Blind Date With the Billionaire (2 page)

"Do you come here a lot?" she asked once the waiter had left.

"Not often, and not lately," he replied. "I used to come here with my ex-wife."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry," Gabe said, "It's terribly rude to bring her up, isn't it? Especially when I'm on a date with a beautiful woman."

"You don't have to say that," Monica replied shyly. "I don't mind really. Besides, I'd like to know more about you. I mean, I feel like I know you, but when I think back to our conversations, you never really said much about yourself."

"Well what
would
you like to know? I'm an open book," he replied.

"Really? I can ask you anything I want, and you'd answer it?" she asked.

"Anything you want," he said with a smile.

"Hmm, I better think hard about this," she replied, starting to relax.
Talking to Gabe in person was just like online. She grew comfortable in his
presence
--or as comfortable as she could be.
She s
till couldn’t
believe
this devastatingly handsome man was her date--the guy she'd been chatting with the past two weeks.
The same guy who joked about accidently setting his kitchen on fire when he tried to make pasta.

"You've been thinking a long time.
I'm beginning to get nervous," he joked, breaking into her thoughts.

"
You don't have to be scared of me. I won't bite," she laughed.

Gabe smiled at her and licked his lips.
His eyes darkened as he said "I hope that's not a promise."

Monica felt the heat rise to her cheeks.
She couldn't believe she was flirting with him. It seemed so easy and
effortless;
the words were out of her mouth the moment she thought them. She had never felt so comfortable with a guy before.
Maybe it was because he acted like he wanted to be there, or the way he looked at her as he licked his l
ips, but Monica felt desirable, something she rarely felt.

"I expect your question to be groundbreaking since it's taking you such a long time to come up with one," Gabe added.

"Patience, Grasshopper," Monica chided. "I've got more than one question."

"Well, we've got all evening," he responded suggestively.

Before Monica could respond, the waiter came back with their wine. She was thankful of that since it gave her time to compose herself.
She took the glass and took a deep gulp, choking on the liquid.
She spluttered and gasped for breath as her cheeks turned crimson again.
Why do I always make a fool of myself?
I'm blushing like a school girl,
she berated herself.

Gabe smiled at her, charmed by her
flustering
.

"So what's
your
first question," Gabe asked kindly, trying to put her at ease.

Monica wiped the
corner
of her mouth before speaking
,
grateful
for his tact.

"So what do you do for a living?" she finally asked, deciding to go with a safe question
even though
she was dying to find out more about his ex-wife.

"I'm an investor," he answered simply.

"What exactly do you invest in?" she asked, once it was clear he wasn't going to elaborate.

"Oh businesses--start ups mostly," he replied.
"I've had some success with internet
and software
start ups.

"Is there any company you've invested in that I might have heard of," she asked.

"Maybe," he responded.
"Have you heard of
YouHoot?"

"Get out!" Monica uttered shocked. "Who hasn't heard of them?" YouHoot was the biggest social media site on the internet. In fact, Monica had an account there.

"Well I was an early investor and own a 35% stake in the company."

"Wow, I didn't know that," Monica replied, awed. Gabe smiled at her, flashing his pearly white teeth.

"I'm pleased to hear it," he responded warmly.

"Wait a minute, you're Gabe Stark," Monica
declared
,
after a moment's thought
.

"So I am. I thought we had established that fact weeks ago," Gabe replied jokingly.

"No I mean,
the
Gabe Stark. The billionaire investor. Oh my God," Monica rambled on. "I've heard of you.
I mean, my company has.
I mean, you're investing in that solar energy project, aren't you?"

"Yes
," he answered simply. Seeing she was shocked by
the
revelation, Gabe tried to change the conversation.

"I'm
don't want
to be difficult," he
started, "but I'd rather move onto another topic.
I
find that I really
don't feel like talking business when I'm out with a beautiful woman."

Monica was embarrassed by her momentary outburst and grateful to him for steering the conversation to other topics.

"You sure do know how to lay it on thick," Monica laughed
trying to make light of the situation and the startling revelation that
her
Gabe was a
very rich man
.
"Tell me how a handsome, charming man like you ended up on an online dating site. I doubt you have much trouble finding dates."

Gabe's smiled faltered a little as she spoke and Monica instantly regretted her words.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to offend you," she began.

He cut her off with a wave of
his
hand.

"You don't need to apologize. The truth is, this is my first real date in over 6 mon
ths," he confessed. "Don't look so surprised," he continued when Monica raised her eyebrows at his
admission
. "After being married for 15 years, it's hard to meet women again--at least it's hard to meet decent women."

"
What do you consider 'decent'?" she asked, curious.

"Hmm, someone like you," he replied
after a second's thought
.

"Come on, be serious," Monica chided laughingly. "What do you consider your ideal woman?"

"I am being serious," he answered. "But if you want me to go more in depth, I suppose I'm loo
king for someone who is honest
and real. Most women only look at me and see my money and what I can give them financially. You're not like that.
I mean, you didn't even
know
who I was until just a moment ago.
I
can’t
tell you how relieved I am to finally meet someone who likes me for me."

"
That's kind of presumptuous
of you
, isn't it?" Monica teased.
"How do you know I'm not another gold digger after your money?"

Gabe gave her a bashful
smile that crinkled his eyes
, and Monica was lost
.

"Well, I hope you like me for me," he said. "I certainly like you for you."

"But what about looks wise?" she asked
, clearing her throat, trying to keep her composure.

"I'm pretty
open-minded
when it comes to looks," he answered.

"Oh really? So you weren't
a little let down
when you saw I was your date toni
ght?" Monica asked.
"I mean a guy like you could get any girl he wants.
I'm pretty sure I don't fit your ideal physically."

R
e
aching out a hand he covered hers over the table and stroked it lightly.
The contact sent chills up Monica's arm, and she drew back involuntarily
, her breath hitching
.

"Look, Monica, I don't know why you think I'd be disappointed you were my date. In fact, I couldn't be happier you're with me tonight, and that's the truth. When I first saw you, I thought you were stunning, still do actually," he admitted.

"
I'm sorry. I feel like I'm being such a Debbie Downer," she said. "It's just that I've never had great experiences when it came to dating. You seem almost too good to be true. You're perfect."

"Oh, I'm far from perfect," Gabe countered
,”
but I do know a good thing when I see it."

Monica flushed with pleasure at the compliments Gabe showered on her. He knew exactly what to say to put her at ease, and she was thoroughly enjoying their date.
As the night progressed, she found herself opening up to him like she had never done with anyone else.
They talked like they had known each other for years, instead of just two weeks.
They tried the food off of each other's plates, and her wine glass was never empty.

When
Gabe reached out and covered her hand with his
a second time,
she didn't pull away. She smiled and enjoyed the pleasure of that small contact with him. She was laughing at one of his silly stories when they were abruptly interrupted by a tall
skinny
blonde woman and her companion, a shorter auburn haired beauty. Both women came up to their table and
showered
Gabe with their attention, turning their back to Monica.

"Oh Gabe!" the taller blonde trilled. "I haven't seen you here in ages!"

"
Hello Christy," Gabe replied. Monica took some solace that he seemed to be annoyed at their interruption.

"What, I don't get a hello?" the shorter one pouted.

"Annabelle," Gabe said, with a short nod of his head.

"What are you doing here? We thought you'd gone into hiding," the tall one named Christy asked.

"I'm here on a date," Gabe answered, trying to keep his annoyance in check.

Christy and Annabelle turned to Monica at that point and gave her an
appraising
look. Monica could tell that they clearly thought she wasn't in their league, but they plastered on fake smiles as they introduced themselves.

"Oh hello, there.
And you are…?" Annabelle asked.

"Hello, I'm Monica."

With barely a nod of acknowledgement, Christy and Annabelle turned back to Gabe and continued
talking
with
him, ignoring Monica
.

"So will we be seeing you at Missy's
charity ball next weekend?" Christy asked.

"I'm not sure," Gabe answered, "I'll have to check my schedule."

"Oh you must come!" Annabelle added, "Missy will be
ecstatic
to have you."

"We'll see," Gabe said simply.

"Well, we'd better get going.
We don't want to interrupt your date, darling," Christy said as she reached down and gave Gabe a peck on the cheek.

Once they had walked off, Monica released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"So...," she began.

"So…," he replied, not sure what to say.

"Who were they?" she finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"They were old
acquaintances
of mine--well actually my ex-wife," Gabe answered.

She had been thoroughly enjoying their date up to that point. It
felt
like
Christy and Annabelle had splashed cold water all over her evening. She realized how out of her league she was when she compared herself to them. They were beautiful and had bodies to die for. She was sure they had guys
knocking down their doors.
Monica realized with a pit in her stomach, that these were the type of women Gabe dated and found attractive. As if sensing her mood, Gabe reached out and squeezed her hand over the table. She looked at him and he smiled at her reassuringly.

"Forget about them," he said. "
A perk of being divorced is I don't have to see them often anymore."

Monica smiled at him, aware again of how he could say all the right words to lift her spirits.

"I'm sorry. I'm not usually so…sensitive."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "They make the hair on the back of my neck stand up too.
I always feel like prey when they're around, like they're waiting to pounce on me." He shivered to illustrate his point.
Monica laughed at his
antics
, and let herself relax in his company again.

"You're a great guy, you know that Gabe?" she said after a while.

Gabe blushed under her praise and she was even more enchanted.
She boldly reached out her hand and placed it on top of his larger one and squeezed.
"You're not like anyone else I've met before."