He sighed, looking like he didn’t believe me but also apparently realizing he couldn’t exactly stop me from doing the job I’d been hired to do. Taking a deep breath, I walked around Eliot and headed for the back room.
When I walked in, I expected to see a crowd. The private dining room seated twenty comfortably, and I’d thought that if a person had gone through the trouble and expense of renting it, that person would want to get some bang for their buck.
There was no crowd waiting, though. One solitary figure sat at the large dining table. Benjamin fucking Reed, and the ass was smiling in my direction.
Eliot had followed me here, but he stopped at the door and allowed me to proceed on my own. I had my little speaker fixed to the back of my dress, but I didn’t hit play on the music just yet.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, immediately narrowing my eyes and looking around to see if there was some kind of hidden setup that was going to come out and catch me off guard. Perhaps he’d invited my boss this time so she’d personally hear me being rude to a client or something.
I wouldn’t put it past him.
Ben waited for me to finish surveying the room and to return my suspicious gaze to his before he answered my question. “I’m here because I owe someone a huge apology.”
“Who?” I put my hands on my hips to keep from folding them protectively over my chest. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re the only ones in here.”
He chuckled softly, hazel eyes surprisingly warm and sincere. “That’s because you’re the person who deserves the apology, and I’m the one who should be making it.”
Chapter 26
BEN
Tori stared at me like she was wondering if she’d been drugged and this was nothing more than a hallucination. She didn’t move to take a seat after I told her what we were doing here, so I got up and pulled out the chair across from mine.
“Would you please sit down?” I asked her before turning my attention to the waiter. “We’d each like a glass of wine, please. Something red and smooth.”
The guy muttered angrily where he was still standing in the door but spun around and left.
Jeez. I wonder what’s gotten into him.
He wasn’t the reason I was here, though. Whatever his problem was, it was his to sort out. Hopefully after bringing our drinks.
“I don’t understand,” Tori said, inspecting the chair as if I might have sawed halfway through the legs and that was why I was offering it to her. “What kind of trick are you pulling tonight, Ben? It doesn’t look like you tampered with the chair, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
I screwed my eyes shut, hating myself for a moment for having made her so suspicious of my motives. “No more tricks, Tori. I’m here to apologize and to tell you that I’m done.”
When I looked at her again, she was lowering herself into the chair. She did so cautiously, but at least it appeared like she was going to give me a chance and hear me out.
“Okay. I’ll bite. For now.” Her voice was soft, her hands folded in her lap and her body positioned as far back on the chair—and away from me—as she could be. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
I went back to my own seat, taking a small sip of my water in an attempt to cure my suddenly dry throat and mouth. “I’ve realized a few things. One of which is how sorry I am for holding that video against you when you weren’t the one who made it or the one who uploaded it, and another is that I deeply regret trying to set you up with a video of my own. I shouldn’t have done that. It was childish and completely uncalled for.”
Her eyes widened as far as they could go. She was also blinking in surprise, but I could see she was still doubting my sincerity.
Before I could continue making my case, the waiter reappeared with our drinks. Wordlessly, he filled our glasses from a bottle I recognized and I suddenly knew my lack of specification when placing the order had led to him choosing one of the most expensive bottles they sold.
Ah well. If it makes him feel better about whatever is up his ass, then so be it. She deserves the best anyway. I didn’t make apologies very often, so I figured it was okay to go big for this one.
“Would you like your usual order?” he asked Tori once he was done with the wine.
It was my turn to be surprised. Although I’d seen her eating here before—hence why I’d chosen this restaurant—it didn’t seem like the kind of place she could afford to be a regular at.
She nodded and the waiter turned to me. “What can I get you?”
A quick glance around the table told me he hadn’t even delivered our menus yet. I didn’t want to come across as the asshole Tori already thought I was, so I didn’t mention it. Even managing to muster a grin for the sullen man, I looked up at him and tried to remain friendly. “What are your specials?”
“There are no specials,” he said curtly.
My head drew back and cocked to one side as I held back the frown that had almost formed. “There are always specials.”
“Not tonight. Not for you.” There was defiance in the way he glared at me that confused the living daylights out of me.
Until Tori reached out and put her hand on the waiter’s. “It’s okay, Eliot. You can tell him.”
Eliot? She knows the waiter’s name?
She might’ve been suspicious when she’d walked in here, but I was the one who was starting to feel duped now. On more than one occasion, she’d told me she was single, but she seemed awfully familiar with this guy.
If he was her boyfriend, it would explain how she could afford to be a regular here. If the food was free, anyone could be a regular. Shit.
“You know what? I’ll have a steak with pan fried potatoes and vegetables. Medium-rare. Any cut.” I’d already made so many mistakes with Tori that the last thing I wanted was to jump to the wrong conclusions.
Again.
The situation with the waiter was suspect, but I needed to keep my cool this evening. He recognized I had placed my order in a dismissive tone, and scowled at me before shooting a questioning glance at Tori.
She flashed him a small smile, waved him off, waited until the door closed behind him, and then turned back to me with no more traces of a smile on her beautiful face. “If this isn’t a trick and this isn’t a setup and you really do want to apologize, why do it like this?”
“Excuse me?” My brows lifted, my heart contracting at the realization that she’d never looked at me the way she’d looked at that waiter. I needed to know if I was making a total fool of myself here.
As casually as I could, I tried to turn the conversation back to her. “How did you become a regular here? If the staff knows your preferences, you must come here often.”
She shrugged but didn’t answer my question. “Let’s just focus on what’s important, shall we? You asked me here to apologize, but why?”
“I already told you. I shouldn’t have held the video against you and I definitely shouldn’t have tried to make one of my own.”
“Sure, but why go through all this trouble?” She flicked one of her hands in the air to indicate the room. “It costs money to rent this place out for private use. It’s usually just used as overflow for the dining room when there’s no party happening. Pardon me for not trusting that this is really about an apology.”
“I don’t blame you for not trusting my motivations.” I caught her gaze and held on to it, my fingers itching to reach for her across the table. “A big mistake—or a series of them in this particular instance—calls for a grand gesture and a proper apology. I have no hidden agenda tonight, Tori.”
“See, that’s the thing.” She pursed her lips in thought. “If you really wanted to apologize, you could’ve just called. You obviously know how to get a hold of me since you even have my address. Or you could’ve sent a card. Or done nothing at all.”
I spread my arms out to my sides, my empty palms turned up. “If I’d done any of those things, I wouldn’t have gotten to apologize to yo
u in person. This seemed more appropriate.”
Her nose wrinkled. “We aren’t exactly in each other’s orbits. This is unnecessary and a little overwhelming. If it truly is only about an apology, then consider it made. Maybe it’s best if we just call it even and both walk away.”
“Could we have a meal together first?” She wasn’t wrong. It probably was best if we called it quits and walked away, but that wasn’t what I wanted. “We’ve already ordered our food. Obviously, you’re free to leave at any time, but isn’t breaking bread together supposed to be symbolic of peace?”
The smallest of smiles touched her lips, but then the waiter came back into the room carrying a plate of appetizers we hadn’t ordered. He set it down on the table between us before backing away a couple of steps.
“Can I get you anything else?”
I shook my head. “We didn’t order these, and no. Just some privacy would be nice.”
Tori arched a brow at me while the waiter looked like he was doing his best not to roll his eyes. “These are Tori’s favorite. They’re part of her regular order.”
She nodded her agreement with his statement, picking up a piece of what appeared to be stuffed phyllo pastry. “Eliot’s right. They are my favorite. Try them. They’re divine.”
Instantly popping the appetizer into her mouth, she moaned in a way that made my cock twitch. Her eyes were closed while she chewed, so I risked a glance at the waiter who was still standing there staring at her.
It was clear her moan had affected him too, since he was slack jawed and his eyelids suddenly seemed heavy. Seeing him looking at her that way made a wave of jealousy crash into me. I didn’t know what was going on between them, but there was definitely something.
“Like I said,” I reiterated, sending him a piercing glare when he brought his attention back to me after hearing my voice. “We don’t need anything else right now, but we’d appreciate a little privacy since this is the private room and all.”
The waiter, Eliot, muttered something about how he shouldn’t have let me book it in the first place before turning back to Tori. “Are you sure you’re all right in here? I can leave the door open if it would make you feel more comfortable.”
Tori’s lilac-blues landed on him, and she flashed him yet another smile as she shook her head. “I’m okay, really. Don’t worry about it.”
“Fine.” He held her gaze for another second, looking like he wanted to say something else before he decided against it.
Once he’d stormed out of the room, Tori’s smile disappeared again when she faced me and waved at the appetizers. “Are you really not going to try them? They’re delicious. Besides, pastry is the closest thing to bread you’re going to get for breaking with me.”
“What’s that guy’s problem?” I asked, glancing irritably at the door he’d left open when she’d made it pretty damn clear it wasn’t necessary.
She rolled her eyes but ignored my question once again. “I thought you were apologizing to me. Out with it then, Mr. Reed. Let’s hear this apology you insisted on delivering in person in such an extravagant way and get on with it.”
I sighed, acutely aware that my best laid plans for said apology were going very wrong. I didn’t know how these things kept happening with her. It was like one fuck-up only gave way to the next. I’d never felt as out of control in my life as I did with her, and I didn’t like it, but I also kept coming back for more. Seems I’m a sucker for punishment.
“I’ve made my apologies, haven’t I?” I plucked a piece of her phyllo up between my fingers and bit into it, having to suppress a moan myself at the cheesy, earthy explosion of spinach and feta in my mouth. “If you ask me, it’s the waiter’s turn to apologize. For some reason, he’s not making this any easier than you are.”
“If you were expecting this to be easy, you clearly haven’t gotten to know me very well at all,” she said. “We could just get our food to go. Are we done here, or do you feel like you have more apologizing to do?”
Chapter 27
TORI
I sat there looking into Ben’s gorgeous eyes, not seeing any sign of the arrogant monster I knew him to be, and I had no idea what was going on anymore. It felt like the world had turned upside down in the space of the last few minutes, and I didn’t know which way was up.
Eliot had never behaved this way with one of the restaurant’s customers, but especially not with someone as wealthy as Ben. The nice, mild-mannered guy I knew had left the building, leaving in his place a scowling, snapping mess who was rude to customers.
Ben, on the other hand, was being way too nice. He’d gone out of his way to do all this for me, but I wasn’t sure I was buying his story about it all being to apologize. Something terrible had to be right around the corner if he was suddenly acting like a human being.
I knew he had it in him to be decent, human even, but he’d lured me here tonight under false pretenses. That couldn’t be a good sign.
Maybe I need to extricate myself from this situation before it all blows up in my face.
“Look, Tori. If you want to get your food to go, then do it.” He released a long, slow breath, but there was an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes that looked too much like disappointment for me to keep looking into them. “I’d prefer if we ate together and got a chance to talk, but it’s a free country. If you want to leave, go.”
My gaze darted around the room while I was avoiding his and trying not to notice the complete sincerity in his tone. I spotted the best short-term excuse known to woman. “Excuse me. I need to go to the restroom.”
The universal sign of the lady with her triangle skirt mounted on the wall pointed me in the direction of the female sanctuary. If there was one thing every girl in the world knew, it was how to buy herself a few moments to collect her thoughts while out with a confusing man. Follow the triangle skirt.
As always, she’d provided me with the perfect cover. Ben knew exactly what I was doing. It was written all over his face, but it wasn’t like he could say no.
Sighing as he nodded, he ran a hand through his black hair and held the back of his neck. “Fine. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
Thank you, ladies’ room! Once I was safely ensconced in the sanctuary, I locked myself in a stall and texted my sister to let her know where I was and that I needed her.
Kari’s voice rang out moments later, the door closing with the soft click behind her. “Tori? What’s going on?”
I cracked open the stall, then checked that there wasn’t anyone else in here with us. When I was satisfied that we were still alone, I sank down on the plush armchair near the row of sinks where I could keep an eye on the main door.
“Something really weird is happening,” I started, then launched into an explanation of how I’d ended up here tonight and told her all about Ben and Eliot’s strange behavior. “I’m telling you, it’s creepy. It’s like they’ve swapped bodies and the nice one is moody while the moody one is the nicest guy ever.”
My sister laughed, leaning against the doorway and shaking her head at me. “Am I supposed to feel bad for you because you’ve got two guys lusting over you?”
“That’s not what’s happening.” I scoffed, but when I saw that knowing sparkle in her eyes, I squinted my own. “Is that what’s happening?”
“You know, I might not be as book-smart as you, but at least I can see when guys are acting all jealous because they want me.”
I frowned. “Do you really think that’s all that it’s about? I think maybe I should just go home now. All I wanted to do tonight was soak in the tub anyway.”
“You’re way too curious to do that.” She straightened up, coming over to put her hands on my shoulders. “You want to know why Ben is going through all of this, don’t you? If you run away now, you’ll never know.”
“You’re right,” I groaned after a brief pause. “I have no idea why he’d go through all this effort.”
She lifted a tweezed eyebrow at me. “Really? Yo
u can’t think of anything? Not even a flaming hot night you two spent together just the other day.”
“Fine. We slept together, but I doubt he’s interested in anything serious.” As much as I believed the words as I said them, I also hated how down knowing the truth made me feel. “He’s a single billionaire. You like reading all those books about them. Aren’t one-night stands pretty much standard practice among their ranks?”
“Only until they meet the love of their life. They’re always one hundred percent faithful and happy after that,” she teased. “Maybe that’s what’s happening here. Your billionaire has met the love of his life.”
“You’re crazy.” I laughed before standing up and going to wash my hands, watching her in the mirror. “I might not have read any of your books, but Benjamin Reed isn’t the type to suddenly realize he’s fallen head over heels in love with the curvy, sassy girl he fired.”
“From what I’ve read, every single billionaire is that type.” She sighed dreamily. “Do you think he has any friends he can introduce me to?”
“Oh, he has friends. I saw them all back in December when he humiliated me in front of them, remember? Trust me, you don’t want to meet anyone who’d willingly associate with that man.”
“Trust me, you’ve got that man all wrong. Now go back in there and hear him out. If he brought you here tonight, it’s not just to say, ‘let’s forget about it.’”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” I mumbled as I dried my hands and dropped the paper towel in the trash. “But just because you’re wrong about him being in love with me doesn’t mean you’re wrong about my curiosity. It’ll drive me up the wall knowing he went all out like this and not ever finding out why.”
“Atta girl,” my sister encouraged, adding a few more slightly vulgar comments she referred to as incentive before walking with me back to the private dining room. She winked when we got to the door, smacked me on the ass, and then left me to, “get some.”
Love Your Moves: A Billionaire Valentine's Romantic Comedy Page 16