Page 92 of The Main Event

I sat in one of the chairs across from his desk and fidgeted with the armrest. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. Am I supposed to be sympathetic? Am I supposed to rally my friends and toilet paper his yard? Just give me a sign here.”

His smile was back in an instant. “Do you really have friends who would go toilet paper my father’s yard?”

“Yes. We’re very good at it. We’ve thought about renting out our services to dissed girlfriends and tweens with curfews.”

He barked out a laugh, catching me by surprise. “You are amazing.” Sincerity shone through the words.

“I’m guessing your father wouldn’t find me amazing,” I said. “He probably thinks you should end up with some high-class socialite.”

“That’s what my mother was before they hooked up. They traveled in the same circles, went to the same parties. Rumor is my father liked to spread his love around quite a bit when he was younger. When my grandmother—she and my grandfather separated when my father and his siblings were young—told Dad that he would be cut off from the family finances if he didn’t settle down, suddenly he started dating my mother.”

I tried to picture the upbringing he was suggesting. “That makes me really sad. Do you think your parents ever loved each other?”

“No.” He answered without hesitation. “Not even a little.”

“Is that the kind of life you want?”

His smile broadened. “Not even a little.”

I didn’t even realize I’d internally clenched until he said it. I relaxed a bit and leaned back. “What does your father want from you?”

“He wants me to sell the hotel and split the proceeds with the rest of the family.”

“But George didn’t leave the hotel to the rest of the family. He left it to you. Why should you have to split your inheritance?”

“Because they want money. I don’t think my father’s investments have been going as well as they have in years past. He likely needs an influx of cash.”

“You know that’s not your responsibility, right?”

He scratched his cheek. “Legally you’re right. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel guilty about being the only one to garner a significant inheritance, though.”

“They didn’t earn it.”

“Neither did I.”

He had a point, but it was one I refused to see. “Jax, I don’t know why George selected you, other than you were likely the only one in the family he felt a kinship with. Have you ever considered that you’re better than the rest of your family?”

“Not really. Why would I be better than them?”

“Because you’re you.” I got up and moved around to his side of the desk, positioning myself so I was facing him but leaning and not sitting. “You have a really good heart,” I said in a low voice. “I wish you could see it. Your family never elevated you the way they should have, though. They just tried to mold you into one of them. You’re better than that, though. You’re better than them. I wish you could see that.” I cupped his cheek.

His hand immediately came up and covered my hand, keeping it there. “My father is insisting I sell the hotel and split up the proceeds. I told him I was considering keeping it.”

My heart soared, but I kept my emotions in check. I didn’t want to pressure Jax. Not now. He needed to make this decision on his own.

“Tammy, of course, told my father that I wanted to keep the hotel for you.” His eyes were clear when they locked with mine. “Her nose is really out of joint by the way.”

“Her nose is always out of joint,” I assured him. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll find something else to complain about.”

“I still don’t know what I’m going to do here, Daisy.” He tugged me so I had nowhere to go but his lap. He snuggled me in tight. “I need to figure it out. I know that. I feel as if I’m being pushed on all sides, though.”

“Including by me,” I realized.

He opened his mouth—likely to deny the charge—then shut it. “I just need to think.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I’ll try to stop pressuring you. It’s not fair, and you don’t deserve it.”

“We have time,” he said. “We have to get through the renovations. I made that perfectly clear. We can figure it out.”

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