The Billionaire and the Waitress

by Constance Masters

  “No facts to tell this week.” He and Mark had been best friends since high school and his friend knew him well. “And nothing to tell about anything personal.”

  “I sense a ‘yet.’”

  Of course you do, Josh thought with a chuckle. “I’ll check in with you after the weekend.” He hung up the phone, still smiling. Not knowing would drive Mark nuts. That reason alone made it worth hanging around a little longer.

  * * *

  Josh pushed away the nervousness that was creeping up on him as he opened the diner door. He wasn’t really sure what reason he was going to give for still being there. After he’d made his dramatic exit the day before, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be expecting him. They hadn’t talked about it, but he didn’t want to rat Andy out to his sister. Something drew his attention as he took a seat; there was a flyer inside his menu. He sat and put down his newspaper and took out the leaflet.

  Charity Auction

  Come and make a bid for a date with one of our lovely young women.

  No funny business, mind… just good clean fun. Patrons can either bid with money or if you’d rather, you bring your time and skill to the table. It’s all about bettering our local schools. Everyone has something to offer.

  He read through the list of girls’ names a few times, but there was only one that stood out to him: Chelsea Patterson. That had to be her, didn’t it? Well, now he was glad he stayed. He wasn’t even going to try to analyze the thump he felt in his gut at the thought of some other man winning Chelsea in the auction. He was going to bid and he intended to win. He might just get himself a date with Chelsea yet.

  “Still here?”

  He looked up to find Chelsea standing there, pad and pen in hand, waiting for his order like she had been the first time he set eyes on her. Surprisingly, that meeting had only been a couple of days ago, but it felt like much longer. “Chelsea.” Again his body reacted by jumping firmly to life at the sight of her. She seemed embarrassed, as she probably should after her tirade the day before. Her pad and pencil were gripped firmly and her eyes didn’t quite meet his.

  “You saw our flyer,” she said, still not looking him in the eye.

  “Indeed I did. Very interesting.”

  “It’s really just for locals.”

  “So outsiders can’t bid?” She blushed prettily and Josh grinned. He found her uneasiness cute. “Says here, everyone has something to offer. Far as I know I’m a someone.”

  “Well, no, I didn’t say that. I was just saying that you didn’t need to feel obligated to bid when you weren’t going to get anything out of it.”

  “Oh, but I might just get exactly what I want out of it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A date with you. A perfectly innocent date and the pleasure of your company.” Now her face flamed and she looked like she might cry. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “You didn’t. You’re just being nice when I was nasty.” She mouthed the word ‘sorry.’

  “Hey, forget it.”

  Chelsea leaned over, opened the menu, and pretended like she was pointing something out. “I really need to take your order or I’m going to get in trouble.”

  “Oh?” Josh looked over to where Chelsea had glanced toward a man who was glaring in their direction. “Your boss?”

  “Uh huh. Tom Blackburn. He owns the place.”

  “Hmm.” Josh’s eyes flicked over this guy Tom and then he gave Chelsea his order, not wanting to get her into strife. “I’ll have a cheese melt, fries, and a chocolate milkshake.”

  “Thanks.” After scribbling out his order, Chelsea took her pad and pencil, walked behind the counter, and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Josh sat back and watched the smug man at the table next to him. So that was Chelsea’s boss. The man obviously had money and wasn’t afraid to show it. In a small town, where people actually knew what it was to work for a living, he stood out and not in a good way. His hair was too long and highlighted loudly; one of Josh’s pet hates for men who were old enough to know better. Even worse than his hair were the washed-out jeans with deliberate rips, and his skin was weird; too many layers of fake tan gave it an orange hue. The way the man was watching Chelsea, it was clear that she had captured more than just Josh’s attention. Tom must have sensed that he was watching him. He looked over at Josh and opened his mouth in a wide smile, revealing a line of perfectly shaped, professionally whitened teeth that lit up his mouth like small beacons. He got out of his seat and Josh soon found him standing at his table staring at him.

  “I haven’t seen you in here before,” the man said loudly.

  “No.” Josh found it hard to engage in a conversation with this man.

  “Business? Pleasure?” the man asked through his fake smile.

  “Bit of both.”

  “You staying around here for a while?”

  “Yes,” Josh answered.

  “You should come if you’re still here then,” he said, nodding at the leaflet in Josh’s hand.

  “This Friday?” Josh knew it was Friday, it said so on the piece of paper in front of him, but he felt he should answer in some way and that was the answer that came to mind.

  “Friday at seven at the community center. We’re closing early. Everyone in town will be there.”

  Josh nodded. “I might just do that.”

  Tom leaned over and whispered behind his hand sleazily, “Lots of pretty young girls there.”

  “Great.” He couldn’t help but wonder if this sleaze gave Chelsea a hard time. He better not catch him. “I’ll see you Friday.” Josh had enough of talking with this man. He picked up the newspaper in front of him and shook it, opening it out enough to obscure the older man’s view. It did the trick; Tom got the hint and went back to his own table. Josh found that he wasn’t interested at all in the news in print though; when his food came, he accepted it with a smile. “See you Friday night,” he said quietly, enjoying Chelsea’s reaction when her eyes opened wide.

  “You’re going to bid?”

  “I sure am.” He grinned widely. He was so busy smiling at Chelsea that he didn’t notice the snarl coming from Tom’s direction.

  “Chelsea, you’ve delivered the order. Get back to work,” Tom barked.

  Chelsea blushed deeply and then scuttled away.

  Josh narrowed his eyes at Tom, who shrugged. “Gotta keep those young ones on their toes. Let them know who’s in charge.”

  * * *

  For the next few days, Josh tried not to rush her or get her in trouble at work. He caught an old movie, took himself fishing, and got to know a few of the locals. He popped into the diner once a day but didn’t stay long. It was important that Chelsea knew he was still in town, but he didn’t want her to feel crowded or rushed.

  By the time Friday rolled around, Josh felt like a teenager getting ready for the school dance. He’d showered, shaved, and was sitting on the bed fully dressed by three-thirty in the afternoon. That made it a hard couple of hours to fill until he could leave for the long-awaited auction. Thoughts of Chelsea spun around his head and they weren’t all pure. The glimpses he’d had of her over the last couple of days hadn’t been nearly enough, but he had been able to imprint his favorite parts of her into his brain. Her fiery red hair topped the list of favorite things about her. It had a mind of its own. Tiny curls were constantly bouncing out from under the tight restraint of the cap. It was adorable. Once again he wondered how long her hair was. He would love to see it cascading down her pale skin until it reached the cleft of her lily-white bottom. His pants grew tight in reaction to his thoughts and he couldn’t seem to shake the vision. He shook himself out of his thoughts and decided to just go to the auction early. Here he was trying to convince her that his intentions were pure and all he could think about was getting a glimpse of what he imagined was a very fine ass.

  * * *

  The parking area was nearly full, although it was still early when Josh got to the community center.
He had to search for a spot. Apparently Tom had been right about everyone in town turning out for this thing.

  It was a quaint building. Small cobblestones covered the outside of the building and neat gardens framed the path that led to the entrance. There was no one sitting at the reception desk in the wood-lined entry hall. He got the feeling that it was rarely used.

  Most of the people in attendance were dribbling in and out of the hall of their own accord, so he followed their lead and entered. Once inside the large room, he scanned the crowd for Chelsea but saw no sign of her. He took a copy of the program from the girl who was handing them out and saw with relief that Chelsea’s name was still on it. As he read through to see how it all worked, he had an idea.

  Josh approached the bidder table. There were two sides. One girl was registering credit card numbers and the other was taking names for donated services. If you decided to bid with money on the auction, then you gave your credit card details and received a red paddle. If you preferred to donate time, energy, and skills to actually working on the renovations of the local schools, then you gave your name and contact details and the time frame you had available and received a blue paddle. Josh took the second option; that was his idea. He wanted Chelsea to know that he was really interested in her. Josh hoped she could see he had character and didn’t just think he could buy his way out of every situation. Of course he could still give money in a less conspicuous way. He donated to a lot of charities and he was sure that this one was just as worthy as any other.

  Some cute performances by the classes from the local elementary school kept the crowd entertained while they waited for the auction to start. Refreshments were available from tables set up at the side of the hall. He was loving the vibe this town had. Everyone was friendly and eager to help one another. He bought himself a piece of delicious homemade peach pie and then found himself a seat. That’s when the atmosphere started to slide.

  Tom Blackburn sat beside him and cleared his throat noisily. “You came.” He almost blinded him with a close-up flash of his opalescent teeth.

  Josh blinked. “Did I?” He looked himself over. “So I did.” It was kind of rude, but he couldn’t help himself. This guy got his back up; he kept insisting on encroaching on his personal space. Blackburn’s leg was right up against his, even though there were seats vacant all over. Thank God he’d changed his ripped jeans to a pair that were totally covering his hairy legs, even if they were black, tight, and made of leather.

  “Got the red paddle.” He held it up. “Gonna get me a date with that pretty little redhead no matter what it costs, I can afford it.”

  “Chelsea?” The word was out more harshly than was smart before Josh could stop it. Even though Josh knew the creep lusted after Chelsea, it was shocking to him that the guy would have the gall to go after her in such a public arena. He had to be in his forties; he was way too old for her.

  “Yeah, Chelsea. I’ve asked her out since she started working for me, but she’s been playing hard to get. I just love me a pretty little redhead, they’re so fiery. I love a good chase.”

  Josh held up a hand to stop Tom before he said anything else and swallowed, trying to rid his mouth of the taste of the pie that now felt sour on his tongue. The poor girl obviously needed a bag of salt for this leech. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, she just doesn’t want to go out with you?” Josh didn’t find this a bit funny, but the look on the man’s face was humorous. The thought had obviously never occurred to him that a woman wouldn’t feel honored by his attentions.

  “No. I would treat her like a princess, buy her whatever she wanted.”

  This man turned his stomach. “Yeah. I think I’m just going to get myself some punch before the auction starts.” Before I’m tempted to knock out your flashy teeth, you little weasel, he thought.

  By the time Josh drank his punch and found a seat well away from the diner owner, the master of ceremonies was on the stage with the microphone calling for quiet. There’d been no sign of Chelsea, so he assumed that all the girls were being kept behind the scenes until the start of the event, which seemed imminent. Josh found that he was actually excited to see Chelsea in her real clothes. He’d only seen her in her uniform. She looked cute in that, but it would be nice to see another side of her.

  The lights dimmed, spotlights highlighted the stage, and it all began. Josh was glad that Chelsea wasn’t the first girl. It gave him a chance to see how it all worked. By the third girl though he was getting anxious. The fact that Tom the terrible hadn’t bid yet was a worry too. It meant he really was saving his bidding for Chelsea. Josh was starting to wish he’d opted for the money paddle. He could have easily outdone any of Tom’s bids, but he doubted that he would be able to do that now. He looked at the list he should have had a better look at before. He was thinking that not using his money would impress Chelsea. He scanned the list for the most expensive jobs.

  Painting ten classrooms = $1,000

  Building a new outdoor playground outside the kindergarten room = $1,000

  Painting the bleachers = $1,000

  Josh had a really bad feeling about this. Even if he did all three of those jobs, he probably still wouldn’t be able to outbid Tom. Not to mention he didn’t know how long it would take him. He had to get back to work sometime. He did have to stick to the larger jobs though, at least then he could plan his time. Painting ten classrooms would probably take at least a day for each one. That was ten days just there. Building an outdoor playground, if he bought prefabricated stuff, would probably take a couple of days. Painting the bleachers, days again. Well, he planned to stay in town for a few weeks and hard work didn’t bother him. Still, he would have only spent three thousand dollars. He had to see if they would change his blue paddle for a red one, then he could bid whatever it took to win the date and save Chelsea from her unwelcome admirer.

  * * *

  He was just about to do just that when Chelsea walked on to the stage. His heart sank. There was no time to change his paddle. God, she looked beautiful. Her hair, just as he thought it would, cascaded down her back in a mass of auburn ringlets. She also had on a touch of makeup; not enough that it looked glaring or cheap, but enough to enhance her pretty blue eyes. Her curves teased him from beneath the soft fabric of the dress that fit her like a glove, flaring out and stopping just beneath the swell of her bottom.

  She looked over at him and smiled shyly, unaware of the effect that she was having on him.

  He could hardly think straight, but he needed to get himself together if he was going to resurrect this debacle.

  Chelsea stood under the balloon arch while the host introduced her.

  “Now look who we have here, fellas; our favorite little waitress from the Country Kitchen Diner. It’s Chelsea, folks!”

  By the loud cheers and claps from the crowd it was clear she needed no introduction. He looked over at Tom, whose smug leer made him want to snatch the young waitress from the stage and run off with her.

  “Now who wants to make the first bid for an evening with our young Chelsea?”

  “One hundred dollars,” Tom called arrogantly, holding his paddle up for everyone to admire, like it was bigger and better than anyone else’s.

  A group of young men snickered among themselves and then one held up a paddle. “One hundred and one,” one of them called.

  Chelsea rolled her eyes.

  “One hundred and fifty!” Tom yelled, holding up the paddle and glaring at the young boys.

  “One hundred and fifty-one,” the boy said, holding up his paddle to taunt Tom.

  “Two hundred,” Tom shouted.

  If he wanted to show the boys he wasn’t playing, they didn’t get the memo, because all they did was giggle like a bunch of little girls. The group of teens was obviously playing a game to wind up the diner owner, which normally Josh would have found very amusing, but he could see from the look on Chelsea’s face that she was starting to feel the pressure of being in the middle of
this game. Josh had no choice. He shot his paddle up in the air.

  Chelsea smiled with obvious relief.

  “One thousand dollars.” There was a collective ‘ooh’ that ran through the audience. The bidding teenagers from the corner stopped laughing. All eyes were not on Josh, however, but on Tom, who looked shocked and not at all happy.

  “Two thousand dollars, cash!” He stood and held up his paddle as high as he could.

  The crowd roared. Two thousand dollars would buy a lot for the kids.

  Josh stood and copied his stance, not entirely proud of the fact that he was allowing himself to be pulled into the pissing contest. This would have to be his last bid. “Three thousand dollars’ worth of my time.”

  Chelsea looked from Josh to Tom as again the crowd clapped and cheered.

  Tom sniggered. “Four thousand dollars cash.”

  The room fell silent.

  Josh looked at the arrogant man and he couldn’t help himself, Mark wouldn’t be impressed, but he would have to stay in this town as long as it took. Mark was capable of taking care of everything in the city. “Five thousand dollars of my time.” He shot up his paddle and glared in Tom’s direction. The crowd was still almost completely silent as they waited for the final outcome.

  “Six thousand dollars.” Tom didn’t skip a beat.

  That was it. All the jobs on the list put together only added up to a little over five thousand dollars’ worth of time, at least by the reckoning of those who had set up the auction. Unless he wanted to start pulling money or credit cards out of his wallet—which would almost certainly lead to quite an embarrassing scene for everyone involved, especially Chelsea—Josh had no other option but to admit defeat. He looked at Chelsea, who shrugged and smiled sadly. “Sorry,” he mouthed.