AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hmm... now that you mention it, I do like surprises.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. We’ll see each other soon, Heather. One way or another.”
I was caught up in his flirting game again. How had that happened? Thursday, I thought a little flirting couldn’t do any damage, but now I was wondering if I hadn’t started something I couldn’t stop.
He smiled, winking at me before I left. My stomach flipped a few times. I pressed my palm against it, but all that accomplished was to make me aware of how erratic my pulse was. Yeah, I’d definitely started something I had no idea how to stop... or if I even wanted to.
Chapter Six
Ryker
I intended to talk to Owen, a fellow fund director, first thing the next morning, but he was out of the office until later in the day. At noon, I met with my siblings and my cousin Hunter for lunch.
We had “working” lunches once or twice a week. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up. All our offices were located in Manhattan. My brother Cole worked with my cousin, Hunter. They ran one of the most successful real estate development companies around.
A few years back, we’d started having work lunches because it was the only time we had to talk about our joint charity project, the Ballroom Galas.
The gala season ran from September to June, and we had events periodically. There wasn’t a set number of galas—it depended on how many projects we were donating to and how much each event raised. The March ball was approaching fast.
We called these meetings family councils because the galas were a family affair, and we took great pride in it. Tess, Skye, and I were in charge of the organization, Cole and Hunter brought in the donors. I couldn’t invite clients, because that would be a conflict of interest.
In the beginning, it had been a hell of a lot of work setting everything up, but now it ran like a well-oiled machine, which meant that our family councils were actually catching up time.
Cole and Hunter were already in the meeting room we always met in when I arrived, sitting on opposite sides of the rectangular glass table. I decided to sit next to my brother.
“Where is Josie?” I asked Hunter.
“She’s got another meeting and couldn’t make it.”
“Ah, the perils of being a successful lawyer,” I said.
My sisters came in just after me, dropping into chairs on either side of Hunter.
“The delivery app says our food will be here in fifteen minutes,” Tess said. “In the meantime... who has news?”
“Or even just juicy gossip would do,” Skye added. I considered mentioning Heather, then immediately decided not to. I wasn’t ready for everyone to chime in with their opinions.
I schooled my features to appear neutral and shrugged. “Nothing on my front.”
Skye pouted. “Come on. Tess and I could use some distraction.”
My thoughts went to Heather again. Did she have family here? It didn’t seem that was the case from the way she spoke.
“Why don’t we focus on the upcoming gala?” I said. It was just one week away.
“Because everything is ready. There’s no open issue.” Tess grinned. She was onto me.
Cole cocked a brow. “You keeping secrets, Ryker?”
Hunter grimaced. “Don’t do that. Didn’t work too well for me and Josie.”
I had no clue why I thought my subject change would go unnoticed.
Skye was the only one who wasn’t pouncing on me.
“You’re definitely keeping secrets,” she said after a few seconds, flashing me a shit-eating grin.
“Girls, why so mistrusting?” I grinned, looking between the two of them.
