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

“Did you find it?” Desta asked. “What you went looking for?”

Well, if this story did what she was hoping it would, the answer to that question would be yes. “I think so. Which leads me to this interview.”

“But you did love him, right?” Riley asked. “I mean the two of you seemed so perfect together. I just remember wondering if you loved him, how could you have left him?” She clearly didn’t want to let this topic go. “I guess what I’m really concerned about now is that you’re not here to hurt my brother again.”

There was no heat to Riley’s words, but an air of tension settled over them and Nina acted quickly to resolve it. “Well, I can kinda see walking away from someone you love, if you have a good enough reason,” she said. “I mean, I loved Major but when I thought he’d used me and my company for his benefit and was then trying to take over everything I’d worked hard to build, I had to get away from him.”

Grace didn’t have all the details, but she suspected these were the events that led up to Nina and Major’s fake engagement turning into the real thing.

Desta nodded. “She’s speaking the truth. Sometimes walking away is what you need to get things straight in your mind, to make sure what you’re feeling is the best thing for you. Despite what people say, love isn’t always the only answer.”

Grace wanted to high-five Desta for saying almost exactly what she’d been thinking so long ago.

“I know,” Riley started. “Don’t get me wrong, Chaz and I definitely went through some things before we got it right and my first inclination was to let it all go. But you and RJ didn’t seem to be having any problems. Like, I really thought things were perfect between you guys.”

It was clear that her breakup with RJ had hit Riley hard. When she’d walked away back then, Grace had thought a clean break was best. And as certain as she’d been that she was making the right decision about leaving, there’d been many times in the past years that the guilt over not saying goodbye to his family had assailed her.

“I never meant to hurt RJ or any of you.” Grace sighed and shook her head. “And I’m not here to cause any more pain. But you should know that ‘perfect’ can be misleading.” Nothing in her life had ever been perfect. Not when she always felt like she was fighting to find her place. Her relationship with RJ hadn’t made her feel that way in the beginning, but the moment he mentioned marriage, she’d seen all the possibilities run through her mind like a movie trailer and she’d known she had to go. “Sort of like Ron and Tobias working together at RGF. They were seemingly the perfect duo of fresh new talent, set to take the fashion world by storm. Then something happened and it all fell apart.”

The conversation, thankfully, took a turn with her words and the interview questions she’d planned were asked and answered. The three women gave her insight into so many aspects of the two men and their impact on the fashion industry. Nina spoke of how she’d wanted desperately to work with one of the two top fashion houses to build on the app she’d created. Desta talked about working at RGF and learning from Ron’s work ethic and dedication to his family. She didn’t know much about Tobias except for how his company was positioned as RGF’s biggest competitor, but she liked Chaz and thought he was bringing a dynamic edge to King Designs and their new branding.

It was Riley who pricked Grace’s heart with the story of her parents and how they’d met at a party sponsored by RGF and fallen in love. From Riley’s perspective her father had been driven by Tobias’s betrayal, pushed to work harder to make RGF bigger and better than any other company. She spoke of how everything RJ did was in his father’s image and how much RJ was looking forward to taking over the company in just a few months.

“He’ll be the CEO at around the same age my father was at his peak in the industry. My parents were newly married and my mother was about to have RJ. My father says that’s when he first realized he had everything he needed to succeed in life. When he had his wife beside him, a baby about to be born, and he sat in the CEO’s chair for the first time.”

Riley’s words resonated with Grace well into the time they walked along the beach in preparation for the volleyball game. Ron Gold ran his company and built a family. Now his children were doing the same thing—Riley and Chaz, Nina and Major, Desta and Maurice. RJ was the only one who wasn’t married. Just as she was the only one in her family who wasn’t. What did that mean? Nothing, and then again, to Grace, everything.

It reinforced the pressure she’d already felt about what her life should and shouldn’t be. Could she have been the wife that Marva Gold was to Ron? Or that her mother was to her father? Could she be a wife, period? All the fears that had lain dormant these past ten years were bubbling to the surface now, until the next question she had to ask was: What if coming here was a mistake?

The answer came the moment she saw RJ walking toward her. The sun was at his back, framing his muscled body in golden light. He wore black shorts and a white T-shirt. His feet were bare and dark sunglasses covered his eyes. But she knew he was watching her; she could feel the warmth of his gaze as it filled her body, circling around to clench her chest.

A mixture of anxiety and need settled there as he came closer. No, coming here