Page 77 of Runaway Pride

“Take your pick.”

Ryan was bad at commitment, whether it was to life or people. Charlie had a suspicion there were sprinkles of attention deficit disorder present in her brother. The guy couldn’t stick with one thing in his life.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said.

“The answer is no, Ryan. My house is off limits.”

Ryan scowled. “Wet blanket.”

“Watch yourself. I’m your boss right now.”

“Yeah, but?—”

He didn’t finish his sentence before Charlie heard him wheeze. Turning, she did the same when facing their guest.

“Mother,” she and Ryan greeted at the same time.

Grace lifted a groomed brow at them before turning her focus on Ryan in his purple scrubs. “Why are you dressed likethat?”

“I work here,” he answered. “Which is why I have to go!” Ryan flew out of the office faster than a roadrunner, leaving Charlie alone with the bulldozer.

Grace looked appalled. “Heworkshere?”

“Yes, I hired him for administrative tasks. He takes care of the bookings.” Charlie walked over to sit at her desk, switching on the computer. If she looked busy enough, maybe Grace would take the hint and leave, but that was unlikely.

“Why would you have him do that?” Grace asked, dumbfounded. “Why not here with you, handling the business side?”

“Because that’s the only role he’s qualified for. A monkey could do his job, mother.” She stopped herself, feeling guilty about the insult. “He’s inexperienced. Once he works here longer, he can learn about contributing elsewhere.”

“I just don’t see why he should waste away as a front desk when he could do more.”

“He’s good as a front desk. Women like looking at him and men want to looklikehim. He attracts business, so let’s start from there.” Charlie tapped on her keyboard more aggressively than normal, hoping Grace would notice she wasn’t interested in company.

Instead, Grace came to sit on a chair in front of Charlie’s desk. Clearly, the woman had a conversation in mind.

“I received news that Matthew is getting engaged,” Grace said.

She stopped typing.Already?Not that it mattered, since sheand Matt were done as a couple, and maybe even as friends, but it hadn’t been a few months since they called off the wedding.

“Good for him,” Charlie replied in a disinterested tone.

“Seems like the Parks are in a hurry to clean up the mess you made. You know people still haven’t stopped talking about it? With this engagement, they’ll have something else to talk about.” Grace looked at Charlie disapprovingly. “To think it was my daughter causing such embarrassment. I had to defend you so many times with the women in my tennis group.”

Charlie stayed quiet, uncertain of which one of her mother’s remarks to respond to.

Whatever Matt and his family had in store for the engagement was none of Charlie’s business. And anyone had the right to say whatever they wanted about her. She wasn’t going to stop them from having opinions. It was her mother who put too much weight on them.

“And you,” Grace initiated. The veil of Charlie’s patience was thinning to nothing as she tried to keep herself composed. “How many times have I tried helping you get back into good standing? Only to have you ignore my advice and ruin things even more?”

“How am I ruining things?” Charlie couldn’t hold back her outrage over the needless accusations. “I’m doing great.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course. With your friend’s… eh, brother, Mickey?”

“It’sRick.”

“Right. While I’m sure he’s a nice gentleman who could tickle your fancy now, it’s not permanent.”

Charlie scoffed. “Are you an expert on my love life now? What do you know about permanent? You and father have been divorced fordecades. You want me to follow in your footsteps?”

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