Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“Yes.”
“Do you know her?” Louise asked.
“We were at the charity event last night, raising money and awareness for the homeless.”
“Did you two hit it off?” she asked.
“In a way.” He wasn’t about to tell his mother he was shot down so fast that it gave him whiplash.
Danielle was the first woman to turn him down for anything. He was used to women doing anything he wanted. It was a little disconcerting to have a woman turn him down flat. Not only that, she had looked disgusted with him. Again, all new territory for him.
“Oh, wow, do you realize what that means, Phillip? I know Rachel and Andrew have been trying to set Danielle up for years. The Ivory and the Knox name.”
“Brice, are you serious about this? Danielle is a damn good businesswoman. I’ve seen her on the television, and she’s a sparkle all right. You sure you can handle someone like that?”
He had no intention of marrying her, but if he got their parents on board, he intended to date her.
At the very least fuck her.
“I can handle anything she throws at me.”
“You leave her parents to us,” his mother said. “I can just see it now. The merger of all mergers, Knox and Ivory, two dominant forces coming together. What are your plans for today?”
“I’m going to go and head out for breakfast with her.”
“Okay, well, you keep us updated. My little boy is going to settle down soon, I can feel it.”
He wasn’t settling down, but he wouldn’t dispute that for his mother.
He hung up and shook his head. “What the fuck have I just done?”
Instead of calling them back and putting an end to whatever he’d started, he pocketed his cell phone and headed to the floor she’d gotten off on. He’d called the manager of the apartment chain, and, seeing as he owed him a favor, he got her apartment number.
Brice whistled as he got off the floor and headed to her door. Knocking on the wood, he waited. Running a hand down his shirt, he couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time his parents were happy about anything. It was all new territory for him.
They always had some criticism about his decisions.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the door opened, and there Danielle stood. She looked completely different. No makeup, no fancy evening gown. She wore a pair of sweatpants and a long shirt that appeared to have some batter on it.
She sighed. “How did you know where I lived?”
“A friend of a friend told me.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going out for breakfast.”
“You’re making it though, right?”
“What’s going on, Brice?” she said. “You met me last night. Asked me for breakfast and now you’re here.”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m hungry. Aren’t you going to feed me?” He pouted. He watched as she shook her head, stepped back from the door, and held her hand out for him to enter.
“Come on in,” she said.
He stepped into the apartment, and the scent of bacon hit him.
She didn’t say anything else. Closing the door, she made her way back inside, and he followed her to the kitchen.
He never used his kitchen. It was more of a showroom than anything else. He didn’t have time to cook, but Danielle’s was a working one. Her pots and pans even looked well used.
“So, it’s really you cooking on your show?” he asked, taking a seat at the counter and watching her.
“Have you seen one of my shows?”
“Not yet, but it’s on my list of things to do.”
“Look, Brice, I get that you want to have breakfast and all, but I’m not buying this. Okay, I get that our parents would love for us to be dating, or to be involved in some way, but it’s not happening.” She moved to the counter, facing him.
She was just throwing another challenge at him.
He liked it.
“Friends?”
“You want to be friends?”
“Yes. You’re the first woman that hasn’t fallen for me. I want to … examine you.”
She laughed. “Examine me? Like a bug under a microscope?”
“You’re the one that said it, not me.”
“You’re crazy, Brice. Fine. We can be friends. Our parents will go crazy about it, but I will accept friendship. Do you want me to cook you breakfast?”
“Sure.”
She nodded.
“I won’t be long.” She moved back to the stove, and he watched her fry up some bacon. She was also dolloping some mixture into a machine that was making waffles. “I always make too much for myself so this will be fun.”
“You always love to cook?”
“With my parents being so busy, I spent a lot of time with my nanny. She was Italian and believed that good food should be in every single household. I was always in the kitchen, watching her. One day, she took pity on me always watching, and started to teach me to cook. I loved it so much. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. I still love it. We were always cooking up recipes together.”