Page 15 of Say You Remember Me
But before I could dwell on it, Saylee appeared with menus, pulling me from my thoughts. “Here you go,” she said. “Will you be having your usual, Mr. Hastings?”
“Yes, please.” I nodded, grateful for the routine since my mind was a bit scattered at the moment. “And for my guest…” I glanced at Maddie, who was flipping through the menu. “Do you like curry?”
“I’ve actually never had it,” she said with an insecure look in her eyes.
“You haven’t?” I asked, surprised since yellow curry was basically a staple food of mine.
She nodded. “I probably shouldn’t admit it, but McDonald’s is more of the go-to restaurant for me and Grant these days.”
“Ah yes. I suppose that makes sense,” I said, grinning at her candidness. “I remember being quite fond of their five-star cuisine when I was younger.”
In fact, Maddie would probably be surprised that for a while there, back before my mom fell in love with a billionaire, it was the only type of restaurant we could afford.
“Their chicken nuggets are the best,” she said. “But…” She glanced down at her menu briefly. “If you say you’re addicted to the yellow curry here, then I suppose I should give it a shot.”
“Great choice.”
“And how spicy would you like that?” Saylee asked Maddie as she jotted down our orders on a small notepad.
“Uhh…” Maddie’s eyes widened as she looked to me for guidance.
“I’d recommend starting with number one,” I suggested. “It’s good for beginners.”
“Ok, I’ll try the number one spicy,” Maddie said to Saylee.
Saylee smiled, taking our menus. “I’ll have those ready for you soon.”
When we were alone again, Maddie leaned back in her chair, her gaze flicking around the room again. “So do people always stare at you like this?”
“Pretty much.” I chuckled, running a hand through my hair. “You get used to it after a while, though.”
“I don’t think I ever would,” she said, her eyes growing wide.
I shrugged. “It comes with the territory. Between the family name and a few high-profile exes, people like to speculate.”
“That must get exhausting.” Her lips twisted into a thoughtful frown.
“It can be.” I nodded, surprised by her understanding. Most people assumed I thrived on the attention—and, sure, there had been times I’d soaked it up. But Maddie seemed to see through the act.
As Maddie’s eyes softened, her voice dropped to a more sincere tone. “It must be hard to figure out who’s genuinely interested in you and who’s just...curious.”
“You could say that.” I held her gaze for a moment longer than I intended, the candidness in her words striking a chord.
“I’ll admit,” she added, her voice quieter, “that after finding out you were my boss last week, I did a little research so I wouldn’t embarrass myself again.” She looked down, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “And well…it made me think about how hard it must be to live under a microscope and have so many people having an opinion on what you’re doing.”
She’d researched me?
I could only imagine what kind of stories she’d come across—those “billionaire playboy” headlines weren’t exactly flattering.
Yeah, I certainly hadn’t been thinking of my future reputation back when I was jetting off on weekend trips with beautiful women, chasing the thrill.
Looking back, I realized it had been more than just a thirst for adventure—it was an addiction. A way to drown out the emptiness that had always been there.
If I could get enough women to want me, then surely I mattered, right? Surely I was someone worth chasing.
Deep down, I knew what I’d really been trying to fill—that hollow part of me that had never healed after my biological father lost interest in seeing me, or when Margot decided to throw in the towel on me.
Every fling had been a way to prove my worth, to convince myself I was someone worth staying for.
