Page 71

He chuckled. “To be fair, you only mentioned a nice car. But I’ll make note of the jet, too.” Anthony pulled out a laptop from his computer bag and placed it on the table in front of him. She eyed it as he signed in and opened up spreadsheets that she didn’t have a prayer of understanding. When he glanced in her direction, the amusement filled his face again. “We never went over what I do for work, did we?”

“No, we didn’t.” Harley shifted in her seat. “But I suppose it doesn’t really matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

She shook her head. “We both come from money. I have more coming to me than I could spend in several lifetimes. If you wanted to quit your job and become a street performer, then I wouldn’t stop you.”

This time, he laughed. “A street performer, huh? Anything specific? Painter? Singer? Dancer?”

“Mime?” she said.

His laugh grew louder. “I think I’d have to draw the line at being a mime. Somehow, I don’t think my daughter would approve of me dressed as one. They tend to go hand in hand with clowns.”

Harley bit back a smile. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t look great in makeup.” She nodded to the computer. “Looks like you work with numbers, though.”

“Most businesses do.”

“Finance?”

He shot a quick look at her out of the corner of her eye. “Good call. Is that what your father does?”

She shook her head and then shrugged. “Actually, maybe he does. I don’t know.”

“I work in a corporate loan office overseeing accounts from some of the biggest corporations all over the world.”

“That sounds… boring.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not as exciting as scooping up the excrement left behind in a horse stall.”

She gasped. “That isn’t my job.”

“Really? Because that’s what you were up to when I showed up,” he teased.

Their lighthearted banter was almost enough to help her forget the man she’d left behind. Anthony was sweet, funny, and kind. But there was one thing he wasn’t, and it was becoming increasingly obvious.

He didn’t challenge her. He might be the kind of guy who could support her. He might even offer to help her do what she wanted to achieve. Unfortunately, the more time she spent with him, the more she wondered what he would do if, one day, she decided to throw out her ideals and let go of her dreams. What if she regressed into the person she didn’t want to be anymore?

Would Anthony push her to be a better person?

Mason had. Harley didn’t even realize it until this moment. Mason challenged her to be a better person, but it wasn’t just that. He did so simply by being an example. Somehow, he made her want to be good simply by being himself.

“Uh-oh, there’s that frown again.”

Her eyes darted to Anthony. “What frown? I’m not frowning.”

“Yes, you are. There’s this perpetual crease between your brows, and the line of your mouth is distinctly turned downward. I get the feeling that you’re not happy.”

She turned away from him. “Well, you’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not.”

Harley snorted.

“It’s okay. It takes a lot of time to figure out what you want and how you want it to go. That’s why we’re going to have an updated contract drawn up when we get back.”

“That’s not going to fix what’s wrong.”

Anthony was quiet for a moment. “See? I knew something was wrong.”