Hidden Hollywood

He finished his wine in one long swallow as she kept talking. He’d never considered spending her money, even though he was still saving for his dream—a bar with good food, pool tables, and a dance floor with an old-fashioned jukebox. He wouldn’t hit up Jake for the funds, and he wouldn’t use her money because he needed to know the bar was all his. He consoled himself with the knowledge the money would go back to her one day, he just hadn’t worked out how.

He clamped his mouth shut against the questions he had about her and her financial situation, unwilling to learn more about her as Jake. This was fucked up. He’d finish dinner, drop her off, and that would be the end of it.

No more platonic blind dates at her request.

No more weddings either.

He looked away from her bright blue eyes, her pink-tinged cheeks, her rosy mouth, her long neck, her exposed delicate collarbone, and scowled.

He never should’ve tangled with her in the first place.

~ ~ ~

Hailey could feel her mouth getting away from her, babbling on and on, but Jake was so quiet now, and she’d never been to such a fancy restaurant. There was actually a man just in charge of the wine! She feared the superwealthy patrons would know she was wearing last season’s dress. She shopped at the consignment shop in Greenport religiously every Tuesday when they marked stuff down to make room for the next batch of donations. She knew her designers and what would look good on her, even if they were a season or two out of date. She’d grown up poor, the only child of a single mom (a former model turned high-end boutique sales clerk who regularly flaked on work), and had clawed her way up ever since. Beauty pageants had taught her poise and composure, and the winnings had helped pay her way through college.

She was flagging in her enthusiasm. She finished her glass of ridiculously expensive chardonnay that cost more than her entire outfit. For one glass! She scrambled to think of another conversation starter. She’d accepted his invitation for dinner, through a text from Josh, for the rare chance to pick the brain of a really successful businessman. She wanted to know more about his business and how he built it up. She wanted to talk profit and loss, when he’d scaled up with employees, when he’d ramped up investment back in the business, at what point he’d decided to take the company public, but he showed zero interest in the topic. She couldn’t believe he ran a global company with so little enthusiasm for the task. If she were to build her wedding planning business as big as she wanted, making it the go-to destination of every bride’s dream, why, she’d be gushing!

She hated to admit it, but Jake was kind of…boring. And a little bit braggy about his mansion and his yacht.

She shut up for the first time all night and focused on finishing her dinner of roast chicken, five tiny potatoes, and three baby carrots. The portions were so tiny here. She figured it was to make sure people would have room for dessert. Though she wasn’t so sure she wanted to extend dinner. Her mind wandered to the details she had to firm up for the Wilson-Cruz wedding. She stifled a yawn, realized she was being rude, and offered a smile to her boring companion.

He gave her a half-smile, only pulling up one corner of his mouth. He did have nice soulful deep brown eyes. Reminded her of Josh with the depth of intelligence to them, the way he held her gaze as he spoke. He didn’t smile as much as Josh did, though. Of course, Josh’s smiles were only because he was teasing her, or she was handing him cold hard cash to be her wedding date. Yes, Josh was her paid escort. She needed dependable dates to weddings, and he needed cash. Seriously, she couldn’t be a professional matchmaking wedding planner and always show up alone at weddings. She was too busy building a business from the ground up and a secure future for herself to spend any time looking for love. Josh was safe. He understood it was a professional transaction. They’d happened upon the arrangement when she’d desperately needed a date to Julia’s wedding, the most important one of her career so far because Julia was a globally bestselling author and movie star Claire would be in attendance. (The guy Hailey was supposed to go with totally flaked.) She’d asked Josh, who’d obviously needed some incentive to attend a wedding—it really was an event more for the bride—so she’d offered cash. He’d said it would come in handy for his own future business. This pleased her. Two businesspeople taking care of business. She was building the foundation of her wedding planning business, and Josh was saving money for the bar he wanted to open one day.

She took a sip of wine. Between the bestselling author and the movie star, Hailey had been sure Clover Park would become the wedding destination. Not so much. Business was steady, but hadn’t exploded as she’d hoped. In any case, she appreciated Josh’s dependability and punctuality. The guys her age, early twenties, were so unreliable. Half the time they didn’t show, or they’d show but really late. Josh conveniently lived and worked in town. Also, he was easy on the eyes, though she’d admit it only at gunpoint.