Page 18 of Bargain with the Bachelor
She took a step back from the table. Her fingers twisted together, and she slapped on an impersonal smile. “It’s a long story. I’ll let you enjoy your lunch now.”
“Kristal. Wait.”
She darted a look at the door, clearly wanting to escape. But I plowed ahead. “Listen… I’m not sure what’s going on, but if you need a loan or something…”
Her face went dark pink in an instant. Her expression shut down, going cold. “I’m fine… thank you. I don’t need your money. Enjoy your meal.”
She turned and fled from the room, disappearing around a corner.
Great.I’d offended her. Again.
Nice work, bozo.
I couldn’t seem to stop putting my foot in my mouth when I was around her. I spent the entire meal trying to come up with the right words to say when she came back with the check, something to mitigate the damage.
But she didn’t come back. A different waiter brought the check and asked how my food was.
“Excellent. Thank you.” I pulled out my wallet and withdrew a credit card once again. “Where’s Kristal?”
“Shift change,” the woman said with a smile. “I’ll be right back with this.”
She departed, and I was left wondering how and when I’d be able to talk to Kristal, to explain that embarrassing her was thelastthing I’d wanted to do. I wanted tohelpher for God’s sake. I’d do anything for her.
For weeks after seeing her—and kissing her—at the party, I hadn’t been able to go more than a few minutes without Kristal on my mind.
Honestly, the unexpected liaison still popped up far too often on my internal movie screen. It had played a starring role several times in the shower and late at night when I was alone in my bed.
And it probably had a lot to do withwhyI was sleeping alone—my lack of interest in the women I’d been dating.
Who was I kidding? It had everything to do with it.
No matter how nice or attractive or smart they were… they weren’ther. And my stupid heart had, for whatever reason, decided to fixate on her. It was beyond frustrating.
I couldn’t stand the thought Kristal might be in some kind of bad situation. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d offered a loan.
As far as I was concerned, we could just call it a gift and forget about it. My net worth was so high, just the interest on my bank accounts alone brought in nearly three million dollars per day. I’d never even notice a few hundred thousand dollars.
And in spite of her poor taste in boyfriends, Kristal was a good person. I wasn’t sure what kind of trouble she was in, but I had a strong suspicion it wasn’t her fault.
Whatever the problem was, I wanted to fix it.
Signing the credit card slip, I added a brief note and decided to stop by the Bianco family’s house later after Kristal had had a chance to make it home. I could apologize for my idiocy, tell her I was there if she needed me.
Maybe she’d invite me in, and we’d talk. Even if she wouldn’t let me help her financially, I could still be a friend.
Before walking away from the table, I pulled several hundreds from my wallet and tucked them inside the small leather folder with the signed slip and the restaurant’s pen.
Then I walked quickly to the exit before anyone came back to collect the payment and outrageous tip.
If I wasn’t there, Kristal couldn’t refuse to take my money.
It was the least I could do.
Chapter Five
Pity for the Win
Kristal
