The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,3
together?”
Rhea laughed. “Real people don’t have those agreements. That’s just in the movies.”
“Sure real people have them,” Zach said. “My buddy Brad has one.”
“I’ve met Brad,” Rhea said. “He’s definitely going to be single when he’s thirty-five.”
“Well, we could be too,” Zach said. “It’s not like we’ve been especially lucky in love. And… you’ve got to admit, we have chemistry.”
“I don’t have to admit anything,” Rhea said, blushing.
But he isn’t wrong.
“Come on,” Zach said. “What do you say? If we’re still single when we’re thirty-five, you and I will get together and give it a try. We both want to get married. We both want a family. And even if it’s just as friends, I could definitely see myself having those things with you.”
Rhea laughed. “Okay,” she said. “Sure. You’re on. If we’re single when we’re thirty-five, you and I will get married and start a family.”
It’s not like anything will ever come of it.
Chapter 2
Zach
It had become customary, over the past few years, for Zach and Rhea to spend their birthdays together. The celebrations usually consisted of something low-key like going out to the movies or to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants.
This year, Zach had been thinking that perhaps he’d take Rhea to the ice-skating rink at the mall. It would be a good way to feel youthful again and to forget about the run of bad dates they’d both suffered lately.
Then Rhea called to let him know that her family planned to be in town on the weekend of her birthday.
“But we can still hang out,” she said anxiously. “It wouldn’t feel right to spend my birthday without you. Will you come to dinner with us?”
“Are you sure?” Zach asked. He’d never met her family before. “Won’t I be kind of a fifth wheel?”
“No, you wouldn’t have to be,” Rhea assured him. “Why don’t you invite your dad too? The more the merrier, right?”
Zach hesitated. “That’s not going to be weird to your parents? You inviting a guy they’ve never met and his father to your family dinner?”
“It’s my birthday,” Rhea said. “I want you there. Please come.”
He grinned. “I guess I can’t say no, when you put it that way.”
“No, you can’t,” she said smugly.
“So where are we going?” he asked. “Mugsy’s Pub?”
Rhea laughed. “I can’t imagine my mother eating at Mugsy’s Pub! With the sticky floors and the upside-down barrels as barstools!”
“But you love that place,” Zach said. “Don’t they want to take you wherever you want to go for your birthday?”
“Well, sure, but within reason,” Rhea said. There was an edge in her voice now, something Zach couldn’t quite put his finger on. “They aren’t going to want to go to Mugsy’s. My brother might, but my parents… no way.”
“So where, then?” Zach asked.
“Do you know La Toque?”
He blinked. “That fancy French place downtown?”
“That’s the one,” Rhea said.
“That place is going to be crazy expensive, Rhea.”
“My parents are paying.”
“Meaning Dad and I definitely should not be tagging along on this dinner.”
“Yes you should,” Rhea said. “Look, I’ll call them and let them know to expect you. I promise, it’s not a big deal. They told me I could invite somebody if I wanted to.”
He sighed. “I guess it’s your birthday. If you say it’s okay, I have to believe you, right?”
“That’s right,” she said. “Wear something nice, okay? We’ll meet there Saturday night at seven.”
“Who are these people?” Zach’s father hissed in his ear. “Who can afford to eat at a place like this? Are you sure they’re paying? Because I just looked at the menu, and I can’t afford any of it.”
“It’s fine,” Zach said, though he felt ill at ease too.
His father had raised Zach alone, and they had never had money. He was used to takeout dinners on special occasions, not fancy French restaurants with white linen tablecloths and servers who walked around looking like automatons. He didn’t think he had ever eaten in a restaurant half as fancy as this one.
He had always known that Rhea’s family had more money than his father did, of course. She never talked about it, but it was the kind of thing you noticed when you didn’t come from money yourself.
Zach had a full-ride scholarship to college, and he was meticulous about attending his classes and studying for his exams to make sure his grades stayed up. Rhea was a good student, but she definitely wasn’t averse to skipping an early morning lecture from time to time.
Zach worked at the campus library