“She was being kind.” Actually that wasn’t the case. Sal had a lot of time on his hands. He plotted and planned their misadventures right down to the excuse they were going to use if they got caught. They were some of the best childhood memories he had. Because being with Sal was the only time I was allowed to be a child.
“I’m jealous. Being an only child was tough. When something was wrong, my parents knew exactly who to blame.”
Charles cocked a brow. “You’ll never get me to believe you were a wild child.”
“The wildest thing I ever did was skinny dip off the boat one night.”
“Obviously, your stories are much more interesting than mine. Maybe we should go back to talking about you.”
“Good try. We did that the last two times. Unless you want me to ask Mama?”
“No. That’s okay. What else do you want to know?”
“Hmm. What do you do for a living?” Rosslyn asked.
That was heading where he didn’t want to go. “I’m an architect by trade.”
“Wow. That’s exciting. I can’t even build a house out of a deck of playing cards.”
He laughed. “Neither can I. But I can play a mean game of poker.”
She grinned and said, “I bet you can. Has anyone ever told you you’re hard to read?”
“It’s a good thing on the job.”
“Maybe as a spy, but as an architect, I don’t get it. Isn’t everything laid out on paper anyway?” Rosslyn asked.
“I guess I do more than that. There is the other side filled with contracts and overseeing staff. It comes in handy then.” Rosslyn seemed to be more in touch with who he was then he’d anticipated. He wasn’t sure this was a good thing. She somehow was chiseling away at his walls.
“I never thought about that side of it. What made you want to be an architect?”
She meant it—today was going to be all about the life of Charles. He preferred it to be a closed book; only his family and very close friends knew anything real about him. She was inching her way into that fold very smoothly.
“It’s a family business so I kind of fell into it.” Not that I had a choice back then. He had no idea what he’d do if it wasn’t that. Thankfully he liked what he did, at least most of it.
“I’m glad I didn’t follow in my father’s footsteps. I love being on the boats, but people would be in serious trouble if I was repairing them. I can’t even change a flat tire. Of course, I don’t own a car so that’s not an issue either.”
“You don’t need one in the city, but even back home you don’t have one?”
“No. I like to bike or walk. It’s not that I can’t drive. I have a license. Why pay for something you’re not going to use?”
“I really could use someone who thinks like that on my staff. I have a few who believe you should have something just in case you might need it.”
“That sounds ridiculous. But I don’t know anything about your business. Heck. I don’t know much about where I work either. I always thought a personal assistant did more. Guess it’s just a fancy name for errand girl.”
She finally was talking about Grayson Corp. Even though they were having a nice time, he had to ask. “How is it working for them?” Maxwell specifically.
“I’ve only been there a week. Actually the first time I saw you, I was discussing my position. That was Mr. Grayson, in case you didn’t know.”
Oh I fucking know.“He’s well known.”
“That’s what I hear. I see Grayson Corp plastered all over the city. Guess I should consider myself lucky to be working there. It should look great on my resume.”
Most people talked about growing with a company and working toward a promotion. She talked like she could be out of there any time. It was coming, but there was no way she knew anything about it. “Not planning on staying?”
She shook her head. “The way things are progressing with my mom, I won’t need to.”
Rosslyn didn’t need to say the words. Why did he keep asking questions that brought her heartache? His paranoia was causing him to think she knew more than she was letting on. If anything, Rosslyn was the last person he needed to worry about. She had more important things to worry about than what happened to Maxwell Grayson. He’s nothing to her but a paycheck. That’s something she could get anywhere.