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"No. Like I said, it's between us." He blinks at me. "You get that right?"
I nod. "This is really serious to you."
"I can't afford for anything to leak anywhere."
"Just because your grandma wants you to get married?"
"It's not just that. It's just everything." He lets out a deep sigh and I look at him in concern. That sigh seems to be about more than his grandma trying to hook him up.
"What is it?"
“My dad wants me to take over the company and there’s a lot of pressure as a Pruitt to stand up and carry on this legacy. I don’t need pressure from family in every aspect of my life. It’s overwhelming and annoying.” He looks at me for a couple of seconds and lets out a deep sigh. “Sometimes I feel like the family legacy is more important than me.”
"It could never be.” I feel sadness for him. “I know that we don't know each other that well, but I'm more than happy to listen to anything you have to say or want to talk about." It's my turn to reach over to his knee and squeeze. "I think you'll find that I am understanding and have a good listening ear."
He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "My dad was sick recently. My dad and I are not really close. We’ve never been close. But now it seems he wants a new relationship."
"That's good, right?" I ask him.
He looks at me bleakley. "You’d think? Maybe if I was younger, maybe if I didn't feel so jaded. But I don't know that my father's relationship and mine can ever be repaired. I don't know if I want it to be repaired. He's always been cold and indifferent toward me and I don't know that I can handle a different relationship with him." My heart aches for him and suddenly I understand why he is the way he is, why he needed a fake fiancé, why he only wanted one night with me. He's emotionally scarred. I don't know if he realizes that, but I certainly do. I grab his hand and stroke it.
"I guess take it one day at a time."
He nods. "I suppose. My father wants me to take over the family business right away."
"And you don't want to?" I ask in surprise.
"I work at Rosser International."
"But that's Ethan's business, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you're number two?"
"Yeah. I mean, I'm the CFO."
"But you're not number one, right?"
"So?" He shrugs.
"You seem to me to be the sort of guy that wants to be number one." I smile and his lips twitch.
"How do you know me so well already?"
"I don't know."
"Don't tell me you've met guys like me before."
"I haven't," I say, shaking my head. "I've never met another billionaire before in my life, but I do understand people and I do understand men kind of."
"Because of your dating column?" He teases me and I blush.
"No, not because of my dating column, which I haven't actually done in a long time," I grimace. "I'm really going to have to catch up with that."
"Yeah," he says nodding. "Just don't put our scenario in it."
"I'm not stupid," I say, and he laughs.
