Page 41 of Just My Luck

She shook her head. “You’re saying that my recklessness is also my greatest strength?”

“Maybe it is. I appreciate it. You probably wouldn’t have had anything to do with me if you weren’t a little reckless. I don’t even know if that’s the right word.” He cocked his head as he absorbed every detail of her tousled, damp, bright-eyed appearance. The fragrance of expensive shower gel rose from her skin. “I like open-hearted better. Carefree.”

Her pretty lips twitched in a smile. “Ironic,” she said softly. “If you knew more about me, you’d know I can’t ever be completely carefree. But you’re right, that is my nature.”

She was probably referring to her father, but she had no idea that he knew about Lucky Lou and his current address.

“What’s your greatest strength slash weakness?” she asked him, then added lightly, “Being a billionaire?”

He flinched involuntarily. “That’s not how I define myself.”

“Then how?”

No one had ever asked him such a personal question. Not even his ex-wives. He’d always had so many walls up that he never revealed much beneath the surface. They hadn’t asked, but even if they had, he would have frozen them out and never answered.

But he didn’t want to freeze out Zara.

Scratch that. He couldn’t, any more than he could freeze out the sun.

“Lonely,” he said softly.

She kept her gaze on him, not a whiff of judgement to be seen in her wide honey eyes.

“I was…am…illegitimate. My mother had an affair with my father, and it cost her. Her feelings towards me were always ambivalent. I didn’t really understand why people looked at me like I wasn’t one of them, not until later. I dedicated myself to making money as a kind of shell. I was very good at it. People looked at me differently once I made my first billion, but I didn’t feel any different. I still needed to prove myself. I still feel like an outcast. Maybe I always will.”

She ran her fingers through her damp hair. “I guess we have something in common, then. My family’s last name might as well be ‘outcast.’ That’s why Mia’s doing homeschooling right now. She’s been getting bullied at school.”

His jaw set. The idea of anyone going after Mia, with all her bravery and the sweetness shining through her Wednesday Addams facade, made him want to hurl something against the wall. “Because of your father?” he asked before he caught himself.

“You know? Oh God. I should have figured.” Groaning, she dropped her head into her hands. He leaned toward her to offer reassurance of some kind, but her moment of embarrassment didn’t last long. She lifted her head and speared him with her bright gaze. “Yes, my father is a lifelong con man. He’s currently in prison, and it’s not the first time. He can be charming when he wants to be, but he’s incapable of following rules of any kind, and he doesn’t seem to understand that embezzling and fraud hurts people. To him it’s all a game.”

He was very familiar with that mindset, having encountered it on a regular basis in the financial world. “I looked at his case. I don’t see much difference between him and most of the billionaires I encounter.”

She laughed. “That’s what he says. If you ask him, his problem is that he’s not ruthless enough. He claims that’s because he smokes too much pot and can’t be bothered to be ruthless.”

“He’s not necessarily wrong about the ruthless part. Not that I’m taking his side,” he added quickly, “since you, Mia and Eddie are paying the price.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “I feel so bad for Mia,” she whispered. “I remember what it was like to be her age and start to understand that your father is someone people see as a criminal. Because, well, he is one. He’s the reason I can’t stand lies. I grew up with so many of them.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I wasn’t aiming to deceive you. I’d never want to do that. I kissed you because…well, because I was afraid that after you knew, everything would be different. And it is.”

She nodded sadly. “It is.”

Damn it. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss away those tears. The day had been so long and exhausting, and all he wanted was to whisk her into his bedroom and cocoon her in soft, luxurious feather down and keep anything from ever causing her pain again.

Then, of all things, a smile blossomed on her face, like a seedling that would always seek the sun. “Greatest strength, greatest weakness…here’s one of mine. You said I’m openhearted and that’s true. It gets me into trouble, like the fact that I’m sitting with you here right now. But I always believe things will get better. You have to keep laughing, you have to keep having fun. Otherwise, what are we even doing here?”

She spread open her hands in a shrugging question. He thought about his own life, how…beige it felt, looking back. Beige buildings, or sometimes gray. Beige interiors—offices, planes, conference rooms. So many computer screens. So many numbers flying by. Pixels that formed numbers that represented the growth of his wealth. That was where his attention had been focused for most of his life.

Except for the CHUM.

The CHUM was different. It was unique, something entirely new that had caught his eye in a footnote in a report from a mining operation. Maybe that was why he’d been so drawn to it. Not because of how much profit it could bring. Because it was…

Magical.

Just like Zara.

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