Page 22 of Fate
“And let me describe these women,” I said. “Expensive clothes, perfect hair, nails and makeup and like corporate jobs, right? Wearing diamonds, Gucci or Versace, perhaps?”
She paused to stare at me as she did not deny this.
I nodded. “You get it now?” I spread my arms out. “I’m just a plane Jane. No frills and certainly no diamonds. I’m a waitress and he’s an architect. Come on, let’s get real.”
Glory slowly shook her head at me as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t mean to insult you, but that's a really biased opinion, Briget. I tease all my brothers about their egos or their overconfidence but deep down inside, they’re just regular guys. They have worked hard too. Dad always provided what we needed when we were very little. But if you’re thinking it was some kind of silver spoon crap here, you would be wrong. He made us all earn everything we got. He even made me earn it.” She laughed. “His only princess.”
I didn’t want to tell her that earning an allowance from chores is not the same as doing without supper because there was no food to cook. “I am biased. I did without a lot whilegrowing up and I had no way of earning extras. It’s a different world than the one you grew up in. I’m just sayin’.”
Glory stared at me with raised brows. “Wow.”
“That’s what your brother said.”
“Poor guy,” Glory said. “I would usually never feel sorry for him, but he’s up against a lot of prejudice to even date you. I mean next thing you’ll tell me is there’s some kind of culture class separating you too.” She chuckled and scoffed “Like he’s the prince and you are the housemaid.”
I firmly nodded my head. “Yes, I already pointed that out. You explained it exactly right.”
Staring at me, her eyes rounded. “For real? You really think like that?”
I shrugged. “I understand why you don’t get it.”
She placed her hands onto her hips. “So here comes the spoiled princess insults, right?”
I slowly shook my head. I hadn't thought about his family being insulted or upset about this. Like they all knew they were better off than most, didn’t they? Damn, maybe I should have just lied and said I just did not like Fate or something. Of course, no one would believe that. He seemed like a nice guy really, just not dateable for me. “I can see I made you mad. I’ll just go now.” I went to step around her.
Glory raised her hand up to stop me. “It isn’t any of my business, but…I have been on the receiving end of this kind of thing. Someone whom I want to be in my life, feels this same culture difference.” She shrugged as she looked frustrated. “Or something like it. We're not supposed to be together because it would cause a huge uproar by us crossing some line!” Her voice rose and she looked really upset now. “So forgive me if I do not agree with you. We are all just people, Briget. Human, inside and out. You are stuck in an old way of thinking, or in an ugly worldwhere only money and prestige matter.” She stepped closer and added in a low tone, “But the truth is, it only matters to you.” Glory then took a step around me and stalked away.
My mouth had popped open as I stared at the doorway she just went through.
“Yeah, what she said.”
I snapped my gaze up.
Fate stood there. He took a step closer and said quietly, “This is sort of a first for me in a couple of ways. First off, being told I’m too rich or too educated to be dating material. Then secondly, me agreeing with my sister on anything is super rare. But her advice was correct. I don’t care about what you do for a living or where you came from.”
“That’s not what she was talking about,” I said.
“Oh, yeah?” Fate stared at me. “Then what was she talking about?”
“I’m not sure, but it makes no difference. I meant what I said.”
“I know you believe what you said, but not everything is so cut and dried, or black and white. To me, it seems like you are the one who’s stuck up and refuses to give me a chance, solely based on my education and career. You are the one snubbing me for who and what I am. Am I lucky to have been born a Walker? Hell, yeah. Was my dad skilled at making money? Hell yeah, again. But he worked like 18 hours a day in the beginning to make it work. It took twenty years for him to be able to say, ‘It's yours to run now, boys.’ So yeah, I was lucky.”
“Well, good for you,” I said as nicely as I could. “But up until I came here, I’ve had to scrape by. I didn’t inherit anything but the poverty cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. And when I return home after this, I will have to start all over in scraping by. Find a job and a new apartment. Because I can’t afford tojust skip out for a month or however long, then return to it. Not without money, I can't.” I raised my hands up when I saw concern in his eyes. “Hey, I don’t want any pity. I just live in reality and I know the boundaries. So just stay in your lane and I will stay in mine.”
Fate smirked at me and said, “I would but there's just one problem with that.”
I assumed he meant Belle and Liberty or that we would be together when we left here to hide from Deacon.
Reaching forward, he grabbed me up and tucked me close then lowered his lips to mine.
As soon as his body came up against me, I felt my temperature rise. His lips felt like fire and my mind went completely blank. Heat infused me from my head down to my toes. My nipples hardened and my knees went weak. The longer the kiss went on the dizzier I felt as my arms snaked around his neck and I kissed him back. I had been kissed by a few men, but this wasn't the same at all.
This was heady, hot and wild. And damn, did I say this was hot?
Finally after a couple of minutes, Fate let me up for air.
Breathless, I stared at him.
