Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance A.C. Arthur (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

all too well how easily the tide could shift. Scandal, whether based in truth or manufactured, was one of the top game changers.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but then clapped her lips shut and took a deep breath. Releasing it slowly through her nose, he watched her shoulders relax as she tried to gather her emotions. Grace didn’t play games. A person always knew where they stood with her because she was often brutally honest. Right now, she was trying to remain calm, likely trying to think of a way to convince him she could write this story without damaging his family’s reputation. He should probably tell her right now it was a futile mission.

“I’m not going to leave,” she said, her voice as calm as the soothing colors in this space. “I have a job to do and I know you can relate to that. All your life you’ve done nothing but work toward the goals you set for yourself, and now the position your father groomed you for is waiting for you to claim.” She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard the whispers about Ron possibly retiring this year. That’s not news—your father alluded to it in one of his press conferences about the wedding a few months ago.”

“That has nothing to do with this.” He had no idea why he bothered with the denial. Grace knew him just as well as he knew her.

“It has everything to do with this, and I’m here to reassure you there’s nothing to worry about. The story I plan to write will only shed light on the past and uplift two powerful men for the generations coming after them. For Black professionals like you and the generation after that, to show that despite the odds they can succeed. We can overcome the odds and shine just as bright as anyone else.” She sounded like a motivational speaker, her tone uplifting and poignant.

“They’re already trailblazers in the fashion industry, role models for others coming up in the trenches. You bringing up the past can only hurt them now.” He was positive of that, because while other reporters had mentioned the feud, he knew Grace. She worked better than that. She wasn’t going to write a snippet about the feud; she’d dive deep, add every detail she could find and print a thought-provoking story that he feared might harm his family more than help them this time around.

“Why won’t you just leave?” he implored, frustration and lingering pain etched in his tone. “You did it before, you can do it again.”

His words were meant to sting, to anger her and push her away.

Instead of acknowledging the momentary slap of irritation, Grace took a step closer to him. She squared her shoulders and tilted her chin, holding his gaze. “This isn’t like before. And I’m not leaving. If you call my editor, I can assure you he’ll buckle down on this story. He might even print something about your threat to stop it, spinning that to suggest some type of guilt or cover-up on behalf of the Golds.”

Eddie would also undoubtedly have something to say about her personal relationship with RJ already interfering with her job. The very thing he’d warned her about.

When RJ lifted his hands and dragged them down the back of his head in the way that told her he was frustrated but listening, she pressed on. “This is an important story and you’re too good at what you do to not consider the positive implications it could have on your company. Any exposure is good exposure.”

“Don’t do that.” He moved closer so that only one of the square tables stood between them. “Don’t try to put a sales spin on this.”

“Why not? You know it’s a proven tactic. Just like Riley and her fiancé allowed the media into certain aspects of their wedding planning. And Major and Nina were part of that fake engagement promotion before actually falling in love. It all increased your bottom line, putting RGF well ahead of King Designs for the last two quarters.”

Yeah, she’d kept tabs on RGF and the family she’d once been a part of, because she cared about them almost as much as her own family. She’d grown up the youngest of four sisters. Hope, the newly engaged concert pianist, was the oldest; Charity, the happily married psychologist with four children, was second; and Trinity, the obstetrician who’d been married for three and a half years, had yet to give their parents, Milton and Videtta Hopkins, any grandchildren. Trinity was just two years older than Grace at thirty-six. Grace had come from a big, loving family, but there’d always been sibling rivalry. Her relationship with Riley Gold had been totally different from what she’d experienced growing up in Westchester. With Riley, there’d been no competition, just a normal friendship with the young introverted Gold daughter who would go on to become one of the most talented and influential women in the fashion industry.

“Why did you keep track of what was happening in my family?” RJ’s gaze was pointed, his proximity suddenly intense.

RJ stepped around that table to stand just a couple feet away from her, and suddenly the space felt small. “I’m a reporter,” she said with a shrug. “And our no longer being a couple didn’t mean I stopped caring about them.”

If her tone was a little huskier than it had been, she totally planned to ignore it. Writing this story was her goal, and getting past RJ’s gatekeeping was an obstacle she had to overcome. Neither of those things could afford the interruption of her body’s immediate response to his.

He looked way too good standing there with a suspicious expression on his beautiful face. Today he wore khaki shorts and a crisp white polo, like a GQ cover model at the beach. Her breasts immediately felt fuller, her pussy aching with need even after that shattering orgasm she’d had last night. Nothing about this situation was simple, but