Page 12 of Give Me More
“Why would I go through all this if I planned to lie to you?”
She could see the moment his mind took that question in a completely different direction. The slow lifting of his brow said he probably believed she’d lied to him before about loving him when she had no intention of marrying him. That had always been her fear, that he’d believe everything they had together was a lie just because she refused his proposal.
“This is about business for me,” she hurriedly said. “It’s about me getting to the next step in my career. I’m going to write the very best story I can, revealing things about the families that no other journalist has revealed before while remaining in the parameters I’ve set. That’s all that matters to me.”
Not the past or the feeling that there was something totally new buzzing between them now.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “I know that’s all that matters to you. And all that matters to me is that my family doesn’t get hurt in the process of you tending to your goals. So we’ll keep checking in while you’re here.”
“Great!” She wasn’t able to hide her excitement at the agreement they’d come to.
“But first, answer this question for me,” he said.
“Sure, what is it?” She typed a note of his agreement but looked up when he hadn’t spoken for a few seconds.
“What’s the plan for dealing with this other thing between us?”
The way his gaze had grown darker, causing her heart to immediately thump wildly, told her theother thingwas that scorching hot kiss from yesterday.
“It’s in the past,” she said quickly. Too quickly.
The blank expression he now wore didn’t tell her if he was okay with that or not, but she wasn’t going to elaborate on her answer. She couldn’t.
Not only had she and RJ moved on with their lives; there was still another bit of contention she’d just broached in their conversation about her family. While Grace was achieving her goal of being just as successful in her career as her sisters were in theirs, being a wife and mother was still a bit daunting, and her mother’s persistence wasn’t helping. Videtta and Charity had made having a career and a family seem so easy. Trinity didn’t have kids yet but she was married, and Hope never failed at anything. Grace knew the minute they both had children, the bar of Hopkins perfection would be even higher and even more unobtainable for her.
Sitting here like this with him—as if nothing had happened between them ten years ago or even twenty-four hours ago—was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. It ranked right up there with the day she’d walked out of his life, because this morning she’d had to reconcile with herself that she still had feelings for RJ Gold. Really significant feelings that she feared could easily carry her down a path she couldn’t afford to venture on again.
She had no idea why she’d shared the content of her mother’s text messages with him, or any of the specifics about her sisters and their families. Well, he’d actually asked her about the latter, but still, she needed to keep this as cordial and emotion-free as possible.
“We’re having dinner at the Sienne Club tonight. You should come. It’ll give you a chance to see the family again.” He was already standing before he finished.
She cleared her throat and stood as well, rubbing her now slightly shaking hands down the front of her clothes. “You want me to come to dinner with you and your family?”
If she sounded shocked and confused it was because she was. RJ wasn’t down for this story, and while she’d been ready to interview as many people in the family as she could, sitting at a table and having dinner with them was a totally different ball game. She knew this because she recalled the Gold family dinners and how close their family was. That was the part she wasn’t ready for.
He shrugged. “You’re the one hell-bent on doing this. The least you can do is sit down and have a meal with the people you plan to write about.”
His words made her seem ungrateful or rude, neither of which she wanted to be considered. “Sure. I can come to dinner,” she said as she followed him to the door.
He opened it and stepped into the hallway.
“Thanks for the doughnuts and coffee.”
“No problem. You needed breakfast and I needed to catch up with you. So, as we agreed, we’ll meet daily after your interviews for an update on what you’ve been told and what you’re writing. We’re here for another twelve days, so you have that time to wrap this up because I don’t want any of my family disturbed on the day of Riley’s wedding.”
“I’d never do that,” she replied, getting a little annoyed that he felt it necessary to remind her not to be a jerk.
“Good to know. I’ll see you tonight.” He walked away before she could say anything else.
That was fine; she didn’t have anything else to say to him. After closing and locking the door, Grace moved back to the table. She sat in the chair again and stared at the coffee cup for what felt like an eternity. When her phone chimed with a text she checked it and read yet another message from her mother, this one giving her the link to an IVF clinic. She groaned and rolled her eyes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“GRACEISBACK.” RJ said the words quickly, knowing that whoever heard him would immediately command the rest of them already seated at the table to ditch their current conversation and turn all their attention to him.
Everyone at the table went silent in less than three seconds. That worked better than he’d planned.
“Excuse me?” Riley asked, resting her elbows on the table across from him.
