Page 412 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 5
He recognized me. I knew he did. But then he shook his head and pretended to be confused.
“Sorry, do I know you?” he asked with way too much extra sass for someone who 100% knew me.
“Justin, cut it out. Why do you always pretend you don’t recognize me?”
He stared at me. “It’s just…you’re not ringing any bells, honey.”
The hostess smiled. “I’m just going to leave you two on your date.” She placed the menus down and hurried off.
Damn it.The one night I wasn’t going on a pretend gay date and the waitress thought I was gay anyway. “Come on Justin, stop messing around.” I sat down across from him, leaving Penny plenty of room to join us.
“What’s your name again?” Justin asked, squinting at me. “To be perfectly honest with you, I need reading glasses. But I don’t like to admit that to anyone. Especially strangers.”
“It’s me. Matt.”
“Matt?” He shook his head. “I’m so sorry, I just have zero clue who you are. Well, I mean, I know you’re friends with Penny and James. Obviously. Or else we wouldn’t be sitting here together.” He laughed. “Wait a second, were you at their wedding?”
“Justin, what the hell? You know who I am.”
He patted his index finger against his lips. “No. I have a stellar memory. And I have no recollection of a grown man that’s so poorly dressed.”
I looked down at my suit. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with how I dressed? And why did everyone keep bringing it up? I got it when I was in my coach gear. But I’d dressed up for tonight. Nigel had even pressed my suit for me. “I’m well dressed.”
His eyes ran up and down my body. “Oh no.” He leaned forward. “Are you colorblind? I know that makes things excruciatingly difficult. For matching purposes.”
“I’m not colorblind.”
“Oh my. Well that’s shocking. I don’t even know where to start. And it seems harsh to critique a stranger’s poor outfit selection.”
He was one to talk. I was pretty sure he was wearing a parka or something. It didn’t seem fashionable at all. “I’m Matthew Caldwell. Brooklyn’s…”
“Don’t.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Can you please not bring her up?”
I stared at him. “So you do know who I am?”
“Fine. Okay?’ He sighed. “Of course I know who you are. And I always try to avoid you. Because I get very emotional when I hear Brooklyn’s name.”
Oh.“I’m sorry.”
Justin sniffled. “It’s fine. I just…like to pretend I don’t recognize you. Because I don’t like talking about her. Not because I didn’t love her. The opposite, really. She was such a dear friend of mine. And I…I miss her. You know?”
I nodded.
“You may not know this, but she was so kind to me. She believed in me when no one else did.”
“Yeah. She believed in me too.” I could feel myself getting teary eyed because he was getting teary eyed.
“I don’t even think I’d be a wedding planner if she hadn’t told me I could do it. I owe that girl everything. And she never got to see me living my dream.” He grabbed a napkin and blew his nose. “See!? Now I’m a blubbering mess. Oy vey.”
“It’s fine, Justin. Trust me, I understand.”
Justin blotted away the rest of his tears and smiled. “And here we both are. Crying over a girl. Whoever thought two gay men would be doing that on a date? We’re acting like straight guys.”
“Uh…what now?” Was he talking about me? Were we expecting a fourth person? “Where’s Penny?”
“How should I know?”
“Because we’re meeting her here?” It was a guess. Because I honestly had no idea Justin was going to be here. I guess he was the surprise? A blast from the past. Shit, did this mean Penny did know about Brooklyn?
