Page 39 of Billionaire Unexplained: Kaleb

It wasn’t like they didn’t have the opportunity. Every single woman on the planet would probably do almost anything to be with one of the Remington brothers.

Kaleb shrugged. “I don’t think any of us are totally against having a family, even though Devon swears he’ll never get married. You already know I’m married to my work. Tanner came closer than any of us to tying the knot, but he got dumped by his fiancée. Devon spends what spare time he has working on his music and some of his other hobbies. Maybe none of us have ever met the right woman. I think we’d all like to have someone who cares about us for the right reasons, but it’s just never happened.”

God, I understood that better than most people would.

I found it sad that a lot of women probably only saw power and money when they looked at any of the Remington men.

All of them had so much more to offer.

“Are you really going to take me to The Mug And Jug in the morning?” I asked.

I was dying to see the town that Kaleb had grown up in, and I’d heard a lot of stories about some of the townspeople and businesses at dinner.

“It’s probably the best way to test out this plan,” Kaleb answered thoughtfully. “Although I’m not crazy about exposing you to anything that could hurt you in any way. And while we’re on the subject of you possibly getting hurt, did you call your agent again about him causing rumors in California? I hesitate to call him your friend. If he really cared about you that much, he wouldn’t be pushing to see where you’re staying. He should know better. You can’t trust him that much if you didn’t tell him where you were going in the first place.”

I sighed. “My relationship with Ray is complicated. I’ve known him since I was a child. Dad thought the world of him, but I could never get that close to him. We have almost nothing in common, but he does push me to always be the best I can be as a musician and entertainer. I can’t call him a close friend, but I trust him because my father did. Sometimes I do feel like he steps over the agent/client boundaries, but I let it go because he was important to Dad.”

“What were your parents like?” Kaleb asked. “You don’t have to answer that if it’s too painful.”

I thought for a moment before I answered. “We were close, but not nearly as close as you are to your family. It seems like we spent most of my adult life talking about my career because Dad was working for me. My mom worked as a cashier in a grocery store when I was younger, but she stopped working when they moved to California with me. I made sure they never regretted making that move.”

“I’m sure you did,” Kaleb replied. “It sounds like they were stage parents to some extent. Maybe not in a bad way, but they were pretty involved in your career.”

“That’s a fair assessment,” I agreed reluctantly. “But they were incredibly proud of me, and I’m not sure that it was all bad. I was still a teenager when my career took off, and I was pretty naïve when I moved to Los Angeles. I was a Montana girl in a big city. To be honest, it was terrifying when my career took off that fast. My parents helped a lot to keep me grounded and less stressed out about everything. They backed off later, once I had plenty of experience. I can’t say that they micromanaged my career after I got old enough to make good decisions. Things were really great between us when they decided to retire to Newport Beach. We still got to see each other, and we finally got to talk about something other than my career. They were enjoying their life, and the only thing my dad still managed was my books and investments. He said he needed something to keep him busy when he wasn’t out on the water with Mom.”

“He was pretty meticulous about it,” Kaleb told me as he tossed his empty bottle in the trash. “I still have a lot to review for you, but it looks like he kept good records. I took a quick look this morning after you sent me your files.”

“Now that my dad is gone, I’d really like to learn more about my investments,” I said honestly. “Ray isn’t a financial or investment manager, and I’d like to take that off his hands.”

I’d still need a wealth advisor for investments and a business manager, but I wanted to learn some things myself. Things I should have had my dad teach me, but never had the time. It just didn’t feel right to me to have Ray handling anything except his responsibilities as my agent.

Now that I was thinking a little more clearly, I knew that was something that needed to be handled as soon as possible.

I was usually on top of everything that needed to be done, but I’d been dragging my feet on giving someone else a responsibility that had belonged to my father.

Kaleb nodded. “I’ll teach you the basics. Do you want me to recommend some people you can trust for your investments?”

“Please,” I answered gratefully.

We were quiet for a few moments, and it wasn’t our usual, comfortable silence.

Now that we’d finished talking about his family and my business, it was like neither of us knew what else to say.

Things had been a little awkward personally between the two of us because of that damn kiss.

I could feel Kaleb’s reluctance to get too personal now. He was distant, and I hated it.

Before he’d rocked my world with that scorching hot kiss at the river, we could easily say anything to each other. Now, I felt like we were circling each other carefully.

Maybe I was a little guarded, too. I could hardly tell him that the only thing I wanted from him right now was to get him naked.

I couldn’t even look at him anymore without wanting him to fuck me.

Our relationship had completely changed after our trip to the river, and I really missed that closeness and comradery we’d had at the cabin.

Yeah, I’d pretty much always been attracted to him. The difference was, I couldn’t seem to control it or compartmentalize it anymore.

I’d gotten a small taste of what it was like to be physically close to Kaleb Remington, and my mind went there every time I looked at him now.

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