Page 32 of Kicking it with the Billionaire

So I did. I told her how we met and I told her how we spent our time together and I told her about the ‘discussion’ we’d had about his money. I told her how betrayed I felt. How lied to. How dirty, and not in the good way. When I was finished, I was fighting back tears once again.

Tam reached out and took my hand. “You feel lied to and betrayed because he has money?”

I swallowed a lump forming in my throat and nodded. “Yeah. Is that… does that sound crazy?”

She laughed a little. “Yeah, a bit. It’s not like he murdered someone.”

“But moneychangespeople, Tam. Don’t you think? He won’t understand me or what we went through.”

“How long have you been dating?”

“A few months.”

She thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her index finger. “Do you think he’s been understanding so far? Like, what about this new information makes you think he’ll behave differently than before?”

“I don’t know, I just—”

“And we don’t exactly know everything about a person after just a few months, do we? So, it’s not like he’s been keeping a secret family or something, right? Just his finances… which aren’treallyyour business necessarily.”

My cheeks burned hot with embarrassment at what she was saying. She was right. His finances weren’t my business. I wouldn’t expect to know everything about someone I’d beendating for a few months, and it didn’t really change things. That still didn’t erase the grant money, though.

“Tam… his company funds the Michaels Foundation—the place where we got the grant to cover Mom’s bills.”

She nodded and worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment. “Okay, that is hard. But I don’t think it’s insurmountable, is it?” When I hesitated, she charged on. “How do youfeelabout him?”

The word “love” drummed through me, my heart thudding in my chest as I thought about it. “I think I’m in love with him.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

I sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”

Before I could keep talking myself in circles, a nurse came into the waiting room and called our names. We both stood, and she approached us. “Your mother is out of surgery. She has an oncologist appointment tomorrow, correct? We’re going to arrange for Dr. Lockhart to visit her room instead.”

“Her room?” I frowned.

The nurse nodded. “The surgeon wanted to keep her twenty-four to forty-eight hours for recovery. She’ll be in room eight forty-seven. She’ll be released by Saturday morning if everything looks good.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course. Now you two should go home and get some rest. Jaclyn will probably be asleep for a while coming out of the anesthesia and visiting hours will be over soon.”

“But—”

She held up her hand, but spoke with a smile. “I’ll let her know you’ll be back in the morning.”

It felt like ten years before the morning came, but eventually the sun came up and my alarm went off. Before bed, I had texted my boss to let him know I needed the full day off for a family emergency, rather than just the half day for Mom’sappointment. When I woke up, I checked my messages for a response from him. Lucky for me, he was understanding and assured me it wouldn’t be a problem.

Once I showered and dressed, I headed to the hospital and made my way to Mom’s room. I quickly discovered Tam had beaten me there, spotting her sitting in the rocking chair next to Mom’s bed.

“Hi, baby,” Mom called as I entered.

I narrowed my eyes at Tam and wrinkled my nose, the way I did when we were kids. “Suck up.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be mad at me because I got here first.”

“You just wanted the good chair.” I took a seat in the plastic chair at the foot of the bed, touching Mom’s good foot and lightly squeezing her toes. “How are you?”

She groaned and shifted where she sat. “I’ve been better. But I’m not as bad as you.”

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