Page 518 of One More Kiss

He sat opposite me and went into full detail about his plans: black, white, and silver. Of course, he wanted snow, as would anyone who was getting married at Christmas time. He told me that his fiancé Steve is rich and wanted to give Aaron everything that his heart desired.

“I think it’s inspired,” I said, reaching for his hand. “It’s going to be amazing, and it’s totally doable in the time frame.”

“You have alleviated some of the worries that I’ve been feeling. Tara thinks that I’m being unrealistic with my timeframe.”

A server across the room watched them.

“I think someone is jealous,” I said simply. It was the only reason anyone would put a damper on someone else’s happiness. “But you have the funds, and money talks, Aaron, so as long as you have a plan—which you do—you’ll be fine. Stick to it and make compromises where they need to be made.”

“Of course, and now I have a new bestie that’ll keep me in line.”

I laughed at his words.

“Oh,” he said, getting to his feet. “Here comes Ms. Carpone and she has brought along a friend.”

His tone changed. Gone was the friendly and happy man that I was just speaking to; now he was cagey and professional.

Lena had indeed brought a man along with her, but I didn’t recognize him.

“Avery,” Lena called out, “this is Joe. Hoe, this is Avery, the girl I was telling you about.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Why on earth would she have been telling him about me?

Joe took a seat opposite me and smiled. A chill danced up my spine.

“I think you will be perfect for each other, so enjoy your dinner,” Lena said. “I’ll speak to you soon, Avery. Don’t worry about watching what you say. Joe knows about our worlds.”

She moved away from the table and waved good bye.

Acid churned in my gut as I looked at Joe. He was smiling and seemed genuinely happy to be here with me. I knew my father had a man named Joe who worked for him, but we never met. Something was off and I didn’t understand why Lena would do this.

“It’s nice to meet you, Avery,” he said, his voice deep and low.

“Eh, yeah, same,” I mumbled, slightly dazed by what had just happened.

Aaron strode up to the table, his gaze assessing, but I plastered on my smile and we ordered food.

“So, Avery, tell me about your father,” Joe said.

I blinked at him. “My father?”

“Yes, Lena said that you lost your mother and that your father raised you. I’m curious about the man. What does he exactly do. She also mentioned his annual trip he takes is in a few weeks. Do you go with?”

“Oh, um, he’s great. He’s an amazing father and is really protective of me. What about you. What are your parents like?”

He shrugged. “Just ordinary parents. You never mentioned what your father did? Do you always travel with him?”

My gut screamed that this wasn’t right. Why was he so interested in my dad? Surely if this were a date—which I didn’t want—he should have been asking about me and what I was interested in.

I turned to the window.

The car my guards were in was gone. My blood ran cold. Where were they?

Joe fired question after question at me, all of them about my dad. He seemed to be enjoying himself while he stuffed his face with his meal, whereas I barely touched mine.

I wanted to get the hell out of here, but I couldn’t unless I called Justin. I was unsure of how Joe was going to react if I cut this ‘date’ short.

I scoffed to myself. This was far from a date. It seemed to me as though it was a fact-finding mission. One my friend had set up. I kept my responses vague and sometimes flat out lied to him, especially when he asked questions about how much money my father made and what he did to be so rich.

Joe knew exactly who my father was, but he pretended he didn’t.

What was he after?

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