He excitedly told me how the Broken Billionaire was in much better spirits these days and was working on a top-secret project. And I told him about how Albie still hated Connecticut but seemed to be otherwise thriving.
Faizan had continued with his surfing practice and even bought an R2 Chemistry board of his own. But Diamond Head wasn’t the best place to level up his game, with the waves being so small. Of course, I had a lot of advice about that.
The waiter had to come back twice before we could stop talking long enough to look at a menu and put in our order. And when I said I wasn’t drinking because I had to drive home after our date, Faizan congratulated me on my “wise decision” and decided to do the same.
See? Grown-up!
“I’m really glad I texted you,” I said after the waiter left out with our orders.
“I am glad for this, as well,” Faizan said with a shy smile. Could he be more adorable and handsome? “You look very beautiful tonight, Jazz.”
“Thanks,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest. “I appreciate you lying about me walking in here, looking like a curtain.”
Faizan laughed, and the warm, rich sound filled up the space between us like good music.
It was a sound I got to hear often as our conversation flowed non-stop throughout dinner.
“This has been wonderful,” Faizan said after the waiter brought us our dessert menus. “I’m just sorry it was you who asked me out and not the other way around.”
I didn’t care either way, but curiosity made me ask, “Why didn’t you text me first?”
Faizan gave me another shy smile. “You are a bit young for me, Jazz. Usually, I prefer to date women my own age. But you are very mature for your years. You are dutiful, and you have a good head on your shoulders—not as wild and reckless as I feared someone with your unconventional career might be….”
Wild and impetuous.
My face burned as images of my time in the Aloha Ballers VIP Champagne Room flashed across my mind. How I’d stripped for a virtual stranger. How I lost control and came during that lap dance….
“Anyway, any reservations I had about asking you out were eliminated tonight,” Faizan said with an approving smile. “I like how responsible you are, coming back here to help care for your father. That is an excellent quality.”
My light mood wobbled a bit. Was he saying that he liked all the stuff that made me boring and hadn’t wanted to ask me out because of all the stuff that made me…well, me?
“Um, thanks,” I said, unsure how else to respond.
“You’re welcome,” he answered with another approving smile and said, “I think I’ll have the vanilla ice cream for dessert. What will you…”
He trailed off, his brow scrunching as he looked at something over my shoulder. “Aw, Jazz, do you know this gentleman walking toward our table?”
I glanced in the direction of his gaze, and oh, my God…
My heart stopped, and my stomach dropped.
It was Han. Han, who I hadn’t seen and heard from in months. He had a date with him, a willowy Asian woman with blonde hair, flawless makeup, and perfect eyelid surgery. She looked like she’d been specially designed to hang on Han’s arm.
So, you know, the exact opposite of me.
If Han was a Fae King, she was the Fae Queen. And together, they were almost too slinky and gorgeous to behold.
Unfortunately, I had no choice but to do exactly that when they stopped on a dime like luxury sports cars beside our table.
And Han said, “Hello, Jasmine.”
13
HAN
Han watched Jasmine squirm as she returned his greeting and awkwardly introduced him and Lana to her date. The SSG soldier. Han would have had to figure out how to get past this guy if he hadn’t decided to use negotiating the Golden Circle deal as an excuse to put off arranging her sister’s death until he returned to the East Coast.
Still, Han gave him a genial smile and pretended that he didn’t already know everything about this man: his status as a billionaire’s personal guard, his exemplary SSG service, even the ex-wife he’d left behind in Jawar. He was everything Han expected him to be—reserved, strait-laced, and upstanding.
Basically, the opposite of Han.
“We were just about to order dessert,” Jasmine said. Her tone made it evident that she wanted him to leave.
“Good, we’ll join you,” Han replied, holding up two fingers to a passing waiter.
He pretended not to notice Jasmine glaring daggers at him as he and Lana sat at opposite ends of the formerly two-person table. In this formation, he noted after taking his seat, any passerby would assume that he and Jasmine were the couple and not the other way around.
And for some reason, he refused to name, he didn’t exactly hate that idea. On the contrary, the thought of going out to dinner with her, of having her laugh with him as she’d been laughing with her real date before he came along…it sped up his heart.
