“Hey babe,” I drawl before leaning down to kiss her cheek in a familiar manner. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I see you’re here with a friend, but no worries. I grabbed a table in back, so we can just move there.”
Corrie’s staring at me with wide eyes.
“Um… um…” she stammers.
I shrug.
“Yeah, so I hear the herb-roasted trout here is good. If you like fish, that is. Otherwise, the Cornish game hen is also supposed to be excellent, in addition to their rosemary fries. Damn, that shit is the best, it’s so fragrant and aromatic.”
Corrie looks mortified. Her face is as red as a tomato and she keeps opening and closing her mouth, unable to say any real words.
“So Corrie, are you ready to go?” I quirk one eyebrow, still ignoring the other man. “Say bye to your friend here.”
I know I’m being a jackass, but still, the real jackass is him. What the fuck is he doing with my date?
Corrie lets out a small, high-pitched whimper and then she waves her hand frantically.
“Um, I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” she whispers. “Justin, this is Cameron. Cameron, Justin.”
Finally, I acknowledge the other dude. I even shake his hand, and there’s something familiar about him. Suddenly, I realize why. It’s because I’ve seen those bold blue eyes and snarky smile on magazine covers before. Cameron Hanssen is an asshole with way too much money on his hands, and as a result, our little town of Prescott loves to features him in business journals, not to mention those ladies publications that keep “Top 10 Hottest Bachelor” lists.
Of course, I’m not intimidated because why would I be? My own bank account has quite a few zeroes from my successful business, KayLite LLC, but the difference is that I don’t like to brag about it. We’re all about green climate solutions, and the companies I work with expect an air of humility and empathy from their partners. Therefore, there are no “hot bachelor” lists for me. They’ve asked, but I’ve always said no.
“Nice to meet you,” I say in a terse voice.
“You, too,” Cameron growls in a none too friendly manner. “So, how do you know Corrie?”
“She’s friends with my sister. You?”
He fixes me with an icy stare.
“She’s friends with my sister-in-law.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal. “Well, Corrie and I are booked for a table together tonight, so I think we’d best be going. Come on, honey.”
I wait for Cameron to excuse himself so that I can slide in as the reigning alpha male, but he doesn’t budge. Instead, his blue eyes squint and the man literally seems to grow in size in his seat. I chalk it up to rich boy vibes.
“That’s interesting,” he replies in a frigid voice, “because I’m currently on a date with Corrie. Isn’t that so, honey? Come on, put this man in his place where he belongs.”
We both look at the beautiful brunette, and her lip trembles as her eyes sheen with tears. Finally, in a whisper, Corrie looks down and mumbles, “I made a mistake.”
“Sure, no problem, sweetheart,” I say gently. “Everyone makes mistakes. You can explain it to me over dinner.”
But Corrie dashes a hand over her cheeks to wipe away her tears.
“No, it’s not that simple,” she blubbers. “I thought my date with you, Justin, was tomorrow,” she reveals. “I’m not sure what happened, but I put it in my calendar wrong and my wires got crossed somehow. But now we’re all here and I’m so, so sorry.”
I place a comforting hand on the girl’s shaking shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. We’ll figure it out. Again, everyone makes mistakes, even if it’s double booking two meetings at once. Hell, even I’ve done it before.”
I don’t add that my two meetings were professional and that it was easily cleared up, but that seems beside the point at this juncture.
After all, there are tears pouring down the sweet girl’s cheeks now as she looks between us, and I know what she sees: two alpha males, ready to duel until the death. Hell, my hackles are rising as I stare into the ice-blue irises of Cameron Hanssen and I can feel the testosterone in my body begin to thrum.
“So what are we going to do?” Corrie asks, her voice breaking. “I don’t know how I can fix this.” Honestly, I feel bad for the poor girl because this is a fucking comedy of errors. She didn’t mean for this to happen. It was just an accident, but the problem is that now Cameron Hanssen and I are butting heads, and I’m not a man who backs down from a fight. As I seethe in his direction, our eyes clash and both of us let out low growls like predators gearing up for a savage battle. May the best man win.