Page 1 of Wrong Number, Right Billionaire (Wrong Number, Right Guy #7)

CHANTAY

M y phone buzzes with a text from my sister just as I decide to decompress from yet another depressing first date.

Maya: How did the date go? Please tell me Derek wasn't as boring as his dating profile suggested.

I snort. Derek. The accountant who spent two hours explaining his spreadsheet organization system and asked me to split the check down to the penny.

Me: Derek was... educational. I now know seventeen different ways to categorize business expenses.

Maya: That bad?

Me: He brought a calculator to dinner. To figure out the tip.

Maya: Ouch. Well, at least you looked hot doing it.

I glance at myself in my bedroom mirror. She's not wrong. The black dress hugging my curves definitely delivered, even if it was wasted on a man who got excited about depreciation schedules. Sighing I slip the dress off and toss it in the dirty clothes hamper before replying to my sister.

Me: The dress was amazing. Too bad it didn't come with a personality translator.

I set my phone on the edge of the sink and lean over to splash cold water on my face. The shock of it feels good against my heated skin. As I reach for the towel, my elbow bumps the phone, sending it sliding across the wet marble counter.

"No, no, no—" I lunge for it, but water droplets have already seeped into the case. The screen flickers to life, apps opening and closing in rapid succession like it's possessed. I frantically try to swipe them closed, but the touchscreen is going haywire from the moisture.

The camera app springs open just as I catch my reflection in the bathroom mirror—me in nothing but the lacy black bra and matching panties from the lingerie set Maya bought me. Before I can react, the phone makes that telltale camera click sound.

My stomach drops. "Please tell me it didn't just?—"

The screen shows a sending animation, a little paper airplane flying across the display.

My phone buzzes with a delivery confirmation.

To a number I don't recognize.

My phone immediately starts ringing. Unknown number.

I decline the call. It rings again. I decline it again, my heart hammering.

A text appears.

Unknown: I think you sent this to the wrong number. At least, I hope you hadn’t intended to send that to a random man as your strange version of a booty call.

Relief floods through me. They’re being decent about it.

Me: OMG I am SO sorry. That was completely accidental. Please delete it.

Unknown: Already deleted. No harm done.

Me: Thank you for being a decent human being. You have no idea how mortifying this is.

Unknown: Trust me, I've had my share of mortifying moments. This doesn't even crack the top ten.

Something about his response makes me smile despite my embarrassment.

Me: Top ten? Now I'm curious.

Unknown: Well, there was the time I got stuck upside down in a cave for six hours because I misjudged a passage width.

Me: You explore caves? For fun?

Unknown: For work. Wildlife management. Sometimes the job requires getting into places not designed for human access.

My eyebrows rise. This stranger is infinitely more fascinating than Derek.

Me: That sounds way more exciting than my day job. I work in marketing. The most dangerous thing I encounter is running out of coffee.

Unknown: Coffee shortages are serious business. I've seen grown men weep over empty pots.

I'm grinning at my phone like an idiot.

Me: So, what else is on this infamous top ten list?

Unknown: Only if you promise not to judge my life choices.

Me: No judgment here. I just accidentally sent lingerie photos to a stranger.

Unknown: Fair point. Number nine: I once spent three days tracking a bear that turned out to be a very large, very angry dog.

I burst out laughing.

Me: Please tell me you figured it out before you tried to tranquilize it.

Unknown: I figured it out when it started barking. Very distinctively non-bear

behavior.

Me: What did the owners say?

Unknown: They apologized and asked if I wanted to adopt him. Apparently, he'd been an escape artist for months.

Me: Did you?

Unknown: His name is Ranger and he's currently sprawled across my couch, snoring like a freight train.

Something warm unfurls in my chest. A man who rescues misunderstood dogs?

Me: Ranger sounds like excellent company.

Unknown: Better company than most humans, honestly.

Me: Sounds like you're not much of a people person.

Unknown: People are complicated. Animals are straightforward. If a wolf wants to eat you, it doesn't pretend to be interested in your personality first.

There's something in that message suggesting this man has been hurt.

Me: Sounds like you've had some bad experiences with people.

Unknown: Something like that. What about you? What's your story?

Me: Just got home from a terrible first date, actually.

Two hours of my life I'll never get back.

Unknown: That bad?

Me: The guy spent the entire dinner explaining why he alphabetizes his sock drawer.

Unknown: He alphabetizes his socks?

Me: By color AND fabric type. And, I swear Derek was proud of it.

Unknown: Derek, huh? That's... very specific organizational skills.

Me: Oh, it gets better.

He brought a calculator to dinner to figure out the tip. To the penny.

Unknown: A calculator? To dinner?

Me: I'm not kidding. He pulled it out of his briefcase like it was completely normal. Between that and the indepth explanation for the socks. I’d had enough. I mean who has that much time on their hands?

Unknown: Someone who's never been chased through wilderness by an angry mother bear with cubs.

Me: Is that number eight on the list?

Unknown: Number three. Number eight is when I fell asleep in a tree stand and woke up surrounded by wolves.

Me: How is that not number one?

Unknown: They were just curious. Turns out wolves are excellent judges of character. They decided I was harmless and wandered off.

I'm smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

Me: You live a much more exciting life than I do.

Unknown: You live in civilization. That's its own adventure.

Me: Not really. Atlanta's pretty tame compared to wolf encounters.

Unknown: You'd be surprised. I'll take an honest wolf over dishonest people any day.

Again, that hint of someone who's been burned.

My phone buzzes with a call from Maya.

Me: I should probably go. My sister is calling, and she's going to want all the horrible details about tonight's date.

Unknown: Good luck with that conversation.

Me: Thanks for being decent about the photo thing. And for making me laugh after a terrible evening.

Unknown: Anytime. Though maybe double check the number next time.

Me: Definitely learned that lesson.

I'm about to put my phone down when another message comes through.

Unknown: For what it's worth, Derek the Calculator is an idiot. Anyone who spends two hours talking about spreadsheets instead of getting to know you has terrible priorities.

My heart does this funny little flutter.

Me: Thank you. That's... really sweet.

Unknown: Just honest. Sweet dreams, stranger.

Me: Sweet dreams, mystery cave explorer .

I set my phone on my nightstand and stare at the ceiling. I just had the best conversation I've had with a man in months, and it was with someone whose name I don't even know. Someone who lives in Nevada and rescues wildlife and adopts misunderstood dogs.

Someone who made me feel more connected in a simple text conversation than I've felt with anyone in person in years.

Maya's going to have a field day with this story.