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“Well, you’re a Dufort, as Taylor said, so I guess it involves making a ton of money.” Bella glanced at him, then quickly away.
Blake slowly raised a brow. “Oh yeah? So you follow the business markets?”
Bella’s head snapped around and she looked surprised. Defensive.
Interesting.
“No. I just...figured you were one of the Dufort-hotel-chain Dufort’s.”
“Nope,” he said, the word popping. “They’re my cousins in New York.”
Who he’d only met recently.
All of them had bonded quickly. More so Logan, Amelia, and Aidan, who were a little closer in age, but at Logan and Emma’s wedding in Hawaii a few weeks ago, he’d gotten to know Daniel, Hunter, and Fletcher a little more. Then there was Jackson, who was their half brother.
Which made him his half cousin or something.
Blake wasn’t sure how those things worked out. It didn’t matter; they were all connected through blood and respected one another. They were all good men, and with two of the Dufort wives being bestselling authors, he’d had some excellent conversations with them about his company, InkWell.
None of them knew about his situation, although Daniel had thrown a comment his way. “I see Scott has taken K-Scribe exclusive now. That’s gotta hurt, Blake.”
“Sure. But it’s about navigating competition, right?” Blake had said, feeling a little intimidated. After all, Daniel was one of the wealthiest, most well-known, and successful businessmen in the country.
“That asshole doesn’t play by the rules.” Daniel had said. “Remember that.”
Oh, he knew.
He fucking knew all right.
“What do you plan to do with your art degree?” Blake asked. There had to be more to Bella than just working in a building full of art and old shit. No disrespect. His cousin Amelia was a sculptor and had made a fortune from her creativity. It just wasn’t his thing. “Do you paint?”
Bella shrugged.
Why was she being so aloof? Did she really have no goals in life?
Not everyone came from a family where it was expected that you would do something substantial, he figured.
“I like art, but I’m not an artist. I like digging into the history of an era and understanding how it has led us to where we are now as a civilization. As a society.”
Okay, that was interesting.
Ish.
Not that he wanted to spend an hour talking about it, but at least she had said more than four fucking words.
Maybe they needed to fast forward to the squirting part.
“You like research,” Blake said, wondering why intellectuals weren’t motivated to wear sexy outfits.
Such a shame.
Such a missed opportunity.
“What about you? What motivates you? Just money?” Bella asked, glancing at him sideways.
“Ouch,” he said, rearing back as his hand clasped his chest. “I’m offended.”
“No, you’re not.” She smirked into her glass of wine.
