What Matters Most: The Billionaire Bargains, Book 2 (16 page)

Staying married to Tony for a while would be like doing charity.

She simply couldn’t resist the urge to do something good.

Her and Pollyanna.

Chapter Six

Seven hours later, four of which they’d slept, they were at the airport.

“What do you mean you have only one seat on the nine a.m. flight?” Tony asked the woman behind the ticket counter.

The woman gave him a look that would make most men back down immediately.

Tony Steele was not most men.

“I mean that we have only one seat available on the nine a.m. flight,” the woman told him.

“But we
both
have to get to Kansas City,” Tony said.

“Well, one of you is going to have to take the one p.m. flight.”

“That’s four hours after the first flight.”

The ticket agent didn’t even bother to respond to that.

Reese fought the urge to laugh. Witnessing Tony coming up against issues that people who didn’t have a billion dollars had to deal with every day was entertaining.

She would love to take the first flight and have a four hour head start. She needed to clean her apartment and buy some groceries and…she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was going to show Tony the average person’s life. Which included cleaning bathrooms and shopping. It would be good to show him all of that.

Besides, she wasn’t convinced that leaving Tony in Vegas for an extra four hours was a good idea at all. Maybe he would simply sit in the airport with a magazine and cup of coffee like all his fellow travelers, but the whole plan for him to live like a normal person was so new, she wasn’t quite sure he even knew where to start.

She’d already made him empty all of his money out of his wallet except for one hundred dollars cash and one credit card that he was only supposed to use in emergencies. The rest was in her purse—which, in retrospect, made her incredibly nervous, and she’d been clutching her purse like it was a life preserver and her ship was going down ever since—so he couldn’t get too far.

Then again, she had no idea what his credit limit was, and there was no underestimating the power of Tony’s charm.

And if he got bored or frustrated or even intrigued by something else, he might just bail on the whole proposal for him to try being an average joe.

“I’ll take the one p.m.,” Reese said, handing the agent her credit card.

“I’ll take the later flight,” Tony said, pushing his card across the counter and giving the agent one of
his
I’m-in-charge looks.

She responded by rolling her eyes and taking his card.

“No, really, it’s okay,” Reese said. “I’ve got a lot more experience waiting around in airports than you do. Besides, you need to pack.”

“I’ll just call and have Will…” Tony trailed off and sighed when Reese started shaking her head. “I have to pack my own stuff?”

The agent handed Reese her ticket. “Gate sixty-two.”

Tony looked down at the ticket he held. “I’m at gate thirty-four.”

“That’s right, honey,” the agent said with mock sweetness. “And, yes, you’re going to have walk up there all by yourself. All of our rickshaws are being used.”

Reese bit her lip and tugged Tony away from the ticket counter before he could respond.

They started for the security line. At least their gates were in the same terminal and they could stay together until Tony’s boarding time. Reese led him between the ropes that divided the security line into lanes that wound back and forth.

“What is this?”

“Security,” Reese told him. “We have to go through the screening area.”

She was absolutely positive that Tony had traveled more than she had on airplanes and found it vastly amusing that he’d never gone through a security line.

The lack of leg room and free liquor on the flight was going to blow his mind.

“This is ridiculous,” he announced as they took their place at the back of the long line.

“I don’t mind it,” she told him honestly. “It takes more time, but it also means we’re safer.”

Tony was watching everything with interest. Much like a little kid at the zoo seeing the apes fling their feces around for the first time, he looked disgusted but oddly intrigued.

“What’s your brother going to think about you slumming?” she asked as they inched their way toward the screening area.

“Let’s not call it slumming,” Tony said, pulling his attention from the people ahead taking their belts and shoes off.

“Your brother won’t like it?” she asked. “We should call it…your Real-World Awareness Program.”

Tony frowned. “Well, my brother would probably be the first to agree that I could use some real-world awareness. But I don’t like this idea that I somehow think or act like I’m better than the people you hang out with normally.”

She studied his face. He was completely sincere. “I don’t…know how you act,” she said, realizing it fully.

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“I’m sorry though,” she went on, moving forward in the line. “That was a crude way to put it. The people I want you to meet, people I hang out with, aren’t second-class citizens. I shouldn’t have said that.”

He tugged on the end of a strand of her hair. “Forgiven. And I just realized that this is great. You don’t know how I normally act, so I can impress you from the beginning. Best behavior and all that.”

“And I’ll be sure to tell all of my friends to use utensils at the dinner party.”

“We’re having a dinner party?” he asked.

“We probably should. Since we didn’t have a wedding reception.”

“Great. I love to entertain.”

“I’m shocked,” she said dryly.

They could now at least see the front of the line.

“So I get to meet the parents right?” Tony asked. “I think I’d be really good with meeting parents.”

Tony wasn’t really a bring-home-to-Mom-and-Dad type of guy. He was way too…he had an air about him that… Oh, hell, the truth was she could absolutely see him charming anyone he wanted to. Parents would have no idea how naughty he was behind the scenes. They’d see how sophisticated and intelligent he was and be pushing their daughter at him before dessert was served.

It was a miracle he only had one ex-wife.

“When was the last time you met a girl’s parents?” Reese asked.

“Prom. Junior year.”

“
Prom
?”

He shrugged with a guilty smile.

“You’ve never met another woman’s parents? Ever? You’ve never had that kind of relationship?”

He shook his head. “I’m not even sure if all the women I’ve dated
have
parents.”

“Pathetic,” she told him. “Completely pathetic.”

“So I do get to meet yours, right?”

“What’s with the fascination?” she asked, stalling. She was thinking
never
would be pretty close to soon enough. “And you’ve already met them,” she pointed out. “At the engagement party and the rehearsal dinner.”

That was more than enough time to spend with them. Especially considering she would soon have a divorce in her past as well. She’d get to hear from her mother all about how stupid it was to let Tony go. If Wanda spent time with Tony, she would
really
be a fan and definitely think Reese had lost her mind. Her dad would also be sure to bring up how judgmental she’d been about their divorce.

The difference between them and her, however, was that staying married to Tony would be the
easy
thing to do. She could get caught up in the passion and romance and being swept off on a private plane and snapping her fingers and getting anything she wanted. She wouldn’t be able to look at herself in the mirror, but sure, she could dive into Tony’s life and money. If she were more like her parents. They always took the easy way out. It was the main thing they had in common. It was also why they’d chosen divorce rather than working through their problems.

“Sure, but that was when I was the best man at their daughter’s wedding. Now I’m the son-in-law. That’s a whole different thing.”

It sure was, and Reese wasn’t sure she could take quite
that
much B.S. in one room. Her parents and Tony had a lot in common actually—they all put on a great show. Her mother would pretend to be the perfect hostess. Her dad would pretend to be the protective, concerned father. They’d both pretend they actually liked one another. Her stepdad would pretend not to notice the tension and awkwardness and her dad’s girlfriend wouldn’t even show up. They did that whole routine once or twice a year.

“Well, don’t forget I’ve got two sets of parents, sort of. Even more pressure.”

He shrugged. “Makes up for you not having to meet mine at all.”

“No?” Were his parents dead? How did she not know that?

That question made her definitely wonder what she and Jeff had talked about in their relationship. Tony was supposed to be Jeff’s best friend, but she knew almost nothing about him.

“My dad’s an archeologist. He hasn’t been in the US for more than two weeks at a time in years. He’s in… Hell, I can’t even remember.”

“You’re not in touch?”

“On and off. I’ll let them know we got married.”

Reese bit back her first retort. And her second. This was Tony’s family dynamic and it wasn’t like she was in a position to judge. Her family wasn’t winning best of anything awards.

She was the one who’d married a man she barely knew. It was her own fault she knew nothing about his family and that her husband clearly knew as little about close loving parental relationships as she did.

Her mother and stepdad would love Tony. Kyle already knew him and her mother was all about how things looked. There was no denying that Tony Steele looked good. Her dad would like him too. Tony was a hard guy not to like. And her dad was
not
the protective, concerned type so he wouldn’t be worried about Tony’s intentions or anything like that. That would require way too much effort. But it wouldn’t take long for her dad to start hinting about something that he just needed a little extra cash for—a roof repair, a car repair, a medical bill—none of which would actually be true, or at least not what Bill would be using the money for.

And Tony would probably write him a check. Because this was Reese’s dad—which Bill wouldn’t be too proud to capitalize on—and because a couple hundred bucks was like pocket change to Tony. Literally.

“Well, we don’t exactly have weekly family dinners or Christmas photos around the fireplace either,” she said, moving forward in line.

“No? Your mom and Kyle seem happy, and your dad and stepmom were really nice at the rehearsal.”

“My mom says her job is to keep Kyle happy. Kyle…makes a lot of money and owns your favorite club.” She didn’t really know, or care that much, what Kyle did. She liked Kyle. He was a good guy. But what he did for a living didn’t concern her.

“Kyle is a major competitor for one of my biggest companies.”

“Then you know all about what he does.”

“Actually, I’d love some insider secrets, if you have any.”

She laughed. “Kyle and I don’t talk about business.”

“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” Tony said with a little smile.

“My dad has been on disability for a back injury since I was about twelve. When he worked, he was a mechanic. Jill, the girlfriend that he can’t marry because they qualify for more government assistance if they stay single even though they live together, is a part-time waitress at a diner that her best friend owns.”

Tony nodded. “Okay.”

“Do you know anything about automotive repair, waitressing or qualifying for government assistance?” Reese asked.

“What are the chances?” Tony asked wryly.

She nodded. “Well, no worries. There will be no awkward small talk with any of my parents. We barely see each other.”

Finally, they were waved forward by the TSA agent checking IDs and boarding passes. Reese coached Tony through the security line and finally they were headed for gate thirty-four.

“This is ridiculous,” Tony said as they neared the gate. “We’re going to the same place. There has to be a way to get on the same plane.”

Reese just bit her tongue. It was time Tony learned a few things about how the real world worked.

They stopped at a coffee shop along the way and Tony paid for his black coffee and Reese’s vanilla latte with the cash he still had in his wallet.

“Just go home and get things in order. Then you’ll be ready to come over when I get home,” she told him. “I texted my address and cell number to you.”

It seemed strange that this man was her husband, that they’d shared a bed, had been as intimate as two people could get, and he didn’t even have her number.

“Sounds good.” He slung his carryon over his opposite shoulder. “Gives me time to set up our romantic evening. The first one at home as husband and wife. And to arrange the billboard.”