Page 20 of A Billionaire Gentleman

It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I wished Grandad had half his energy now, but I kept it to myself. I didn’t actually mind going on the trips with him, even if I did think he and Dad were just trying to keep me busy, so I wasn’t in the way.

“Would anyone like some scotch?” Grandad asked as we gathered in the sitting room. “Cynthia and Mrs. Potts say it’ll be another fifteen or twenty minutes before dinner is done.”

“Mrs. Potts?” Aurelia whispered.

“The cook,” I answered.

“Like the one fromBeauty and the Beast?”

I grinned. “Damon used to follow her around singing songs from the cartoon the first time he saw it.”

“Walter, I appreciate your opinion, but we’ve had this discussion before. It’s my house, and I’ll offer my guests a drink if that’s what I want to do.”

Aurelia’s gaze moved to where Dad and Grandad were having a not-so-quiet discussion. They weren’t yelling, but I could see that my dad was mad.

“They do this a lot,” I assured her. “They have different viewpoints on what a church’s stance against alcohol means. It’s not as bad when it’s wine, but anything else and it turns into an argument half the time. Just ignore them.”

“You should see them when they’re at a business event together, and alcohol is served.” Davin appeared next to me, already sipping at the scotch Grandad had given him. “You can almost see the smoke coming out of Dad’s ears when Grandad gets something.”

“My mom’s like that,” Aurelia said softly. “Like your dad, I mean. My dad just doesn’t like the taste.”

Sure enough, a glance at Ronall showed that he hadn’t accepted a drink, but I wondered if that was more to prevent him from having to take sides in a debate that I figured was probably as old as the friendship.

“What about you?” Davin asked. “We have wine if you’d prefer that to scotch.”

Aurelia shook her head, and I looked over at my brother, trying to figure out why he’d suddenly started talking to my…well, whatever she was to me. I wasn’t jealous, exactly, more like curious, and the fact that I didn’t want to tell him to back off should have been the sign I’d been asking for.

Maybe jealousy was just immaturity, and I shouldn’t want to feel it toward my brother, but it just felt weird. If he did something to make her uncomfortable or upset, we’d have words, but that was protecting her.

I was going to have a headache before dinner was over.

“No, thank you,” Aurelia said, her fingers doing that twisting thing again that told me she didn’t like being the center of attention, even for one other person. “It gives me a headache.”

The first question that popped into my head also popped out of my mouth. “Davin, I have to ask, did Grandad buy the hotel we were staying at in Kansas City?”

Davin smiled. “He did, and it’s driving Dad nuts, having Grandad more involved again.”

I almost asked him if Grandad was supposed to be babysitting me, but I wasn’t in the mood to handle the answer to that question, no matter what it might be. Besides, my usually stoic brother seemed to be in an unusually good mood tonight. It didn’t happen often, and I wasn’t going to spoil it, especially since this was supposed to be a celebration for Aurelia going to grad school.

“Dinner’s ready,” Cynthia said from the doorway. “If you’ll follow me to the dining room.”

As Aurelia and I started after Davin, Dad gestured for me to stay behind. In a rare moment of brotherly teasing, Davin assured me that he’d get Aurelia to the table safely, and I walked over to where Dad stood.

He waited until we were alone to finally say what was on his mind. “The two of you seem to be getting along well.”

“We are. She’s sweet.”

“She is,” Dad continued, “and I’m sure you can understand that Ronall wants her to be taken care of, protected.”

I thought I knew where he was going with this, and I held up my hand to stop him before he embarrassed us both. “Dad, we’re taking it really slow. We haven’t even kissed yet. You don’t have to worry about me rushing her into anything. I don’t want to see her hurt any more than her dad does.”

“I knew I could trust you with her,” he said. “That’s why, when Ronall told me that he wanted one of my boys to take care of her, I knew you were the only one I could go to.”

I’d wanted my dad to trust me more, but I’d been thinking in terms of the family business, not him playing matchmaker with his friend’s daughter, but I supposed one could lead to the other. In fact, maybe I could kill two birds with one stone.

“You know, if I wasn’t traveling around so much with Grandad, it’d be easier to spend time with her, build our relationship into something that’ll last.”

Dad smiled. “That’s what Ronall and I want too.”

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