Page 30 of The Billionaire Player

“Maybe not all of it, but JD helped to keep me in line and I made sure he didn’t get so lost in his studying that he forgot how to live.”

I wanted to ask her more about what she meant and why JD was so into studying, but I knew she wouldn’t answer. Instead, I said, “You and JD are close.”

“We are all close, the entire family,” she said.

“I can see that, but you and JD are closer. Were you always that way or did that happen more when you were in Italy?”

“We were close when we were younger, but Italy helped solidify it, I guess. He’s just a good guy. Probably the best parts of all of us, too bad he can’t see that.”

“JD doesn’t seem to be lacking any self-esteem,” I countered.

“He’s the middle child of a billionaire and one himself, it’s easy to think his life is easy and for the most part it is. But don’t forget that there’s a man who has feelings and just like the rest of us has loved something, lost something, and is afraid of something,” she said.

My eyes darted over to JD as he laughed with some guests. He looked like the cool, suave man that he appeared to be, but I had seen some of the cracks in his armor that Bailey was talking about. He had given me a small glimpse under the facade that he didn’t want anyone else to see. I could tell that Bailey was telling me as a warning. She wanted me to be careful with her brother, that he could get hurt just as easily as anyone else.

It gave me another glimpse into the man that I was starting to get to know. I wasn’t sure how I would use it from a reporter's perspective nor as a woman who was slowly falling for him.

Chapter 13

JD

It was two days after the opening, an evening that had gone incredibly well, better than I could have hoped for. The turnout had been exceptional and the comments and reviews were extremely favorable. Reservations, which had been steady before the opening, were overflowing now. We were booking out weeks in advance and were on track to be scheduled out even longer soon.

Lexi had done incredible throughout the night. She looked beautiful, relaxed, and confident and as if she belonged sitting with my family having a meal. It was something that didn’t scare me nearly as much as I thought it would. I had stolen glances at her throughout the night and she looked to be in her element talking and laughing with my family. I had always found them enjoyable and easy people to get along with and glad she shared the sentiment.

There hadn’t been any sightings of Lizbeth that night. Between Rosie, Mac, and some well-placed social media posts, I made it known that I would be bringing a date to the opening and it wouldn’t be Lizbeth.

She must have taken the hint because Rosie told me the day after the opening Lizbeth had taken an unexpected but well deserved, her words, spa vacation in Monaco and would be gone for the foreseeable future. She even went so far as to say she was taking a break from social media. I was happy to see her go and it made me think the plan to keep Lizbeth away had worked better than I could have hoped.

I was pleased it had worked so well, but it only gave me another dilemma to deal with. I still wanted to spend time with Lexi, and it would be a bit more difficult if I didn’t have the ruse of needing to look like we were dating.

My hope had been to spend some time with her and my family, to even have dessert with them as the evening wound down, but I never got a break nor a chance to really talk to any of them. There were too many other guests who needed my attention, too many random fires I had to put out.

The only time I had with them was when we said goodbye and they congratulated me on such a wonderful opening. I had wanted to talk to Lexi, to see how she was doing. I wanted to make sure she survived the night, and that my family hadn't been too hard on her, but I never got to. By the time I had been able to take a breath it was to see her leaving the restaurant with Bailey and Luke.

It was nice to see that she and Bailey had hit it off and that Luke would make sure that Lexi got home okay. She needed any help, but it made me feel better to know that someone with Luke’s experience and knowledge was keeping an eye on her. I wouldn’t have put it past Lizbeth to confront her on her way home.

The next morning, I got a text from Lexi congratulating me on the night and asking if she could stop by the restaurant the following day. I hadn’t expected to hear from her so soon, or that she would want to see me. I was sure it had to do with the story she wanted to do, or at least I told myself it was. I didn’t want to put her off but told her to meet me a few days later, she said she understood.

She was a vision in her faded jeans and soft yellow shirt when she walked into my office. It billowed around her waist and gave her a cool and relaxed look. It made me realize that the idea of keeping things professional between us had long passed. It didn’t help that she had two cups of coffee in her hands making her even sexier to me.

“You brought coffee? Marry me,” I said.

“Is that all it took? Who knew you were that easy?” She walked into my office and handed me the cup.

“It was another late night.” I took a sip and closed my eyes as I let the caffeine start to run through my body. I heard Lexi take a seat in front of my desk.

“Hence, why I brought the coffee. I would have met you later, I just figured it might be good for us to talk when there was no one else around. I can come back,” she said.

“No, this is good. This is perfect.”

I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the timing, the coffee, or the fact that for the first time in days we were alone together. I was sure it was a bit of all three, though more the fact that I was alone with her.

“The opening seemed to go well for you. How did it feel?” she asked.

“Strange. Surreal. I’m not sure,” I said.

She was the first one who had asked me how I felt about it. Everyone else had just congratulated me and told me I would be a success. It was strange to think that after all the hard work and everything I had done, even when I was a kid, that it was finally starting to pay off.

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