That is the moment the limo turns off of Wabash. “You’re about to find out,” I tease him.
Once the limo halts in front of the entrance, I jump out quickly because I’m so hungry. I laugh as I notice that Chase and I are getting quite a few stares as we head inside, but at this point, I don’t care.
Once we get inside and I think about it, I decide to order the burger with the bananas. I figure if I’m pretending to be something I’m not, I may as well live a little.
Surprisingly, he orders the same, and we slide into a booth with our sodas as we wait for our food.
He takes a sip and sets his hands down on the table like he’s serious.
“What?” I ask.
“Earlier, you said you’d explain to me exactly why you aren’t kicking this entire town’s ass in the chocolate department. I need answers.” He runs a hand through his hair and sits back.
I sigh. “Oh, yeah, that.” He’s obviously not going to let it go. Then again, if it has to do with sweets, this guy is all in.
“Well, you asked for it, so here goes. Not too long ago, Scrumptious Chocolates was actually starting to show some progress. I got some exclusive bookings and things were starting to take off. You see, I had a small nest egg left to me by my great aunt Deb when she passed away a couple of years ago. I rolled most of it into the business and got off to a decent start.”
“So far, so good,” he says, nodding. “That sounds like a perfect scenario. What happened?”
“Well, at the time I was dating this guy.”
“Uh-oh.” He takes a noisy sip of his soda, but he’s hanging on every word. I’m searching those sea-green eyes for signs that he’s making fun of me, but so far, he looks legit interested. Concerned, even.
“He got laid off and moved in with me.”
“Oof.” His lips flatten into a thin line.
“Oh, that’s not nearly the bad part. A month into that arrangement I started having second thoughts about it. But the trick is, how do I get him out?”
Chase takes another sip. “What did you do? Call the cops? Did they taser him?”
That makes me laugh. “I wish. As it turned out, he got rid of himself. One night I made the mistake of falling asleep with my laptop open. He transferred all the money from my nest egg plus everything I had saved up plus that week’s paycheck out of my bank account. He was gone when I woke up.”
Chase is caught in mid-slurp by my story. The soda goes down wrong, and he starts coughing. For a guy who seems to live in suits, he sure does slurp his drink a lot. When he recovers and starts breathing again, he blinks at me. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. The job at the resort is the only one in town that pays enough money for me to have a chance to dig myself out of the hole I’m in. Even so, I’m on a strict ramen-noodle, three-year plan to get back on track.”
I grin at him. “One fake fiancé later and look at me. I’m about to eat a burger with sliced bananas on it. Things are looking up. Actually, my backup plan is this paradise,” I gesture to the restaurant around us. “It wouldn’t dig me out of any financial holes, but I have a standing job offer here because the owner is a peach. It’s good to have friends.”
“What the fuck?” Chase asks at last, processing the conversation. “That’s one of the worst stories I’ve ever heard. For the record, I would have taken you to any restaurant you wanted. And on behalf of all men everywhere, I am so sorry that happened to you. And to the chocolate. So what happened when you figured it out the next morning, did you call the police?”
“Yes, I did. They said they would look into it and let me know as soon as they had any actionable leads.”
“And?”
“That was six months ago. I never heard back from them.”
A muffled voice on a microphone calls out number two-hundred and thirty-four. Chase looks down at the receipt on the table. “Hey, that’s us.” He looks excited as he slides out of the neon orange booth and makes his way to the counter to collect our food.
I watch him with a smile. He’s a handful. And a tourist. And a pain in the ass with a sweet tooth, but in a way he was alright. I frown as I realize he’s starting to grow on me. That’s not good. The more I give in and like him, the more It will hurt when he flies away in a couple of days.
He turns back to smile at me while he stands awkwardly at the counter, shifting from one foot to another while he waits for them to give him the tray.
A few minutes later, he returns with our food. He sets the tray down triumphantly and then slides back into the booth.
From the looks of it, I’m not the only one who’s starving. I watch him unwrap the burger and stare at it for a second.
“Looks good, right?” I ask, already chewing. I pop a fry in my mouth as well. The curly fries here are the best, with just the right amount of crispness and seasoning.
He picks up the burger, bananas and all. I don’t have to wait long to see if he’ll actually try it. “It smells fantastic.” He digs in. I’m impressed. He wolfs it down. I’m worried, but luckily he doesn’t start moaning again. This guy and food. I can only shake my head.
I turn my attention back to my own burger. Now that I’m eating I start to feel better about everything. My job is safe for now, hopefully. Fi has her chocolates for the auction, and my fake fiancé isn’t just hot, he’s
