Royal Opposites (2 page)

Chapter Two

Joan fiddled with the zipper on her camera case and huddled in the cozy booth at the restaurant she’d noticed the guy frequented. She could see why once her eyes adjusted to the darkened interior enough to admire the nautical themes running throughout the place. She just hoped that the lifesaver hanging above her booth wasn’t some kind of sign. With any luck, he’d show up soon so she could get his e-‐-mail address and send him the footage she’d shot and be done with the whole thing.

She peeked inside her canvas bag at the plastic baggie that still contained far too much cash. Joan was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to go back and make a final payment now. Maybe she could redeposit it in her new bank and do an Internet transfer instead.

She knew it was taking a chance and she’d incur some serious late fees, but it would be worth it to be finished with this whole business.

She considered the footage of the incident and took a sip of the iced Earl Grey she’d ordered. The same thing had happened to her almost verbatim. For the first time in two years, she began to wonder if the bank hadn’t been more complicit in her financial woes than they’d let on. When the idea surfaced, anger bubbled up in her chest. She thought about all the hoops she’d jumped through, all the little pleasures she’d denied herself, the life she’d missed out on because of this bank.

Being pretty naïve back then when it came to financial matters outside of coupons, she’d taken them at their word that she’d been at fault for not letting the deposit sit for a day or two before going on the fateful shopping trip that had overdrawn the account by two thousand eight hundred sixty-‐-nine dollars and eighty-‐-five cents. Now, she was almost positive they’d held the deposit on purpose to cause her to overdraw the account so they could start charging all those ridiculous fees. Two thousand eight hundred sixty four dollars’ worth of fees to be exact.

“There you are. You are one hard woman to find.”

Joan looked up, startled from her reverie. The shock increased when she saw the man with his blue eyes staring down at her. What was the matter with her? After all, she’d been sitting here for quite a while now hoping he’d show.

“May I?”

He gestured toward the bench seat opposite her and waited for permission to sit. Feeling like a classless idiot, she managed a nod. He slid into the booth and smiled at her. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse. The man should be forced to carry a permit for that smile. She imagined it could be absolutely deadly for any female he used it on. And right now, he was using it on her.

“I do believe I owe you my life,” the man stated, never taking his eyes off her face.

The over-‐-the-‐-top line snapped her out of her awe. She wrinkled her nose. “A bit too dramatic, don’t you think?”

The smile left his lips, but stayed in his eyes. And she’d thought that weapon of his was lethal before. He wasn’t an amateur at using it, either.

“Perhaps,” he agreed, but she got the feeling he was just telling her what she wanted to hear. Unless he was a complete drama queen, he seemed to believe something else was behind his treatment from earlier. She didn’t know where it came from, but she had the undeniable urge to reassure him.

“I could be wrong, but I don’t think you’re the first customer who’s been cheated out of money by that bank.”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

Joan dropped her gaze to study the dark polished wood of the table between them. Did she dare tell him about her stupidity?

That would make a great impression on the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life. Who was she kidding? Great looking guys didn’t go out with frumpy chicks like her. Stupid or not. “I haven’t figured everything out, you know, with all the running away and stuff, but I’ve had the same conversation with them almost word for word.”

He leaned back in the booth with a frown marring his prominent brow. “What did you do? Did they resolve it?”

Joan snorted a humorless laugh before she could stop herself. “It was resolved alright. I was there to make the final eight hundred dollar payment on the loan I had to take out to resolve the situation.”

“I see.” He sat forward again and laced his long fingers together on the table. “How often were these payments?”

Becoming more and more uncomfortable with the line of questioning, Joan thought about refusing to answer while rolling her glass between her palms. Considering what he was about to go through, she figured it was only fair to warn him. “Every month for the last two years.”

He gave a low whistle. “How much were you overdrawn?”

Joan bristled at the question. That part was none of his business. She was already embarrassed at the hole she’d dug herself. She didn’t need to lay out the gory details for a complete stranger. The man must be a mind reader. He reached out and covered both her hands with his. The heat from his hands contrasted with the iciness of the glass and claimed her full attention.

“I don’t mean to pry. I’m just trying to get a handle on their game.” Joan relaxed. Well as much as she could with his gentle touch warming her to levels she didn’t quite understand. “One hundred eighty-‐-six dollars and twenty-‐-four cents.”

Because their hands were linked, she felt him tense before she noted the tight lines that framed his mouth. “Eight hundred for twenty-‐-four months?” His brows shot up. “So you paid them over nineteen thousand dollars when you owed under two hundred at the beginning.”

Joan shook her head. “Nineteen…? No. I doubled up on payments to get rid of the debt faster.” She wanted to grin from ear to ear at his nod and look of approval. Somehow, she managed to keep her expression neutral. “It was a little under seventeen thousand to pay them off.”

The tight lines around his mouth returned. “Almost a fifty percent interest rate. How do they manage to get away with that?

Maybe ten or fifteen percent of what you owe, but not fifty.”

“Now that I think about it, I’m not positive I owed the two thousand to begin with. It’s a ludicrous amount of money and it would take me ages to spend so much. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I think they held my deposit on purpose.”

She watched his lips quirk like something had just amused him, but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what. Before he could share what he was thinking, the waitress interrupted. The woman was all smiles and with a trim figure that Joan could only imagine for herself. And that was if she were having a good day.

She wasn’t sure today qualified.

The woman placed a glass of what appeared to be cranberry juice in front of the man and refilled Joan’s glass. She smiled at their linked hands on the table and winked at him. “It’s about time you brought in a dining companion. I was beginning to worry about you.”

Joan felt her face flush and tried to pull out of his grip. To her astonishment, he held on tight. “Well, Molly, I most humbly apologize for any sleepless nights I may have caused you.”

The woman snorted. “I didn’t say all that, Tom.”

Joan didn’t know why, but it surprised her to hear him laugh at the waitress’ reaction. He didn’t appear to be annoyed at all.

“Are ya’ll ready to order?” She swept a lock of black hair from her forehead with her left hand. That was when Joan got a glimpse of the diamond ring on her finger. Hmm. Maybe Tom’s lethal smile didn’t work on all women. The moment she recalled the name Molly had called him, Joan realized they’d never even introduced themselves. Yet, here they were holding hands like a couple of lovebirds.

Joan noticed with a start they were both looking at her.

Molly had her pen poised over a pad ready for her order. Tom watched her with an expectant look in his eyes. They must think she planned to stay for dinner. While she’d been waiting for him, she checked out the prices to factor into her budget next month.

This month, however, she didn’t have a spare dime because she’d allocated every penny to the final payment and now she was also on the verge of some serious late fees from the stupid loan she’d taken. No, she was going to get Tom’s e-‐-mail and get herself home.

“I think we need another moment or two, Molly. Thanks.”

The waitress nodded and headed off to check on other customers while Tom turned his attention back to Joan.

She needed to conclude their business and be on her way. So she said, “I’m Joan.”

Tom frowned at the non sequitur so she continued, “Molly used your name and I realized we never introduced ourselves so I’m…” “…Joan,” he finished for her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Joan. I do hope you’re not thinking of running out and leaving me here to dine alone. Molly will never let me live it down.”

“In all honesty, I was just hoping to run into you to give you the video I shot and then be on my way. If you give me your e-‐-mail address I’ll send it to you tonight.” She pulled out of his grasp and gestured with the camera case. “I think you have a pretty good claim to file against the bank. This footage will help.”

“How did you know to find me here?” he asked. His eyes took on an intensity she had yet to see from him in their brief acquaintance.

“It’s like this. I’ve kinda seen you around. Here, in fact. So I took a chance…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“That’s it? What if I didn’t show?”

“I’d have seen you sooner or later. I would’ve asked for your e-‐-mail then.”

Tom stared at her for a long moment. At last, his serious expression gave way to that lethal smile of his. She must have passed whatever test he’d given her. She made no excuses, she knew she’d gone through one with a certainty she rarely felt.

“You’ve gone through so much trouble for me. The least I can do is treat you to dinner.”

She shook her head. “You need to conserve your funds. I have a feeling this little incident is going to get worse long before it gets better. You’ll need something to get you through.”

He tilted his head while he studied her. Without taking his eyes off her, he signaled Molly. “I have other accounts.” Molly arrived with a pen at the ready. “We’ll start with the Bruschetta and Caesar salad. For the main course, we’d like a sampling of the jerk chicken, wild salmon enchiladas and turkey meatloaf to share.

We’ll top it off with the apple crisp and vanilla ice cream.”

Molly gave them a big grin. “You got it.”

Joan stared at him with one raised eyebrow. “You’re not at all worried about your bank problem are you?”

“Not at all. It’ll get worked out. To my benefit, in fact.”

Joan chewed on the straw in her tea. “I so hope those aren’t famous last words.”

Chapter Three

Tom leaned back on the bench and rested his arm along the top of the booth. He couldn’t believe how much he was enjoying Joan’s company. Maybe he should’ve sought her out months ago.

He would love to keep in touch with her once he left, but he was pretty certain he wouldn’t have a lot of time for himself. Once he returned home, a myriad of duties would fall on his shoulders. Not the least of which was parceling out loans to the thirty businesses he’d targeted for expansion around the city of Santa Monica. Still, that wasn’t going to stop him from enjoying today.

“You’re not afraid of anything are you?” he asked when she wrapped up the story of how she’d been lost in the Santa Monica Mountains overnight.

“Are you kidding me? I was terrified. I’ve never been so glad to see dawn in my life.” She nibbled on the remains of their apple crisp and he reveled in the satisfaction of sharing a meal with an appreciative woman. Not once had she wrinkled her nose at the dinner he’d ordered. Since he’d just met her and didn’t know her tastes, he’d wanted to provide a variety of foods for her to sample.

Between the two of them, they’d managed to polish off everything.

He did have to admit, he’d done most of the polishing. Still, she’d held her own. He remembered their brief spar over the last bit of the jerk chicken with fondness.

“What are you thinking over there? You’re looking very satisfied with yourself.”

“I am?” He affected a blank look.

“You know you are.”

“Maybe I haven’t had dinner with such an engaging companion in a very long time.”

She rolled her eyes like she had every other time he’d given her a compliment then brushed it off. “Whatever. You’re very kind for letting me chatter away like this.”

“Your chatter is enchanting.”

Her eyes rolled again and he smiled. Yes, he would have quite enjoyed getting to know this woman better. If only he’d met her back in his wild oats days. They could have had some great fun together. Now, however, the next woman to join him in his bed would be his queen, the way custom dictated, at the conclusion of his year away. The thought didn’t bring him much joy. He speculated that it was because he didn’t know who his queen would be.

Would she be as delightful to dine with as Joan? Would she keep him mentally on his toes? Would she agree with everything he said just because he said it? Would she have a mind and personality of her own?

He hoped with great fervor the answers to all those questions would be yes. He hadn’t even returned home, yet, but he was already feeling pressed for time to meet and woo the woman who was to become his wife since the wedding was already scheduled for three months’ time.

“Apparently not so enchanting that you don’t space out on me.” “I blame the food. I believe I ate way too much.”

“I think you did, too.”

“Are you calling me a pig?”

“If the snout fits.”

He chuckled and was searching for a suitable reply for her clever retort when his cell phone rang. He longed to hit ignore on the device and continue their banter, but the ringtone was the one assigned to his mother. For a woman who was as technically challenged as she claimed to be, she sure managed to figure out how to download ‘God Save the Queen’ and load the ringtone on his phone. Then she’d assigned it to herself. When the woman put her mind to something, nothing could deter her.

“Excuse me a moment. I must take this.” Tom waited for Joan’s nod then answered the call. A small part of him hoped it would go to voicemail first; however, he wasn’t quite so lucky. He had the sneaking suspicion his mother had also managed to change the number of allowed rings for her calls.