“No.Of course not.It’s wonderful that you can help family out while also running what looks to be a very impressive business.”
He shrugged.“This is my newest restaurant.I have three more up and down the coast.”
She’d known he was wealthy; the cut of his suit alone told her that.But the ease with which he wore it spoke of a man who was accustomed to being rich… she knew that look.Her family all shared the trait.
Only she, the black sheep, was ever ill at ease when it came to the family wealth.
Of course, that was another sin to lay at her door.Her mother simply couldn’t understand why she’d prefer Zara to Tom Ford and was quite bucolic over her daughter’s plebeian fashion tastes.
Or lack thereof, according to Annabel.
With a sigh, she shrugged that particular misery away.“I didn’t realize you were so accomplished,” she told him softly.
“It’s hard to put all that down on a profile,” Ryan confessed.“You get a lot of crazies who just want the money, you know?”
She blinked at that.Talk about honesty!“How do you know I’m not here for your money?”she asked, curious as to how he could distinguish that from their conversations online.
“I knew from the start.You wouldn’t do what you do if you were superficial enough for that to matter.”
Discomfort unraveled through her.“I don’t do anything particularly important,” she said on a low whisper.
“Working for charities isn’t particularly important?”he countered, obviously scoffing at her.
It was all shecoulddo.All her parents deemed suitable, as well as her morals.
If she worked for a living, she was taking away a job from someone who needed it.Her trust fund could feed the whole damn state’s homeless population.Her getting a salaried job was just ridiculous.
Working for charities appeased her mother’s endless need to be at the top of the social tree, and El’s only concession had been that she work for the charities of her own choosing, and without their realizing who she was.
Of course, that had led to the sexual harassment situation which had blown that particular cover…
Sometimes a girl just couldn’t win.
She blew out a breath.“How honest do you want us to be tonight?”she asked, surprised by her own candor.But if the man had four restaurants like this, she knew he wasn’t exactly going to be digging for gold with her.
Anyway, he wouldn’t get any.
Her trust fund was locked up so tightly, even she had trouble getting into it.
His head tilted to the side in a way that was pure feline.A rueful grin was her first answer, then he said, “Brutally.”
“You want brutal honesty between us?”she asked, brows rising at that.
He nodded.“Why not?”he asked, somewhat rhetorically she figured.Or at least, hoped.
“My surname isn’t Drew,” she whispered, ducking her head.“It’s technically Forsythe-Drew.”
When dead silence met her admission, she peered up at him.He looked a little surprised but more than that, he looked confused.“You were on a dating site.”
The statement confused her.“I know.”
“But you’re…” He frowned.“I mean, I’m just surprised that a family up there with the Rockefellers allows their daughter to go on a dating site, and then, on a date too.”
She pursed her lips, then pointed to a table of three across the way.“They’re my security.”
He studied the men, then his lips twitched.“I see.”
“You find it funny?”she asked, her voice quivering.
