“Paloma!”
“I’m ready!” She jerked open the door and looked down at her miniscule friend, who was indeed dressed in shorts and a baggy, large, holed tank top. Underneath the shirt, Paloma caught a glimpse of her red plaid bikini top. “Is it that nice outside?”
“It’s beautiful. I walked down to the coffee shop just about twenty minutes ago to get us some go juice.” She handed over a tall, steaming to-go cup. “The sun was shining. I swear, it’s nearly spring. There isn’t even much of a breeze out there. It’s going to be amazing down by the water.”
Kit’s energy was catching. Paloma grabbed her tote bag and was hustled out the door by Kit. They tumbled into Kit’s car and started toward the beach. The roads were clogged with cars parked wherever they could find a spot.
People walked everywhere they looked. “This is about as close as we are likely to get.” Kit parked along the street in a recently vacated spot and hopped out of the car. She was like a child! Paloma couldn’t get out of the car fast enough and nearly lost her friend in the crowds. And what crowds they were. Being tall enough to tower over most of the people at the beach, Paloma was afforded a good view of the shenanigans. The pier was far off in the distance; she could see it, but only just. Between her and it were probably half a million people if she had to guess. It was as if the entire city was out. On her far left, away from the pier, she could see a crowd gathered around what looked like an…elephant? Why was there an elephant on the beach? People cooed and cheered when the creature began doing tricks.
“P! Hey, we wanna go this way.” Kit grabbed her hand and started to push through the crowds. Paloma made sure to apologize to everyone they bumped into.
“Where are we going?”
“They have rides on the pier. Like in Santa Monica. There’s a Ferris wheel. Do you see it?” Paloma did. She wasn’t a fan of those, but she knew Kit lived for the danger and excitement brought on by spinning rides. “I wonder if they have a Zipper.” Paloma didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
“Kit, I’ll wait in line with you and I’ll more than happily eat all the junk you want to eat, but I think I’ll be keeping my feet on the ground.” Her friend frowned at her, but was quickly distracted by the strong men she had read about online.
“Will you look at all those hunks?” She rushed over and squeezed through the crowd to get to the front. Paloma merely sighed and walked on over to the group, content to be in the back. The guys were impressively huge, with barrel chests and biceps as big as her head. She was only mildly surprised when one of the men lifted Kit up off the ground and raised her high over his head with one hand. Kit laughed and pointed to Paloma before giving her a wave and being lowered back down. “That was amazing,” she said when she made her way back to Paloma. “I told him I lost my friend in the crowd and asked for a lift. Good on ya for staying back. I’d hate to be made out to be a liar.”
“You are a strange girl.” Paloma couldn’t help laughing at Kit’s antics. Her friend sure knew how to have fun. It was that little thing that she needed so badly in her life. “I’m hungry, Kit. I didn’t get breakfast. Someone rushed me.”
Kit had the wherewithal to blush before she took off towards the pier. Now that they were closer, Paloma could see the brightly colored tents and awnings that covered the food and games areas. Trudging through the sand was hard and she started to feel the burn in her thighs and welcomed the feeling of effort on her body. Kit was right. It was good to get out of the house, even if it meant a crowded beach and rides.
Paloma stopped to watch a group of kids playing in the sand, burying one another in the warm grains. She wished she could go back to being a kid again, to enjoying the simple things in life. Kit nudged her, begging her to keep moving. Less than ten feet from the kids, she caught the first whiff of deep fried food, most likely corn dogs. The people crowded the food stands, but she was content to wait in line. The longer she spent in line, the less time she would be in the air on a ride with Kit.
“The Greek things, where are they?”
Paloma looked around trying to find the vendor that sold gyros. “There,” she pointed off to the left. “Looks like they have the shortest line too. I guess they aren’t as popular as corn dogs and pizza slices.”
“All the more for me.” Kit began to take off, but when Paloma turned to follow her, she barreled into a shorter blonde woman carrying two funnel cakes.
“Oh, geez. I’m so sorry,” Paloma gasped, grabbing one of the plates before the fried cake fell off of it. “I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”
The blonde woman gave her a small smile. “It’s alright. No harm done. Good catch.” The dazzling smile brought out a small dimple on her left cheek. “I’ll live, as long as I don’t have to stand in that line again. It was ridiculous.”
“They all seem that way. I’m sorry, again.”
The woman shrugged off the apology and headed toward the pier ramp. Paloma turned back around, a little more slowly, and tried to find Kit in the crowd. No such luck. At the very least, she knew her friend would be at the gyros stand so she trudged behind the crowds to try to get there. When she finally reached it, Kit was fifth in line.
“Hey, good timing. Where did you go?”
“Nearly bowled over a woman and a couple of funnel cakes on the way over. Virtues of being a giant and a klutz.”
“Hmmm, I think I want that one.” Kit pointed at the menu, clearly more enthralled with the food than with Paloma’s story. “Or maybe that one.”
“I definitely want the third one down. If you’ll get that for me, I think I’ll head up the pier. There was a beer garden there. I’m sure the line is ridiculous, so I’ll go get in it and you can just meet me there with our gyros.”
“You are brilliant. Number three?”
Paloma nodded and turned to make her way up the pier. On the way she had to pass a number of carnies hawking their games and cheap prizes. One had the audacity to grab her arm.
“Hey, beautiful. Wanna handle these balls?” He held out a handful of bean bag balls used to throw and knock down the bottles.
Paloma, who was tired of scum like this hitting on her, lowered her voice as much as she could and leaned in close. “No thanks honey, I’ve got a couple of my own.” The man immediately let go and ran back to his stall, tail between his legs. Paloma couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up from her throat as she carried on past the stalls. She had never really been one to talk like that to men, but that guy deserved it and it had felt so good.
To get to the pier, she had to walk up a steep incline, working her legs more and working up a mighty thirst. She wished she had told Kit to order her a bottle of water, but an ice cold beer awaited her at her destination, so she trudged on. From the pier, she could see nearly the entire beach. There were people everywhere.
A nice day like it was would surely bring them out anyway, but add to that all the attractions and fun and you had a crowded party. She wondered if there were any celebrities among them. It had been known to happen.
She didn’t spot anyone interesting so she moved on, finally making her way to a small pop-up booth that was surrounded by lattice walls covered in climbing ivy. The line was so long that it spilled out onto the pier. Resigned to wait in line, she took her place at the end and got as comfortable as she could. Before she was able to make it inside, Kit joined her, hands full of gyros. “Jesus, Kit, how many did you get?”
“I couldn’t decide! Here, I did remember the number three.” She handed over Paloma’s gyro and pulled another out of the small bag she had been given. Just as she took her first bite, they moved into the building. The shade was nice and cool on Paloma’s hot skin. “How much longer is this line? I could really use a drink. It’s a lot hotter out there than I thought it was.”
“I dunno. Hopefully not too much longer. This little hallway was poorly thought out though, right? It’s a little claustrophobic.”
“Sure, for you it is. You nearly reach the
ceiling.”
Paloma glanced down at Kit. “Sometimes I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
The line moved forward again and they were finally able to see into the room. It was just as packed as everywhere else was. Paloma scanned the room, looking at all the people having fun. Across the room, she saw the blonde woman she had bumped into earlier. She tried to avoid being seen by her, but she had nowhere to go.
“That’s the lady I bumped into.” Paloma nodded toward the blonde woman.
“She looks like she’s real broken up about it.” Kit dug into her second gyro. “Looks like she’s plenty busy if you ask me.” Paloma glanced back at the woman. She was sitting at a table, clearly talking to someone who couldn’t be seen in the crowd. “Maybe she’s on a date.”
“Maybe.” The line inched forward and Paloma was able to see who the blonde was talking to. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw him, kicked back and laughing at whatever the woman was saying. “It’s Reid.”
“What?” Kit tried to see, but couldn’t catch a glimpse over all of the people in the beer garden. She pushed through, trying to get a look, but as she did so, the crowd in front of her started to grumble. To Paloma’s utter horror, Reid turned around in his seat and looked towards the disturbance. His eyes met hers for only a second and he stood from his seat.
“I have to go.” Paloma tried to ease herself out of the line, but the small hallway was packed. She panicked and pushed through the people, trying to escape.
“Paloma, wait!” Kit yelled and tried to follow her friend through the crowds. “P!”
As soon as Paloma was out of the little hallway, she tore off down the pier and back onto the sandy beach. Her only goal was to get to the car. Shame and shock caused her to shake as she made her way through the throngs of people. She wiped at her eyes, trying to clear them. He had been on a date, he really had moved on and been assigned someone new, and it looked to her like they were really hitting it off. She finally reached the car and uttered a curse when she realized she didn’t have the keys. She was tempted to just walk back to the apartment when she heard footsteps pounding in the sand behind her.
“Slow down, girl. I got short legs.”
Paloma spun around to see Kit behind her. “Take me home, Kit.”
“But, P, come on.”
“No, take me home, now. Please.” The tears had started to fall and there was nothing she could do about it. She was silent on the drive home and when they reached the apartment, she went straight to her room and locked the door. Curled up there on her bed, she cried out what she had left in her. It really was over. He really was gone.
Chapter 18
Back at the pier, Reid stood in utter shock at what had just happened. That had been Paloma. How in the world, with all the people in this town, had she found him here? It was one hell of a coincidence. One look at her and all the joy he had felt those couple of days he saw here came flooding back, as did all the heartache her little lies had caused him.
“Reid, sweetie, are you okay?” Jovie’s voice brought him back to the present.
Everyone else was over the spectacle of the women fleeing the beer garden, but Reid still stood there like he was expecting something more. He eased himself back down into his seat and pushed the funnel cake away from him. His appetite was gone. He downed what was left of his beer and flagged down a waiter for another one.
“I’m okay. The commotion startled me is all.”
“Oh good. Do you mind if I order another glass of wine?” She was on her third, but at that point, he was far from caring.
“No, go ahead.” When the waiter made his way back to the table with their orders, Reid took a long pull on his beer. “I’m sorry. What were we talking about?” He tried desperately to focus back on Jovie.
“I was just asking you if maybe you wanted to go shopping with me. I know it’s not really a man’s favorite pastime, but I wanted to try on some new outfits and I thought you wouldn’t mind helping me make a choice.”
Reid nodded absently. He didn’t care about shopping. In fact, he was beginning to grow tired of Jovie. The first date had gone well, but now she would prattle on about a million different things that involved her and her alone. Selfishness annoyed him.
“Hey, I’ve got a charity thing coming up next weekend. Would you like to go with me?”
“Like a ball?” Her eyes glittered with excitement at the thought of getting to dress up and hobnob with the rich crowds. Reid could almost see diamonds in her eyes as she gazed at all the glitzy gems adorning the ears and wrists of those in attendance. There it was, what he was hoping he wouldn’t see. The more time he spent with her, the more he started to feel like something was off with Jovie.
“No, nothing so dull as that. Actually, it’s a basketball tournament for the orphan home. We are holding a tourney of kids against donors to help raise even more money. They are also inviting potential adopters to come out and meet the kids in hopes that a few of them will find homes. It’s going to be fun and the kids are simply amazing.”
“Kids? What day did you say that was?”
“Saturday. A week from today. At 4:30 is when the games start so I should be there at around two.”
Jovie screwed up her face in concentration, then took a sip of her wine. “I’m sorry. I actually have an event of my own that day. We are doing a huge sale in my store and I can’t be pulled away. I’d love to go, really, but I’m the owner after all.” Reid knew it was a lie, but he wasn’t going to fight her on it.
“Oh, that’s a shame. Maybe next time.” He finished his beer and stood from the table. “I’d like to go do some looking around. Come on.” He held his hand out to her and she took it, allowing him to pull her up. They eased out of the beer garden and onto the pier. Instead of heading onto the beach, they moved further down the pier, towards the expanse of water at the end of the wooden planks. “Will you look at that. That is a beauty to behold there.” The water beneath them rolled and roiled, tossing small white caps into the air.
“It’s breathtaking. This is the kind of water I would love to be on. My dad’s boat was one of the bigger ones and it handled this choppy water with no problem. We would ride out the sea like we were on a large roller coaster, daring Poseidon himself to come and knock us overboard.”
Reid let her prattle on while he stared out over the sea. He had stopped listening and lost himself in his thoughts. The gulls swooped down, fighting each other over the little scraps of food left on the beach. Food. There it was again. He could never think of food without thinking of her. She had made food sound sensual and sexy and more than just fuel.
“I’m hungry.”
Jovie looked at him.
He must have interrupted her because she had an annoyed look on her face. “I really feel like something homey. Like maybe a chicken fried steak. Corn on the cob sounds good too. Let’s go get something.”
“Right now?”
“Well, yeah. I mean. I’m hungry.”
Jovie huffed, clearly not at all pleased by the current situation. “I’m enjoying the pier.”
Reid looked at her, trying to figure out when she turned into a self-absorbed witch or if she had always been so and he was just too sorry to see it.
Finally she sighed. “Okay, if you’re that hungry, let’s go. The corn really does sound good. Your turn to buy, right?” Reid nodded and turned around, not waiting for her to attach herself to him again.
He had reverted back to his thought, thinking only about Paloma and trying to compare her lie to the wretchedness of every other woman he had come across on the site. Sure, Paloma had lied about having money, or a job even….or a place to live, but when they had talked, she had been genuine and open. He had been able to see inside of her to that little golden nugget that everyone shielded and kept safe because exposing it could tear out your heart. He had even shown her his. He had never been that comfortable with anyone. He couldn’t even bring himself to even
kiss Jovie, even thought they had a good enough time together, he just couldn’t open up to her and get down to the deep and nitty gritty of things. When they got back to his car, Jovie heaved another sigh. Because of the nice day he had opted for the convertible.
At first she was enchanted with the little car, but now she seemed upset. She reached into her bag and pulled out a hair tie, muttering about the inconvenience of having to tie up her hair in order to have it be manageable in any way when they stopped. Reid considered leaving without her, but then realized that she, too, could just be hungry and be having a hard time concentrating. Athletic people like they were needed to eat a lot after all.
He opened the door for her and made sure she was in before closing it. She muttered her thanks and he trotted over to his side. Before he got in, he pulled out his phone and searched for the best chicken fried steak in the city. With five-star reviews in hand he hit the gas and shot out away from the curb. The drive was a short one and they didn’t really have time to chat, nor was inclined to do so. Before long they pulled up in front of a run-down old house that seemed to serve as both the restaurant and a home. A young black man met them at their car and opened the door for Jovie.
“Welcome, sir. We don’t get many in these parts with swift little race cars like that one.”
Reid simply smiled at the man. “Well, I hear tell that you’ve got the best chicken fried steak in town and I’ve come to test it out for myself.”
“My gran will be mighty happy to have someone like you in her kitchen. Come on in, you two, I’ll get you the best seat in the house.” He smiled, flashing one gold capped tooth.
Reid looked around the small dust lot. It was full of old pickups and rusted out cars from the 70s. Each one had its own little bit of class and personality and he wanted to stroll among them and take a closer look at them. Jovie caught his eye.
“Is this really where you want to eat? It’s a rundown little shanty. There probably hasn’t been a health code inspection in this place in years.”
The Billionaire's Mistaken Match ( A BWWM Romance) Page 8