Her outfit screams desperation. It’s short, but not short enough to be slutty, and she’s showing more cleavage than me. I bet he doesn’t give her the riot act on how to dress appropriately.
A throat clearing in front of me has me nearly tipping out of my chair.
My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when they land on Reid Hayes smugly sitting in the chair in front of me. His crisp, dark purple shirt is unbuttoned at the top, the colour looking good on him. He’s styled his hair and smells divine. He’s dressed for a date, so what I don’t understand is why he’s sitting in front of me.
I scan the room for any signs of my date, not wanting Reid to scare him away, before addressing the matter in front of me.
“Reid, you can’t be here.”
“Why?” He smirks, leaning back in his chair like he belongs.
“Why are you smirking? Go away, Reid, I’m meeting someone.”
“I can’t do that.”
My God, he’s infuriating.
He turns up everywhere lately, it seems. Landon and Lily have a lot to answer for, bringing this muppet into our lives.
Our waitress from earlier steps up to the table. “Can I get you a drink, sir?”
“He’s not staying,” I tell her sharply, glaring at Reid.
“Oh, I’m—”
“I’ll have whatever beer you have on tap, babe,” he orders, winking at her.
My phone on the table lights up with a text.
CLAYTON: You could at least pretend to enjoy your date being there. Be nice.
I glance up from my phone and stare at Reid, the realisation dawning on me.
No.
This cannot be happening.
Why couldn’t I get the serial killer?
“No,” I drag out, my stomach bottoming out.
He grins. “Now she’s getting it.”
“You cannot be serious,” I snap.
“Believe it, baby.”
“They said you were a successful business owner who just gave up some responsibility to free up their time,” I remind him dryly.
His grin only gets bigger at my discomfort, and he shrugs. “I do own a percentage of Hayes’ Removals. We just hired a receptionist to take on some of the workload. I’m pretty sure Wyatt wants to fuck her.”
“I don’t care, Reid,” I snap. “And the part where you said you donate your time to animals?”
“I do. I help my mum out on the farm. The piglets were a cute addition to the form.”
Well, isn’t he clever. I can’t even say he lied, because all he did was twist the truth to come across differently.
“And the sporting actives? Because I’m pretty sure checking yourself out in the mirror at the gym doesn’t count.”
He waits for the waitress to place his drink on the table before leaning forward to answer.
“I didn’t think writing ‘I like to fuck a lot’ in the answer box was appropriate.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re a pig.” I laugh anyway. I laugh at his answer, at how devious he was, and at just being in this situation. Only I could find myself on a blind date and have it end up being with Reid.
My phone lights up again, and I pick it up, reading the message.
CLAYTON: Do you want me to cancel the date?
I quickly look over to his table, and although his date’s back is to me, I can tell she’s talking away by the movements of her shoulders and the way her hands flap about.
HAYDEN: Are you even listening to your date?
He grins as he reads my message.
CLAYTON: I think I’ve met someone who talks as much as you, and I thought that was impossible. But to answer your question, I’m paying attention. I can multitask, remember?
HAYDEN: Prick!
“I’m hurt you’re finding your phone more interesting than me. I’m a fucking catch, baby.”
I place my phone on the table, staring into his eyes.
“Reid, let me be clear. I find paint drying more interesting than you. This isn’t a real date.” I take a deep breath, ignoring his pout. “And how did you even know about this? Why are you even here?”
He chuckles. “That night I found you upstairs at your uncle’s? I caught bits of the conversation and pieced it all together. For the most part anyway. I wasn’t sure we would match, so I guessed what you would put.”
Yeah, and pigs fly. “For some reason, I don’t believe you.”
Laughing, he shakes his head. “I used to fuck one of the members of staff who works for Date Night. I got her to match us as a favour for someone in the family.”
“I’m not your family.”
“Close enough. And I knew you didn’t want to do this. I’m bored, so I thought, why not?”
When his gaze hardens over my shoulder, I turn in my chair. An older man is dining with a girl closer to our age than his.
“You got a thing for the redhead?”
He looks confused for a moment before what I asked registers. “No, the bloke is someone we have an interest in. We thought he’d left this area and moved on. Clearly he hasn’t.”
“You want to go confront him?” I ask hopefully.
Chuckling, he downs his drink. “No, there’s a time and a place for men like him. Here isn’t one of them.”
“Witnesses?” I muse.
“Yeah.”
I sigh. “I have no idea how we’re meant to review this date. It’s not real now it’s you here. It’s just having lunch with a friend.”
“Why did you say ‘friend’ like you tasted something sour?”
“Let’s not get into it,” I warn him, smiling sweetly when Clayton looks over.
“Well, why not treat this like an ordinary date,” he tells me, running his finger along my forearm on the table. “You can use me however you like.”
I run my finger around the stem of my glass, fluttering my lashes at him when I see Clayton watching us, his lips set in a firm line.
“And just how would you like me to use you?”
Reid, forever the charmer, smirks. “I can think of a few things.”
I laugh, pulling back. “Honestly, as shocked as I am that you’re here, I’m kind of glad. I’ve been dreading this whole thing from the moment I was informed.”
“What is it that you do? Because everything I could come up with as to why you’re being paid to go on dates all end up with me being thrown into your brother’s trunk and dumped in the middle of nowhere.”
I clip him around the ear. “Thanks, arsehole. And they did that two times. You make it sound like their hobby.”
“Sorry,” he grimaces, rubbing his ear. “From what I heard, they enjoy it.”
My family do like making the men I date work for it. But to be fair, the last guy they did it to was to save him from my dad. The arsehole read my message wrong and met me at my house.
I hold my finger up, indicating I need a minute when my phone lights up once again with a message from Clayton.
CLAYTON: We should just pull the plug on this. We can figure something out with Date Night after.
CLAYTON: Did you just hit him? Want me to come over?
HAYDEN: I’m fine. And no, he had a bug on his ear.
CLAYTON: I’m going to cancel this whole thing.