Page 13 of Billionaire Retreat

“Now, see,” he said picking himself up from the ground, “if you hadn’t come along, you wouldn’t have gotten a chance to do that.”

“You’re just as annoying now as you were when you were seven.”

“Thanks, bro, love you too.”

I listened to their banter and found myself wondering what it would have been like to have a sibling. Kenny was the closest thing I had. He was my dad’s nephew, but his mom worked a lot so he’d spent most weekends and evenings at our house. And before he had moved out to L.A. to go live with his dad, we had pretty much talked to each other every day. He had been so excited to hear that I was moving to L.A. and had readily extended me an invitation to live in the small apartment complex that he owned. He’d inherited it from his grandmother since he was the only grandchild on his father’s side of the family.

Finally, Jackson left, stealing a pastry off his brother’s plate and running away laughing.

“It’s like you guys are still kids.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll be acting the same way well into our 90s.”

“I think you’re right.”

“So, tell me more about yourself, Nina. We were rudely interrupted yesterday. You mentioned that you meant to audition for a swimsuit model position. Is that what you’re into? Modeling and acting?”

“I have no interest in being a model and frankly, we both know my butt is too big for that anyway.”

“But what a lovely butt it is.”

“Thanks, Griffin. You’re too kind.”

“I know.”

I playfully rolled my eyes at him. “So anyway, like I was saying—I’d love to be a professional actress. Drama club was the only thing that held my interest in school. I liked programming too, but I didn’t apply myself enough. At least, that’s what my teacher said before she sent me to detention for doing absolutely no homework.”

“Acting and programming? Those are two very different fields,” he commented.

“I know… they’re not very similar, but that’s what I liked in high school.”

“Where’d you go to college?”

That was a sore point for me, but I decided to just be honest. “I went to a state school not far from home. I was two semesters short of graduating but I didn’t have the focus for it. I decided to come out here to L.A. and try my hand at acting instead.”

“I hope it works out for you. I hope you get to see your name in lights or on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.”

“Maybe… maybe one day.”

“Have a little faith in yourself, Nina. If you don’t have faith in yourself, how are others expected to believe in you?”

I knew he was right. “Self-confidence has never been my strength.”

“Just fake it until you make it. Isn’t that L.A.’s motto?”

“I can’t believe I’m taking advice from a man who eats ten pastries for breakfast.”

“Don’t judge me,” he said jokingly and I laughed. I always found myself laughing in Griffin’s presence. I think I was starting to develop a little bit of a crush on him. To be honest, I think it was more than a crush. Not only was I very attracted to him, I liked who he was. I liked his anti-social tendencies. I liked his sense of family responsibility and the way he lived his life by his own set of rules. He had his quirks, but didn’t we all?

He was a cool guy and I wondered if maybe he would be interested in getting to know me once we left the island.

As if reading my mind, he said, “I like you, Nina Charles. You’re different from most of the women in L.A. that I’ve known.”

“Really, how so?” I tried to act as if his words didn’t have an effect on me, but his opinion mattered to me more than I cared to admit.

“You’re charming in the most innocent way. You’re sweet. You don’t laugh at my jokes because you think I want you to. You laugh at them because you genuinely think I’m funny.”

“So I’m one of a million girls that actually find you humorous. Go figure.”