Page 38 of The Grumpy Billionaire
Also a favorite of mine.
“My boss Rob was ecstatic,” I continued. “So this was all Lee’s idea, then?”
Reid took a bite before answering, keeping his eyes on his plate as he chewed. “Saying it wasyouridea was his idea.”
He swallowed and gave me a tight smile. “Spending some time together before we shoot the story was my idea.”
“Why?” My heart rate accelerated, waiting for his answer.
He looked right at my eyes, a notch forming between his brows. He let several seconds pass. Then his expression lifted, and he looked out at the water.
“Obviously, I suck at interviews. I thought if we chatted a bit, if you sort of walked me through the process first, when it came time to do the real thing, it would go more smoothly.” He turned his gaze back on me.
“If you hate interviews so much, and you love your privacy as you said, why do you even want to do the story? Clearly you don’t need the exposure for business reasons. Your site could hardly be more successful. Are you planning a run for public office someday or something?”
Reid choked a laugh as he set his wine glass down, then pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Ow—that burns. No—for God’s sake no. I’d never want that. After watching your father and what he put you all through for his political career, that’s the last thing I’d be interested in. I just—I thought if I went ahead and did an interview, people would stop bugging me to do it. The answers they want would already be out there, and maybe all the attention would go away. Besides, it’s got to happen eventually, I guess. And it might as well be you who does it.”
That made sense. To a non-media person.
“Well, I hate to tell you this, but if you do an interview with me, it’s more likely to open the floodgates than plug the dam,” I said. “The press will see you as fair game, and the phone calls and requests will probably only increase. You may even get paparazzi showing up, depending on what you say.”
“Well then, I’ll have to make sure I say only the things that show them how boring I am.” He looked at his plate then back at me. “Speaking of that… the video from the other day…”
I knew what he was getting at. And realized why he was being so nice today.
“I won’t use it. I’ll make sure Sheldon deletes it.”
The journalist in me cringed at that idea. Hehadsaid those things, and releasing that clip would cause a sensation.
But the bigger part of me, the part that had been Reid’s best friend (and much more) knew I could never do that to him. And I could do a perfectly good story without it.
Reid sagged back into his chair. “Okay, good. Thanks. Now that’s something thatmighthinder business for a social media network built around ‘true love.’”
“Yeah, maybe,” I joked back with him. “You know you’re going to have to come up with a better answer to that question, don’t you? Because I’ll have to ask it again. That’s what everyone wants to know about you—what inspired your ‘genius,’” I teased.
“I’ll work on that,” Reid said, rising from his chair. “Looks like you’re done with your lunch. Want to take a walk?”
He gestured toward several sets of wide stone steps leading down to the ocean’s edge.
I pushed back from the table and stood to join him. “Sure. I’d love that.”
What I really wanted was to keep going on that topic—to ask if Reid actually thought of people who believed in true love as “suckers.” But it was too early, and things were going too well today to go down that road.
And really, even if that was how he saw things, could I blame him? I’d pretty much decided the same thing myself after what had happened with my parents. What was my mom, if not the biggest sucker of them all—still pining away for a man who’d taken her for granted and made her so unhappy?
I fell into step beside Reid, and we walked along the rocky beach together. “This is yours, too?”
“Yep. All the way to…” He pointed at a large white house in the distance, its five tall chimneys visible through the misty marine layer. “…that house over there. Their beach starts where mine ends.”
I kicked a stone, sending it bouncing toward the water. “Your beach. Does it feel weird to say that? I don’t remember you being that ambitious where money was concerned.”
Turning to look at the back of Reid’s house, I took in its wide expanse of windows winking in the afternoon sunlight.
“Honestly, no,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know if you remember, but I never cared anything about money. I just wanted to tinker around online, play with code, build stuff, you know?”
I nodded, and he continued. “It wasn’t until… later, that I started thinking about becoming successful or whatever. I guess I felt like I had something to prove. This…”
