An Accidental Date with a Billionaire

As people shuffled from one task to another around them, he shifted the toolbox to his other hand. Surprisingly, he was eager to get to work. It had been too long since he built something with his hands. “Were you coming here back then?”

“I’d have been in my junior year of college, so…” She pursed her lips. That meant she was deep in thought, and he’d give anything to know what was going through her mind. “Yes.”

Damn. She was five years younger than his thirty-one. “I’m surprised I didn’t see you.”

She shrugged. “Not like you would have noticed me.”

“I assure you, I would have noticed you.”

She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Can we start over?” he asked slowly, studying her for any kind of reaction.

Her face remained carefully blank. “What do you mean?”

“We can pretend we’re meeting here for the first time, and we can just…talk. No preconceived impressions. No awkward conversations about bidding. Just two people, at a construction site, trying to put some good into the world.”

She hesitated, shifting her grip on her toolbox.

“Hi, I’m Taylor Jennings.” He held his hand out, waiting.

The ball was in her court.

She didn’t move. Didn’t take his hand.

Well, there went that idea.

“All right,” he said, pulling back. “Let’s get this over—”

Moving fast, she caught his hand in hers, shaking it with a firm grip. “Sam Matthews. Nice to meet you.”

He shook hers back, grinning widely. He couldn’t help it. This victory was even bigger than the one he’d had in the boardroom Friday when he’d managed to peacefully take over a company and reassign half the employees to another recently acqui

red asset of his. Why did it matter so much to him, though, that she accepted his peace offering?

“Great to meet you.” He let her go, his fingers lingering as he winked. “Now let’s go build some shit. Maybe after we can grab a bite to eat.”

“I…uh…actually had another stop planned in this date,” she admitted, her cheeks red. “We’re scheduled to help at the soup kitchen downtown at four.”

He choked on a laugh, dragging his hand through his hair. “Seriously?”

She nodded.

“All right,” he said, dipping his voice. “I’m looking forward to spending all day with you, Sam.”

“Even though it’ll be at these places?” she asked, gesturing behind her.

“Icing on the cake,” he admitted. “I get to help while spending time with a compassionate woman. What’s not to like?”

She scrunched her nose up as she turned away, clearly as ready to work as he was.

“Sam?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for bringing me here.” He swallowed hard. “It’s been too long, and this is a good reminder to fix that.”

She bit her lip. “You’re welcome.”