“Yeah, it was the one thing Kayla did right. You think the two of you are going to be okay?”
He let out a whistle. “I hope so. I erased all my contacts and blocked the ones that I thought might try to contact me on a whim. I showed Kayla. Hell, she helped me, but I couldn’t convince her to stay. She said it was all too serious for her. Too much too soon.”
“I wonder if that’s why Bella went along with her. Even though she didn’t want to say, I think she needed some space. She’d just left that asshole to come here, and then here we go. I know it was a lot and that’s why I didn’t protest too much.”
“You still haven’t told her, have you?” he asked. “I mean, I’m assuming since I didn’t hear dishes breaking or see her slap the shit out of you, that you didn’t?”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “No, I didn’t.”
Rick shook his head and looked at me sideways. “Waiting isn’t going to help man. It’s only going to make it worse.”
I nodded. “I know that, but I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh oh. That never leads anywhere good,” he teased.
“Shut up man. What I mean is, maybe I don’t have to tell her. I’m falling for her hard Rick. At this point, I don’t even care if she gets pregnant or not. Sure, it’ll suck to lose out on my inheritance, but I just want to be with her. For the first time in my life, I want an actual relationship. Something real and solid. She’s so smart and so talented. I’ve never felt the way I feel about her for anyone else.”
Rick tried to hide his smile, but then he turned and gave me a sympathetic look. “She reminds you of your mother, doesn’t she?”
“Painter, photographer, they are both creative spirits, with stories to tell through their work. You know, my father was always jealous of mom. When they’d go out to a party, and people would praise her work instead of his, it would rub his ass red. He’d get drunk and bitch about it all the way home. What a waste of time art was. How her painting room was a cluttered mess, just like her mind. He drove her to those damned pills. If he had lifted her up, just one time, maybe she would have been okay.”
Rick nodded. “You want to save her. You know, you haven’t been your grumpy self. I mean, you’ve been grumpy, but not as abrasive. It’s kind of nice.”
“Watch it. My muse if gone. I’m liable to unleash all my stored-up anger at any moment.”
He let loose a soft chuckle. “She does make you a little more bearable is all I’m saying.”
“If I’m so bad, why do you put up with me?” I heard a ping from my phone and glanced down to see a message from work. An instant scowl crossed my face. I hated my job. I hated any connection to my father and even though he was long dead, dealing with my uncle, who he’d left in charge, was just as bad.
“Because you make me look like an angel.” He turned and saw the hard expression on my face. “Damn, that didn’t last long. What’s the matter?”
“Work.”
“You hate that job. Why don’t you just quit? You know, you get away from that place long enough, and you’re a totally different person. It’s not just Bella who makes you better. You’re hindered by that fucking place.”
“I agree, but I can’t do anything until I get my money.”
“But you just said you didn’t care if she got pregnant or not-”
I shook my head and smiled. “She might be anyway. I mean, I did what I was supposed to do to make that happen.”
He looked at me, incredulous. “So, you might not have to tell her about the stipulation.”
“Hopefully not,” I answered.
Rick shook his head and I could see that he disapproved. “It’s wrong, man. You’ll always know you’ve deceived her. How can you live with that?”
“As a fucking billionaire? Pretty comfortably. But how do I tell her that? She’ll always question if I care about her, which I do. She’ll always have it in the back of her head that she’s some baby machine, and that what I feel for her means nothing.”
Rick just looked at me like I’d finally lost my mind. I didn’t care. I loved Bella and I was going to have it all.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - BELLA
I had messaged Reed as soon as my plane landed, but I wasn’t about to call so soon. I needed a moment to think about what I’d left behind and to what I was returning. So much had changed since I’d left Phoenix and despite my new relationship, which I was determi
ned to take super slow since it was a bit unexpected, I had to find a place to live. Staying with Kayla was temporary, and I had a feeling that she’d be leaving to go back to Dallas for Rick before all was said and done.
She’d talked about him nonstop on the flight home, which was fine with me. It kept her from asking me too much about Reed and even better, from comparing him to Gavin.