Page 32 of Billionaire Retreat

I looked at him then, really looked at him. He met my eyes straight on and I knew he wasn’t lying to me. As I’d expected, his mother clearly had been behind the debacle that day in the office. But that didn’t explain what I’d seen that day on the beach. The anger towards him that I thought I’d buried years ago raised its ugly head.

“Got it. You’re pleading ignorance. Fine. Now go away.”

“Come on, Nina. You’re not the type to hold a grudge.”

I shot him a look and raised my brows. “Don’t go there. You don’t know anything about me, so don’t pretend that you do.”

He seemed taken aback by my hostility towards him. Good, I thought.

“Maybe. But I’d like the opportunity to get to know you... again. We met when I had a lot going on and I’m sorry that I didn’t follow up—”

“You had a lot going on! Care to share with me exactly what?” I challenged him.

He hesitated as if trying to decide how much to tell me, and my eyes narrowed. “Stop wasting my time, Griffin.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you hate me.”

“Hate you? I don’t even think about you.” I was lying. I thought about him all the time. And that was the problem. Despite my cold demeanor, I’d spent years fantasizing that what I saw hadn’t been his real family, that there had been some sort of mistake. I’d never admit the time I spent searching for information about him and his family on the internet and how I got nowhere. He and his family stayed out of the public eye. At the very least, they weren’t socialites.

“If you don’t hate me then I guess you wouldn’t mind joining me for dinner tomorrow night?”

“I’m busy.”

“How about this weekend then?”

“No.”

“Ok, how about lunch then?”

“No thanks.”

“Come on, you have to eat. You might as well share a meal with me.”

My phone started ringing and I reached for it, becoming anxious when I realized that it was my mom. I stood up and walked away from him, not bothering to excuse myself. I walked out of hearing distance, not wanting to be overheard. “Mom, is everything okay with Sadie?”

“Oh yes, everything’s fine. Sorry to scare you. I just noticed that she has a little cough and I was wondering if you think it’s a good idea to take her to that preschool story time at the library.”

“She has a cough?” I asked, concerned.

“Just a cold, nothing to worry about.”

I breathed out in relief, not realizing that I’d been holding my breath. “Yeah, skip the library. I would hate if Patrick or any of her other little friends caught anything from her.”

“Ok. So have you decided whether or not you’re going to talk to her father?” That came out of nowhere and I rolled my eyes. I should have expected this call.

“Aha! The real reason for this call. We’ll discuss this later, Mom.”

“But, Nina—”

“Good night, Mom. I’m hanging up now.”

I found Griffin standing up, leaning against the bus stop staring at me with his arms folded.

“Still taking calls from your mother...” I knew he was teasing me, but I was pretty immune to his flirtatious teasing now.

“You’re one to talk,” I shot back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Griffin,” I said angrily. “And don’t you have family that you should be checking up on instead of hanging out with a random woman at a bus stop in the middle of the night?”

He looked at me curiously. I didn’t wait for him to answer as I saw Jerry walking out of the restaurant.

“Hey, Jerry!” I called, “Can I still get that ride?”

Jerry looked at me in surprise and then looked at Griffin.

He gave a boyish shrug, though his tone was clearly unsure as he said, “Uhh yeah... sure.”

Without a backward glance, I walked away from Griffin. And I hoped this time it was forever.