Entice Me (Austin Singles 2)

“Yes, I think to both. I can actually work from anywhere since I own the company. I do have office space in Lehi, Utah, but I don’t work out of it. Well, I do when I need to, which isn’t often. At all. Really ever.”

He nodded and had good enough manners not to laugh or roll his eyes. “Where are you living?”

Crapola.

“Right now I’m in a hotel until I can find a place to rent. Morgan said she would help me with finding the right area in town.”

“The east side is booming right now. We’re actually bidding on a pretty big job over there. Would bring in a lot of money for my father’s construction company if we get it.”

“He must do well with how things are growing here.”

Nash shrugged. “It’s okay. My father tends to take on smaller jobs, whereas I’m the one who has to push him to take on bigger projects. I built my best friend’s house a few months back. Biggest house Barrett Construction has ever built. I’m pretty proud of it and am hoping it will open up the door for future projects outside of commercial. That’s where my dad has always concentrated his business ventures. We just needed to get our name in the hat and it sort of stuck.”

Smiling, I stared up at him. I hadn

’t even noticed the song had changed. We were both still dancing slow even though the song had sped up.

“I guess the song changed!” I said with a giggle.

“Can I buy you a drink? Oh, wait . . . I need to do this right. Cheesy pick-up line, at your service. Ready?”

I couldn’t help but smile at his goofiness.

“Wanna know what my shirt is made of? Boyfriend material.” We burst out laughing, and I found myself wanting to reply to his offer to have a drink.

Pressing my lips together, I fought to find the right answer. My mind said to say no while my heart screamed yes. Yes! Yes! Hell yes!

The moment this man found out my family background, he would walk away. I couldn’t shake all those conversations with Morgan where she told me what had happened or what was going on with her brother and his ex-girlfriend. She cheated on Nash with a guy who worked for her father’s company. A man with a financial portfolio that matched hers, or was very close to it. Morgan told me how she had hid their relationship, not wanting anyone to know she was dating Nash, someone not up to the same social standards as she was. It was hard to believe he was best friends with her brother. Or at least that was what Morgan had told me.

It was just a drink. What harm would come from a drink? Would anything really happen between us? I doubted it. Still, I wasn’t sure I wanted to start this friendship on half-truths. But then, did people really blurt out, hey, I’m an heiress with a family loaded in money? No! They didn’t. I wasn’t lying. I just wasn’t telling him everything.

So what is the big deal here, Kaelynn? Stop overthinking it.

“Kaelynn?”

My eyes snapped back up, and I was lost in his gorgeous, honey-colored eyes. “I’d love that.”

His dimples made an appearance again, and I knew I had made the right decision. After all, it was only a drink.

KAELYNN AND I were lost in conversation as Morgan’s birthday party went on without us. I’d walked her to the main bar, where we ordered our drinks and continued getting to know one another. There was something about her that pulled me in. She was beautiful, funny and smart, and her heart seemed as wholesome as Morgan’s.

“Do you do a lot of mission trips?” I asked before pressing the beer bottle to my lips and taking a drink.

“I try to do at least one a year. It’s something my parents taught my siblings and me early on. Always give back in some way. Big or small, it all means something. It also helps to ground me, make me realize that there are others in this world who are less fortunate than we are.”

I nodded. “Morgan has done a number of them as well. She always comes back a changed woman . . . and I mean changed for the good.”

She took a drink, then asked, “What about you?”

“I’ve done a few, yes. It feels good to give back. Our church works with a charity to bring fresh water to communities that don’t have any. I’ve gone on two of those mission trips, and Morgan and I went on one down in Central America to help build a church, and we repaired a lot of the houses . . . if you can call them houses. We also made some wonderful friends while there.”

Her eyes filled with sadness. For a few moments, she seemed to be lost in a memory.

Clearing my throat, I went on. “Our parents were pretty big on teaching us that even though we didn’t live in the fancy, expensive houses like most of the other kids in our school did, we were still blessed beyond measure. And we were, no doubt about it. Money doesn’t buy happiness.”

She smiled, then looked down at her drink.

Christ, Nash. Could you have said that with any more bitterness in your voice?