By the tim
e she stepped out of the shower she buried all emotion under a layer of ice. The woman who looked back at her in the mirror was pale but determined. She would prove Ray wrong. She was not like Vicky and she didn’t want or need Mitchell. He devastated her once and she wasn’t an idiot. She had to face reality which meant going back to her boutique, facing a world without her sister and taking full responsibility for Evie. She had enough on her plate without Mitchell. She needed to focus and she couldn’t do that with him around.
She wrapped herself in a robe and
opened the bathroom door and paused. Mitchell sat on the bed waiting for her. He was wearing jeans and a shirt and at the moment he looked like an ordinary guy but she knew he wasn’t. He had money, power and he was in a class of his own. They didn’t belong together and she should thank Ray for reminding her of that.
“
Evie’s drinking a bottle in the playpen,” Mitchell informed her quietly.
She nodded and tried to walk past him but he rose from the bed and grasped her arm, pulling her to a halt.
“So we’re back to this?”
His voice was rough with anger. She tugged out of his hold
because it was easier to answer when he wasn’t touching her, making her forget the reason she stayed away from him for a year.
“I told you just one night
.”
“It doesn’t have to b
e like this, Grace.” His voice softened and his fingers played with the ends of her wet hair. “I meant what I said last night. I want you and I want to help you with Evie.”
“I don’t need
your help,” Grace said harshly.
H
is face turned stony. “You need help but you’re too stubborn to take it.”
“I can handle this.
I’ve been handling myself for the past year and I don’t need you to come in and take over.”
He paced away from her and ran a hand through his hair
. “Don’t do this, Grace.”
His voice
had a pleading note in it that made her heart skip but she bit her lip and walked away. It was the only choice she had. She couldn’t go through a replay of their relationship. It hurt too much. She blinked away tears as she walked into her suite and locked the door behind her. She went over to the playpen and looked down at Evie who gurgled.
“You’re all I need, right, baby?” Grace whispered and wiped the tears away as she got dressed.
It took longer than she expected to get her and Evie’s things together. There wasn’t a sound from Mitchell’s suite and for the first time he closed the door, allowing her to pack without running into him.
Max
knocked on the door several hours before the flight. Mitchell didn’t appear as Grace took Evie with her to spread Casey’s ashes. Max drove them outside the city limits and she rocked Evie in her lap shedding tears along the way. Contrarily, she wished Mitchell was here with her. Better get used to it, she reminded herself. She wasn’t ready to let go of Casey but she didn’t want to hold on either. She spread Casey over a remote field of violets as the sun warmed the world and she was soothed by the subtle scent of flowers. Grace held Evie on her hip as she whispered her goodbyes and promises. Max waited in the car.
“I’m gonna miss you,” Grace began and buried her face in
Evie’s neck, taking comfort in her soft skin, the scent of baby shampoo. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you but I’m going to do my best. Watch over us.”
Grace paced through the knee high violet
for a while, reluctant to leave Casey, to get back to her real world. When she knew she was in danger of missing the flight, she took a deep breath and brushed Evie’s hair back.
“Mommy’s gonna help me with you,” Grace told
Evie who stared at her hair and tugged.
When Grace and
Evie got back in the car Max looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“We’re going straight to the plane. Mitchell’s already there with your suitcases,” Max informed her.
She nodded as Evie fell asleep on her lap. She cuddled the baby close and dozed. When the car stopped Max helped her out. She was nervous to see how Mitchell was going to react to her but she shouldn’t have worried. Gone was her lover from the night before or the man who pleaded with her to reconsider his offer. Mitchell typed on his laptop while making calls. He didn’t look up when they sat across the aisle from him. He avoided looking at or speaking to her directly. It doesn’t matter, she thought. She had Evie now and that was that. She and Mitchell would go their separate ways and she could forget they had ever happened.
She reclined her seat and slept curled around
Evie.
Casey slapped down a newspaper in front of Grace who was madly typing an email on her cell. She jumped and glared at her sister who was dressed in her high school uniform and pigtails. Casey plopped onto her seat and stole several fries from Grace’s untouched food.
“
You know Mitchell Price?” Casey breathed as she munched on the fries and twirled her hair around a finger.
Grace sent the email and set her phone down deliberately and looked at the newspaper article. It was a picture from her date with Mitchell when they saw a show on broad way two weeks ago. In the two months she’d been dating Mitchell she lost count of the number of pictures that appeared in the tabloids. Mitchell wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest and told her to look at it as free advertisement for the boutique. That didn’t alter the fact that it freaked her out to see a picture of herself as front page news.
“He’s hot!” Casey exclaimed.
“He invested in the boutique,” she said repressively.
Casey bobbed her eyebrows. “Looks like he’s investing in more than the boutique. He’s holding your hand in this picture and most of the others I’ve seen.”
Grace munched on cold fries as Casey ordered the same for herself. She tried to figure out what to tell her baby sister. She didn’t know where t
hings were going with Mitchell Price. She knew they had chemistry and she wasn’t sure whether he invested in the boutique because he really believed she could turn it around or because he wanted her. Either way, it worked. Her sales at the boutique was booming. Everyone wanted the dresses she wore out on her dates with Mitchell. Amy could barely keep up. She had never been so elated and scared in her life. After years of struggling, how could her personal and business life suddenly be doing so well because of one encounter with a millionaire?
“Mitchell and I are dating. Kinda,” Grace said uncomfortably.
Casey sipped her chocolate shake and her brows rose. “Kinda dating? What’s that mean?”
“It means he’s not the type to get serious about anyone.”
Grace had been warned about Mitchell’s reputation before she even set foot in the party that brought her into his orbit. She hadn’t anticipated that the impact of him would be so potent or that he would find her just as intriguing. She had never connected with anyone the way she did with Mitchell. She couldn’t believe it when he asked her out and continued to see her whenever he was in the city. She wanted to keep their dates quiet but Mitchell felt no such qualms. He wanted to eat at the most exclusive restaurants or the hottest shows with her by his side which made it hard to keep anything private. Grace knew it was stupid to mix business and pleasure but she found herself powerless to stop what was happening and she didn’t want to. She knew Mitchell wasn’t the type to commit or stick around and neither was she so she would let it unfold and hope that when the heat cooled between them and he left she would have enough business to keep the boutique going.
“That’s probably true,” Casey said with a sigh. “I saw him with Galina
Gotties a couple of months ago. She’s a Victoria’s Secret model.”
Grace clenched her back teeth. She so didn’t need her little sister pointing that out. “I know that, Casey. It’s mostly business between us.”
“You hardly ever date.”
Grace glared at her. “What are you saying?”
“I know you don’t want to be like mom so you stay away from guys. When I saw all the newspapers I thought there had to be a mistake. I can’t believe you’re with a millionaire out of all people. Does he know about mom?”
“Of course not.”
Grace ignored the trill of her phone. “My business life is totally separate from my personal.”
Casey bit into her burger and chewed thoughtfully. “I guess it’s best you don’t tell someone like him that mom blackmails rich guys.”
“Casey!” Grace snapped.
Casey laughed. “Well, my dad died so mom’s been extra crazy this past year, trying to get your dad to pay more.”
“I hope he leaves her high and dry,” Grace snapped.
Casey shrugged and changed the subject. “You put too much into my account.”
“I’m doing better and I want you to move out from mom as soon as you can.”
“Somebody has to watch out for her.”
“Don’t feel sorry for her, Casey. She’s made herself into what she is today. Don’t ever tell her about the money. She’ll drain your account in a heartbeat.”
“She saw the newspaper. She’ll probably show up at your door sooner or later asking for money since she’s not getting money from my dad.”
“She’s not getting a penny from me,” Grace snarled.
Casey snorted. “When she saw the newspaper she went ballistic. I’m not sure why and then she started laughing until she cried. I thought she drank too much vodka. Oh well. She thinks you should get pregnant as soon as possible.”
Grace’s stomach dipped sickly. She eyed Casey who watched people walk past the window. Casey had no business living with someone like Vicky but she felt obligated to their mother, God knows why. She didn’t want Casey to think like their mother.
“Casey, you know mom’s crazy, right?” Grace said.
Casey sighed. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re doing good though. I was so proud to see you in the paper. I showed all my friend and they’re so jealous.”
“Casey, if mom gets to be too much you know you can always come-”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. So does Mitchell Price have a limo?”
Grace walked back to her apartment with Casey’s words revolving in her head. What would Mitchell think if he found out about her mother? Vicky was probably blackmailing one of his peers, she thought in disgust. She knew her dad lived in New York and the upper crust was so selective she knew she was probably rubbing shoulders with her biological father. What a creepy thought. She had absolutely no interest who paid Vicky to keep quiet about a child he wouldn’t claim. Whatever. She would make her own way in life. She didn’t need a dad. She just needed Mitchell Price.
She shivered a little as she pictured him in her mind. He was hot alright. Smoking hot and she knew his body intimately. It had been a long time since she was with a man and she couldn’t find an ounce of regret in giving herself to Mitchell. He made her feel like a goddess and he didn’t try to butt into her business. He expected the boutique to do well and it had with his publicity. Mitchell respected her as an equal because he knew nothing of her background and she wanted to keep it that way at all costs. She doubted Mitchell would be around long but just the opportunity to be in the same circles with him was mind blowing. That they were great in bed together didn’t hurt either but she knew it would come to an end sooner rather than later. She bared her teeth as she recalled the model Casey mentioned.
Models. Really? She looked down at herself and shook her head. If the man was used to heiresses and models she was definitely a fling. Oh well. She had a business to see to.
Her phone rang when she was several blocks from her apartment. She glanced at the caller and felt her nerves sizzle.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” he demanded tersely.
“Walking home. Where are you?”
“At your apartment.
We need to talk.”
She stopped.
“About what?”
“I’ll tell my driver to pick you up. This neighborhood’s not safe. Where are you exactly?”
She bristled. “This neighborhood is fine and I’ll see you in five minutes.”
She hung up on him and ignored her phone which began to ring. He’d been gone for a week and a half on business and now he showed up on her doorstep and wanted to “talk”?
Since when? Had he found somebody else while he was in Paris? Another model?
By the time Grace walked up to her building she was fuming and trying to hide it. Mitchell was, after all, an investor so she would have to work with him professionally and she needed to be polite. Neither had promised anything, she knew but still… She might throw a right hook if he said he found another model.
Mitchell stood outside of her apartment door, tapping his shoe. When she walked towards him he pocketed the phone and glared at her.
“I said my driver could pick you up.”
“I don’t need your driver to pick me up. I was fine walking.”
“It’s almost ten. Why are you walking around at night anyway?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll ask you for permission next time, Dad.”