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I ignored him and continued with a very soft voice, “I’m grateful for the opportunity to discuss a very large gift to benefit the children.” I opened my eyes, picked up my fork, and took a bite.
He studied me with curious, but not judgmental eyes.
I gave in and explained myself. “Each day before dinner, I tell myself one thing I’m gratefull for.”
“That sounds like a very useful exercise.” Normally peoples responses varied from a shrug to why?
This was the first time I could remember someone praising my ritual. “Thank you. I find it help me stay in a positive state of mind.”
Evan nodded. “Your guess about what triggered my demotion was correct.” He chewed a bit of his bread, and I did the same. “The board thinks I disgraced the company.”
Ya think?“It didn’t look good,” I agreed, forking a bite of salad.
“No, it didn’t. They’ve hired an image consultant for me.”
I wasn’t much of a salad person, but this one could change my mind. “Really? A consultant?” It made perfect sense that the rich kid would hire a consultant to fix his image instead of actually working to be a better person, but I kept that tidbit to myself. “I hope that works out for you.”
Between bites of salad he said, “Thank you.” His smile looked. genuine. “That’s where I think we could help each other.”
“I don’t see how.” It wasn’t like I had reputation pointers I could give him. Well, beyond the obvious, like stop being a douche, keep your clothes on in public, don’t frolic in fountains, and the most likely culprit, stop getting drunk with bimbos.
“How’s your salad?” he asked.
I told him I liked it, and he shifted the conversation to our siblings—his brother, and my sister—without explaining any more.
I knew his reputation as a master negotiator, so I waited for him to return us to the subject of this meeting in his own time.
Jerome had been in and out twice, and I had finished my dinner when it finally came.
“The Three Sisters Fund,” he said, “is important to you, correct?”
“Yes, very much so.” More than he could know.
“If you agree, I can provide a very sizable gift to your cause, and you can help me with my problem.”
It was the opening I’d been waiting for. “You mentioned seven figures in your text, so I assume you’d be willing to make a cash gift of a million dollars.” Sliphorn would have chastised me for not setting the bar higher, but I didn’t want to screw this up. I was either going to be elated, or find out he’d only typed that to get me to agree to dinner.
He finished chewing before answering. “That’s correct.”
I almost fainted from giddiness. “I don’t know how to thank you enough. That’s very generous.”
Just then Jerome reappeared to clear our plates and take our dessert order.
I deferred to Evan.
“The crème brûlée, please. One for each of us.”
With a nod, Jerome left us alone again. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. This was the best thing to ever happen to me. Bringing in a donation this large would mean Three Sisters wouldn’t close down, and it would mean the world to Chelsea.
Evan took a sip of water and started again. “I told you, Alexa. We can help each other.”
“I don’t see how.”
I’d given in to the urge to Google him after agreeing to this dinner. He had everything a man could want—a palatial penthouse overlooking the park, a cushy job at his dad’s company, and half the female population chasing after him. Anything else, he could easily afford. What could a poor girl from Brooklyn do for him?
“I need a girlfriend,” he said flatly, without even looking up from his plate. “You need a sizable donation, which I can provide, and I need—”
“You need me to find you a girlfriend?” I finished for him.
