Page 16 of A Billionaire Gentleman

“Mommy, can you read the ‘lelepint book?” He held up a book I immediately recognized.

I’d hadBabar the Elephantbooks from when I was a kid, some of the few things that had survived through the numerous moves of my childhood. I hadn’t bothered to try to get my copies back from Mead because, if he realized how important they were to me, I knew he’d probably throw them away or burn them, but I’d known how much Dallas loved them, so I’d picked up my own copies.

“El-e-phant,” I said the word slowly, enunciating each sound. “And yes, I’ll read it to you. Why don’t we take it out into the living room so Ms. Stanton can sit down too?”

He nodded. “She can listen ‘bout Barbar too.”

“Ba-bar,” I corrected as I held out my hand. He took it, and I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Over the past few months, I’d woken up at least once a week after a nightmare that Dallas had forgotten who I was, and everyone had told me that it’d be better for him if I just walked away like my dad had done with me. Reading to him today would be the memory I’d call up to counteract those fears. And it would be the feel of him leaning against my side, my arm around him as we read, that would get me through every shift I needed to work to get him back.

Mead was not going to win this one because I would never stop fighting for my son.

Ten

Deklin

Of all theplaces I’d been with Grandad in the past two months, Kansas City, Missouri was my least favorite. Not that there was something wrong with the city itself, but the hotel where we were staying had an entire staff of idiots. Okay, maybe not housekeeping because they’d been doing their job, but every other member of the staff I’d spoken with had been awful.

It was the first Monday morning in August, and I’d been here far too long. Grandad and I had flown in the previous Wednesday, intending to stay for a week so we could see all the properties on Dad’s list. We’d arranged for a car service to pick us up each morning, take us wherever we needed to go, and then return us to the hotel when we were done. The first two days had gone by without incident, but every day since had brought a new problem.

Friday evening, we’d returned to our suite to find that the air conditioning had gone out, and when I’d called the front desk to report it, I’d been told that someone would be up to fix it right away. By midnight, no one had come, so I’d gone down to the desk to insist that someone come up with me right then only to be told that the maintenance staff had left at eleven. I’d made a few calls, brought someone in from outside, and then presented the bill to the front desk when it was done.

Things had just gotten worse from there.

Saturday morning, we’d been running a little late, and by the time we’d gotten downstairs, “someone” had reported our driver as a “suspicious person,” and he’d been in the process of being handcuffed.

Yesterday afternoon, our sink had backed up, and when I’d called down to have someone come fix it, the front desk sent a valet with one of those snake things that plumbers used to clear drains. Not to use it. No, he’d simply held it out for me to take and then walked away.

Needless to say, Grandad had spent the last hour on the phone with the owner and was now on his way to a meeting with the on-duty manager. I had a feeling there were going to be several staffing positions opening up very soon.

I closed my eyes and rubbed the back of my neck as I listened to the phone ring. I figured I’d use the time Grandad was gone to call Aurelia. Hopefully, talking to her would help me get my head cleared after the crazy week.

I wanted to get our work done and go home. I didn’t mind traveling, but every passing day made me suspect that all of these trips Grandad and I had been taking had just been a way for Dad to keep me busy without giving me any actual responsibility.

“Deklin! Hi!”

I smiled, loving how happy Aurelia always sounded to hear from me. “Good morning.”

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until this evening,” she said. “Aren’t you going to see that former high school today?”

“Not until a little later,” I said. “Grandad’s meeting with the manager.”

“About the sink thing?”

I pulled open the blinds and squinted at the bright sun. “About all of it. I know Grandad wanted to stay here to see what some of the competition would be if we decided to invest in hotels here, but I’m starting to think he might just buy the place outright, if only so he could fire everyone we’ve dealt with.”

“He’d really do that?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s how the family business got started in the first place,” I said dryly. “Anyway, I didn’t call for you to listen to me complain.” I winced. “And I just realized that’s what I’ve been doing all week. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I like that you don’t try to protect me from any of it.”

I wasn’t so sure either of our fathers would agree with my decision to be honest with her about stuff like this, but I didn’t see how she and I could grow whatever this was between us if I was trying to make her think everything was great all the time. Especially since our dating over the last two months consisted solely of phone calls and brief visits centered around family activities or public outings.

Honestly, I didn’t even know if I could call it dating. Neither of us had made any sort of declaration of feelings aside from saying that we enjoyed spending time with each other. And physical contact…there’d barely been any. We’d touch, but it was more like the sort of thing friends did. Bumping shoulders, leaning close to talk in noisy surroundings. Sometimes we’d brush hands or even lock fingers together, but it was always brief. We hadn’t kissed yet, not even chastely. The closest we’d come were the times I’d kissed her cheek when I’d taken her home at the end of a date, and even that had seemed like a lot for her.

I didn’t know why she shied away from anything that wasn’t platonic, but we hadn’t had much of an opportunity to even talk about it. That wasn’t the kind of conversation I wanted us to have in a public setting or on the phone, and it seemed like, when I was home, the only thing we did was spend time around other people.

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