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

had authorized it, he would do just that. Nobody was going to write about his family’s past for purposes of embarrassing or exploiting them in the media. Especially not the woman he used to love.

It was RJ’s turn to walk away from her, and he’d turned so fast, Grace almost let him go without saying another word.

“I’m not leaving,” she said before he could get too far away.

When he stopped, she knew this conversation was about to go as badly as was possible. RJ was not a man who took no for an answer, not easily, anyway. Even though he’d surprised her when he’d let her walk out of that restaurant ten years ago and never tried to contact her again. She told herself it wouldn’t have changed anything if he had come after her; she’d made up her mind, but for a while the realization that he hadn’t even tried had stung. She’d gotten over that, just like she’d gotten over him.

His shoulders were broad and looked strong in the tight-fitted shirt he now wore. His sweatpants, hanging low on his waist, had done nothing to cover the semi-erection she’d glimpsed before he turned away. It had her mind wandering to all the passionate nights she’d spent in his arms.

“This is my job, RJ, and it’s an important story, one that needs to be told.” He didn’t move, so she couldn’t see his face, but it didn’t matter—she’d never forget how he looked. His head was bald now, a new look from the last time she’d seen his photo in the media, but he still had the goatee, neatly maintained as always. He also still had thicker and fuller eyebrows than she could ever hope for, and his eyes were the deepest pools of dark brown she’d ever seen. Despite being an excellent swimmer, this was a place she’d drowned more times than she could count. She’d stared into RJ’s eyes on so many occasions, and into his heart. Those glimpses had made her fall in love with him in the first place, that rare access he’d given her to the man beneath the gruff exterior.

Why that thought made her chest ache now, she didn’t want to explore, so she continued, “What happened between Ron and Tobias set the stage for what the fashion industry is experiencing now for the first time. An intense rivalry and professional face-off between the top two designers in the game. The top two Black designers. You know that’s groundbreaking.”

“No!” he yelled, turning around, and she almost jumped back. It was exceedingly rare to see RJ this angry. He took his reputation and that of his family very seriously, so he always tried to maintain decorum, regardless of the situation. “That’s my family and you know I don’t tolerate any bullshit when it comes to them.”

“This is my career” was her firm and resounding retort. He wasn’t the only one who could be passionate about something. “Writing this story will give me the chance at a byline. I’ve worked extremely hard for this, and I’m not going to let you stop me from achieving it.” The same way she hadn’t let his marriage proposal deter her from going after her goals. It just wasn’t in her to back down, even though watching him look at her with disdain in his eyes was breaking something deep inside her.

He closed the space between them quickly, and she momentarily considered stepping back. But no, if RJ wanted to go toe-to-toe with her that’s what they’d do. She had just as much to lose here as he thought he did.

“That feud has been blown out of proportion for years and it’s none of anybody’s business how or why it started.”

“It’s everyone’s business if it became a blueprint for their success. Don’t you see that? What Ron and Tobias have done is historic and without that feud propelling the competitive edge that’s formed two fashion empires, it might never have happened. You can’t deny that.”

“I can’t condone anyone profiting from it and I’ll never consent to my family’s name being dragged through the mud.” He clamped his lips down tight and gave her a stony expression. “How can you do this? You know my family. I thought you cared about them. You were so close to them at one time.”

Oh no, he was not going to guilt her. Becoming part of his family back then had been easy and heartwarming. Knowing she’d been leaving them the night she walked away from RJ had been crushing. “Don’t insult me like that. I did care about your family, and you—although now I’m wondering why, considering you’re acting like a domineering brute right now.”

He looked at her incredulously. “I’m acting like a man who’s been blindsided. Again.”

This was turning out to be more difficult than she’d thought. She knew reuniting here and under these circumstances wasn’t going to be simple for either of them, but she had hoped for cordial and with the least amount of emotional impact as possible. That may have been too optimistic.

“You’re acting like a guy not used to getting his way.” And that wasn’t as easy to say as it should’ve been. She didn’t want this to be about their past, but there really was no way of doing this without walking that path. “If you’re still angry with me about the proposal, that’s one thing. But don’t try to stand in the way of my career as retaliation.”

He came even closer, his gaze following the strands of hair resting on her shoulder. Her body was a traitorous trickster, immediately forgetting the anger and instead letting the sneaky tendrils of need ease down her spine. She didn’t want to yearn for RJ again, not for one second. But there was no denying the attraction was still there between them, as strong as ever. How was she supposed to get this job done if all he had to do was look at her and her mind filled