Perfect Tales of the Were - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,23
urging Cassie out the driver’s side with him. He lifted her down, letting her body drag along his as he set her on her feet, stealing her breath. No fair, when she had to meet a member of his family.
As it turned out, Megan was lovely. Welcoming and friendly. They didn’t go into the house, preferring to sit on the porch for a few minutes in the early evening air and chat.
“I reserved a private room for us at the barbeque place,” Cody told Cassandra when Megan said how much she was looking forward to dinner. “Our reservation isn’t for another thirty minutes,” Cody explained. “Since we’re so close, we can leave in about fifteen minutes, or so.”
That’s when Cassandra realized that Cody had given her a few extra minutes to get acquainted with his sister before they were actually at the restaurant. It was a thoughtful thing to have done.
Megan was tall and gorgeous. She was clearly intelligent from the way she spoke. She didn’t have any residual, bruising that Cassandra could see. Honestly, Cassandra was a little intimidated by her, but Megan was also considerate and seemed to be doing her best to try to put Cassandra at ease. It was hard not to like her.
By the time they piled into a big luxury car that had been parked in the garage, Cassandra felt much more at ease with Megan. Cody drove, since, apparently, this expensive vehicle was also his. It made sense, since he was really C.T. Billings.
That still blew Cassandra’s mind. Billings Industries was worth a very large fortune. The company had started with a few small planes and pilots, running local cargo routes all over the south and west of the U.S. From there, the company had branched out to bigger routes and larger planes.
She remembered Billings had apparently lost interest in that part of the business after it had grown into a very large international delivery service. He retained a large portion of the shares, but the company itself was run by a board of directors now, and C.T. had little to do with the day to day. At least, that was what her professor had stated when they’d studied the company’s corporate structure in one of her classes.
Billings, himself, the professor had told them, had diversified into financial services. He was rumored to run a very large portfolio of investments for a very select clientele. So select that the actual clients were only rumors.
The only odd thing was that Cody looked too young to be the highly successful C.T. Billings. Of course, Billings was known to have started his first company when he was just a teenager, so Cassandra supposed it was possible. Cody was incredibly handsome and kept himself in shape. He—and his sister, obviously—had to have really good genes.
They arrived at the restaurant in good time, and Cassandra was struck by the way everyone greeted Cody and Megan. Not as important rich folk, but as genuine friends. They gave Cassandra a few sidelong glances, but when the mayor of the town stepped over to say hello as they were waiting to be taken to their table, he surprised her by not only knowing who she was, but by being friendlier than anyone else in town had ever been to her.
“I’m glad to finally meet you, ma’am,” Joe Villalobos said with what looked like a genuine smile. “As you know, your ranch isn’t part of the town’s lands, but I do like to keep an eye on our neighbors. When old man Singleton died, I was watching like everyone else to see who would buy such a large spread.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard by now, that I’m not much of a rancher,” Cassandra stated honestly. “But I hired a man I think knows what he’s doing, and while Rich runs the ranch, his wife is putting the buildings back to rights.”
“Cody tells me it’s coming along nicely,” Joe said, giving her a conspiratorial wink.
“Ah, now it makes more sense. Cody’s your inside man, getting the scoop on the goings on, eh?” She meant it as a joke, but even as the words came out of her mouth, she realized it might just be true.
“Something like that,” Joe agreed easily, apparently not offended at all by what could have been interpreted as an accusation. “I also hear the perks of the job—pastries to die for, I’ve heard some say—are part of the attraction. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind giving our town bakery a