Page 30 of Miss Belief

Reid

Istudied Teagan from across the table, seeing the vulnerability in her eyes. As I heard about her time in foster care, I had no doubt she was omitting a great deal. As much as I respected her privacy, I found myself wishing she’d share more. Hell, at this point, I wanted nothing more than to jump on the other side of the booth and comfort her with a hug. I doubted she’d appreciate the gesture, though, as it wouldn’t fit in with her tough-girl image.

She ate her fries but then sighed, giving me more clues about her childhood. “I didn’t always have thick skin and a sharp tongue.”

“I would dare to say no one starts out life with either of those attributes. They’re normally hard earned.”

She only played with her straw, declining to elaborate on my opening. Despite my craving for more information, perhaps it was time for a break from the serious stuff.

“So tell me, are you the type of girlfriend who shares her fries?”

The shadows left her eyes, and a smile replaced the tension. “What do you think?”

“I think I could lose a hand if I reached over to help myself.”

“Smart man. But I’m not opposed to a trade. Say, for a bite of your pot roast with potatoes?”

I forked up a perfectly proportioned bite, including the gravy, and held it across the table toward her amused face. But once her lips closed around my fork, my grin dropped. How could offering her a bite of pot roast make my dick hard?

Jesus, ever since our kiss, I’d become hyper-focused on every detail about her. At this point, if she moaned, I could go on to embarrass myself. Luckily for me, she only smiled.

“Damn, you made this trade well worth it. All right, you earned it.” She lifted up a section of her chili cheese fries on a fork before passing it to me.

The flavors were incredible. “I can see now why you wouldn’t want to share.”

“Exactly. Now then, spill it. How was your childhood?”

In contrast, my childhood had been privileged, rich, and indulgent—although not without its problems. “My dad and mom divorced when I was ten, so I spent a lot of time with Aiden’s family and with Mona, the live-in nanny.” I was closer to her while growing up than to either of my parents. Although she’d retired to Arizona, I still kept in touch with her. “My dad has been married three more times since my mother, each new bride younger than the last. His current wife is my age, and I’m assuming may be pregnant soon since he’s had kids with each of his wives. All of the kids are boys except for one.”

Teagan let out a low whistle. “Must make for an interesting family tree.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Are you close with any of your siblings?”

Chance and I used to be tight. “I’m close with my half sister, Kelsey, who’s about your age. But the rest of my brothers, not so much. In my defense, though, the twins are five years old.”

She about spit out her drink. “That would be so weird. You could basically be their dad.”

“At this rate and given the trajectory of his brides, I will probably be old enough to be his next wife’s father.”

This time her drink caught in her throat, and she started coughing. I moved over to her side of the booth to thump her back. It wasn’t a hardship to have an excuse to sit close to her.

“Thanks for the assist. I can’t imagine that image. Will any of your family be at the wedding?”

Now that she could breathe again, I had no choice but to return to my side of the table. “My mother will be there. But my father wouldn’t want to leave his business. Not sure about Chance.” He knew the groom too, but I doubted he’d bother to come to a destination wedding.

“What’s your dad’s business?”

“He owns a private investment company. He invests in dozens of other companies and sits on the board for several.” He was a billionaire who valued his company above any human interaction.

“Did he want you to follow in his footsteps?”

“He did, but Chance and I preferred to make our own way.”

“You didn’t like the business, or you didn’t like working for your dad?”

“Both. My father enjoys having control, and how better than to have your children working for you? I couldn’t do it. Not for him nor for Vanessa’s father who wanted me to work at his tech company.” It was a source of pride for me to have broken away and become successful without my father’s influence or money. “My dad was annoyed at first, but he’s come around.” He was reluctantly proud.