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“Growing wings, are we?” My heart pounded in fear that I had asked too soon. “I see you know how to get what you want.” She smiled. “We'll discuss it when you come to the Foundation office. Once you're oriented to how everything works, we can come up with a contract.”
Relief flooded through me, along with excitement and fear. This was really happening.
“You should use the same attitude with Bryce. If you want him, take him while you still can. He easily gets bored and I can tell with you, he’s far from bored,” she added and I almost choked on the bite of lettuce I’d forced myself to taste.
“Wow, I don’t know what to say.” I was stunned and grasped for my water glass.
“My sweet Reyna. In this world, you have to take everything you want when you can.” It was sweet that she was giving me advice on how to win Bryce. He was right that Joanne liked me. “My son is complicated, but so are all wealthy men. They’re never short on choices.” Joanne chuckled as my stomach turned. Was she right? Even if we tried for more, was it destined to end badly? I wanted to ask her for a game plan since she seemed so experienced in getting what she wanted, but I felt it was too soon.
“Bryce is not a priority right now. I’m focused on my career.” My voice was firm and my eyes held her, but deep down, I knew it was a lie. I wanted Bryce more than anything else in this world.
“I like you,” Joanne said appraisingly. The words finally came out of her own mouth and it felt good.
“Usually, my son dates women with, how should I say this gracefully? Well, there's no way to say it more politely, but his dates usually have less ambition. The most they want is some money, status, and beautiful clothes without having to do anything with their lives. You actually want to have something of your own, regardless of Bryce being in the picture or not. I get why he’s crazy about you.”
She knew her son better than I did and I guess there was some truth to Bryce feeling more for me than he made obvious.
“I thought you said he dated women with fat bank accounts?” I refreshed her memory about what she said when we first met.
“Honey, being rich doesn’t mean we stop digging for gold,” she said with a wink. I smiled shyly at her and took a sip of my water. “So, I hear the two of you have moved in together?”
“Yes, we have.” There was no point in lying about it. It seemed like Bryce kept his parents up to speed, and I wondered what they talked about when it came to me.
“How is that going?”
“It’s good. I mean, we’re both busy, so we barely see each other,” I lied. Bryce and I were spending a lot of time together.
Joanne arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow but thankfully dropped the topic of Bryce. She moved on to discussing the foundation and I almost sighed in relief. The rest of lunch went without incident, with me getting to know Joanne’s work. By the time I went back to the car, I realized that while she definitely had her bitch moments, I really liked her.
Chapter 18
Bryce
Reynalookedbeautifulinher sapphire-blue gown as I extended a hand to help her out of the car.
Our eyes met, and we were stuck in that gaze for a moment, making it picture perfect as the photographers took pictures of us entering my parents’ home.
The look on her face was radiant and I couldn't help but feel a tug at my heart. It felt like the look was genuine and to have it focused on me, well, that was a new feeling.
It was a red-carpet event and the who's who of Atlanta were all in attendance. My mom knew how to throw a great party and I knew that my engagement with Reyna would get more publicity here.
It was the first event we were attending together, and I wanted it to be memorable for both me and Reyna.
“You look beautiful,” I whispered into Reyna’s ear, and she smiled warmly at me.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she teased me and I laughed.
Hand in hand, we entered the hallway of my parents’ mansion.
There were people everywhere. Soft music played, coming from a live string quartet in a side room.
I scanned the room and listened to the chatter of people enjoying each other’s company, talking about their hugely expensive endeavors. These kinds of parties were a stage to show off and perform and I was guilty for taking part in it all. But, I came by it honestly. This was how I was raised.
“Would you like anything to drink?” I asked Reyna.
“Yes, please. I’d love some white wine to kick this night off right.” I went off to the bar to grab us both a drink. I returned with a white wine and whiskey, handing Reyna the wine.
“Thank you,” she said with a grateful smile. “There are so many people here and I recognize a lot of them from TV and the movies,” she said, casually looking around.
