Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Maisey Yates (sad books to read .txt) 📖

“I asked if I could stay with him and he said he’d never wanted me.” There was one more part to the bile his father had spewed that day, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. His throat was tight and the sip of beer he took just burned in his mouth. Why had he told Divya? He didn’t want her pitying him.

“Well, I bet when he found out you’re now a billionaire, he regrets it,” Divya joked. It was the perfect thing to say.

“Yep, he tried contacting me through my company, and I got the satisfaction of telling him that Bill is my father. He even tried going to the media and they dismissed him as a drunk.”

“Well, it’s great that Bill wanted you.”

Actually, he didn’t. But that was something he wasn’t ready to share.

“So, what’s next?” he asked, eager to change the subject.

“Now I can die a happy woman,” she sighed. They were sitting on the sofa in the shared living area between their two bedrooms. The lights of the city glittered in front of them. He sat one seat down from her.

“Seriously, Divya, you were amazing tonight. You need to pursue a music career.”

She chewed on her lower lip and he tried to ignore the stirrings deep in his core. “I don’t want to be a vocalist. I wanted to test out my singing voice, but what I enjoy most about music is creating new songs. Fusing the rhythms of classical Indian music with Western beats.”

“Why didn’t you sing one of your own songs tonight?”

“First, I didn’t have my guitar, but also I don’t think the Café Underground crowd would’ve appreciated my Indian music. What I really wanted to do was sing onstage to a real audience. Thank you for giving me that chance, Ethan. Now I can go back to India and remember this happy feeling.”

His heart dropped into his stomach. “What do you mean, go back to India? Wasn’t the whole point of this to see if you had any talent? You want to give it all up and go back to your previously scheduled life?”

“The idea was never to pursue this as a career. It was something on my bucket list, and I did it.”

“So tomorrow, you go back to your family and marry Vivek?” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice. Why had he let himself hope that Divya would be any different?

“I am not marrying Vivek, no matter what. And I’m not leaving tomorrow. I want to make sure a few days have passed so the wedding guests leave and my parents can’t guilt me into continuing with the festivities. I’ll lie low, do some touristy things, let the whole wedding fiasco die down, and then I’ll go beg forgiveness.”

“Why won’t you pursue your dreams?”

“There’s a difference between a career and a hobby. My music is a hobby. It can’t be my life.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not the kind of existence I want. Being on the road all the time, away from my family.”

How could he argue with that? It’s exactly what he didn’t want, either.

She leaned down and rubbed her foot. He patted the seat next to him. “Hand me that foot.”

She raised her brow. “You give foot massages too?”

“I know you probably grew up with your own personal masseuse, but I’ll have to do for now.” He gestured again to her foot, and she swung her legs onto the sofa, adjusting her dress as she did.

“You’re one to talk. I’m surprised you don’t have your own personal masseuse on the plane.”

He took one foot in his hand and began massaging her heel. “I didn’t grow up with money. My dad is a high school teacher and my mom works at a diner. While we always had food on the table, money was tight for luxuries. I worked jobs all through high school and college to help pay for things.”

He tried not to think about how delicate her foot felt in his hand or how much he wanted to run his hand up her shapely leg.

“You must be thrilled that you can give your parents a better life now that you’ve done well.”

His heart fisted. “I wish. They won’t take money or anything from me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like its blood money. I earned every bit of it. They went through some hard times when my mom’s diner had to close, and that was right around the time my company really started to take off. I know I got lucky at a time when other people were suffering…”

“Wait a minute. You shouldn’t feel guilty about your money. You invented a product that’s useful to people.”

He hadn’t said he felt guilty about his money, so how did she know?

As if reading his mind, she said, “I’ve been around wealthy people all my life. Until today, the only time I’ve seen someone carry hundred-dollar bills in their pocket and go around giving outrageous tips is in the movies. It’s like you’re trying to give your money away.”

He smiled. He donated a big portion of his wealth to charity, had even started a foundation of his own that gave scholarships to underprivileged children. And yet his mother still worked at a diner. She was sixty-four years old, his father was close to seventy, and they were still working.

“I never expected my company to become an overnight success, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. I don’t need this kind of money and never wanted it. My parents taught me to work hard for my successes. I feel like I haven’t done that. I just got lucky.”

She shook her head. “Would you say that to me if I became a famous singer and made billions?”

He stared at her. “It’s really hard to make billions from singing. Millions, maybe.”

She gave him a patient smile. “You’d say I have talent and am making money from it. The same applies to you. Whatever’s going on with