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We kissed again and then his cell dinged, interrupting us.
He glanced over at his cell. "I have to answer this," he said and picked it up, reading the message. "It's from my legal team. They're sending me some files on the case, so I understand all the ins and outs."
"Josh, you shouldn't feel like you're going to an interrogation. It's Christmas. We're going to go spend two days with my parents, open presents, have Christmas dinner and try to have a nice time. My mother's been working on my father to keep his questions to himself -- at least for the holidays. I'm sure you two will talk about it at some point, just to clear the air, but please. Not at Christmas..."
"I don't want to talk about it, but I know it will be on your father's mind and I want to be ready. It's my business now. I want to know what happened. Your father deserves a straight answer and some evidence to back it all up."
"Bah, Humbug," I said and pouted. "If you two do talk about it, I don't want it to ruin the time we have together."
"It won't," he said and squeezed me again. "I promise."
I stared into his blue eyes, taking in a deep breath, and deciding that I could trust him to finesse things with my father if the issue came up.
"Will you come and watch the rest of the movie with me?" I asked, giving him my best pout. "You said it was your favorite..."
"I will as soon as I read over the messages and reply. Okay?"
"Okay," I said, and we kissed again. Finally, I left him to his cell phone and messages with his legal team and went back to the living room and Oliver!
I grabbed my bag of microwave popcorn and snuggled into the sofa, pressing play on the movie, and waited for him to come and join me. My father's history with Josh's father was the only issue between us that caused me any concern. We had cleared the air about Penny's treatment and the need for Josh to keep in touch with the facility and with Penny, but he included me in on that whenever he got an email or phone call about her progress. She had a few weeks left on her treatment schedule and would be getting released in the new year. I hoped that would be the end of it and she'd be sober and could move on with her life. I hoped that Josh's involvement in her life would end at that point, but I had a feeling that no matter what, he would be responsible for her in some way.
She sounded like a very needy person to me. Someone who saw Josh as a cash cow that she could milk for more money when she needed it. It was sad but true that people with a lot of wealth often had to suspect other people's motives. They never knew whether the friendship or romance was due to the money or to themselves as a person.
At least with Josh and I, he knew from the start that I liked him before I knew he was one of the wealthiest men in America. I liked him before I knew he was my boss. He liked me because I didn't know who he was because he could trust that I liked him for him. Not his money. He liked me despite not needing my father's power and influence to get him anywhere. Josh was his own man and didn't need anyone else's help to succeed.
Sure, he had all the benefits of an upper-class upbringing, but from what I had read and what Josh told me, the boys were expected to work and support themselves, although they always had access to their trust funds for investment purposes. Their father had supported them in their various ventures, but he had expected them to put in public service in the military or national guard in return. It made me respect him even more, if possible. Any of us with Joshua Sr's money would have done the same and provided the best upbringing possible. At least their father had tried to impart a work ethic in his sons, and they weren't spoiled brats, living the high life without responsibilities.
I knew that when the time came, Josh would be an excellent father. He'd had a wonderful role model. I could tell that by how decent and hard working all the sons were -- even David, the rocker, was a self-made man, starting out in garage bands in high school and working the bar circuits with his band before they hit it big. He didn't buy his way onto the radio waves.
I checked my watch. Another hour had passed, and Josh was still in his office, poring over the documents his lawyers had sent.
"Josh Macintyre Jr," I called out. "Get in here, now, or you'll have a very unhappy girlfriend..."
I turned back to the television and before I could pick up the bag of popcorn, Josh vaulted over the back of the sofa and plopped down beside me. He stretched out his legs onto the coffee table and grabbed the bag of popcorn.
"You mean fiancée. I thought I'd upgraded you from girlfriend to soon-to-be-new-bride."
"Your soon-to-be-new-bride wants you at her side."
"I'm all yours," he said and stuffed a handful of kernels into his mouth, which was currently grinning.
I smiled and reached for the bag.
"What are we watching again?" he asked, a playful expression in his eyes. "Something about Oliver Cromwell?"
I pushed him with my shoulder. "Be quiet and hand over the bag."
For the next two hours, we watched the movie and spent our first Christmas together following one of his family traditions.
I felt so happy saying that -- his family traditions that I was now a part of.
It felt good.
2
Josh
I thought my research would just help me understand what happened so many years earlier with my father and Ella's father. What it did was alarm me, for it seemed that Henry Garner wasn't the only one involved in the insider trading.
