Page 60 of Ruthless Heir

She nods slowly. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I have to be for Luna and I guess myself, too. I’m the big sister.”

“Doesn’t mean you always have to be strong.”

“I know, but I try. And I try to focus on good things, like Zack taking me away next weekend.” She smiles and the radiance comes back to her eyes. “It’s my first away trip with him so I’m looking forward to that.”

“That’s good. You two are getting very close.”

“It looks that way. Also, pot calling the kettle black.” She throws me an accusatory stare. “You’re telling me I shouldn’t be here when you’rehere.”

“I have to be here.”

“No, you don’t. I know where youcouldbe, but I won’t say.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I narrow my eyes at her.

“Nothing at all.” She smirks.

I have a feeling she’s talking about Harper. Or rather not talking but hinting. Harper’s little meeting stirred trouble for me.

“Layla.” I shake my head at her.

“Anyway, I knew you’d be here so I thought I’d check in on you. Especially because you’ll be seeing Alexis tomorrow. I’m rooting for her but I’m biased because she’s my friend. Do you have a list of the final contestants yet?”

I sit back and allow my body to sink into the soft leather. “I got nothing.”

Her eyes widen. “Nothing at all? You’ve been on eighteen dates with gorgeous women and?—”

“I know. I haven’t selected anyone. Not one of them appealed to me.”

“What the hell happened? They couldn’t have all been bad. Okay, the lawyer was something else. But the others would have been fine.” She actually looks shocked.

“They were fine. I just can’t see myself getting married to any of them. Maybe if it was just for a short time I could do it, but it’s not, so it’s a bigger deal.”

“Soooo, Portia then…” Layla makes a show of biting the inside of her lip in an exaggerated way.

“Don’t even mention that woman’s name to me.” My shoulders drop.

“But if you don’t have anyone else lined up, your father is going to make you marry her.”

“Yes. I know. Fuck… I need more time, Layla. My head isn’t in the right place and this isn’t the kind of thing you can settle onin two weeks. And yes, I know I had months before. I guess my head wasn’t in the right place then either.”

She bites the inside of her lip again and gazes at me with curiosity dancing in her eyes. “I have an idea but you’re going to hate it and probably hate me, too. Just remember there’s a reason you hired me and it wasn’t for my good looks.”

I smirk when she laughs and lean forward, placing my elbows on my desk. “What’s this idea of yours?”

“Harper.”

Here we go. I knew this was coming. “What about her?”

“I didn’t know she was staying with you.”

“Who told you?”

“I was eavesdropping and heard you and Hunter on the phone.”

“Okay, fine. What does Harper have to do with your idea?”

“First of all, I think you should hire Harper for the PR role. She has your trust. Realistically, that’s all you need. Secondly, because she has your trust, I think you should pick her for a temporary solution to your wife problem.”

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