisions, my feelings about people. I was second guessing myself at every turn.

“Sincerity isn’t my strongest quality.”

“Or even a quality you possess?” I teased.

“Ha ha.”

“You and Jude have a similar sense of humor. How do you know Oliver and Jude?”

“I tried to rob Oliver once.”

I blinked and smiled uncertainly...assuming he was joking, but I didn’t get the punch line.

“What? Explain.”

He settled back in his chair, as if getting comfortable.

Uh oh. This is going to be a doozy, I said to myself.

He opened his mouth, ready to speak, thought better of it and then shook his head. “That’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say, Jude, Oliver and I are now good friends, but we met under less than ideal circumstances.”

“Less than ideal circumstances, huh? Care to elaborate?”

“Care to stop being nosey?”

“Being nosey is my job.”

“I feel like you’re a journalist and I need to tell you to keep all this off the record. You aren’t secretly a journalist just trying to get a story on Florida’s most eligible bachelor?”

“You think very highly of yourself...for all we know you could be Florida’s least eligible bachelor.”

“You’re lucky I have a healthy dose of self-esteem or that comment would have me in the bathroom crying right now.”

“There’s still time for that.”

He laughed, clearly not having expected that comment.

“Okay, you’ve bested me verbally so far. Anyway,” he said, leaning back appraising me with a smile on his face, “is being intrusive a prerequisite for being an interior decorator?”

“Well, if you think about it, I do invite myself into other people’s homes and pretty much violate their privacy while I make things beautiful.”

“You have a point. Your parents must be very proud.”

Ugh...my parents...not a subject I wanted to talk about. I decided not to comment on them and continued my train of thought.

I said, “So tell me about your home. What would you like done to it? What’s your style?”

He pulled out his phone and said, “I can do better than that. I can show you my home. And I can show you pictures of things I like, rooms that I think would be cool in my home.” He brought his chair around until he was sitting directly next to me. I don’t know why, but his nearness made my skin flush. I was much too aware of him for decency’s sake.

I had a very bad habit of sweating when I was socially uncomfortable, and I begged my underarms not to betray me by sweating profusely. I thanked god that I had actually had the insight to shave them. Truth be told, now that Wyatt and I weren’t a couple, I had let certain “maintenance” duties fall by the wayside. Until this morning, I hadn’t shaved my legs in weeks and other things…I hadn’t shaved at all.

Not that Erik would find that out. It wasn’t as if he were going to put his hand up my dress or anything. Not that I would mind if he did...

I realized then that Erik was talking and I had been too busy thinking about the feel of his hand going up my dress to pay attention to the conversation that I was presently included in.

“I’m sorry. I had something on my mind and that took my attention,” I gave him a small smile, hoping that he wouldn’t ask what exactly had been on my mind. Now that would make for an awkward conversation.