Page 93 of Rich Girl
I shrug and look away. “I’m not sure. I really liked him. Once I got to know him, I hated the thought of disappointing him.”
“Was he disappointed when you told him the truth?”
I think back to that night. “No. He was very sweet about it. Before I left, he told me he’d done a search of me, and he already knew who I was. He knew I was lying. He didn’t care.”
“He didn’t care at all?” Adeline sounds incredulous.
“Not until the end. He was angry then.”
“Why?”
I sigh and drop my head against the back of the couch.
“All the time while I lived there with him, I thought he was poor. But on the day he was released from jail, I found out that he actually has money, somewhere in the millions. His one friend thought I was with him for that…”
Adeline chuckles softly. “That’s funny.”
“I accused him of purposely deceiving me about his net worth.”
I cringe as I say the words. I really put my foot in my mouth with that one.
“Did he mean more to you because you found out he was wealthy?”
My eyes fly to Adeline’s face. I am seriously offended by her question. She knows nothing about my relationship with Ray. How can she judge?
“I love Ray.” My voice shakes when I speak. “I fell in love with him before I knew about his money. My feelings for him never changed.”
“Did you tell him that?”
I shrug. That seems to be my go-to move when I’m uncomfortable.
“I told him that I loved him. I… I didn’t tell him the rest.”
Adeline leans forward, completely invested in everything I have to say.
“How did he react?”
“He said he loved me, too. And then, he said we were not right for each other.”
Adeline falls back against the chair, disappointment palpable in the air.
“Do you think he’d want to move here to be with you?”
I take a moment to really think about it. I take into consideration all that he would have to sacrifice in order for that to happen.
“He has a business there…”
“The towing business,” Adeline guesses correctly.
“Yeah,” I chuckle and wipe the tears off my cheeks. “Now that I know more about him, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need to work there. But he loves it. He has employees, they all seem really happy to be there. They all love him.”
“He sounds like a great guy, Hayden.”
“He is. That’s why it’s so hard to know that we could never work.”
Adeline sighs in sympathy, but her eyes tell a different story.
“Have you considered moving there to be with him?”
