Page 23 of No More Billionaires

Shoot.My gaze flew to his face before I could stop myself.

“Not one for small talk are you?”

“Actually, that’s usuallyallI care for.” He paused and looked up at the overhead air nozzles and light buttons, then his gaze came back and rested solidly on me as he continued the thought.

“But with you… I’d rather have the life story.”

My eyes dropped to his top button. “Well… I’d rather not talk about that, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sure. Of course. I’m sorry.” Before I could turn back to the window, he said, “So… I’ve never been to Peachtree Valley. How was it working there in the more rural part of the state?”

I let out a pent-up breath. This topic I could handle. “I loved it, actually.”

“Why’d you leave?”

Or maybe not. I bit my lip, a sensation far less painful than this conversation so far.

“I… I’d rather not talk about that, either.”

“Okaaaay… how ’bout those Braves, huh?” Larson laughed uncomfortably.

Wow.His teeth were so beautiful. Were they natural or was the cosmetic dentist-to-the-rich-and-famous responsible?

Wait. Stop. Don’t notice his teeth. Recalculating.

The inside of my brain sounded like the pissy GPS voice when you’ve taken a wrong turn.

I blinked and recovered. “I’m sorry. I must seem like some strange little hermit-person to you.”

“No. Not strange—just… reserved. I don’t bite, you know.”

He tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, making him look sort of like a little boy and sort of delicious, like a red velvet cupcake with cream-cheese frosting.

Oh my God—why are you associating him with delicious baked goods?My stomach let out a loud growl.

Larson chuckled. “I guess we should’ve asked the flight attendant for some snacks.”

I felt a blush heat my face from forehead to neck. “You heard it? I skipped breakfast—I was running late.”

“Me too. All I had was a protein bar. We’ll get some lunch as soon as we pick up the rental car.”

“I don’t know if we’ll have time.”

I checked my tablet, hoping there was no room in our schedule for a table-for-two.

“Nope. Our first interview at Vandy is at eleven. Nashville traffic isn’t like Atlanta’s, but it can get bad. We’ll have to go straight from the airport to campus, I’m afraid. Maybe we can get some drive-through at one of the places near campus.”

“Sounds like you know your way around the city. The only other place I’ve been in the South besides Atlanta is Florida, when we did hurricane-aftermath coverage.”

“I remember. Yeah, my family visited Nashville a few times when I was a kid—Opryland Hotel, Country Music Hall of Fame. And my friend Heidi lives there now. She’s in news, too.”

“That’s great. Going to see her while we’re there?”

“Yes, I’ll be staying at her house tonight.”

His face fell. “Oh. So you won’t be at the hotel then.”

“No.”

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