“That’s an understatement.”
For some reason her jab made him laugh.
“Will you forgive me if I give you a big tip?”
“A big tip would go a long way.”
He retrieved his cell phone and pulled up the app. “Your app-name is The Hulk?”
“I figure it’s safer if they’re expecting a big muscly guy.”
Chuckling, he approved the delivery, adding a hundred-dollar tip.
“Wow, thanks! That was totally worth getting yelled at for not being your blind date. Good luck with that.”
As she headed for the door, a crazy idea struck him…one that might solve all his problems.
“Wait, can I ask you something?”
She turned back, skepticism on her face. “For that hundred-buck tip, you can ask one question.”
“Fine. Do you have plans this weekend?”
The blood seemed to drain from her face, the sudden blanching emphasizing the purple of the scar. “Why?”
“I need a date for a wedding in Houston this weekend, and I’d like you to go with me.” He held up his hand before she could protest. “I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars.”
“Ten thousand? Are you kidding me?”
“Okay, twenty.”
“You’re a real creep. Do you know that?” Fury filled her indigo eyes again. “I won’t sleep with you, no matter what you offer. I don’t care if it’s a million dollars!”
“No, no, no. We won’t be sleeping together.” He waved his hands in front of his chest. This was another reason he didn’t date—he was terrible at communicating with women. “We’re staying at my mother’s home. She’ll probably put us on opposite ends of the house with an alarm in the hallway to make sure we stay apart at night.”
Her mouth kicked up on one corner. “I think I like your mom.”
“Then you’ll go?”
He could see a layer of doubt in her eyes, despite her earlier bravado concerning her appearance. The longer he was with her, the less he noticed the scar. He could kick himself for having mentioned it, but it was too late to take it back. But surely, she would realize he wouldn’t have asked her to be his date if he was concerned about her imperfection.
When she hesitated even longer, he realized he’d forgotten to ask if she was single. Unconsciously, he crossed his fingers behind his back.
“I’ll go with you on one condition.” She held up an index finger. “You have to talk to my roommate on the phone and convince her it’s a good idea. If she says no, that’s it—you can’t bug me about it anymore. And you have to leave a five-star review on Bring-It-To-Me.”
The smug expression on Ellery’s face told him she thought she’d presented an impossible task. But what she didn’t know was that Logan was a thousand times more confident on the phone than he was in person.
“If I can’t talk her into it in five minutes, I’ll even leave another hundred-dollar tip. Deal?” He stuck out his hand.
“Deal!” She shook it, sending an array of sparks up his arm, a sensation like nothing he’d felt in all his thirty years.
One more sign that I’ve been spending way too much time alone.
CHAPTER 3
“I can’t believe you agreed to send me to Houston for the weekend with a total stranger,” Ellery told Kara when she answered the phone. It was the first time they’d had an opportunity to speak privately since her roommate had surprised her by taking Logan’s side. “What happened to ‘He could be an axe murderer’?”
He’d stepped out of the room before making the phone call to ask Kara’s permission. In retrospect, Ellery should’ve insisted on being present when he was talking to Kara. There was no telling what he’d told her.
“Aren’t you excited?” Kara asked, practically squealing with glee as she ignored Ellery’s question. “Have you already ordered your clothes? I should’ve told you to get a few things for me.”
“I feel guilty enough already spending his money. You can’t believe how much the total was.” Ellery had spent the first hour of the drive shopping online at the Galleria mall in Houston. Logan had given her carte blanche to select everything she might possibly need for the weekend, including makeup and toiletries. “But how did you know he bought me clothes?”
“The clothes were my idea,” Kara said.
“Your idea?”
“Once he told me he was a billionaire, I suggested he provide your weekend wardrobe and that keeping it would be part of your compensation. Brilliant negotiating, if I have to say so myself.” Kara lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. “Is he cute?”
“A billionaire? Is that really what he said?” Purposefully leaving Kara’s “cute” question unanswered, Ellery glanced out the window of their SUV, where Logan was standing beside the pump. Mesmerized by his back muscles, flexing under his cotton shirt, she gave her head a shake to clear it.
He’s not just cute. He’s mouthwatering!
“He said it, and I believe it,” Kara declared.
Ellery didn’t want to feel attracted to Logan West—billionaire or not. In fact, it was a terrible idea to let that happen. But her traitorous heart gave a lurch when he turned and flashed a cautious smile, flipping a too-long lock of deep brown hair off his face with a toss of his head. His broad jaw, accented by a few days’ worth of beard, was so masculine-looking, her fingers itched to touch it. But it was his eyes that really hooked her. Green, with specks of amber, he peered at her with a lonely, soulful look she’d seen in her own mirror…one born of self-condemnation. It had taken six months of counseling to learn that her lack of self-esteem had started long before the disfiguring accident, and another year to accept that her value came, not from how she looked or anything she’d ever done, but from the fact that God cherished her enough to die for her. And daily, she struggled to remember and put it into practice.
