Page 49 of Gold Rush

“Slow.” I exhale, not needing to fake my frustration. “Work has been super hectic. I’ve barely had time to look into anything.”

“I can⁠—”

“I need to do it myself, Kit.”

“I get that. And I wasn’t going to offer my assistance—or money—although you know you just have to ask if you need either. I was going to say that your girlfriend’s dad has set up two foundations and could be a good resource to get started.”

“Oliver?”

“Yep. He stepped back from daily operations after becoming CEO at Kensington Consolidated, but I know he was part of establishing Earthroot and Better Tomorrow. They’ve both expanded to global outreach, so he obviously did something right.”

“I—maybe.”

If I were dating Rory for real, it would be a good way to get to know her dad better. But I already know Oliver Kensington well enough to respect him, and I’m anxious about the prospect of spending time with him while lying about such a crucial fact.

Kit balls up his bag of chips and tosses it into a nearby trash can. “Your dad’s going to be thrilled when he hears about you and Rory.”

I swallow hard. “I don’t care what he thinks.”

If only that were entirely true.

16

Ipause the subway security footage when the phone begins vibrating. I glance at the screen, do a double take, then answer, worried something might be wrong.

“Hey, Kit.”

“Hey, Rory,” he answers easily, in a tone that doesn’t indicate there’s any emergency.

Yet it’s a Friday afternoon. I’m at work, and he’s presumably in his corner office at Kensington Consolidated. Kit and I have always gotten along, but we’ve never been on the sort of close terms where we randomly call each other to catch up. Especially in the middle of a weekday.

“Uh, what’s up?” I ask.

“Not much. I … I had lunch with Flynn earlier.”

Internally, I start freaking out. Because the only reason Kit would be calling me after talking to Flynn would be if Flynn mentioned me—us—and that was a conversation that wasn’t supposed to have happened yet.

I force out a flat, “Fun.”

“Yeah, we try to get together for lunch every couple of weeks. Locke’s offices aren’t far from mine, which is convenient.”

Something else occurs to me that I should have considered before agreeing to this elaborate facade. Thanks to Kit, I’m going to have to see Flynn after this “ends.” Going to have to talk to him and hear about him, and if he ever decides to get engaged for real, I’ll witness that as well. The prospect is … unpleasant.

“He mentioned you guys are dating,” Kit continues.

I knew it was coming. I drop my forehead in my palm anyway, silently mouthing every bad word I can think of.

Kit’s waiting for a response, so I reply, “Yeah, we, uh … yeah, we are.”

“He also said you guys are keeping it to yourselves. Asked me not to say anything. So, if you could not tell him I called you, that would be appreciated.”

I will absolutely be discussing this with Flynn, and I don’t understand why he would have told Kit to keep it to himself. Unless it was some reverse psychology thing? There’s no advantage to us secretly pretending to date.

“I just wanted to let you know that I think it’s great.”

That sentence pulls me up short. Great? Kit thinks me and Flynn dating is great?

I’m not sure how to feel about that. Flynn is his best friend. Obviously, Kit will support him. But their closeness also means Kit is aware of Flynn’s lackluster record when it comes to successful relationships. And he’s aware of recent events in my love life. I expected more caution, I guess? Reserved excitement?