An Accidental Date with a Billionaire

Chapter Two

Taylor hated being here and despised being auctioned off.

Even if the woman who bid on him was unbelievably intriguing. She stared at him with a combination of sparkling eyes and disdain, and for some reason he couldn’t look away from that contradiction. She wore her long brown hair in a loose bun, with a few curls escaping around her cheeks, and her

blue eyes hadn’t left his face since he’d spoken to her. He suspected she was ten seconds from crying, screaming, or both.

But why?

She’d clearly been determined to win the bid for him, which meant only one of two things. One, she was hoping a date would lead to an “in” to becoming the future Mrs. Taylor Jennings, with access to his massive wealth. Or two, she needed something from him, and this was her big shot to try and get it. Either way, he wasn’t interested.

His phone buzzed, and he glanced down, frowning at the message. “Unacceptable,” he muttered.

The current hot-ticket impending bankruptcy on the market, Granger Pharmaceuticals, had declined his extremely generous offer. Didn’t they realize that without his help, they would be holding onto a useless building with millions of dollars in worthless equipment inside? If they didn’t consolidate fast, they’d get a fraction of the worth for all the shit in their building they refused to let go of. For the life of him, he would never understand why people refused to admit when they gambled everything on something and lost.

“Excuse me?” the woman said.

His eyes were on his phone, but he could clearly see her annoyed, tapping foot below it. The shoe wasn’t like the fancy designer ones women usually wore to this sort of thing.

Interesting.

“Sorry, that wasn’t for you.” He finished typing an angry response to his accountant before focusing on the woman again. Her cheeks were pale. “Are you ready for our date, Miss…?”

“Matthews. Sam Matthews.”

“Sam.” He cocked his head. “I’m Taylor Jennings.”

She swallowed, wringing her purse in her hands. It, unlike the rest of her outfit, was not cheaply bought. It was Gucci. He always bought his mother Gucci. “I don’t want to go out on a date with you,” she blurted. “I just…uh…I don’t know how to say this.”

How unfortunate. He wouldn’t have minded wining and dining her. Something about her drew him in, and he’d wanted to learn more about the woman who had spent three thousand dollars to go on a date with him. But apparently his “date” wanted door number two instead: a chance to ask him for money for some project or business idea.

Hiding his displeasure, he slid his hand into his pants pocket, holding a business card out for her. “Three thousand will get you about twenty minutes of my time.”

Her jaw dropped. “Twenty minutes? Seriously?”

How much more time did she need to pitch a business proposal? “I feel that is more than enough time, but…” He shrugged lazily. “I suppose we could up it to thirty, if you insist.”

“A thirty-minute date with you, all for the low cost of three thousand dollars,” she said drily. “Wow, how generous of you.”

Date? But she’d just said she didn’t want a date with him. Damn, this woman was confusing. He couldn’t read her, and she was still frowning at him as if he were gum under her shoe.

“I’m sorry, I must’ve misunderstood your intentions. Would you like a date? I can take you to a nice restaurant.” He gave her a once-over again. That was definitely an off-the-rack gown and discount shoes, despite her expensive purse. But, damn, she wore it well. “You would probably like that, right? A special treat out somewhere nice?”

She reared back, nostrils flaring. “Excuse me?”

Shit, he’d pissed her off again. He seemed good at that tonight. Annoyed at this whole situation and himself, he gestured with his business card again. “Look, I don’t care if you want a date or a business meeting. Either way, call my assistant, and she’ll set one up for us. Bring a tight portfolio because I’m only giving you thirty minutes, no matter how much you pout at me.”

She took the card angrily. “I won’t be shortened to thirty minutes. You owe me a full date for the kind of money I’m paying for you.”

“That’s fine. If you want a date, I’ll give you a—” His phone buzzed again with a counteroffer. It was ridiculous. “Son of a bitch.”

As he typed furiously, her foot tapped faster.

After he finished, he glanced up. She had her arms crossed and was watching him with death in her eyes. He flexed his jaw, meeting her stare dead-on. Damn, the woman gave a good stare-down. He was half tempted to hire her and send her to Granger Pharm. She’d set them straight in no time at all. “Now, where were we?”

“You were ignoring me for your phone,” she said with a fake politeness that grated on his nerves.

Determined not to show it, he forced a smile. “Ah, yes. Date or business meeting. Which is it going to be? Let’s get this over with soon, too. I have a busy schedule the next few weeks.”