Page 31 of Wildly Inappropriate

“Fiery, you say?” Tyler asks with a smirk.

“Tyler.” Conrad has on a big-brother face if I’ve ever seen one.

“What? It’s so hard to meet a girl who doesn’t work for us and isn’t just after me for my money. Plus, I like a girl with a bit of fire in her veins.”

“You’re starting to sound as bad as Xander.”

Alexander Ferguson rounds out the Ferguson brothers trio. The youngest of the family, he’s rumored to be quite the playboy. I’ve never met him before, but his face does have a tendency to land on the front of gossip magazines at least a couple of times a year.

“I am not. I was just considering if I should ask her out on a date.”

My beer goes down the wrong pipe, and my eyes water as I cough.

“You okay?” asks Tyler.

I nod and croak out, “Yup.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make the Lila thing awkward,” Tyler says. “Does she have a boyfriend or something?”

I know she doesn’t, and despite his interest in Lila, Tyler seems like a decent guy. As I go to tell him she’s available, something else comes out instead. “Yeah.”

What the actual fuck was that?

“Ah, well. All the good ones do these days. Is it serious?”

“I think they started dating last year when Jameo and I played in Vegas. So probably pretty serious.”Why are these words coming out of my mouth? I’m not even supposed to be talking to these men about Lila. I’m supposed to be making friends with them so they can help my parents connect with potential clients. Instead, I’m sitting here lying to them about Lila’s love life.

“Ahh, well. You win some, you lose some,” Tyler says.

Our food arrives then, and we get wrapped up in eating and making small talk about golf, California, and Jameson’s recent rise to greatness.

As our plates transition from full to empty, I navigate the conversation to their work. “I’m looking forward to the Ferguson Tournament this year. I’m especially excited for the event the night before.”

“Oh really?”

I hate having to navigate this delicate balance of asking about the event without it coming across like I’m asking them for a favor or am trying to help my parents poach their clients. This is the realm where my parents thrive, but I’ve never quite been able to figure it out.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not at the level of the Ferguson Brothers Investment Firm, but I dabble with some angel investing. Sam and I have been doing a lot of research into how we might want to expand some of our angel investments to better support the leaders we are investing in. It’s been eye-opening for us just within our small portfolio, I can’t imagine what I can learn talking to some of the guests.”

“You’re an angel investor?”

“Who’s Sam?” both brothers ask at the same time.

“Sam is technically my PA, but he does so much more than just manage my life.”

“Like help you with your casual angel investing hobby?” Tyler teases.

I grab one of the few fries left on my plate and pop it into my mouth. “Exactly.”

“Don’t your parents own an investment firm?” Conrad asks.

“They do,” I answer, not sure where this is going.

“I thought that’s what Bryn said. I guess I assumed they managed your wealth for you.”Why were Bryn and Conrad talking aboutmyfinances?

“Oh, well, they do manage the majority of it. When they started out, it was just my money they were investing, but they’ve expanded into a full wealth-management firm since then. The angel investing is just a very small portion of my portfolio. Only one or two investments a year.”

“That’s great that you have your parents to help you out. Managing investments for your family can be tricky, though. We stick to private equity investing and don’t do much wealth management, but I know it can be challenging for my colleagues who manage their parents’ or friends’ money. It’s a lot of pressure, particularly when the investments don’t perform as well as they expect. You know, now that I think of it, the reason I know about your parents is because Bryn mentioned it when I suggested she ask Jameo about investing in one of the start-ups she’s working with. She quickly let me know she wouldn’t be mixing business with pleasure.”

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