Page 20 of Boss Me Not

At the end of the day, it was my fault. I’d always been honest with the women I slept with, and the fact that I kissed her, then almost let it go farther knowing I wouldn’t be able to give her anything more, turned my stomach every time I thought about it. It wasn’t like me. Even more surprising? I’d never had an issue with control when it came to my attraction to women. But, somehow, Angie made me lose my mind.

I picked up my phone and texted Paul, letting him know I’d be down in a minute. My grandmother had employed him since I was a kid, and since her death, he’d become my personal driver, even when I insisted I could drive myself. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d known about Nana B’s abdominal aortic aneurysm.

After she died, I had a lot of questions. Her doctor told me she had a procedure done when they first found the triple A. But it wasn’t a permanent fix. She knew the graft would eventually break down and the aneurysm could rupture.

It took me a bit to come to terms with her hiding it from me. But I did understand. She and I were very similar in a lot of ways, and I would hate for people to worry and walk on eggshells around me, so I likely would have made the same decision.

I collected my stuff for the meeting and headed downstairs to find Paul waiting for me. His eyes widened when I opened the passenger side door to the black SUV and climbed in. If we were going to talk about my grandmother’s diagnosis—that ultimately led to her death—I didn’t want to be in the back. I wanted to be able to look at him.

“Wyatt?” His voice held a bit of uncertainty.

“Did you know?” I preferred the direct approach to hard conversations, and Paul was used to it.

He sighed and pulled out into traffic. “About Blanche’s diagnosis?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “She stopped driving entirely after she found out. She rarely got behind the wheel anymore anyway, but the fact that she stopped completely made me curious. I finally asked why, and she told me.”

I gritted my teeth, trying hard not to be mad. But, Jesus, how many other people knew?

“Did you start reading the letters?” He glanced over at me.

“Yeah. Just the most recent one that she wrote after hiring Angie.”

“That young woman is a firecracker.”Paul smiled. “I can see why Blanche thought she was so perfect for you.”

“You mean for the hotel.” I looked over at him, correcting his choice of words.

He shook his head. “Nope. I meant exactly what I said. Your grandmother was convinced she’s the perfect woman for you.” A chuckle passed through his lips. “I didn’t understand it until I picked her up from the airport last week.”

I opened my mouth and then shut it again. My grandmother had hired Angie because she thought she was, what, my future wife? I shook my head. Jesus.

“She spent the first ten minutes of the drive ripping you a new one to her sister on the phone. And when she told her she planned to make it clear she wasn’t going to jump every time you snapped your fingers, I was sold. You need a swift kick in the ass most days.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. “But Nana B was wrong. I’m not starting a relationship with Angie. I get it. My grandparents had one of those perfect marriages?—”

“Whoa, hold up.” His brows furrowed. “Their marriage was anything but perfect. I think they made it look easy some days because they loved each other and worked at it. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have their own problems.”

“I don’t remember them ever fighting, so I’m not sure I believe that.”

“You were always too busy causing a ruckus to notice anything but your next adventure.” He side-eyed me. “Not to mention, your grandparents were always good about having their disagreements in private. Or, rather, not in front of you or in the hotel. Many happened in the back seat of my car.”

That wasn’t entirely accurate, though, now that I thought about it. The memory of them arguing about Paul threatening to quit, and my grandmother’s breakdown, was locked forever in my memory. I still didn’t know whether it was her crying or my grandfather taking me out on the boat and reading me the riot act the next day that truly changed my behavior. But I definitely made an extra effort not to be such a dick to Paul after that. Funny enough, he became someone I truly valued.

“Sometimes the way we see things is not always the truth.”

I sighed. I recognized hisI’m about to give you some unwarranted advicevoice. I’d heard it plenty of times over the last twenty years. But he remained silent until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Out with it. It’s not like you to hold your tongue.”

He chuckled. “That is true. But there’s no point in telling you something you might not be ready to hear.”

“I’ll try my best to listen.” Now that my grandparents were both gone, Paul was the only parental figure I had left, and his advice had never steered me wrong in the past.

“Don’t let the failure of a relationship with the wrong woman mess up your opportunity with the right one.”

“Now you sound like Nana B.”I scoffed and turned to look out the window. “I’m good at giving women orgasms and buying them shit. I can’t do all that other stuff they want.”

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