***
Phoebe glanced at her phone, wondering if she should text Charlotte to call her, make it sound like an emergency with her mom. Anything to get her out of this dreadful night. Hell, she’d had meetings at work that weren’t this dull.
“So,” Mitch said after ending another long explanation of some account or other, “shall we get down to the real business of the evening?”
Phoebe’s ears perked up. “Excuse me?”
“Look, you can be honest with me. I know you joined that site because you need money for something.”
She bristled as she set her glass down. “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re not exactly dressed to the nines there, Anna. You need money and I have that. My only question is, what’s your price?”
Phoebe wasn’t sure what to say. She stared at him, open-mouthed. What exactly was he asking her? She didn’t think they were going to talk about anything like this on their first date. And why was he suddenly looking at her with narrowed eyes and a smirk? A few moments ago, he’d seemed so normal, but now…now she wasn’t sure who she’d just had dinner with.
“Look, I joined that site because I’m just looking for a guy to date. You know, meet new people,” she lied.
“No, you’re not. You need money,” he said, leaning forward and taking one of her hands in his. “That’s why all the women join that site. It’s not a secret, Anna, and you can’t hide from it. What do you need money for?”
She wanted to pull her hand away. His touch didn’t feel so friendly anymore. “My mother. She needs surgery and I…I’m out of options. That’s all.”
“Your mother? That’s easy enough. I think I can work with that.”
“What? You mean you’ll…you’ll help me? Just like that?”
“Well, no,” he said, laughing. “I want something in return. Dating you would be fun, sure, but I think I deserve a little something more. Don’t you think?” His fingers trailed slowly up the back of her hand to her arm, giving her goosebumps. “Why don’t we head back to my place and we can talk about exactly what I’ll want in return?”
That was it. Phoebe yanked her hand out of his grasp and grabbed her wine glass—still half full—and threw it in his face. “Get away from me, you asshole!”
He tried to reach for her, but he stepped on the tablecloth and nearly fell out of his chair. Phoebe took her chance and rushed for the bathroom towards the back of the restaurant. If she could hide in there for a few minutes, maybe he’d leave. Or she could sneak out a window…run out the kitchen—
“Shit,” she muttered as the heel on her left shoe suddenly snapped. She stumbled into the wall and almost fell when two strong, tattooed arms caught her gently.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine I just…” Phoebe trailed off as she saw the blue eyes staring down at her in concern. “My heel…it just snapped right off.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Just about sums up my evening. Speaking of which…” She glanced over her shoulder to see if Mitch was following her. She heard him calling for a waiter. “I need to get out of here.”
“I was wondering if he was boring you to death.”
“What?”
“I passed by earlier. You looked ready to bolt then. Was it that bad?”
“Worse, I’m afraid. I can’t walk back out there, not with everyone watching.”
Phoebe watched the man as he slipped on the black leather jacket he’d held in his hand and peered back down the hall. There was something about him…she wasn’t sure what it was. A warmth, maybe? Something made her want to trust this man. Especially after what Mitch had been suggesting they do for their arrangement.
“Here, follow me.”
“But aren’t you here with someone?”
The man laughed sharply as he took her hand to help her walk. “Yeah, and I’d prefer not to go back out there either. Trust me, I have a way out.”
“Through the kitchens? We’ll get yelled at.”
He laughed as he pushed open the double swing door and hurried down the cook line. Several waiters yelled at them, but the man just waved them off with a wide smile, Phoebe still holding his hand as he guided them through the steam and chaos of the kitchen. Phoebe found herself laughing despite the situation. It was crazy, following this strange man with a silver stud in his ear out the back door of the restaurant and into a large alley that dumped them on a street the next block over.