Anything But Mine (3 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

J
en was pacing back and forth, visibly shaking and wringing her hands, by the time Drew found her back stage. Running to him, she asked, “What happened out there? Who bid on me?”

Drew enveloped Jen in his arms, in an attempt to calm her down. “I don’t know, Jen,” he said, before smoothing her hair and leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head. “Mike is trying to find out now.”

Moments later, Mike joined them, and said, “Well, I have some good news and some bad news.”

Jen and Drew turned towards him, and Jen asked, “What do you mean?”

“The bad news is that the guy who bid on you isn’t some sort of a crazy person, and wasn’t just goofing off,” Mike said. “If he was a nut, or just fooling around, we’d be able to invalidate his bid and re-
instate
Drew as the top bidder.”

“So…what is the good news?” Drew asked. “Who is he?”

Mike took a deep breath before replying, “His name is Vince Moscolo.”

Confused, Jen asked, “Who?”

“Vince Moscolo,” Mike repeated. “He’s the chairman of Penn Worldwide Investments, a private equity and investment firm. Jen, he’s a billionaire.”

“You’re kidding me, right? I’ve never heard of him.”

“No kidding, Jen. Look,” Mike said, showing her the display on his smart phone screen, “this is an article from Forbes.”

Jen took Mike’s phone and began reading the article, before handing the phone to Drew. “He seems legit,” Drew replied, after scanning the article, as he handed the phone back to Mike.

“So why would a billionaire bid on a date with me? I don’t get it, Mike,” Jen said.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Really, Jen? Gee, I don’t know. Let’s see…you’re a Desiree’s Desire lingerie model, and a Sports Weekly swimsuit model. Need I go on?” When she simply stared at her feet, he continued, “He has a history of dating beautiful women. I think he recently broke up with Daphne Warfield. You know her, right?”

Jen nodded her head. “We’ve done some photo shoots together. But, still, why did he bid on me? I’m nothing like Daphne,” Jen said, recalling Daphne’s habit of flaunting the jewels and cars she somehow convinced her rich boyfriends to buy her.

Drew added, “Well, I guess you can ask him on your ‘date’.”

Jen laughed for the first time since the auction concluded, as she said, “Yeah, I guess I can.”

“So, Jen, you probably should go out and meet him. He just paid a pretty penny for you,” Mike said, as he led Jen back into the crowd of people and press angling to get a photo of her.

Jen opened her computer the following morning to find that she was dubbed the “$100,000 Woman” on all the gossip websites. One of the local tabloids had a full description of the events of the previous evening, and even ran a photo of Vince kissing her hand when they were introduced. “Ugh,” she said in disgust, as she placed her laptop on the coffee table and answered her ringing phone.

“Hi, Mom,” she said. “I guess you heard what happened last night.”

“It was on the news this morning.” Concerned about her daughter, Grace LaBella asked, “Are you okay?”
I wish you’d chosen another career path,
Grace thought.
This is the worst thing for your anxiety.

“I’m a little shaken up, but, yes, I’m okay,” replied Jen.

“What was it like seeing Chris for the first time since you broke up?

“It was pretty awkward,” Jen replied. “I’m so grateful that Drew was with me. Chris got drunk, and told everyone who would listen to him that we used to live together and that he still loved me. He really embarrassed himself, Mom. It was actually painful to watch.”

“Well, I’m glad Drew was there for you. It sounds like he’s been a good friend to you, Jen.”

“Yes, he has. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him,” she said with a sigh.

“So, tell me about the billionaire,” Grace asked. “What’s he like?”

“Umm…well, he’s in his late 30s or early 40s, I think, and about six feet tall, with dark hair and brown eyes. He’s very Italian-
looking
, and he seemed polite, and somewhat formal, or serious. I didn’t spend that much time with him, though, so I don’t really know what he’s like.”

“When are you going out with him?”

“I don’t know. His people will work it out with my agent. It all depends on our schedules, I guess. The whole thing is a little weird.”

Grace agreed. “I know you never thought anything like this would happen, and that you thought you would be able to control the situation, with Drew bidding on you, but there was always a chance he wouldn’t win. Just relax and have a good time when you go out with him. You never know what will happen.”

A few minutes after hanging up with her mother, the phone rang again. “Hey, Drew,” Jen said, as she answered the phone. “I’m on my way down.”

“Actually, you might want to skip our run today. There’s a crowd of photographers camped out in front of your building.”

“You’re kidding me,” she said, walking towards the living room window.

“I’m not kidding. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go running with me today, because they’re just going to follow us. How about I pick up some lunch and come over, instead, after I’ve showered? We can just hang out for a while,” he said.

“That sounds like a great idea. Thanks, Drew.”

That afternoon, Drew arrived at Jen’s apartment carrying a plastic bag from Clark’s, the local diner. “That smells delicious,” Jen said, as Drew placed the bag on her dining room table. “What did you get?”

“A cheeseburger and fries for me, and a Greek salad with extra feta and grape leaves for you,” he said as Jen removed the take-
out
containers from the bag.

“Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver,” Jen said, giving Drew a hug before sitting down and digging into her salad.

“It’s a good thing you decided to stay inside,” Drew said. “There are still some photographers hanging around, but at least there are less now than there were earlier this morning.”

“I can’t believe they’re still here. I feel so trapped,” Jen said.

“I think you need to get out of here for the weekend,” Drew said. “You know, disappear until another, more interesting story breaks.”

“You’re probably right,” Jen agreed, as she stole a single french fry from Drew’s plate. “Want to see my house in Southampton?”

Grinning ear to ear, Drew answered, “Absolutely! I’d love to.”

Together, Jen and Drew hatched a plan to get out of town without being noticed by the paparazzi. Drew left her apartment, and once he was gone the doorman told Jen that most of the photographers left the front of the building soon afterwards.

Thank God,
Jen thought, as she dialed her garage to explain that Drew would be picking up her car that afternoon.

A short time later, Drew brought Jen’s white Mini Cooper convertible to her apartment building’s service entrance on Pineapple Street, which the doorman had opened to allow Jen to exit without notice.

“Remind me to give him a huge tip at Christmas,” Jen said, as she got into the passenger seat of her car and waved goodbye to the doorman.

Two hours later, as Drew navigated the curves on Edge of Woods Road in Southampton, Jen said, “We’re almost there.” Pointing to the small white sign with “Deer Run” painted in green letters, she said, “It’s the driveway on the right.”

Drew punched in the code Jen gave him for the gate, before driving up the driveway. “Wow, that’s a great house,” he said as he turned off the ignition. “Why did you name it Deer Run?”

“I actually didn’t name it. The prior owners did,” Jen explained. “There’s a deer trail towards the back of the property,” she said, pointing. “The back of my property borders on town land, and on the other side of the town land is the back of my family’s farm.”

“Well, you’re definitely safe from the paparazzi now,” Drew said, as he continued to look around. “You can’t even see the road from here.”

“Just the way I like it. Come on in,” Jen called out over her shoulder as she made her way up the front steps. Once inside, they dropped their bags on the foyer floor and Jen took a deep breath. “Thank you so much for being my friend, and my hero, these last couple of weeks,” she said. “I don’t know what I ever would have done without you.”

Drew smiled his trademark lopsided grin, shook his head, and replied, “One thing’s for sure, Jen…there’s never a dull moment around you.” He reached out for her, pulling her into a tight embrace, smoothing her hair, before leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head.

Jen lifted her head, looked deeply into Drew’s large hazel eyes, and hesitated a moment before softly kissing him on the lips. Just as he was returning her kiss, the phone rang. “That must be my parents,” Jen said, as she walked towards the kitchen to answer the phone. “I told them we were on our way out here.”

Ten minutes later, Grace and Peter LaBella walked through Jen’s front door with a roasted chicken, asparagus, foil-
wrapped
baked potatoes, warm bread, and two bottles of chilled chardonnay from a local vineyard. “Dinner for four,” Grace said with a smile, holding up the canvas bag containing the food.

Jen rushed to hug her mother, a former Southampton High School homecoming queen, who met Jen’s father while she was working as a nurse at the Manhattan hospital where he was a surgical resident.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Drew Crawford,” Jen said.

Drew shook hands with Jen’s parents. “Just so you know, I’m not the billionaire you read about in the newspapers,” he said with a chuckle, putting everyone immediately at ease. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. And I now know where Jen gets her looks from,” he said, smiling at Grace.

Conversation flowed easily over dinner. Grace and Peter knowingly exchanged glances, as Drew and Jen completed each other’s sentences. After they finished eating, Peter and Drew went down to the basement to pick out a board game while Jen and Grace loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. “Drew is so nice, Jen, and you obviously like each other. Is he the friend you go running with?”

Grace watched as her daughter blushed and nodded her head. “He seems to really be interested in you, and you’re interested in him too, I suspect.”

Jen nodded again, and whispered “I do like him, Mom, I like him a lot, but I’m really not ready to move on yet. I don’t want to rush into anything.”

“Then just take your time. I have a feeling he’ll be patient and wait until you’re ready,” Grace said just before Peter and Drew arrived back in the kitchen with the game Scattergories.

Later that evening, after her parents left, Jen locked the front door and turned off the driveway lights. Turning towards Drew, she said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I think I’m just about ready to turn in for the night.”

“Umm…Jen?”

She yawned, and replied “Yes?”

“One question: what are the sleeping arrangements?”

“Oh. Oh, right,” Jen replied, nervously wringing her hands. “I didn’t think about that.” Jen walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Drew. “What do you think?”

“Whoa, Jen,” Drew said, holding up his hands. “This isn’t about what I think, because you know what I think. I’m crazy about you, and I want to be with you. Very much. The important question is, what do
you
think?”