millions in the city. Except he had his heart set on Rebecca.
She was smart, beautiful, not a gold digger, and even loved
The Wizard of Oz. It surprised him how very much he
wanted her. But he had to face facts, Rebecca was gone. Or
at least out of the picture until this bet was over.
With Rebecca gone, he had to find someone who didn't
know who he was, and the clock was ticking. It was easy at
the Westerley when all of Kay's friends were there, ignorant
of the famous O.E. Orton. But with the party over, who was
left? He could call up Suzanne, the scantily-clad
bridesmaid, but her cloying attitude annoyed him. And all
of the other women he knew were unacceptable because
they couldn't be fooled. He needed to find a stranger, and
there was only one way to do that as far as he could see.
Nightclubs. He winced at the thought. And on a
Monday night, no less. The choices would be meager.
Please, anything but that. He hated the whole pickup
scene-the phony conversations, shouted back and forth in
a noisy room. It was no way to meet someone good. But for
a hundred million dollars, he'd be satisfied to meet
someone bad. He just needed to meet someone.
He went home to his penthouse condominium,
observing it through Rebecca's eyes for the first time. He
had the entire top floor of a luxury building overlooking the
park. Would she approve, or would she think it was too
much? Would she call him an obnoxious rich boy, or would
she suddenly want him and his money even more? But the
question that O.E. really wanted to know was why he was
thinking so much about Rebecca.
His housekeeper, Emeline, had left notes for him about
the food she had prepared and about missed calls. Emeline
was a good woman, and she worked hard trying to keep up
with O.E.'s whims. Now that he was a billionaire, he should
probably give her a raise-she deserved it.
O.E. changed into more dressy clothes-no nightclub
would let him in with jeans, even on a Monday. Soon he was
at a club, standing at the bar, surrounded by flashing lights
and pounding music. He downed a shot of bourbon and let
it percolate its warmth through him. Then he wandered
around to choose his prey.
Well hello, gorgeous. Farther down the bar, a dark haired
beauty sat like a statue, staring straight ahead. Her
red sleeveless blouse was tight enough to draw men's stares,
and her fitted black miniskirt revealed an irresistible tangle