Claimed For The Billionaire's Convenience. Melanie Milburne
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a shot of enthusiasm in his voice. ‘I’ll pick you up at seven.’
He ended the call and pulled up Holly’s number on his phone. He sat staring at it for a long moment. There were few people in his life who knew about his dad’s struggles and he wasn’t about to start sharing now. He’d spent most of his life watching out for his father and he didn’t need anyone to know how hard it could be at times.
It wouldn’t change anything—it never did.
He pressed the call button but it went through to voicemail. He felt a stab of disappointment. He left a brief message and clicked off his phone. Under normal circumstances he would have sent flowers by way of apology, but sending flowers to a florist seemed a bit weird. He ordered some specialist chocolates instead and sent them by courier with instructions to pick up his handwritten note from his office first. He knew Holly had a sweet tooth because he’d seen her at the dessert table at the divorce party. He smiled at the memory of her spooning gooey black forest cheesecake into her kissable mouth.
Yep, Holly Frost was definitely worth the work and the wait.
Holly was in a Love Is in the Care late-afternoon business meeting with Sabrina. They met at least once a week for coffee or dinner or drinks after work when their schedules obliged and caught up on industry gossip and any issues to do with their businesses. If it was a coffee and quick catch-up, they took turns to meet in each other’s work premises and today it was at Sabrina’s studio, a few roads away from Holly’s shop.
‘Has business picked up at all?’ Sabrina asked, passing a slice of carrot cake Holly’s way.
Holly held up her hand. ‘Not for me. I had two helpings of cheesecake at Kendra’s party last night. And no, business hasn’t improved. I had another cancellation yesterday.’
‘Oh, no! Not another one?’
‘I don’t know what’s going on. Normally at this time of year I have a full diary of weddings. Why aren’t I getting business any more? Now I have to resort to doing divorce parties.’
‘So how was your first divorce party?’
‘Interesting.’ Holly eyed the carrot cake. ‘I met Zack Knight. He did Kendra’s divorce for her. She took a photo of Zack and me standing together. I’ve been dreading her uploading it on social media, but so far she hasn’t, which kind of makes me even more nervous. You know Kendra. She fancies herself a matchmaker.’
‘I saw a photo of Zack recently in a gossip magazine,’ Sabrina said. ‘What’s he like in person? He looks gorgeous. Is he even better-looking in the flesh?’
Holly could feel her cheeks betraying her. Darn it. She couldn’t even hear his name without blushing. And the less she thought about his flesh the better. ‘He was exactly as I expected him to be. Full of charm and full of ego.’
Sabrina’s expression was so full of intrigue she could have moonlighted as a gossip hound. ‘And?’
‘And...I’m going out to dinner with him this evening.’
‘You’re what?’ Sabrina’s eyes went as round as the cake plate. ‘But I thought you said you never wanted to—’
‘It’s just dinner.’ Holly picked a crumb of carrot cake off the plate. Crumbs were another one of her weaknesses. ‘I’m only going so I can teach him a lesson. He thinks he can wine and dine me and then I’ll automatically fall into his bed. I’m going to show him there is one woman left on the planet who is immune to him.’
‘I don’t know, Holly. You might be taking on more than you can handle with someone like him.’
‘I’ll be fine.’ Holly licked some cream cheese icing off her fingers. ‘I know what I’m doing. Besides, it will be good for my reputation to be seen out and about with a man. Jane thinks I’m to blame for the cancellations for venting my spleen about men on social media.’
‘You have been rather negative. That can really damage your brand.’ Sabrina chewed her lower lip. ‘Our brand.’
Something in Holly’s stomach fell off a shelf. ‘Have you had cancellations for wedding dresses?’
‘Only one.’
‘Only one?’ Holly leaned forward. ‘When did they cancel? Did they give a reason? Who was it?’
‘The Mackie wedding.’
Holly was horrified that anything she had done or said was affecting her best friend’s business. Maybe Jane was right. She needed an image makeover. She needed a man. ‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea my venting would hurt you.’
‘It might not have anything to do with you.’
‘But what if it does?’ Holly asked. ‘I need to get into damage control. As soon as possible.’ She wiped her sticky fingers on a napkin and then picked up her phone to check the time. She saw that while it had been on Silent a call had come in. She didn’t recognise the number but the caller had left a message on her voicemail.
‘Excuse me for a sec,’ Holly said. The message was brief and from Zack. She was so busy listening to the deep and sexy timbre of his voice that it took her a moment to realise he was cancelling their dinner date. Disappointment trickled through her like iced water. Why had he cancelled? Had he got a better offer? Someone far more enthusiastic about going on a date with him? Someone more beautiful? More glamorous and sophisticated?
Someone who would put out?
Holly clicked the off button and tossed the phone back in her bag.
Sabrina leaned closer. ‘Why are you frowning like that?’
‘Apparently Zack has overlooked a prior engagement.’
‘He cancelled?’
Holly sighed and picked up the carrot cake. ‘I’ve been stood up. Story of my life.’ She glanced at Sabrina mid-mouthful of cake. ‘What are you doing tonight? Do you fancy dinner and a movie?’
‘I’ve got an even better idea.’ Sabrina leaned down and dug out a West End flyer from her tote bag. ‘One of my clients has a sister who is an actor in a musical in the West End. I’ll call her and see if I can get a couple of last-minute tickets. We can dress up and have a girls’ night out. Sound good?’
‘Sounds perfect.’
Zack rarely enjoyed a night out with his father. He felt more like a guardian than a son. Not that his dad couldn’t be good company at times, but this day in April was never a good day on the William Knight calendar. After a ridiculously expensive dinner where his dad talked at length about how lonely he was, Zack was ready to turn to drink himself. He’d managed to get some good seats for a West End show. He’d figured a movie, especially the sad one his dad had mentioned in passing, was not going to do anything to improve his dad’s mood. The musical wasn’t to Zack’s taste but he was prepared to get his dad through the evening no matter what.
But, upbeat musical or not, as the evening went on his dad became more and more maudlin. He sank lower and lower into his seat and, even though the music was loud, Zack could still hear his father sigh with depressing regularity.
Zack tried not to think of the night he could have been having with Holly. During the interval, he did his best to listen while his dad went through every reason why his life sucked since his divorce twenty-four years ago.
The musical finished close to eleven p.m. Zack waited in the theatre foyer while his dad went to use the bathroom. He scrolled through his messages and found a curt text from Holly. He’d offered her a rain check and she’d texted back.
No, thanks.
Zack was surprised at how disappointed he was. Surprised and galvanised. He would have to work harder to win her over. He smiled to himself and put his phone back in his pocket. But then he saw Holly not more than a metre or two away, coming out of the other side of the theatre with a young woman. The dark-haired