Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Ah, there was the irritation she’d expected. It was good because they couldn’t talk about the problem if he didn’t acknowledge it existed. “My only intention is to do my job, David. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear. Can we talk about it now?”
“We don’t have to.” At least he wasn’t playing dumb.
It would be easier to ignore the problem, but the truth was she didn’t want him to dislike her. And she was starting to think they needed to work this out or she would never be able to stop thinking about him. “I think we do because you think I’m out to get you or something.”
“You made it clear you didn’t want to see me again and now you’re being forced to spend a week with me,” David pointed out. “If I were in your position, I might try to find a creative way out of it, too.”
She hadn’t tried very hard when she thought about it. She could have gotten out of this job. “I know this sounds like a cop-out, but it wasn’t you. It’s me.”
“Sure.” His eyes stayed on the road, but she didn’t miss the way his jaw tensed.
“I mean it. I told you that night that my last relationship ended. What I didn’t tell you was my fiancé was Michael Malone, the son of a ridiculously wealthy oil baron.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to explain. You don’t owe me any explanations.”
“Stop being the good guy.” She huffed in frustration. “I know I don’t owe you anything, but I want to explain. We’re going to be stuck together for a week, and it’s best if we both know where we stand.”
“Okay,” he agreed.
“I didn’t fit into his world. I didn’t even want to. It’s not that they weren’t lovely people, but I felt uncomfortable there. He was raised in an entirely different way than I was. I know that sounds weird, but we would fight about things like paying too much for groceries. He didn’t understand why I was upset he didn’t use the coupons I found. He thought it was silly for me to try to keep costs down when he has all the money in the world.”
“But it wasn’t your money and it never would have been,” David said. “Even if you married him, you would have still felt that way.”
It was one of the things she’d worried about. They’d come from two different worlds, and she simply didn’t fit into his. And she hadn’t loved him enough to truly try. “Yeah. Like it’s hardwired in me to be frugal. I didn’t like the parties we went to. I always felt like they were watching me, waiting for me to screw up. Again, it wasn’t his family, though I was always worried about embarrassing them. Reporters actually followed us around when we went to visit Nina after she had her last kid.”
“Yeah, I understand that,” David replied. “It’s weird. I don’t know how or why anyone would want to live that way.”
“Sean’s been on TV.” She hoped he could start putting two and two together. “He’s on TV a lot.”
“Sean’s got actual groupies. I don’t know why people watch shows where other people cook. It’s not like you can eat the food.”
She could understand. She’d actually watched Sean’s shows. “I don’t know. There’s something soothing about it.”
“So you decided not to take me up on my offer because you think I run in those circles?” David asked.
Good. At least he understood. “I think you’re Sean Taggart’s stepson. You’re related to Ian Taggart. He might not be TV celebrity, but he’s a rock star in my world. He knows presidents and prime ministers.”
“He also once threatened to punch a reporter if he didn’t walk away.” David chuckled, though it was obvious he wasn’t amused. “Sean’s a little better but only because his agent forced him to take media training. You know they nicknamed him Sean the Viking Chef, right? Once this group who call themselves Sean’s Shield Maidens showed up at Top. These are not nice women. They like to troll my mom and tell her she’s too old for him or too fat for him.”
“What?” His mom and stepdad were one of the most gorgeous couples she’d ever seen.
“Yeah, the celebrity thing sucks. Anyway, they show up and they’re waiting in the parking lot, and Ian happens to be there that night. No one wants to tell my mom that five crazy fans are waiting for Sean to walk out into the parking lot and they’ll likely heckle her. So Ian goes out to talk to them.”
“Oh, shit.” She hoped the big boss had buried the bodies well.
“He talked to them by turning the hose on and spraying the hell out of them,” David explained. “He said they were obviously overheated and needed a cooldown. They did not come back, and my mom never even knew it happened.”