Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Flo had made a delicious beef bourguignon for their Friday night dinner, complemented by a tasty red wine.
Then Michaela noticed her mother’s blush. Flo was blushing. It was unheard of. Maybe even crazy.
She immediately said, “What’s wrong?”
Flo cleared her throat.
“Are you coming down with something?”
Holding up her hand, her mother shook her head. “No. I’m fine.” But that blush didn’t recede. “Actually…” She paused, as if she had to gather her thoughts. Then she rushed on. “I’ve got a date tomorrow night.”
Michaela stared. Completely flabbergasted, all she could say was, “A date?”
Flo lifted her chin like a defiant teenager and said calmly, purposefully, “Yes. I have a date.”
Michaela suddenly heard how she’d sounded. Judgmental. Maybe even disapproving. And she jumped in to correct her error. “A date. That’s great.”
Flo had never let her matchmake for her. But now she’d finally matched herself.
“Who is he?” The plumber they’d had over the other day? Someone she’d met at the grocery store? A neighbor in their complex?
As if embarrassed, or worried, or just plain nervous, Flo picked up her wineglass, and instead of taking a sip, she gulped. Then she spoke so fast the words were almost garbled. “We’re going up to the city for dinner and a show. Since the show will be getting out very late—” She sucked in a big breath, shot it back out. “—we’ll stay overnight.”
Michaela gaped. She couldn’t help herself. Her mother had never been on a date. Never. Ever. She’d sworn off men. Now she was going on an overnight date with a man Michaela hadn’t even met? Okay, okay, she could not sound critical. This was her mother’s life. And her mother’s date. But were they going to share a hotel room?
As if Michaela had question marks shooting out of her eyes, Flo said, “We’ll have two bedrooms. It’s just that it’s such a long drive back.”
“You don’t have to explain.” Michaela was only worried about how fast things seemed to be moving. Especially since this was the first she’d heard of her mother dating anyone. She painted a smile across her face. “Do I know him?”
Flo played with her beef bourguignon, swirling her fork through the delicious sauce, and didn’t look at Michaela when she said, “Walter Braedon.”
Michaela couldn’t help repeating, “Walter Braedon?” The words flowed out of her mouth. “He owns Regent Hotels.”
Flo finally met Michaela’s gaze. “Yes. And he’s booked the penthouse suite in the San Francisco hotel for Saturday night.”
Again, words spewed out of Michaela’s mouth. “But he’s a billionaire.”
Her mother blinked. “I don’t have a problem with billionaires.” She didn’t add, Not the way you do.
“I know we joked about it on the way back from the art show, but—”
She didn’t even know how to finish the thought. She had joked about seeing sparks, but her mother had denied everything. And Michaela had realized the potential danger to Flo’s heart. They didn’t know Walter Braedon. He could be a user. He could be out for just one thing. Her mother was a beautiful woman. Her dark hair was elegantly frosted with silver. Her face bore fewer wrinkles than women ten or even fifteen years younger. She’d kept her figure trim all her life with hard work and long walks.
And Walter Braedon was a billionaire with a lifestyle completely different from theirs. He’d booked the penthouse in his own hotel, for God’s sake. He would be with her mother all night, two bedrooms or not. It was exactly what a billionaire would do.
Michaela dealt with billionaires all the time. But if one of them started acting up, she canceled the contract. Matchmaking only worked with billionaires like the Mavericks, and Gloria and Ivan. The nice ones.
Like Troy.
Oh God, she would start thinking about Troy. Right on cue. The only reason she’d brought up weekend activities with her mother was so that she’d be fully occupied and couldn’t succumb to the desire to call Troy. To beg him to kiss her.
But her mother was the one going on a date this weekend.
Flo reached across the table to pat Michaela’s hand where it lay limply on the placemat. “I know how you feel about dating billionaires, but you don’t have to worry about me, darling.”
Still, Michaela couldn’t wrap her mind around it. “But how did this happen, Mom?”
Flo blushed again, and her gaze flashed to the ceiling for a moment. “We’ve gotten together for coffee over the past few weeks.”
Coffee dates? That didn’t sound particularly billionaire-ish.
Flo pursed her lips. “We’ve also had a couple of dinner dates when you were out.”
Dinner dates when she was out? When was she ever out in the evening? Oh. Yes. The night of the book signing. And again on Wednesday night.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She actually felt hurt.
Her mother shrugged. “I wanted to enjoy it for a little bit.”