Page 45 of Billionaire Bachelor

“Ya think?” I deadpan.

“But a few wouldn’t be all that unreasonable.”

“Hi, Pot. The name’s Kettle.” I flip him off and flag down a waitress.

When I told Rosie her brother no longer blabbed about his exploits, that didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in hearing about mine. Not that I’ve shared—I’ve never been one to kiss and tell—but since I’ve taken a break from dating, he’s been awfully invested in getting me back on the horse, so to speak. I’d say maybe he wanted to live vicariously through my adventures, but Ryan always has a beautiful woman on call, so that can’t possibly be it. I think he misses going out to clubs more than anything. I’m certainly not stopping him from going, but he says it isn’t the same without me.

“But seriously. Why’d you come back early?” He reaches for his water, taking a sip. “I thought for sure I’d have to fly up there and drag you away from some blonde with big tits.”

“Nope, no blondes.” Technically true. “Talk to me about PPA. What’d you find out?” I keep my voice casual, hoping he doesn’t notice my obvious deflection.

Ryan leans back, draping one arm over the booth. “Rumor is, they’re considering licensing the algorithm instead of selling it outright.”

My jaw tightens. “Since when?”

Our waitress, Beverly, shows up before he can answer. “Two bacon cheeseburgers, extra fries, and a Coke?”

We both nod, confirming we’d like our usual order. As soon as she walks away, I cross my arms over my chest. “Go on…”

“I got wind of it this morning, so I think it’s fairly recent. If it’s true, we’re hosed, dude.” He rubs his jaw. “If they license instead of selling, we lose all leverage.” He shakes his head. “Olympus would bedead in the water before we even had a chance to formally pitch. They made it clear they’d only be interested in exclusivity. No proprietary rights to the algorithm, no deal.”

Fuck.

Partnering with Olympus would be a game-changer for our profits, and we’re so fucking close to making it happen. If we owned PPA’s algorithm outright, and subsequently closed the deal with Olympus, BetMasters would dominate sports bettingandsports data analytics.

But if PPA changes course?We’re fucked. Back to square one, with zero options on the table.

“What’s their angle?” I ask. “Why switch to licensing at the last minute? I thought Simon wanted to take the company in a different direction and focus on that.”

Ryan exhales, shifting forward.“I don’t know yet, but I’m working on it. My gut says someone’s gotten in his ear.”

I frown.“A competing firm?”

He shrugs.“Maybe. Or maybe an investor convinced him he’ll make more long-term money by licensing instead of selling outright.”He taps a finger against the table, deep in thought.“Simon was all in on selling a few weeks ago. Something changed his mind.”

I rake a hand through my hair, already running through ways to counter this. “We need to shut that shit down. If he wants more money, we offer more money.”

Ryan nods. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. I have a call lined up with him later this afternoon. I’m going to try getting a read on him, and if I’m lucky, ferret a confession out of him.”

“Good.” I nod. “Call me as soon as you’re done. And see if you can schedule an in-person meeting for Monday. I’d like a few days to gather as much information as we can.”

“Already done.” Ryan smiles.

I arch a brow. “That was fast.”

“I’m a man of action.”

Beverly swings by with our drinks, refilling Ryan’s water andsetting my Coke on the table. “Your food will be out in just a few more minutes.”

“Thank you,” we say in unison.

Ryan takes a sip, then shifts gears. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what do you have planned on Friday?”

I narrow my eyes. “Why?”

“You know Penelope, the hot barista from the lobby?”

“The blonde with the nose ring?”