Page 17 of Broken Dreams
I tilt my head, wondering if he even listened when I talked about the money I can make. First, the price to rent a private plane, but then I’d make even more if I’m the pilot.
“I want the money so I can build the house and give Jett a safe and steady home.”
Asher sighs heavily. “I envy you, Grady. You’re out here, fighting for what you want.”
I stop walking. “I didn’t get out of the navy to live in Brynn’s house forever. I have to move on.”
“And does that mean meeting someone? Dating?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Asher asks.
I don’t remember my family being this damn annoying, but here we are anyway. However, if anyone will understand it, it’ll be him.
“Let me ask you something. If God forbid something happened to Phoebe, and you lost her, in a tragic way, how quick do you think you’d be to jump back into dating? What is the appropriate time to go by before you’d want to ever endure that shit again? Would you want Olivia to endure having to loseanothermother figure if something happened to her? Even better, I’ll up the ante, you are a single dad, had to leave Olivia in another state because you knew it was the right thing for her to have a stable home, then took her from that, and have no damn clue what end is up. How appealing is that to a woman?”
He lets out a long sigh. “I’ll back off.”
“Thank you, however, if you want to loan me Phoebe to pretend to be my girlfriend so I can get the money from Mr. Jeston, I’d appreciate it.”
My brother’s eyes narrow. “Not a fucking chance.”
“Worried she’ll pick me over you?” I taunt.
“She likes men who aren’t losers that live with their sister.”
I go to slap him, but he moves, and then, like we’re twelve, I chase him around the barn so I can kick his ass.
* * *
“You need to stop glaring at me,” Brynn says as we take our seats at the town play, which she managed to talk me into attending.
“I will when you stop suckering me into these bullshit town events.”
“You are so grumpy!” she huffs. “I swear, you make Asher look like sun shines out of his ass. You don’t know anyone here, you won’t date, and you’re always in a mood. It’s really exhausting being your sister.”
She’s right. I am all those things, butshe’sthe damn exhausting one. I modulate my tone so I don’t come off hostile. Brynn can be a little sensitive, and while I’m not in the mood for this crap, I love my sister and hate hurting her feelings.
“I’m sorry, I had a meeting with my last potential investor today, Mr. Kopaskey, and I just have a lot on my mind.”
Brynn shifts in her seat. “What did he say?”
“Didn’t say much, just wanted to meet again at a dinner party before deciding one way or the other.”
Which then came to me making a huge misstep.
Mateo Kopaskey and the other investors are old money guys. They invest in people, not companies, really. They tend to think of the people they give money to as friends in the end, and the last six deals they made were all with men who were married or in serious relationships.
So, when he asked me about bringing my significant other to their dinner party, I lied and said she would love to come, I just needed to check the dates.
Great plan that was.
I figured I could make up some bullshit about a breakup and there’d be no harm no foul, but then he talked about her coming to another event in a few weeks after that.
Which now means I need to find a date or be prepared to lose the deal completely.
“That doesn’t sound all that bad, Grady. I’m sure they’ll invest. You’re a veteran with combat flying experience, a great dad, an okay brother, and you’re the smartest of us all.”
