Page 18 of Dirty Little Secret, Baby
I know him too well and can see in his eyes how insanely annoyed he is by my surprise visit.
Without asking, I grab the empty chair between them and sit. "Oh, I’m not interrupting a date, am I?" I ask, pointing my finger back and forth between them.
"You little comedian," Jake replies, laughing affectedly before turning back to his caviar.
"Really, Jake? Fish eggs for lunch?"
"Successful men have taste, Alex. No wonder you wouldn’t know, because—" he starts, but I cut him off.
"And here I thought I knew you better. I’d have thought if anyone here had balls for lunch, it’d be Dilara. Along with a stinking, slimy eel she shoves into her mouth and..."
"Shut your mouth, Alex," Jake suddenly roars, slamming his fist on the table. Again, all the other guests turn toward us. For a moment, the restaurant goes dead quiet, at least until the whispering starts back up.
I grin, satisfied, because I know I’ve got him by the balls now. I’ve found his weak spot.
"Dilara, wait outside," he snaps, flicking his hand to send her away.
"But I... my food..." she stammers nervously, her cheeks clearly flushed since my comment.
"I don’t give a shit. Go now," he snaps again, slamming his fist on the table.
She pauses for a moment, and I wonder how great it would be if she just spat in his face for his condescending tone. But that’s not her. Dilara has no class. Beth has class and... damn, I’m drifting.
Once Dilara’s out of earshot, Jake leans in toward me. "So, what do you want?"
"You know exactly what I want: to put you in your place. Your business only got big because you copy every idea and..."
"...I made the copy better than the original, you mean?" he says in that typically laid-back, condescending way that gets on my nerves so damn much. Shame the stunned silence didn’t last longer.
"This is about you having no decency. You take my ideas and... oh, whatever, you wouldn’t get it," I say, shaking my head. It’sjust part of the tactic, because I’m not going to ask him to leave Beth’s shop alone. He’ll never do that. I have to draw him out.
"I want to talk about the plans for the mall," I say. "You know..."
"Yeah, sure. My new favorite project. And the shop owner of the place on 4th Street is one hot piece. Bet she gives a great blowjob, don’t you think, bro?"
A wave of rage slams into me. Scalding fire rises from my gut and spreads to every corner of my body. All because of that degrading comment. I can feel myself losing my composure, unable to stomach him talking about Beth like that. Has he already hit on her and... shit... maybe even asked her out?
"Let’s make a bet," I snap, the words out of my mouth before I think. I already regret it, but I can’t back down now—that would make me look weak. I know Jake loves betting on any kind of crap, and his eyes light up with interest.
"I’m listening," he says.
"Whoever gets the property with the flower shop gets to build the mall there. And he gets one million from the other."
"Tsk... tsk... a bet for pocket change," Jake says, dabbing the corners of his mouth with his napkin. "But fine. Seems you care about the woman, so the stakes are apparently higher. Let’s make it a little more interesting: whoever wraps her around his finger first and spends a night with her gets the million and the shop."
Everything in me screams NO. But I can’t help it. I can’t back out now. I’ve always gotten what I wanted, and I want this shop—but I also want Beth, and more than anything I want to protect her from that obnoxious blowhard Jake. So I hold out my hand.
"Deal," we say, and shake on it.
Without another word, I get up and go.
"Oh, Alex," Jake calls after me. "Send Dilara back in, will you? She’s into eel, you know?"
As I walk, I toss my hand back, flip him the bird, and hear only a cheap laugh in response.
Damn, what have I gotten myself into? That did not go the way I wanted at all.
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