“What act? He’s always being a dope,” Emerson said.
She smiled and then crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Interesting. It seemed his charms didn’t work so easy on this woman. Maybe she was legit after all?
A good thirty minutes later the three of them were having great conversation and laughing. Stone couldn’t believe how perfect she was. People kept coming in and asking if she and Tina were okay. They were regulars that seemed to truly care for Tina and Antoinette.
As they talked about the business, she did seem to close up a bit, and only give small details about the owner and how the business was doing. He was so curious as more and more people came and went while they were there.
“This owner is doing phenomenal. This place has been crowded all morning,” Stone stated.
“Yes, we have a lot of regulars, and then of course tourists come by, too. Or businessmen just happen upon it one afternoon for a cup of coffee and a treat.” She winked at Emerson. Stone watched Emerson smile then stare deeply into Antoinette’s eyes.
“I have to admit, I had never heard about Bliss, until that business meeting. I’m glad I stopped in,” he said very seriously.
“Me, too,” she replied.
Then someone called her name and she excused herself before disappearing into the back.
“What do you think?” Emerson asked, as he sipped his cup of coffee.
“She’s amazing. I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong with her.”
Emerson chuckled.
“Nothing is. She’s a hard worker, seems like she runs the place in her boss’s absence. I’m still concerned about her knowing who we really are. She seems sincere, but maybe when she finds out that we’re billionaires, she’ll be different.”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty good at detecting fakes and frauds.”
Emerson raised one eyebrow at Stone.
“Uh, does the name Olivia ring a bell? You fell for her immediately. She was that good.”
“You can’t blame me. I was using the wrong head to lead me. I’m just as cautious now as you are. We can deal with the truth after we date her.”
“She may not want to date two guys. She seems sweet and innocent.”
“We’ll take our time. I want to get to know her. It’s like there is this instant possessiveness I’m feeling. I’ve never felt this before.”
“Exactly. That is how I felt last week. She’s special, Stone. This could be exactly what Cash and Zane, and Nash and Riker were talking about. They said they were hit by surprise, as if they were sideswiped by a car. I’m feeling exactly the same way right now. I almost feel desperate to grab her before some other guy comes along and swoops her right out from under us.”
“Then we should ask her out for tonight. Let’s see what she says,” Stone said then turned to watch the crowd of people enter the store. Just as he did, he noticed a woman standing by the window, wearing sunglasses and appearing as if she were looking toward him. He instantly was annoyed.
Fucking Olivia. When will that woman give up?
He turned toward Stone.
“Before we have ourselves a situation like I did a couple of weeks ago, I’m going to go get rid of Olivia.”
Emerson swung around and looked toward the window. Stone knew when he spotted her.
“She’ll make a scene. She’ll ruin everything by making Antoinette think that we’re involved with her.”
“Calm down. I’ll get rid of her.” Stone stood up and headed out the door. He was getting tired of Olivia’s actions. Real tired.
* * * *
Vince stood by the building, and was debating about going in there and demanding to know who the two fucking asshole big guys were. They looked like they stepped out of a men’s fitness catalogue, with their tight T-shirts and designer dress jeans. They both had big biceps and wide shoulders. They were interested in Antoinette, and damn it, she seemed interested in them.