Page 15 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife (Billionaires Seeking Wives Club #1)

Chapter Eight

W es

“Just so you know, this place is meant to be really trendy,” Miles says as we walk up to the front of the eating establishment.

There are two large statues of red sausage dogs outside the main entrance, and I wonder if he accidentally said trendy instead of trashy.

I give him a suspicious look, and he bursts out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I ask him, frowning slightly.

I’m already slightly annoyed by the thought of what Sabrina is getting up to with her date.

I wonder if he is some Wall Street sort that is, at this very moment, sweet-talking her and attempting to get into her pants.

Hopefully, she is not to be swayed by the superficial words that many players use to garner the attention of innocent and sweet women like Sabrina.

“Just the look on your face when I said this place was trendy. Like you didn’t want to be here.”

“Why would I not want to be at a trendy place?”

“Because you never go to trendy places.”

I think about his comment for a moment and shake my head. It’s not that he’s lying. It’s just that it makes me sound so uncool. “Just because I’m normally busy working and making money, doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the finer things in life.”

“I didn’t say it was a finer part of life, nor did I say you didn’t appreciate them. I just said that it was a trendy establishment.”

“So, what does that mean, Miles? You’re losing me here.”

“I’m saying it’s not the typical fine-dining establishment you would normally think of a first date being held at.” He throws his hands up. “No need to be so defensive. It’s not like I’m calling you an unhip grandpa.”

“I would never be an unhip grandpa,” I mutter as he opens the door, and I step inside, eager to see Sabrina. Well, to see how her date is going. I head over to the hostess with a confident stride, and a cute brunette gives me a wide, flirty smile.

“Hi, my brother and I were hoping to get a table. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” I reach my hand into my back pocket to grab my wallet, but before I can even whip it out, she’s scribbling something into the book in front of her.

“Oh, no. Of course not.” She beams at me, a seductive pout on her bright pink lips.

“We have plenty of tables available, sir. Which would you prefer?” She nods around the room.

“We have several of our one-on-one small tables available around the periphery of the restaurant.” She points.

“These are a bit more expensive, as they are private.”

I look inside the interior of the room, not because I care about the tables really, but because I’m hoping to see Sabrina and her date.

I frown as I look into the packed room. It looks like a meat market, full of college students and hipsters.

Not my usual crowd. Now I understand what Miles was attempting to tell me before I nearly bit his head off.

“And then we have our communal tables,” she says, “where large groups of people can sit and enjoy dinner. You don’t have to make friends with the other people at the dinner, but you’re more than welcome to. Sometimes strangers even do family style.”

“Family style?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, where people order a lot of different dishes to taste.”

“Why would strangers order dishes together?” I say.

“Well, the concept is really something that Chef Kohler wanted to…”

“Don’t bother explaining to my brother,” Miles says, as he claps his hand on my shoulder. “He doesn’t really care, and you’re just wasting your time explaining it to him.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Shall we do a one-on-one table so we don’t have to?—”

“No,” I cut him off. “I think I’d like to do a communal table and really experience what that’s all about.”

“You want to do a communal table?” Miles looks taken aback. “But, why? You absolutely hate being around strangers and being accosted and…”

“Hey, let’s try something new.” I can see Sabrina and Erica at a large communal table.

“This isn’t because our little sister is here on a date, is it?” He looks at me with a side-eye.

“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” I say. “I absolutely don’t care about Erica’s date whatsoever.” Which is true. I’m here to see Sabrina and her date. But I’m not going to tell Miles that.

“Uh-huh. You’re not playing big, protective brother to Erica and Sabrina at all, are you?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot Sabrina is here, as well,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, I forgot she existed.”

“Really?” He looks me up and down, rolling his eyes.

“What’s that look for?” I say, grimacing.

“You forgot Sabrina existed, even though Erica talks about her nonstop and we grew up with her, so she’s like a de facto little sister to us both. And you just saw her this evening.”

“She’s nothing close to being a little sister to us,” I say quickly, frowning. “Sabrina is Erica’s best friend, but she is absolutely no relation to us.”

“Okay, whatever,” he says, staring at me, and there’s a glint in his eyes that makes me think he wants to say something else, but he’s smart enough to know better.

“This way, sir.” The brunette looks at me and smiles again. She bites down on her lower lip and then looks over at Miles.

“Are you guys twins? You look so much alike.”

“Naw, he’s my older brother,” Miles says. “He may be as good-looking as me, but he definitely doesn’t have half the personality. Why? Do you think we’re good-looking?”

The brunette blushes and then sneaks a glance at me.

I keep my eyes straight and glance around the room.

I don’t want to encourage the hostess. I’m not going to ask her out on a date.

I don’t even want to have a drink with her.

Right now, I have one focus on my mind, and that’s when my eyes see them.

Sabrina and Erica are sitting at a communal table, and I point it out to the server.

“That one please.” I look at the two women.

"Silly girls," I say under my breath as I look at the two goofy men with them. Erica and Sabrina look uncomfortable.There’s a skinny, tall dude with long dreadlocks sitting next to Erica. And the guy sitting next to Sabrina looks like he hasn’t shaved in a couple of months.

His beard is unkempt. His hair, while not in dreadlocks, appears to be quite matted.

I can tell from his jawline that he’s an attractive man, or at least would be with better hair and better style.

But I can tell from the body language of the two girls that they are not happy and are not interested.

“Can we sit at that table?” I say louder as I step close to the brunette and point over to Sabrina and Erica’s table in the far corner. They haven’t seen us yet.

“Uh, I was going to give you a much better table,” she says, pointing to the left of the room. “If you sit here, you can actually see the skyline of the city, and…”

“It’s okay. We’ll take that table.” I beam at her. “If you don’t mind.”

“Well, if you insist.” She frowns slightly and nods. “My name is Samika.”

“Well, it’s very nice of you to help us tonight, Samika,” I say. “I’m Wes, and this is my brother, Miles.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Wes and Miles.” She sneaks a look at Miles, who has already shifted his attention to a beautiful redhead headed our way with a glass of wine in her hand.

“Excuse me,” she says, giggling. She bites down on her lower lip. “Are you Wes Carrington?” she says to Miles.

He stares at her with an excited, puppy-dog smile. “No, but I’m his better-looking little brother.” He grins.

“Oh, you were in the Fortune 500 article last year, weren’t you?”

Miles rolls his eyes and looks over at me. I shrug and grin. I’ve been in a lot of different articles, and sometimes Miles is mentioned, and sometimes he isn’t. But it’s always as my number two. I know that it irks him, but he’s never actually said anything to me.

And then the redhead’s eyes hit mine.“Oh, my. You must be Wes Carrington,” she says, stepping toward me. She stumbles slightly, and half her glass of red wine spills to the floor.

“Oops! Oh, my. I’m so clumsy,” she says, pressing her hand against her mouth. Her eyes are a violet-blue. She’s really quite pretty, if not super annoying and easy to read.

“I am. Unfortunately, my brother and I are about to have dinner with my sister and her friend, but I hope you have a nice evening.”

“Oh, but I was…”

“Excuse me, Samika.”

“Yes, sir?” Samika looks back at me. She looks sad. I think she realizes there’s no shot for her and me.

“Will you let this amazing young woman have a bottle of wine on me?” I smile at the redhead. “You have a nice evening.”

“Oh, yes, thank you. My name’s Ar…” Before she can finish, I step away.

“That was rude, Wes,” Miles says, shaking his head. “She was about to tell you her name.”

“And if I cared, I would have listened,” I say, continuing behind Samika.“I’m hungry. We should sit, and then we have business to discuss.”

“I’m not discussing business tonight,” he says, shaking his head. I very much doubt that you will want to either.”

“And why is that?”

“Because unless I’m not mistaken, you don’t actually like discussing business with yourself.”

“What do you mean, with yourself?”

“Well, I mean, if you try to start talking business with me, I’ll leave,” he winks. “Tonight, I just want to let loose.”

“Fine."

Samika finally stops by the table and waves at the guests. “Excuse me. We have two new dinner guests that are joining.”

“Oh, okay,” Erica looks up and lets out a loud groan. “Oh, my gosh! Really, Miles? Really, Wes?” she says loudly. “This is ridiculous!”

I watch as Sabrina looks over, and her eyes widen. She stares at me for a couple of seconds and turns away. I see her date turning towards me with a dismissive look.

“Oh, is this your brother?” Sabrina’s date says.

“It’s my brother,” Erica speaks up. “They’re both my brothers. Can’t you tell? They look alike.”