Page 28 of Dream Date With the Millionaire
“What’s the condition?” Bryce asked.
“I pay for the movie.”
That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. He stretched out his legs in front of him.
Having her pay for breakfast the other day had been an anomaly. Women, especially those who recognized the Delaney name, assumed he would pick up the tab and never offered to pay. Of course, Dani didn’t know his last name. “I’m the one who asked you out.”
“So?” She stared down her nose at him. “You picked up dinner. I get the movie. What’s the big deal?”
“Not a big deal.” He wasn’t old-fashioned or chauvinistic, but he had more money than he knew what to do with. Based on what she’d said so far, her taking the bus and shopping at a consignment shop, Bryce guessed she didn’t have a lot of money. He didn’t want her spending what little she had on him. Especially given the circumstances. Like it or not, he had to get to the bottom of what she was doing on his Web site. “But what if I want popcorn? And a soda?”
“No problem.” Amusement danced in her eyes. “Feel free to order a box of candy, too.”
After her bonbons? He better say no.
“Are you always so—?”
“Difficult?” she offered.
“Easy.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“Not easy as in sex. But in dating.” The way her eyes narrowed told Bryce he was digging his own grave here. “Easy as in making things more equal.”
She tilted her chin. “Why should one person have to foot the bill every time because past generations did it that way? Having things, especially finances, so lopsided doesn’t bode well if a couple ever wants to have an equal partnership in the future.”
“That’s smart thinking.”
“I wish I could take credit for it, but I found it on the Web site.”
“Web site?” he asked.
“Blinddatebrides.com. The site has good advice on how to have a successful relationship.”
Bryce’s team put up new content all the time, but he’d been so busy putting out fires and thinking about Dani this week he hadn’t read any of the new additions to the site. “Sounds like you’ve been studying up on the subject.”
“Not really, since I’m not in the market for a serious relationship.”
Ouch. He wasn’t looking for any kind of commitment, either, but the way she dismissed one with him so easily stung. Dani might not know who he was, but several women considered him a catch.
“My friend Marissa e-mailed me the link a couple of days ago.”
His suspicions shot up like a radio antenna.
Had Dani mentioned him to her online friends? Maybe they’d provided that link to help her plot how to snag a guy. That might explain why she was on the site and had started dating after so many months. And wanted to continue their date at the movies.
“Did the article say what to do if a man wouldn’t let you pay?” he asked.
“Drop him like a hot potato because a man like that probably has control issues,” she teased.
He didn’t consider himself a control freak. “Or an unlimited supply of money,” Bryce offered.
“Even the richest man in the world probably would like to be treated to a meal or movie sometime.” She stared up at him, her eyes full of warmth and anticipation. “So will you let me pay for the movie?”
The hopeful tone shot straight to his heart and doused some of his suspicions. Okay, maybe she wasn’t on a husband hunt. Dani might be self-reliant, tough and evasive, but at this moment she wore her emotions for the world to see. He liked seeing this side of her. “I’d be honored.”
She placed the yellow insulated lunch box into her bag. “The theater will never know they are here.”
But Bryce knew.
And that made him wonder…
What were the other rules that Dani didn’t mind breaking?
CHAPTER SIX
Blinddatebrides.com is running sixteen chat rooms, sixty-three private IM conferences, and 5134 members are online. Chat with your dating prospects now!
Private IM conference #59 (3 participants)…
Englishcrumpet: What happened next?
Kangagirl: Don’t leave us in suspense.
DANI sat on her bed, placed her glass on the nightstand and caught up on the messages she’d missed.
Her friends cracked her up. They had been waiting for her to log on when she got home from her date and tell them all the details. She could imagine the silly grin on Marissa’s face, too.
Not that Dani minded. She’d been as curious about their dating lives. She remembered the first time Marissa wrote about her temporary boss Rick, even though she’d been dating men she’d met through Blinddatebrides.com at the time. And Dani would never forget Grace’s panic before her first date with Noah that her nineteen-year-old daughter Daisy had set up.
