The Billionaire Player (In Too Deep)

CHAPTER6

LARISA

Ireread the email containing the information about my trip. Brittany had forwarded it to me earlier this week, and I’d probably read it about a hundred times by now. I was nervous as hell about the weekend.

I scrolled through the information and the attached photographs. Then I sighed and clicked on the back arrow a few times to find the picture that had fast become my favorite of them all.

It was a shot of the house we’d be staying in and it had been taken from the water. The getaway was going to be Friday evening until Sunday evening at a lakeside chalet upstate.

As far as I could tell, the place was gorgeous. The picture I kept going back to showed an A-frame type structure with a hot tub on the deck and what had to be a magnificent view of the sunset over the lake. It was so romantic, I could cry.

If I was going there with a guy I actually knew, I would’ve cried. It was freaking perfect. It would’ve proven that the guy knew me so well that he’d chosen the most idyllic spot he could for me.

The first moment I’d seen this picture, my mind had conjured up images of having coffee on the deck in front of the house and of reading a book on that deck. Of having dinner in front of those floor-to-ceiling windows facing the lake with the sunset as a backdrop, not another soul in sight. Of sinking into the hot tub and letting the water massage all the tense muscles in my back and shoulders from being hunched over my computer all day.

It was unbelievable to think that someone who didn’t even know me had chosen a place that pretty much topped my list of dream destinations. In fact, Tanner didn’t even know he was going with me as far as I knew. He still thought he would be going away with Brit.

She thought it would be fun to surprise him. I was worried he might not like surprises, but despite being nervous about the weekend, I was also looking forward to it. The pictures made it difficult not to want to jump in a cab and go there right away, but knowing who I was going with made it that much more interesting.

I’d decided not to jump to conclusions about him. Brit had agreed with me that he’d looked nervous, so despite the fact that he’d practically run while I’d been speaking to him, I was going to give him a chance. For the sake of charity.

I snorted at myself. Yeah, right. For charity. Uh huh. That’s why you’re giving him a chance.

Rolling my eyes, I clicked on the X in the corner of my screen to close out the pictures in favor of rereading the information in the email about Tanner himself. After seeing that he’d had to pass a background check and a few other security measures to be part of the auction, I was pretty confident that I would at least be safe.

Brit and I had also looked him up, and since he’d been a professional baseball player, there had been plenty of information about him online. We’d seen pictures of him from games and in training and found numerous articles about him detailing his stats as a player as well as interviews that had been conducted with him.

In the interviews I’d read and the few clips of them that I’d watched, he’d seemed like a nice enough guy. A lot more confident than he’d come across the other night and definitely not as rude as I’d thought he was when he’d run off.

I’d never done anything even remotely like this before, but even if it was a disaster, it would be a funny story to tell one day. It was also a pretty exciting prospect, spending a weekend with a former sports star who was an attractive billionaire and who had almost run into me an hour before my best friend had purchased him for a weekend away with me.

It’s crazy. Absolutely batshit crazy. Stuff like this just didn’t happen to me.

I’d considered canceling, but I’d decided against it. I was doing this, opening myself up to a new experience that would, at the very least, leave me with some fun memories.

Since I had to leave tomorrow, my suitcase was open on my bed and I’d been going over the email one last time for some clues as to what I should pack. Realizing that staring at my screen and reading over the same words I’d read so many times before wouldn’t magically make more information on what to expect appear, I got up and headed back to my bedroom.

Right. So I’m winging the packing. Here’s hoping he’s not expecting me to go to some other fancy event while we’re there.

Before I’d opened my computer to read the email again, I’d made a few piles of possible clothing options on the bed next to my suitcase. I looked over them again now, satisfied that my outfits were suitable for the location. I’d packed linen shorts, a pair of jeans, some shirts, a lightweight jersey, a sweater, and some sandals.

Now, however, I had to make the more difficult choices. Hesitating over my pajamas, underwear, and bikini, I scrapped the pile that I’d made with the older stuff in it. I wasn’t planning on anything happening with him, but as an image of his face popped up in my mind, my hand automatically moved to the pile with the sexier garments. Just in case.

It had been a long time since I’d even been out on a date, but I’d felt something with him. A spark that hadn’t been hunger after all. I still wasn’t entirely convinced that it hadn’t been my imagination, but on the off chance that it had been an actual spark and that he’d felt it too, I didn’t want to get caught in my everyday cotton panties or wearing a swimsuit I’d had since college.

Even if I just wore the sexy things for myself, at least they would give me a nice boost in confidence. I could sure as heck use that right about now.

If he’d booked this place thinking it was for him and Brit, I didn’t know what I’d do if he was disappointed when I arrived instead. I’d considered contacting him and telling him that I would be joining him instead of her, but I was scared that it would be some kind of breach of the auction conditions and that he’d back out.

Also, I’m too chicken to call him up out of the blue. Instead of facing what had the potential to be an incredibly awkward telephone conversation, I figured it would be easier to speak to him face to face. At least that way, if he backed out, I’d already be at the cabin. Hopefully, whoever had organized the auction would let me stay for the weekend, even if it was a breach for the person who’d won the bid to give the prize to someone else.

Zipping up my suitcase and popping it on its wheels by the door, I got ready to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and I didn’t want to go into it cranky because I was too tired to enjoy it.

After taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and putting on the old pajamas I’d nixed for weekend, I grabbed my phone and climbed into bed. My mom already knew about Brit’s stunt at the auction and that I was going to be away for the next few days, but I called to make sure that she didn’t need anything before I left.

As much as I loved her—and she meant everything to me—my mother was not good with money. We’d barely ever had enough of it to make ends meet, but it was always a stretch since she used what little we had on stuff we didn’t really need. A habit she hadn’t kicked once I’d moved out of the house.

These days, I paid the rent on the apartment I’d grown up in and she still lived in it. It was in a more affordable part of the city, but left to her own devices, she’d often missed paying for the place. As soon as I’d been in a financial position to do it, I’d made an arrangement with her landlord and now the monthly charge came to me.