Escorting the Billionaire - Part 3

“I’d like to make a toast,” Todd said and stood. “First of all, to Evie for agreeing to marry me. I would have been in sad shape if she’d said no.” He leaned down and kissed her, and everybody whooped and clapped.

“Second, I’d like to thank my parents and Evie’s parents for hosting such a beautiful wedding celebration. It was perfect in every way. Thank you for organizing and for, well, paying.” Everyone laughed.

“Third, I’d like to thank my brother James for being my best man, and for taking time out of his busy schedule to actually go on vacation for once. I have a feeling I should really be thanking his girlfriend, Audrey, since James has never been this relaxed in his life. So cheers to James and Audrey. And cheers to all of you for joining us on this happy occasion. To the hair of the dog!” Todd said and knocked back his shot.

“The hair of the dog.” Everyone clinked glasses and drank their tequila except for me. The way Celia was looking at me made me think staying sober was the right course of action.

Jenny leaned over to me after the toast. “Can we take a break?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She grabbed my hand, and we walked from the oceanside restaurant to the main part of the resort. “I just need a little space,” she said, looking back at the table. Cole was talking to Todd and James.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. No it is not.”

I waited until we found a private bathroom; we went in and locked the door. Jenny was looking as lovely as ever in a black maxi dress, her skin bronzed and glowing from this afternoon. Her hair hung in loose curls over her shoulders. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s Cole,” she said. “He told me he doesn’t want me to go back to work after this.” I just waited a beat, letting her talk on her terms. “He said he wants me to be exclusive.” Her berry-stained lips turned down in a pout, and she blinked back tears.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked. “You don’t want to be exclusive?”

Jenny looked grim. “It’s not that,” she said. She gritted her teeth and then examined them for lipstick in the mirror. “It’s that he said he’d buy me an apartment, buy me whatever kind of car I wanted, blah blah blah.”

“Oh. Huh.” I paused for a beat, trying to understand why she was upset. Jenny lived in a crappy studio apartment in Dorchester. She’d always wanted a rich John to buy her and set her up as a mistress. “And that’s bad?”

“Yeah, it’s bad, Dre,” she said. “’Cause that’s not what I want.”

“What do you want?” I asked, confused.

“More.” Jenny rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. “Jesus, you’d think I was some kind of amateur. I shoulda never come on this trip.”

I rubbed her arm. “It’s okay, Jenny. But did you tell him how you felt?”

She snorted. “No f**king way. He told me he didn’t want me to go back to hooking after this trip. So I told him to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse, ya know? And he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was just the wrong one.”

“I think you should talk to him,” I said. “Just like you told me to talk to James. Remember? When you told me to be brave?”

“I’m not you, Dre. It’s not possible to clean this up,” she said, motioning to herself, “put it into a Volvo, and pretend it knows how to play tennis. Do you understand?”

I nodded while I watched my friend carefully blot her eyes. “I don’t know if Cole cares about Volvos and tennis, Jenny. But I’m pretty sure he cares about you.”

“Do not try to turn my airplane pep talk around on me,” Jenny said, her voice jagged. “This is totally different.”

“If you say so,” I said, unconvinced. “But you had some pretty good advice. I’m just saying.”

Jenny blew out a deep breath. “What about you and James?” she asked, changing the subject. “You looked a lot happier in the pool earlier. Are you all better?”

I nodded at her. “He asked me to move to California with him.”

“I knew it,” she cried. “I knew it! I could tell just by looking at him. You’re gonna live happily ever after.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said.

“I do.” She looked at me levelly. “I know it’s gonna happen.”

“Jenny, I see the way Cole is with you. I think he’s in love with you.” I hesitated to say it because I didn’t want to be wrong and make it worse. Still, I’d seen the way he looked at her. I believed there were real feelings there.