The Billionaire’s Girlfriend Bet - Leslie North Page 0,34
to start brainstorming a solution to this latest problem immediately if he wanted this club to open on time.
He hurried to his house so that he could shower and put on fresh clothes. Once he’d changed into old jeans and a ratty hoodie, he called Donnie.
“Hey, Donnie. Just got your message.”
“Sorry for the bad news,” Donnie said.
“Listen, I think we can find a workaround.” Blake told him the ideas he’d had during the drive from Michelle’s house, and Donnie was receptive.
“We’re still down here right now,” Donnie said. “If you can come now, we can hammer out a plan. It might be possible to open on time. But we’ve gotta act quick.”
That, at least, was reassuring. Blake hurried back to his SUV, ideas swirling as he pulled out of the parking garage of his building and zoomed off for the club.
His mind wandered to Michelle. As if on cue, he received a text from her just then:
“Mollie’s home and she’s dying to see you! What showing should we go to? I see one for 4:40 and another for 5:20.”
His stomach knotted. It was 3:30 now. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to make either of those showings and still take care of business at the club.
He voice-commanded his phone to call Michelle, and she picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, sexy,” she murmured.
“Hey babe.” He grimaced as he readied himself to break their plans. This didn’t feel good at all. But the club was too important to him—the project was too time-sensitive. She’d have to understand. “I have some bad news.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t think I can do the drive-in tonight.”
There was silence for a moment, and then finally Michelle said, “Oh.”
He could hear the disappointment. “I’m really sorry. But something came up with the club. I have to take care of it.”
She sniffed. “Oh, well, of course. You should.” She paused, something unspoken clogging the air between them. “I just wish I hadn’t told Mollie.”
“Tell her I promise I’ll make it up to her.”
Michelle was quiet for a moment, and then said, “Yeah.”
Something didn’t seem quite right, but Blake couldn’t imagine what it was. This was part of his job—unforeseen complications occasionally derailed his plans. Michelle couldn’t be upset for too long…he hoped.
“I already miss you,” he said. “I promise we’ll see each other soon. It’s just that my contractor is only going to be available for a little bit longer. It’s Sunday, after all.”
“Why are they even working today?”
“Because we’re on deadline. There aren’t that many days until we open, and, well, time is at a premium.” He turned on his blinker as he eased onto the freeway. “Trust me, I’m just as bummed about the cancellation. I was looking forward to our date night.”
“All right. Well, just let me know how it goes. We’ll talk later.”
“Bye, babe.”
He ended the call, but anxiety continued its slow trek through his limbs. He couldn’t say why, only that he felt lousy for having broken his promise to Michelle.
But he would make this up to both of them.
Blake intended to erase every ounce of doubt he’d heard in Michelle’s voice on the phone.
She had no idea who she was dealing with when it came to surprises and grand gestures. And Blake intended on bringing Michelle and Mollie back onto Team Blake in no time.
12
The following Friday was a big deal to Michelle for two reasons.
First: this was Blake’s big night of making it up to her for bailing on their movie date last Sunday.
And second: she had news for him. She’d had an interview for a new job that morning.
Excitement and nervousness swirled inside her as she got ready for their evening. Her parents were in town from Nevada, and had whisked Mollie off to dinner at her favorite restaurant: Red Lobster.
As she finished her eye makeup, she couldn’t help but worry that he might cancel again. Part of her was keeping an eye on the phone for an apologetic call or text. Even though she perfectly understood the reason that he’d dipped out last Sunday was beyond his control, she secretly wondered if it was actually the nightclub that had made him call off their date, or if that was just a convenient cover for something else.
These were the scars she carried from dating a manipulative man. Sometimes, she was able to catch herself, and rationalize things. Remind herself that Blake wasn’t her ex, and that sometimes, life got in the way of plans.