Page 4 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
I nodded. “Your father helped me build it. I was sort of inspired by his.”
She snickered through her grief. “Yours is, like, four times as big, though.”
I chuckled. “It helps that I hire people to help me with it. One day, I’d like to have the time to keep it up myself. But that day isn’t coming anytime soon.”
She nodded slowly but didn’t say anything. So, I stabbed a piece of red bell pepper and held it across the table.
“Eat, Mags. You won’t leave here without putting something in your stomach,” I said.
She peeked over at me before using her teeth to work the bell pepper off my fork. She chewed and swallowed it, and I could’ve sworn she let out a soft hum of delight. I watched her pick up her fork and dig into the vegetables I had made for her, and a small moment of pride swelled my chest. Then, we fell back into our silence.
After I finished eating, I reached over and offered her my hand. She didn’t have to take it, but if she wanted to hold onto someone, I wanted her to know I was there. And after about ten minutes of my hand resting open-faced against the patio table, she slid her palm onto mine.
Then, I decided to speak. “I’m worried about you.”
She sighed. “Do we have to talk?”
I shrugged. “Not for long. But, I do want to get a sense of where you’re sitting right now.”
She clicked her tongue. “What? You want to know what’s on my mind or something?”
I nodded. “Or something.”
She drew in a deep breath through her nose. “I’d love to have a garden like this someday.”
I smirked. “Well, if you run your father’s business right, you can have more than that one of these days.” I should’ve checked those exact words out the door because the second she recoiled her hand away from mine, I knew that I had fucked up. I was shocked when she continued talking, though.
“I don’t want to leave the spa, Michael,” she said softly.
I turned to face her. “You might not have to. At least, not in the beginning.”
Her eyes met mine. “You don’t understand. I don’t want to do what Dad was doing for a living. That was his passion, not mine.”
“Have you thought about selling it off, then? Or possibly liquidating?”
She grimaced. “Yeah, I have.”
“Let me guess: it turns your stomach to even think about it?”
She snickered. “You could put it like that.”
I licked my lips. “Mags, we’ve known each other for a while.”
A shadow of a smile ticked her cheeks. “Yeah, we have. I’ve basically known you my whole life.”
“So, you know I’d never say anything to intentionally hurt you, right?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you getting at?”
I leaned across the table a bit. “Why are you scared of your father’s business?”
She contemplated my question for a while before she answered. “I love my father. I always will. You know that, right?”
I reached out and took her hand again. “I’d never question that in a trillion years.”
She nodded slowly. “Then, you know what I’m about to say isn’t said with any malice whatsoever. Right?”
I squeezed her hand. “Of course.”
