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"It was fine, but I had better things to do than play darts and talk to people about the Knicks."
"Aren't you going to ask me how my evening went?" I said, only half-serious as he pulled me down the hallway
to the bedroom.
"Not on your life."
He pushed me back onto the bed and we laughed as we tumbled onto it and he tried to undress me. For the next hour, at least, I forgot all about my parents and the lie I was living. Finally naked, we kissed and that was the last I heard about the bar until later.
Much later.
After, as we lay beneath the sheets, our arms and legs entwined, we talked about my parents and the whole sordid business.
"Did you tell them about me?" Josh asked, his voice curious.
"No," I said and bit my bottom lip guiltily. I felt immediately bad that I hadn't by the way his face changed when he heard my answer.
"Afraid of big daddy, are you?" he said, his voice light, but I could sense an edge of disappointment in his tone.
"Yes," I replied. I traced the blue tribal tattoo on his bicep, wishing I could change the subject.
"Come on, Ella," he said, chiding me. "You're an adult. Your father holds no sway over you. You're living in Manhattan all on your own--"
"I had all my ID, cell and laptop stolen in my first week here."
"And you managed to get them all replaced without calling daddy. Plus, you have a job--"
"Unpaid internship," I corrected.
"You have a man crazy about you, waiting at your beck and call," he said and smiled, nuzzling his nose into my neck. He rolled over on top of me and settled comfortably between my thighs.
"I do," I said and kissed him.
"So, you should be able to be open about us to them. I'm not a crook or charlatan. I'm actually a bona fide businessman, with a degree in commerce and I'm a veteran. I'm gainfully employed, have some stock options, and will be starting my own charitable foundation soon. What's not to love?"
He grinned at me, his eyes twinkling. His hair, which was long on the top, fell into his eyes in this incredibly sexy way. I brushed it aside.
"Nothing, except your father's past with my father's business partner that got him sent to jail."
He made a sound in the back of his throat. "It was one of those Ivy League jails, where they have designer overalls and they work in their own gardens to grow organic food and have their own cells with television and Wi-Fi. Hardly much of a hardship. Besides, he broke the law."
"In my father's mind, his partner was set up and betrayed and your father orchestrated it."
"My father cooperated with the FBI. Your father's business partner was guilty of insider trading," Josh said firmly. "That's illegal. He was found out in part because of reporters at my father's news corporation. Your father should be happy that the rule of law prevailed."
"I agree, but he felt that his partner was set up, and was entrapped by a traitor. He hadn't been involved in any kind of criminal act prior to the deal in question."
"If you were offered the chance to make a million dollars by breaking the law, would you do it?"
"No," I said and frowned. "Of course not."
"Well, your father's business partner did. He had the chance to say no, but he didn't." Josh raised his eyebrows and waited for my reply.
Of course, he was right. I always thought that my father's partner deserved what he got because he did cheat. He broke the law and made millions because he had insider knowledge and used it to sell stocks and make a fortune, but my father was loyal to a fault. That meant he never forgave the news organization and the CEO, who directly approved the sting.
Joshua Macintyre, Sr., in other words.
If Josh and I were going to continue to see each other, and I truly hoped we would, I would have to fess up eventually. It was just one of those uncomfortable family conversations I did not want to have.
