The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,18
huge lobster tail. We should share it.”
“I can’t take your food,” she protested.
“Of course you can,” he said. “All you ordered was that measly little salad. Besides, there’s no way I’m going to finish this on my own. Help me out so I don’t disgrace myself.”
She smiled. “Fine,” she said, pushing her own plate forward. “But if we’re sharing the lobster, we’re sharing the salad too.”
“Deal,” he said.
They dug in. Both dishes tasted amazing, and for several minutes they forgot to talk. But as their drinks were refilled, conversation began to flow again, and they lost themselves in memories of their college experiences.
Rhea was very glad that she had come out tonight. Reliving her past this way had made her feel young again, and she was thrilled to have been reunited with Zach. It would have been so sad, she thought, if the two of them had never seen one another again. She couldn’t believe she had allowed fifteen years to go by.
That’s a mistake I’ll never make again. Now that he’s back in my life, I’m going to keep in touch, no matter what.
When the meal was over and Zach had paid, they went out to the front of the restaurant and Zach gave his name to the valet.
“Do you need to get your car?” he asked Rhea.
“I took a cab,” she said.
“I’ll hail one for you, if you’d like,” the valet chimed in, and Rhea nodded.
Before her cab arrived, a jet-black sports car pulled up in front of the restaurant. Rhea stared. It had to be one of the more expensive cars she had ever seen in her life.
“Whose is that?”
The driver got out and handed the keys to Zach. “Here you are, Mr. Danes.”
“Thank you,” Zach said.
Rhea stared. “That’s your car?”
Zach grinned at her. “I’ll be in touch,” he said. “Let’s do this again soon, okay? I don’t want to let another fifteen years go by.”
Rhea nodded mutely, and Zach got into the car and drove away.
A moment later, her taxi pulled up. She got in, still feeling dumbfounded, and gave the driver her home address. As they pulled out, she got out her phone and did a search for Zach Danes. Her eyes went wide as she read the top result:
“Zach Danes, Owner and CEO, EcoKitchen Events.”
She blinked. Hadn’t he said that he worked as a caterer? She thought back over the conversation and realized that he hadn’t—he had only said that he was in catering. It had been her assumption that he was at the bottom of the totem pole instead of the top.
I never would have thought that Zach Danes would grow up to become a CEO!
As the taxi drove her home, she read up on his company. EcoKitchen Events was an organic catering company that specialized in creating gourmet dishes using locally sourced ingredients. Her heart swelled with pride as she read. To think that her college best friend had created such a company, that he was now the head of it. He had done so well for himself!
I can’t believe this place didn’t come up when I was looking for a catering company to do Green Destiny’s party. They would have been perfect!
She made a mental note to use them next time. Zach clearly didn’t need any help from her, but she was eager to taste his food. He had always been a good cook in college, and whatever his company served, she was sure that she would like it.
She wondered why he hadn’t told her about this.
But it didn’t take too much imagination to figure it out. The fact of the matter was that their friendship had gone on a fifteen-year hiatus because of a fight about money. If he had reentered her life and told her straight away that he had money now, it might have looked kind of pointed.
Even though she wished he’d felt comfortable sharing the news of his success with her, she was glad they hadn’t talked about their finances. The two of them had never been very good at that.
Maybe next time.
Because there was definitely going to be a next time. Seeing Zach again had reawakened feelings that she had almost forgotten. She hadn’t felt this way about a man in a long time. And now she found herself hoping that his note to her had been sincere, and that he really did want to explore the possibility of a relationship.
Chapter 7
Zach
The first thing that occurred to Zach when he awoke the next morning was that