Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
“T his isn’t the way to my office,” Stark said.
“I’m starving, and so are you. I can hear your stomach growling,” Rayna said.
“I’m not sure I can eat after seeing that poor dog,” he said.
She nodded. “I get it, but we need to eat. The good news is that the dog is doing better and no longer suffering like he was. He’s been given pain meds and fluids, and now that Nathan has cleaned out the worst of the infection, he can start healing.”
She pulled into the McDonald’s drive-thru. “What do you want?”
He studied the menu board. “I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s in years. Do they still have a chicken sandwich?”
She laughed. “Yes. How about I order for you?”
“Sure.”
She ordered the food and pulled up to the window. When Stark reached for his wallet, she shook her head and pulled out her debit card. “My treat.”
She paid, handed the bags of food to Stark to hold, and stuck the drinks in the drink holders before parking in an empty spot. She took a bag from Stark and opened it, grabbing a few fries and shoving them into her mouth, relishing the salty goodness.
Stark was staring at her, and she shoved more fries into her mouth. “Don’t fry shame me.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’ve just never…”
“What?” She unwrapped her cheeseburger and took a big bite.
“Had a woman buy me dinner before.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded, and she stared at the container of fries he held. “It’s honestly not much of a dinner.”
He ate some fries. “They’re good fries.”
“The best fries,” she said. “I don’t eat much fast food, but I’d cut a bitch for McDonald’s fries.”
They ate in silence for a few minutes before he said. “Why are we eating in your car in the parking lot instead of going into the restaurant?”
“Buy a man dinner one time, and he’s complaining already,” she teased.
He rolled his eyes but didn’t look that annoyed by her teasing. She took a drink before saying, “If I go inside to eat, at some point, someone will approach me about a pet they need to rehome or complain about their neighbour’s cat who poops in their garden or the dog who won’t stop barking, and sometimes I just want to eat my fries in peace.”
“How long have you been running the rescue?” he asked.
“Almost four years now,” she said.
“Are you a registered charity?” he asked.
“Not yet. I’m working on it with our accountant, but Mack is…”
“What?” Stark asked.
“Dragging his feet on it,” Rayna said. “It’s a lot of work, and he volunteers his time outside of his regular job, so I get it, but being able to give people tax receipts for their donations would get us a lot more in donations.”
“Why not ask someone else to do it?” Stark said. “Reach out to some local accounting offices and see if they’d be willing to donate their time to help you register the charity.”
“I can’t do that to Mack. He’s been with me since I first started Little Whiskers, and I would be lost without him. I don’t have any spare time to deal with the money side of the rescue, and without Mack’s help, Little Whiskers wouldn’t be what it is today. He keeps the rescue running smoothly on the financial side of things.”
A slight scowl crossed his face. “Do you trust Mack? Because giving a person that kind of power and not monitoring it is dangerous, Ms. Abrams.”
She didn’t want to be defensive, but she could hear it in her voice. “I’m aware of the dangers, but I trust Mack implicitly, and even if I did monitor it, I’m not sure that would be very helpful. I’m a plumber, not an accountant.”
“Did you always want to be a plumber?”
He changed the topic so quickly that it took Rayna a few seconds to catch up. “No. I wanted to be a veterinarian.”
“Why didn’t you?”
She poked at the cheeseburger wrapper before shoving it into the paper bag. “I looked into it as I was getting closer to graduating high school, but the schooling was too expensive. So I went to trade school instead and became a plumber.”
“You couldn’t get grants or a scholarship?” he asked.
“I applied for a few scholarships, but I didn’t get them,” she said.
“Your parents couldn’t help?”
She gave him a look. “Don’t pretend you don’t know about my parents, Stark. You’ve lived here long enough, and the gossip mill runs very smoothly in Harmony Falls.”
“I’m sorry you lost your parents so young,” he said.
She could hear genuine sympathy in his voice, and feeling a little off-kilter by it, she blurted out the truth. “I’m not.”
He didn’t reply, and she said, “I know that makes me sound like a monster, but my parents weren’t good people.” They were selfish and mean, and I know the disease they suffered from was partially to blame, but it wasn’t totally to blame. Even when they were sober, they weren’t good people.”
“My childhood wasn’t as difficult, but I understand selfish and mean parents,” he said.
“Yours too, huh?” she said.
“My mother is incredible, and I have a good relationship with her,” Stark said. “But my father…”
His face turned cold. “My father has high expectations that can never be met. It didn’t stop me from trying, though. Once I graduated from high school, I got my MBA and started working at my father’s company when I was twenty.”
“Are your parents still together?”
“No, they divorced when I was seventeen,” Stark said.
“What does your father do?” Rayna asked.
“He has a gaming company,” Stark said.
“A gaming company like yours? He develops video games?”
“Yes,” Stark said.
“Oh. But you left and started your own?”
“I did,” Stark said. He stared out the windshield at the snow that had started to fall. “Working for my father was… impossible. I had ideas for new games, but he refused even to let me pitch them to him. He said I didn’t have the experience or the knowledge.”
He shoved his half-eaten sandwich into the bag. “It was a bullshit excuse. I knew as much, if not more, about gaming as he did. My ideas were solid, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stand the idea that someone other than him might help the company make a profit. It took me two years to accept that he would never let me develop any of my games. But once I did, I left the company and started my own.”
“Holy shit.” She stared at him. “You started your own company when you were twenty-two?”
He nodded, and she studied him for a minute before saying, “And now you’re a multimillionaire.”
“And now I’m a multimillionaire,” he echoed.
They sat in silence, the only sound the low hum of the heater and the muted laughter of a group of teens walking behind the SUV.
“How pissed was your dad when your company developed the most popular video game of all time?” Rayna asked.
“Do you game?” he asked in surprise.
“Not at all, but Emma is my best friend, and she’s obsessed with your Shadow games and gaming in general. I know a weirdly large amount of information about your company because of Emma.”
He grinned, and, holy fuck, there went her hoo-haw, soaking her panties and generally acting like she hadn’t seen a dick in years. Why did he have to be so damn hot when he smiled?
She ignored her sudden urge to climb onto Stark’s lap and grind her way into an orgasm, dragging her attention back to Stark’s words instead of imagining how his lips might feel sucking on her clit. For the first time since she’d met him, there was no tension between them, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin the easy intimacy developing between them. Even if her brain knew it was a mistake to trust Stark.
“So, was he pissed?” she asked.
“He was annoyed,” Stark said, that grin widening just a little. “Enough that he’s basically ignored me for the last eight years.”
“What a dick,” she said.
He shrugged, drinking some of his soda before picking at the edge of the straw. “Honestly, I’m happier not having him in my life. Besides, he might not talk to me, but he has no problems sending Jasper to do his bidding whenever he wants or needs something from me.”
“He’s close with Jasper?” she asked.
“Jasper works at his company. He started working at the company the same year I did.”
“Is your father nice to him?”
Stark shook his head. “My father isn’t nice to anyone, Ms. Abrams. He uses people until they are no longer useful to them, and then he discards them. Jasper happens to have remained useful to him for longer than most.”
“It’s weird to picture Jasper working for your dad. He’s so friendly and easygoing and funny. Those don’t seem like qualities your father would appreciate.”
“Jasper isn’t who you think he is,” Stark said. “You shouldn’t have invited him to the fundraiser.”
She frowned. “Inviting him to the fundraiser got the rescue three thousand dollars. I’m damn happy I invited him.”
“You may think differently after your date on Friday,” Stark said.
“Why?” she asked.
“You and Jasper are very different,” Stark said.
“Right. Because he’s a rich businessman, and I’m just a plumber,” she said, trying and failing to hide her immediate annoyance. “This might come as a shock to you, Stark, but some guys don’t need a rich lawyer girlfriend who looks like a model with perfect hair and makeup.”
He frowned at her. “I didn’t say any of that. Don’t put words in my mouth, Ms. Abrams.”
“You’re thinking it,” she said.
“I can assure you that I am not,” he said icily.
The tension between them had returned, thick and unpleasant and making her stomach churn. Weirdly desperate to return to that easy intimacy, she gave him a teasing smile and said, “Do you know what I think? I think you’re jealous of your cousin because he’s going out with me on Friday night.”
“Hardly,” he snapped. “I have never been concerned with who my cousin dates. Besides, I have no interest in dating you, Ms. Abrams. You’re not my type.”
Christ, every time she was starting to think the guy might be a little bit human, he just had to prove her wrong. Hurt and a little embarrassed, she said, “Oh yeah? Because your dick certainly seemed interested the other night.”
His cheeks reddened, and he gave her a look that made her feel about two feet tall. “I can assure you it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with not having sex in a while.”
“That’s not the flex you think it is,” she said.
His nostrils flared, and that muscle in his jaw tick, tick, ticked.
Knowing she shouldn’t, but Christ, it was humiliating to see how hard he was working to convince her that he found her repulsive, she said, “If you’re not interested, why did you bid on me at the fundraiser?”
He gave her a cool look. “I did it for the rescue, Ms. Abrams. My cousin doesn’t like to lose to me, and by bidding against him, I knew it would raise more money. You should be thanking me for that three grand, not my cousin.”
She glared at him. “You know, for a millisecond tonight, I was starting to think there might be an actual human under all of that arrogant bullshit.”
He pulled out his phone, his thumbs tapping angrily at the screen, and she frowned at him. “Who are you texting?”
“I’m getting an Uber,” he said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll drive you to your car.”
“No, thank you,” he said with a smile so cold it made her wet panties freeze.
“Good night, Ms. Abrams.” Without waiting for her reply, he opened the door and slid out of the vehicle.