The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,46

morning rush hour which lasted from six o’clock in the morning until after ten o’clock each day. It was horrible! Sometimes traffic jams even happened at lunch time or in the middle of the afternoon if one were on interstate sixty-six or ninety-five. Los Angeles traffic was famous for coming to a standstill, but that also happened around the beltway of Washington, D.C. It was miserable.

But in Portland? Despite the fact that people were moving around them, hurrying off to their jobs, they were still traveling at the posted speed limit, zipping along towards the downtown area. It was one of the beautiful things about this city. It was very metropolitan, but not so painfully crowded that a person had to adjust one’s schedule based on traffic patterns.

Unfortunately, Emerson wasn’t heading across the bridge to Cape Elizabeth. In fact, he was slowing down, heading towards the main street that edged the heart of the city. “What’s going on?” she asked nervously when Emerson pulled into a parking lot that could hold no more than three or four cars and was located behind a crazy blue building with curious murals along the outside wall.

“Breakfast,” he said and shut off the Jeep.

He came around to her side of the car and opened her door, waiting patiently for her to get out. “Why are we eating here?” she asked nervously but she slid out of the leather seat, prepared to follow him just like she’d done in New York.

“Because you’ve lost too much weight and the best place to start your next lesson is in The Holy Donut shop.” He raised an eyebrow when she hesitated.

“Donuts?” she asked, trying to hide her horror. She was proud of the fact that she didn’t cringe at the mention of the sugary treat but she really hated donuts. They were one of those desserts that promised so much but were always such a disappointment. “They aren’t very nutritious. Why don’t you grab what you want and I’ll just…”

He took her hand and pulled her along behind him. “Come on. These aren’t your normal donuts,” he explained. “These are potato donuts. That makes them good for you.”

She rolled her eyes, but he didn’t see her since he was still dragging her along behind him. She could just grab a cup of coffee while he grabbed his precious donut, and the additional caffeine, which would help a lot. She hadn’t been able to drink the cup he’d handed her earlier this morning since she’d been too nervous about the flight. Not to mention, she’d been living off of coffee for the past several weeks, trying to stay alert enough in all of the meetings while still maintaining the brutal schedule he’d set out for her “training”.

They waited at the end of the long line and Rachel was surprised that so many people were here. It wasn’t like the donut shop was on one of the main thoroughfares. It was definitely out of the way but people were buzzing around the quirky shop, laughing and devouring donuts and coffee. She didn’t understand it. These were even cake donuts which she really despised because they were dry and crumbly. Ick, she thought but worked hard to keep her face blank.

“What’ll I get for you today, Jack?” the man behind the counter asked.

“We need four of the Coffee Allen Brandy donuts and two large coffees,” Emerson said to the friendly man behind the counter.

Less than thirty seconds later, he was walking away with a bag full of donuts and handing her one of the cups filled with coffee. “You can get milk and sugar over there,” he told her but moved off to one of the tables that had just been vacated. “Grab some napkins while you’re there,” he called out to her.

She grabbed two napkins and poured milk and sugar into her coffee, then followed him to the table. She was just going to sit back and watch the other patrons in the store, but her eyes kept moving to Emerson’s face. No matter how much she wanted to ignore him, she couldn’t seem to do it.

And that was before she’d caught the look of ecstasy on his handsome features with almost every bite. “Why are you doing that?”

He shook his head, breaking off another piece of the donut. “Can’t explain it,” he replied and took another bite. He pushed the bag of donuts towards her, silently telling her to try one.

She was proud of how well she refrained from