The Single Dad (Irresistible Billionaires of Manhattan Book 2) by Elena Wilde

Author:Elena Wilde [Wilde, Elena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-05-22T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Riley

“What’s the matter?” I ask Olivia, confused. “That’s one of Cole’s friends. He’s—”

“Yeah, uh… I’ll be right back,” she says, sounding distracted. “Let me just—”

She turns to slip away, and almost immediately collides with one of the waitresses, who yelps, nearly dropping the tray of cocktail shrimp she’s carrying. A bowl of cocktail sauce slides off the edge and shatters on the floor, spraying red goo all over the white tablecloth.

The waitress glares at Olivia, fuming, and my friend cringes. “Agh—I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking—”

Reed arrives at our table, looking over at Olivia and the waitress in befuddlement for a moment. Then he turns to me.

“Hey, I just came over to let you know that the bidding’s going to start soon, if you want to get a look at any of the artwork.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, embarrassed on Olivia’s behalf. She busies herself helping the waitress with the pieces of broken ceramic, as well as the dirty tablecloth.

Reed nods. He glances at Olivia, and for an instant, their eyes meet. His expression is unreadable as he turns to leave.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, I turn to Olivia, who looks miserable. “What the hell was that about?”

She takes a deep breath. In a hushed voice, she says, “Okay, so… I actually know that guy.”

“Are you serious?”

“That’s Reed Eastwood.”

The name sounds familiar to me. I scour my brain for a moment, trying to place it. “Eastwood… like the hotels?”

She nods, her eyes wide. “I knew him years ago. Honestly, when you told me about this charity thing, I was worried he was going to be here.”

I blink, startled. “How did you know him?”

“It’s… complicated.” She thinks for a moment, then slumps her elbows onto our table. “Actually, you know what? It’s not that complicated. My mom worked for his family as a housekeeper when we were kids.”

“Oh,” I say. “Well… why didn’t you say hi, or something?”

“I was hoping not to run into him.”

“Did something bad happen between you guys?”

“Not exactly,” she admits. “Either way, though, he didn’t seem to remember me, so…”

She trails off. I know Olivia well enough to recognize both relief and disappointment in her tone. She shakes herself as if trying to remove the encounter from her memory.

I glance back over at Cole’s table, and he catches my eye. Across the crowded room, he gestures to me.

“I’m gonna take Archie back over to Cole’s table,” I say to Olivia. “If they’re about to start the bidding, I want to get a look at some of the pieces. You coming?”

“I don’t know,” she says, shifting her weight uncomfortably. Her gaze keeps darting over to Reed, whose back is now to us. “I think I might just stick around by the bar. I don’t want to get roped into a conversation.”

“Fair enough.” I shrug, a little mystified by Olivia’s behavior. She said that nothing bad happened between her and Reed, but it’s still pretty clear that she wants to avoid him like the plague.

I take Archie’s

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.