The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,19
he hadn’t given Rhea his contact information.
In the scheme of things, it wasn’t that big a deal—he had always intended to call her again. But the fact that she didn’t have his number meant that she was probably anxious about hearing from him, wondering whether she would at all. It meant she had no control over the situation. And if Rhea was anything like the girl he had known in college, the one thing she hated was to feel out of control.
Well, I can fix that.
He started a pot of coffee brewing and reached for his phone. He set it to speakerphone so that his hands would be free and dialed.
She sounded out of breath when she answered. “Hello?”
He frowned. “Did I interrupt you in the middle of something?”
“Zach?” Now he heard genuine pleasure in her tone. “No, no, I’m just out jogging.”
“Oh, you still do that?”
“Sure,” she said. “Until my knees give out, probably.”
He laughed. It was something they’d joked about in college—how eventually she would have to stop running because her knees wouldn’t be able to take it. Rhea had pledged that when that time came, she would switch to swimming instead—but she wouldn’t like it.
“Well,” he said, “I just wanted to let you know that I had a great time last night.”
“So did I,” she said.
“And I realized you didn’t have my phone number,” he added. “But now you do.”
“Hang on. How did you get my phone number?”
“It’s on the Green Destiny website,” Zach said. “On the Partners page.”
She laughed. “I guess you really have been keeping up with me.”
“Yeah, I have,” Zach agreed. “I just wish I’d found you sooner.”
“So do I,” she said quietly.
“Are you doing anything tonight?” Zach asked.
She hesitated, and Zach feared for a moment that he had pushed for too much too fast, but when she answered she sounded pleased.
“Free as a bird,” she said. “What were you thinking?”
“There’s a skating rink at the mall, right?”
Rhea laughed. “Oh, wow, I’d forgotten about that! You and I used to go every fall! We said it was going to be our tradition!”
“The tradition died after three years,” Zach said. “But I thought we could resurrect it now, if you’re up for it.”
“I’m definitely up for it,” she said. “Should I meet you there? What time is good?”
“Five o’clock?” he asked. “We can get pretzel dogs for dinner.”
He’d wanted to take her to a fancy restaurant for their first meal back together, but he wanted her to see that he was still the same guy she had known in college, too. He wasn’t above eating at the mall food court.
“That sounds great,” Rhea said. “I’ll look forward to it.”
They ended the call. Zach poured his coffee and sat down at the table, trying to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t believe he was already so excited to see her again, though it hadn’t yet been a full day.
“So you downplayed your job a little bit,” Rhea said as they laced up their skates.
He glanced over at her anxiously, afraid that she might be annoyed with him, but she was smiling.
“I guess I did,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
“But it is a big deal!” Rhea said. “You started your own company, Zach. That’s huge. And organic catering is perfect for you. You’re not just helping the environment, you’re working with food. You always loved cooking, and you were so good at it. I’m not at all surprised that something like this happened.”
“Yes you are,” Zach said, laughing.
“Okay, I am,” Rhea allowed. “But it also makes perfect sense. What did you do, take out a loan after college?”
“No, I actually got really lucky,” Zach said. He hesitated. This part of the story always sounded made up, and there was really no good way to relate it. “My dad won the lottery.”
Rhea sat bolt upright. “What? Are you serious?”
“I know,” Zach said. “It sounds crazy. But I swear, it happened. He bought a ticket on a whim, and he won. And then he invested his winnings well, and suddenly… well, we had a lot of money.”
“That’s amazing, Zach.” Rhea’s voice was utterly sincere. “I’m so happy for you. That must have created a lot of opportunities.”
“It didn’t happen until I had finished college,” Zach said. “I thought about going back to school, but I realized that there was no shame in my community college degree, so I decided to look into starting work.” He grinned. “But first I took a