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He zooms back to his plate and taps away at his phone for a few minutes while I eat.
“So are we going to talk about it?” he asks as I have a mouth full of sandwich.
“What?”
He raises an I wasn’t born yesterday brow.
“The auction. Alexander Hunt, billionaire bodyguard extraordinaire. And Gabe Rothburn, whiz kid turned Tech god.”
I shrug. “I honestly didn’t know they were going to be there. Mom signed me up. I went. They showed up. You know the rest.”
“I know they each bid a million dollars to go on a date with you.”
“I’m aware.” I shove another mouthful of salad in my mouth to buy myself time. Unfortunately, Ford knows a stalling tactic when he sees one.
“I don’t care how much money you have. You don’t do that kind of thing out of the goodness of your heart.” He crosses his arms and leans against the table. “So, what do they want with you? Why you?”
Well, when he puts it like that. . . But that was last night, and today? Today, things are more complicated than ever.
“I don’t know.”
“I thought you hated Rothburn.”
“He annoys me.”
“So do I. I’d never pay a million dollars for you.”
Ford annoys me because he’s my brother, and he knows how to get to me. Gabe annoys me for entirely different reasons, which I don’t want to think about.
“For a date. You’re dangerously close to making me sound like a prostitute.”
Ford leans back and laughs. “You’re no Vivian, sis,” he says of the lead character in Pretty Woman. We secretly loved that movie as teenagers.
“They live in my building now.”
“Okay. . .” He drags the word out, obviously waiting for my answer. A real answer.
“I really don’t know. I’ve seen them in the gym once. I see Alex at various events and Gabe at the board meetings. That’s the extent of it. You know everything I know.”
Liar, liar, panties on fire.
Sighing, he shakes his head, staring down at what’s left of his meal. He snags another chip and chews.
“So you have no romantic interest in them, then?”
I really wish I had pasta salad left to throw at him.
25
KINGSTON
Well, that was the trip from hell.
I am pretty sure we spent as much time grounded as we did in the air. My phone’s long dead because the plane was older than I am. And I haven’t had a decent meal in. . . too long.
A man cannot live on trail mix alone.
Oh well, at least I made it to New York.
