"I'd... be eating alone." He chuckled.

"Okay, give me fifteen minutes."

When I hung up, I raced to my room. I hopped in the shower quickly and then I dressed in a white floral dress. I only put on lip gloss. No time for make-up. Didn't really want Ryder to think I'm trying to look good for him. That is just completely the opposite of what I was standing up for. We slept together in the past, and now we're just friends. I don't need to impress him.

When he saw me come out of the house, he went out of his car and opened the passenger door for me. I looked up at him before I went inside. He has a crooked smile on his face.

"Hi." He whispered softly.

I smiled back at him. "Hey." His smile was about to melt my knees and I'm sure I'm blushing already so I quickly hopped inside his car. I took deep breaths as he rounded his car to get into the driver's seat.

We didn't speak to each other for the next five minutes. It's as if we both didn't know what to say.

I stared over at the car window. Stop this, Astrid! You have to stop feeling all giddy and weird! You're friends who are going to dinner! Treat him the way you'd treat John!

"So, how are you?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Busy. Business is picking up." I replied. "I'm going to do three weddings this month."

"That's great!"

"Yes. Especially since we're just a startup company."

"You're not exactly new to the business. And you have it in you. I knew you could do this." He said to me, smiling.

I felt warm. I sincerely felt that Ryder meant that. This is one guy who believes in me.

I smiled back at him. "Thank you, Ryder. You have... faith in me."

He didn't say anything. He just smiled that crooked smile again.

Damn! This guy is just too handsome for my 'just friends' scheme!

"How... how about you? How are you doing?"

"Not bad." He replied. "Janis is asking for your number."

My eyes went wide. "Oh my God!" I breathed. "Did you give it to her?"

He shook his head. "I keep on conveniently forgetting to text it to her. But I gotta warn you. I may not be able to hold it off forever. She will get your number and give you a call."

"What do I do?"

He chuckled. "Talk to her. She's not that bad."

"That's not what I meant, Ryder. She'll ask about you. About us."

"Tell her that you have not seen me in days. But we keep in touch by calling and texting each other. I don't talk to them everyday for them to know exactly where I am and what I've been doing. I think you'll be fine."

I sat back on my seat. "That's easy enough. She knows you're a busy man. You'd be too busy to see me at least five times a week."

He raised a brow at me. "Wanna bet?" He asked in challenge.

My heart pounded inside my chest. I bit my lip. He continued staring at me seriously and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. I turned away from him. "Eyes on the road, mister." I said instead.

He went quiet for a while and then he said, "I'll never be too busy to see my girl, you know."

I smiled. "You're too busy to find a girlfriend. You had to ask me the last minute."

He shrugged. "What if I wasn't really looking?"

"What if you were too busy to realize she's already passed you by?"

He shook his head. "Nope. My girl will sparkle so bright it will be hard for me not to notice her."

I stared at him and somehow he was staring at me deeply. Part of me was flattered. I looked away from him, unable to bear the weight of his stare. I looked out the window.

"I thought you didn't believe in 'ever afters', Ryder Van Woodsen." I said.

He heaved a sigh. "I don't know what to believe anymore." He said. "I've been cynical about dating and going on relationships because of... who I am. I was afraid the girl I'd meet would only be interested in my money... my financial status."

Now there's the reason why Ryder and I could never be! I couldn't stand him thinking I was only interested in his money. The thing with Ryder is... I think I like everything about him! Except for his financial status. So he and I... we can never be more than what we are now. Friends pretending to be lovers when the occasion calls for it. Friends who slept with each other at some point in their lives.

"How did you get to be that cynical?"

He shrugged. "My Dad is not exactly a saint." He said. "He... well, he's been through marriages and divorces. Some are with younger women, who left him too soon... taking some fortune with them."

"Oh... you mean your parents are not together anymore?"

He shook his head. "They divorced when I was younger. Then they got together again and had Paris. Then they divorced again when Paris was about five. Now, they're just business partners. My Mom tolerates my Dad's marriages as long as he just spends his share of the family money and he leaves my Mom's, mine's and Paris's alone."

"And so he's been through a series of failed marriages with... gold-diggers?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "All six of them."

"S-six?!" I asked, astounded.

He nodded. "All loveless. All failures. All for the money."

"Whew! That's... tough. You know... to not even have a successful marriage out of all those six."

"Yeah. He's a rakehell anyway. I don't think he's heartbroken when the marriage is over. Some of those divorces, he initiated."

"Wow! I should meet your father." I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"He sounds like a great potential customer. You know... lots of repeat business." I said, laughing.

Ryder laughed. "Yeah. You should. By the time he's seventy, he'll probably give you at least five successful transactions."

"How old is he now?"

"Sixty."

"And he's been married seven times?"

Ryder nodded. "Actually, eight times if you count my mother twice."

"But he and your mother are still in good terms?"

Ryder nodded. "They're business partners who used to be married to each other and have two kids."

Ryder took me to a famous Japanese restaurant close the beach.

We talked more about each other's families. I told him about Adam and how he grew up with me and Geena. I told him how Geena had been like a sister to me, and how Uncle Jack had been like my second father.

When the bill came, I took out my wallet. Ryder handed in his platinum card.

"How much was mine?" I asked.

"Nothing." He replied.

I raised a brow at him. "That's not fair! This is not..."

"I know." He replied cutting me off mid-sentence. "But I dragged you out of the house so I can have the pleasure of your company. I owe you. It's only fair that I pay for your dinner."

"I was gonna go out to dinner too, Ryder."

"Yeah and you could be with your friends. Instead, you accompanied me."

"You're not convincing me."

He chuckled. "Alright, then you owe me. I'm gonna have to ask you some favor some day."

"You have a habit of hanging a bomb over my head, you know." I groaned.

He laughed. "I promise this payback will not have you boarding a plane."

"Yeah, right!" I rolled my eyes.

When we drove around my block, it was just eleven in the evening.

"Where do you stay here? A hotel?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I have a house here."

"Oh. That's good. You've got business here. Only makes sense for you to own a property here too."

"Yeah, but then sometimes I don't come here for more than a week. The house is left alone with no one maintaining it or overseeing it."

"You're rich, hire a maid."

"I have one. She cleans when I'm here. But it's not the same, you know. I want things to be spic and span all the time, and when I'm not here, I want to make sure that... my furniture is tended to, my plants are watered regularly... you know those things."

"Get a roommate."

"I don't know many people in this city." He said.

"I can tell. Otherwise, you'd have better company for dinner tonight. I guess I was your only choice, huh."

"Well, what do you know? Sometimes it's good to pull your hair out or hit your head with a sledgehammer." He teased.

I reached out and pinched him in the arm.

"Ouch!" He complained, laughing.

"Where do you live here?"

He stared at me for a while and then he gave me that crooked smile. "Actually, a few blocks from you."