Blind Date with a Billionaire Professor (Blind Date Disasters) Read online

  “What about the Greg Gordan gallery? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could display your paintings there?”

  The Greg Gordan gallery had a reputation for being top-notch, and a few famous artists had first displayed their work there. Not only that, but it wasn’t a secret that many well-known celebrities made purchases at Mr. Gordan’s gallery.

  I nodded in agreement. “It would be my dream to get my foot in the door of a place like that, but I’m too scared to approach the owner. I doubt my paintings are good enough.”

  “You won’t know unless you try.”

  “One day I’ll work up the nerve.” I sipped my tea and then set it down on a coaster on her coffee table. “How about you? How’s work?”

  She chuckled and her eyes danced with humor. “This week was crazy. We had a new grad student in the lab, and she was so flirtatious with Colin I had to talk to the other department heads to see if one of them would take her. Thankfully, Dr. Hammond was willing to oblige.” She laughed, and it sounded like tinkling bells. “But I think that was because Dr. Hammond has her eye on Colin and couldn’t stand the idea of a younger grad student flirting with him.”

  “Wait a second, you never told me Colin was young enough to have grad students after him.”

  Colin was the science professor she worked with in the lab, and she’d spoken of him on occasion. They went way back, but I always pictured him as some old crusty guy with a cigar pipe hanging out of his mouth.

  She leaned forward and tapped me on the knee. “Not only is he youngish and good-looking, but half of his students are after him though he’s never been interested in any of them.”

  “Wow. How old is this guy?”

  “Thirty-eight. He just had a birthday.”

  I sat up straighter. “Is he married?”

  She snickered. “Oh, sweetheart, he’s not for you. Yes, he’s single, but there’s a reason for that.”

  “And what is that reason, pray tell?”

  She paused for a long moment. “He can be a little awkward. At times, he comes off as gruff, but he’s not a jerk or anything. He’s just very shy.” She took another sip of her tea and winked at me. “He may have a lot of women after him, but he wouldn’t know what to do with a single one. Sometimes he seems clueless in the female department.”

  “Has he had any long-term relationships?”

  “One that I know of, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. To be honest, I don’t think he’s interested in dating. He spends most of his time doing work-related activities.”

  “So, he has no hobbies. Maybe you should help him out. Invite him to the club.”

  She giggled. “Sorry, but I can’t picture Colin doing crafts.” She appeared to consider. “He does like to hike and workout. He takes his students on these mushroom forays pretty frequently.”

  “I’m not even going to ask what a mushroom foray is.” I cleared my throat. “Back to the good stuff. I can’t believe that all this time you’ve been working with a handsome professor in my age range who just so happens to be single, and you haven’t set us up.”

  Her brows drew together. “As I said, he’s not for you. You need someone more emotionally available. If I thought he wanted to date, I’d jump on it, but the man puts up a brick wall when it comes to relationships.”

  “Oh.”

  “Plus, you said in the past that you only have eyes for Nick. Have you decided to move on from him?”

  I ran a hand through my long hair and looked away self-consciously. “I’m…still interested in Nick, but you know how it is. Nothing’s changed.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “I think I need to get my mind off him…spend time with someone else.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “That’s probably wise.”

  “Would you consider asking Colin if he’d go on a blind date?”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re actually serious.”

  “Yes, I am. I’ve got to do something. Even if it doesn’t work out, I can at least let Nick know I have options.”

  Her lips tightened. “I love Colin to death, don’t get me wrong, he’s like family by now, but I just don’t see this going well. He’s not very sociable. Forget romantic relationships for a moment, he won’t even hang out with his coworkers. He’s a very private man.”

  “But you’ve always had great things to say about him.”

  “Oh, he’s a good guy, and I don’t mean to imply otherwise. He’d give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. I just don’t want you to get hurt. He’s pretty closed off…”

  “Ah, I see.” I took a sip of tea and considered what she’d said. Maybe this Colin guy wasn’t the answer to my dating woes, but it wouldn’t hurt to meet him. “You know what? I’m totally fine with that. Even if we’re not a love-match, it’s not a big deal. Going out on a few dates might help me with Nick. He needs to see that I’m not going to wait around for him forever.”

  “Well, if that’s how you see it, I guess I could ask Colin about a date, but don’t be surprised if he says no.”

  “Thanks, Wilhelmina.”

  Someone knocked on the door, and it was clear our catching up time was over.

  “Don’t thank me yet,” she said, rising from the couch. “He still has to agree to a date, and the chances of that happening are very unlikely.”

  Chapter 2

  Colin

  “Mushrooms are fungi but not all fungi are mushrooms.” I clicked through the Google slide presentation I was giving to a room full of students at UC Redwoods. As a mycologist, I spent fifty percent of my time teaching and the other fifty percent devoted to researching rare forms of fungi. “On to the next slide. Fungi have eukaryotic cells like plants and animals which makes them more sophisticated organisms than bacteria.”

  A blonde female student in the front row made eye contact and winked, and then a smile spread across her face as she held my gaze longer than I was comfortable with. For a moment, the gesture caught me off guard but then I glanced away, annoyed. Sometimes students got it in their head that a flirtation with one of their professors was akin to having a notch on their belt, or they thought it would somehow lift their social status on campus. I would have nothing to do with that sort of nonsense. First of all, it was against university policy to fraternize with a student, and, second, women who were that much younger didn’t interest me.

  I finished my lecture and gathered my belongings to leave after the students shuffled out of the stadium-style room.

  My TA, Brian Cox, walked over with a look on his face that I knew too well. He most likely had a snarky remark or question brewing underneath that mop of brown curly hair that was unruly most days. “I’ll grade the quiz later this afternoon and input the scores in the database.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Cox.”

  He hesitated. “How do you do it, Dr. Fitzgerald?”

  There it was. I knew he was up to something. “How do I do what?”

  He glanced away with a smirk on his face. “You’ve seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, right?”

  “Of course. Hasn’t everyone?”

  “Then you’re familiar with that scene at the beginning of the movie where Indie teaches at the university and all the female students stare at him with dreamy expressions on their faces.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. Glancing at my watch, I edged my body towards the door. “Please get to the point, Mr. Cox. I have a lot to do today.”

  “I just wondered how many women in the room were actually listening to your lecture. Seemed like they were a little distracted…”

  “What are you implying?”

  “That brings me back to my initial question. How do you do it?”

  I grit my teeth. There was no room in my schedule for trivial conversations such as this one. “I think you do the female population a disservice by inferring the women in this class aren’t paying attention because they’re silly and love-struck. Statistically, the women in this particular class ar
e outperforming the males. You would do well to remember that.”

  “Sorry.” Brian shifted on his feet, appearing slightly nervous all of a sudden. “I just wanted to know how you garner so much…attention.” He chuckled and scratched the side of his head. “I want to be you when I grow up—have half the room at my beck and call.”

  My brows drew together, and I gave him my sternest expression. “I do not have anyone at my beck and call, and you don’t want my life. It takes plenty of hard work and there’s little time for leisure.” That would shut him up for a while. I strode to the exit before he could ask another question.

  I pushed out the door and headed towards the lab to check on my tech, Wilhelmina. She would work straight through lunch if I didn’t remind her to take a break—that was how diligently she applied herself most days. She ran the lab and conducted research I needed for the papers I submitted to scientific journals.

  Wilhelmina was one of the rare people I trusted, probably because she’d been my tech for the past eight years, and she knew her stuff. She was happily married, so I never had to worry about any funny business from her, and she made me smile with her quirky jokes and eccentric tendencies. She was kind of like an older sister, but she was more youthful than me in a lot of ways. As it was, I was an only child and my parents had already passed away, so it was nice having someone in my life who cared.

  A few paces outside the lab, I heard the lyrics to a fifty’s song, Hard Headed Woman by Elvis Presley. It wasn’t unlike Wilhelmina to crank up the music while I was away, and that was fine by me because she actually did her best work dancing to her favorite fifties rock songs. I walked in and lingered by the door for a few moments. She wore a white lab coat and had pulled her blue hair into a tight bun. A pair of black horn-rimmed glasses were perched on her nose, and she was bobbing her head from side-to-side as she blended a mushroom sample. When it was done, she placed it in a test tube and put the test tube in the centrifuge to spin. She looked up and caught me watching her.

  “Look who’s here. Just in time. Care to dance with me?” She trotted over and grabbed both of my hands, dancing to the music.

  I cracked a smile but didn’t budge. “You know me. Not much of a dancer.”

  Grinning, she let go of my hands and danced her way back to the centrifuge which had completed its cycle by now. She lifted the test tube and took a sample of the liquid on top and then put that in a gas chromatography machine for analysis. Afterward, she turned her attention to me. “I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I want to ask you.”

  I pulled up a rolling stool and sat on it. “Hit me with it. What do you need to know?”

  She grinned like the Cheshire cat, her horn-rimmed glasses sliding down her nose. “Oh, I intend to.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “This must be an interesting question given your mischievous smile.”

  She turned the music down and leaned against the lab table. “I’m going to ask you something, but I want you to promise you won’t say no until you have sufficiently thought it through. Deal?”

  “All right. It’s a deal.”

  She pressed her lips together and averted her eyes like she was trying to hold back a grin. “I have this friend in my crafting club. You’ve heard me talk about that group, right?”

  “Uh.” I ran a hand over the top of my head trying to think. “I’m sure I have.”

  “It meets twice a month. Anyway, Abby and I clicked instantly, and she always arrives early so we can chat and have tea.” She swallowed, appearing as if she was afraid to ask the next question.

  The change struck me as odd since Wilhelmina was hardly ever nervous. It just wasn’t in her nature. “Okay…but what does this have to do with the lab research?”

  She straightened. “Oh, nothing. This isn’t work-related at all.”

  “Well, spit it out then. I don’t have all day.” I smiled to let her know I wasn’t too serious although it was a factual statement.

  “Abby is thirty-five, very attractive, with long brown hair and eyes the shade of blue hydrangeas.”

  I’d never really taken note of blue hydrangeas, but that was beside the point. “Why are you describing this woman’s appearance?”

  “Because…” She paused for effect while mischief danced in her eyes. “I want to set the two of you up on a blind date.” She grinned and waited for my response. Pausing, she added, “Also, she’s a Christian. I know that’s important.”

  No words came out of my mouth, and I just sat there stunned, like someone had taken a stun gun and shot me through the neck. Whatever gave her the idea that I wanted to go out on a date of all things? I was business as usual most days and not once had I ever said I wanted to find a companion. It had to be because this Abby was looking for a relationship. Better squash this before it got out of hand and I had a fire to put out. “Not interested.”

  Her grin slipped, and she put a hand on her hip. “You promised you wouldn’t say no until you thought it through.”

  “And I kept that promise. Two seconds was all it took to figure this thing out. Abby wants a relationship. I do not.”

  She frowned. “It’s just one date. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t have to ask her for another.”

  I stood and walked to the door. “I’m heading over to my office. Call me if you need anything and don’t forget to take a lunch break.”

  “Colin.” There was a frustrated edge to her voice.

  “Don’t take this personally, Wilhelmina. I appreciate your effort, but I’m not…” I ran a hand over the back of my neck and swallowed. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out with a woman, and I wouldn’t know what to say.”

  “Talk to her like you talk to me. It’s not as tough as you’re making it out to be.”

  “I can’t.”

  “If you put as much determination into being more sociable as you do in other areas of your life, you’d be married by now.”

  I laughed bitterly. “You think I want to be married?” I shook my head and opened the door. “I’m not cut out for marriage.”

  “What makes you say that? You’d make a great husband for some lucky woman.”

  I let out a heavy breath, long and slow. “I can’t keep a woman happy. It’s not in my DNA.”

  “Not this again.”

  “Got to go. Catch you later.” I hurried out before she continued the conversation.

  The breeze hit my face as I walked across campus to my office. A blind date. Was she crazy? I half laughed, half scoffed. Socializing with women only made things complicated, and relationships were entirely too…painful. I’d learned that the hard way dating Genevieve Porter, the woman who took my heart, stomped all over it, and handed it back on a silver platter. No, thank you. I was perfectly content being on my own. Life was too short for that kind of baloney.

  ***

  Later that evening, I stopped by Friends with Meals, the non-profit organization I founded to bring meals to the homebound. We served the elderly population as well as some disabled individuals who needed our assistance. Since I was wealthy—technically a billionaire though I didn’t dwell on it—I had the funds to create programs like these, and I did what I could to give back to the community.

  For the most part, I kept my financial standing on the down low. The University was aware, and I had a contract that stipulated they couldn’t advertise or promote my status. In return, I donated a sizable amount of money each year. And yes, I still accepted a salary. I didn’t want to raise any questions with anyone and have them dig further into my background. Privacy was important to me.

  Wilhelmina was one of the few people who knew, but I rarely mentioned it because I preferred to live a simple life free from the demands of financial success. I inherited the wealth from my father, though as a child, I had a small part in his success. It all came back to mushrooms, but that was another story, one I wouldn’t ruminate on at the moment. I walked in the door and waved to Janie Cooper, the manager I’d hired to
run Friends with Meals. She was an older woman in her sixties, and she always had a bright smile for me.

  “Colin, you’re just on time. I received a call from Dr. Mitchell. He specifically asked for you. Said he wanted you to be the one to bring his meal today.”

  I chuckled. “Good ol’ Dr. Mitchell. I miss talking to him. Sure, I’ll do it.”

  Over the years, Friends with Meals had served the elderly Dr. Mitchell. He had no family living, and as he was in his nineties, most of what he had left of his retirement fund went to caregivers. He refused to move to an assisted living facility even though we begged him to. Dr. Mitchell had plenty of help in the home—I made sure of that—but he was lonely. Most of his friends had passed away, and he’d never married or had children. I loved talking with him because he would tell me about the good old days working in the hospital, and we bonded over the scientific aspect of his profession. It was hard visiting him because it was a bit like looking into a mirror and seeing myself fifty years from now. Alone. Tired. Without the help of family. Sometimes after our visits, I’d go home and it would feel as if a heavy weight pressed down on my chest.

  “Here’s his meal if you’d like to take it to him,” Janie said, setting down a packaged meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans. There was a container of milk, an apple, and a rectangular piece of carrot cake to go along with it. “If you’re busy, I can get one of the volunteers to bring it to him.”

  “No, no. I’m not too busy.” I placed the meal in a warming bag and headed to my car, a gray Honda Accord.

  Yeah, I was the billionaire who drove an everyday vehicle when I could probably afford something like an eight-million-dollar Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero. But I didn’t have time for that type of lifestyle. It just wasn’t me, and I wouldn’t be able to stand the kind of attention that would go along with a car like that. It didn’t suit my personality or my values, and I preferred functionality over status-driven extravagance.

  When I arrived at Dr. Mitchell’s house, I knocked on the door and his caregiver, Annie, let me in. “Thank goodness it’s you. Dr. Mitchell’s been saying he wants to talk to you all afternoon. I don’t know what’s got into him.” She ushered me inside, and I brought the meal to a small table set up near a hospital bed placed in his living room. He had lung cancer—ironic since he was a doctor and had never smoked a day in his life, but cancer didn’t always follow our expectations.