Page 88 of The Grumpy Billionaire
Kenley laughed for real now. “I hope you’re right, but I can’t exactly picture it right now.”
There was a long pause.
“I just thought I knew him better than that. Reallyknewhim, you know?” she said. “He was the last person I’d ever have expected this from. I can’t believe he changed so much from the guy I used to know.”
Though the sun on the deck was warm, the words sent an icy chill through me. That was exactly what I’d thought about my dad the night he forced me to break up with Reid.
Reid had changed, too— a lot. I probably didn’t even realize all the ways he’d changed since our teenage days. We’d been apart a long time.
Shivering, I walked back into his living room and retrieved my coat from the couch where I’d dropped it last night. I wrapped it around myself, covering the white t-shirt I’d borrowed to sleep in.
I told Kenley I’d look into changing my flight and that I loved her, and we hung up.
“Going somewhere?”
Reid’s voice in the quiet room made me jump. He emerged from the hallway rubbing a hand through his sleep-mussed hair.
He looked absolutely edible, wearing just a pair of shorts. As he crossed the room toward me, his eyes travelled from my leopard-print coat to my naked legs underneath, all the way down to my bare toes. He gave me an appreciative smile.
“You’ll need a bodyguard if you plan to leave like that. I volunteer.”
“Uh, hi.” I struggled to emerge from the instant funk Kenley’s call had dropped over me. “Good morning.”
“Good morning toyou.” Reid reached me and leaned down for a kiss, his mouth finding my neck instead of my lips when I twisted my face away.
“Morning breath,” I muttered by way of explanation.
“Nothing about you ever smells bad,” he said with a smile. “Who was that you were saying those elusive magic words to?”
The smile remained, but there was a slight edge to his voice.
“Kenley. Her fiancé called off the wedding.”
“Oh. Wow. It was just a few weeks away, right?”
“Yes. She’s devastated. I’m going to Atlanta as soon as I can get away.”
“Sure—if you think you should.” Reid stepped into the kitchen and started searching through his K-cup collection. “Want some coffee?”
I shook my head, slightly annoyed at his lack of outrage. Of course he’d never met Kenley, and hewasa guy.
“Well, she’s lucky,” he said in an off-hand tone as he loaded a little plastic cup into his countertop brewing machine.
“Lucky?”
Now I wasallthe way annoyed. I could hardly believe my ears. I’d just told him my friend was devastated. Had he no empathy at all?
“She just gotdumped, practically at the altar,” I said.
“Right. That sucks. But it could be worse. It could’ve been the day of the wedding, or they could’ve gotten married andthenrealized it was a mistake later.”
I let out a breath.Finally.The man was talking some sense.
Maybe this thing with Kenley was what we both needed to shake us out of this lust-riddled La La Land we’d been inhabiting for the past week. It was about time reality made a return appearance.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, beginning to gather my clothing from last night. It was strewn all over the condo—we hadn’t quite made it to the bedroom.
Reid stopped his coffee-prep to watch me. I noticed his stillness from the corner of my eye and glanced up at him.
