“They will.” I knew my brothers well enough to recognize when they were interested in a particular deal. “They want in. And you won’t find better men to be involved. They’re all honest, sometimes to a fault. They could help you just as much as Eli does.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” His voice was thoughtful. “So there’s no need to keep playing the game. Honestly, all the pompous, pumped-up shit isn’t for me. I’ll do it when I have to, but I’d rather not make a habit of it.”
“Like Eli does? He circulates, but mostly for charity, I think.”
“I’m willing to do it for a cause, too. So yeah, I’ll support the charities, but I wouldn’t go to have a good time, or rub elbows with the rich and famous. I’ve discovered they aren’t very good company, for the most part.”
I smiled. “There are exceptions. People like my brothers and Eli.”
“I sensed that your siblings weren’t all that thrilled about being there, either.”
“They hate it,” I informed him. “They’d rather be out on an adventure than stuck in the middle of a crowd in formal wear. I think they came because they like Jade.”
“Good reason.” There was a smile in his voice.
I wasn’t sure I was exactly envious, but it was nice to see a family that wasn’t as screwed up as mine. The Sinclairs had been through hell, yet they’d come out fine on the other side. The elder siblings had obviously been good parent figures for the younger ones, and I was equally sure that the three oldest men had supported each other in their common goal of keeping the family together.
What family fought that hard to stay together?
“So what do we do now?” I wanted to know how I could fulfill my contract. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to do it. Seth was making a sacrifice, and I wanted to do something for him in return.
“We just date.” He sounded firm in his solution.
“What?” I must have misheard him.
“I said, ‘We date.’ Dinner, movies, the Coffee Shack, and other things we both want to do. That’s the normal stuff, right?”
I was dumbfounded. “We can’t just . . . date. For no reason.”
“Why not? We like each other, we’re attracted to each other, and I see no reason why we can’t do fun stuff instead of work.”
I had plenty of arguments on why that wasn’t a good idea. “I don’t date. I haven’t since Nolan and I broke up. I don’t need a man in my life. Honestly, I prefer to be alone.”
It was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Considering your history with your engagement, I get that. But I’m not asking you to change who you are, Riley. I also get that you don’t need a man. I’m assuming that you’re wealthy in your own right.”
“I am. My brothers bought me out of Montgomery Mining because they knew it wasn’t what I wanted. But even if I wasn’t rich, I’d feel the same way. I have an education. I can support myself.” I didn’t mean to be defensive, but I was sick of feeling like I was nothing if I wasn’t attached to an eligible male.
No matter how strangely attractive Seth’s offer to just date might seem.
“I’m not exactly a playboy, Riley,” he said ruefully. “Truthfully, I’ve never really dated much at all. When I was younger, I didn’t have time, and very few women wanted to date a construction worker with dependent siblings. Now, it’s hard to escape from the women who wouldn’t have dated me before I became a billionaire.”
My heart squeezed. Obviously, there were a lot of stupid women in and around Citrus Beach. “Any guy who is as devoted to family and those responsibilities would be a great guy to date, no matter what his occupation.”
“Glad you feel that way. So do we have a deal?”
“I didn’t mean me. Any other woman.”
“What in the hell are you afraid of, Riley?” His voice was low and persuasive.
In spite of my external strong shell I’d created, I was terrified of a lot of things, and Seth Sinclair was probably the most dangerous of them all. “I’m not afraid,” I lied. “I just don’t really see the point. I’m not going to sleep with you, Seth.”
“I must have missed the part where I asked you to,” he answered, sounding frustrated. “I’m just asking you to go out with me, have some fun. We can get to the sex part later.”
Have some fun?
I really had no idea how to indulge in happy diversions. Growing up, it took all I had to stay relatively sane. “I’m not sure I know how to do that.”
“Have sex? No worries. I’ll teach you.”
He spoke in such a nonthreatening way that I released a short laugh. “I don’t know how to have fun. Not really. I never did kid things when I was younger. And life at Harvard was all-consuming. I studied because I wanted to be independent. Then, I stupidly got myself engaged to a man my mother wanted me to marry, because there was a part of me that still wanted to make her see me as a daughter she could be proud of. Nolan wasn’t exactly a barrel of fun. He had no other interests except being seen by the elite and screwing underage girls.”
“Jesus. Maybe our family was poor, but we had all the cheap fun we could have for our younger siblings,” Seth explained. “My brothers and I loved just about every water fight, bike ride, and beach day we got with our family. We made our own fun.”
I briefly thought about how idyllic it might have been for Owen, Brooke, and Jade to be raised by their elder brothers. If nothing else, they had definitely known that they were safe and loved.
“Why can’t we just separate and call it good now?” I felt my spirit balk, but it would be the reasonable solution. “It’s not like there’s a future for us. It would be wasted time.”
“Not a single minute of being with you would ever be insignificant, Riley,” he argued.
I was glad it was dark. I felt my eyes get watery, and I blinked back the tears.
I’d never had a guy who just wanted to . . . be with me. Without conditions. Without rules of conduct. Without . . . criticism.
“Why me?” I’d wanted to ask him that question for some time. Deep inside, I knew that Seth wasn’t out to date every female he met. Or get them into bed. He wasn’t a flirt. There wasn’t a single moment in the evening where he had even eyed another female, which was so much different from being with Nolan. My ex-fiancé had never seemed like he cared much about being with me. I’d been more of an object than a partner.
“Why you?” he repeated. “Maybe I just like women who argue with me,” he said with a chuckle.
It was an interesting answer, because I’d never argued with Nolan. At all. Ever. I’d accepted whatever he’d thrown at me.
However, I was a different woman than I’d been back then. “I’m likely to do that a lot,” I warned him, feeling myself caving in.
Would it really hurt to spend some time with Seth? That was what I’d agreed to in the first place. And it could be done in a far less stressful atmosphere.
Maybe the truth was I honestly wanted to spend time with him, too, even though I knew I was probably flirting with the danger of becoming attached to him.