Billionaire Mountain Man

“So what are you up to?” I asked.

“I’ve just got some errands to run. I was thinking I might go check out bikes, actually.”

“Ben works at a bike shop,” I said.

“Backwoods Bikes,” Ben said. “Obviously, I’m not in there today, but if you let them know you know me, they’ll give you a discount. Or if you want to wait until I’m working, I’ll be there tomorrow, 10 to 6.”

“Maybe I will wait,” Allie said. “I could swing by after work.”

“Sounds good,” Ben said.

Allie smiled. “Well, you guys have a good rest of your day.”

We both watched her go, that ass of hers looking more than delicious in those shorts she was wearing. When she turned to get in her car, t

hough, I looked away quickly, waved once more, then pushed my bike into the garage.

Time for a nice cold shower.

Chapter Seven

Allie

In high school, there had been this girl, Gemma, that everyone liked. She was definitely tall and gorgeous enough to be a model, but she’d been way more interested in getting good grades and going to an Ivy League school, so she had basically sworn off dating. We sat next to each other in chemistry class junior year, so I was a firsthand witness sometimes to the ways guys would more or less throw themselves at her feet, only to be rebuked. Mostly, she was nice, if not a little cool about it; it wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the guys who were interested in her, she just didn’t have any desire to do the dating thing whatsoever.

Though I didn’t use Facebook much, I knew that Gemma was now in grad school at Columbia, and she did have a boyfriend. She seemed happy, or as happy as someone could seem based on their curated social media page. But what I remembered most about her was not her perfect ski slope nose or how clothes just seemed designed to fit her body, but the way she was so completely detached about every single guy that had shown interest in her.

I was thinking about this when Cole’s friend, Ben, had ridden past, and when he waved and said hi, I stood, waved back, and gestured for him to stop.

Which he did, of course.

Was it at all manipulative of me to suggest that we hang out, after initially turning him down? I had no intention of sleeping with him, but if he was going to make a bet like that with Cole, then I figured at the very least I could have a little fun with it, too.

When I checked my phone on Friday after work, there was a text from Ben, and I wrote back and told him that if he wanted to go out tonight, we could. He offered to come pick me up at 7, so I said sure.

There was still plenty of daylight left when I got home, so I changed and went out to work in the garden. It was a bit intimidating, just the sheer mess of it, but I figured if I started in a corner and worked my way out, I’d at least have a start on it.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I noticed that though it wasn’t dark yet, the sun was definitely setting. I’d left my phone inside, so I dusted my hands off, went inside, and saw that it was 10 of 7.

Ben didn’t strike me as the sort of person who would show up on time for anything, but I quickly washed my face, got changed into something that wasn’t covered in dirt, and was brushing my teeth when I heard a knock at the door.

“Be right out!” I said.

When I went to the front door, I saw that we were basically wearing matching outfits: olive green shorts (his were much baggier), and black T-shirts.

“Nice outfit,” I said.

He looked down at what he was wearing, then back to me. Grinned. “Guess great minds really do think alike,” he said. “Want to take my car?”

“Sure.”

I followed him out and noticed how he kept glancing over at Cole’s, probably wanting him to see us getting into the car and leaving.

“You been to Gardner yet?” Ben asked. He had some sort of hip hop playing, and though it wasn’t turned up too loudly, the bass vibrated the whole car. He had his Red Sox cap on backward, and he slouched in the driver’s seat, one hand lightly holding the steering wheel, the other in his lap.

I shook my head. “No. I haven’t done too much exploring outside of Chapin so far.”

“Why don’t we go there, then? You like seafood? There’s this great seafood shack there we could get some food at, if you’re hungry.”