Page 35 of Family Bonds- Emma & Warren

“Don’t compare,” she said. “I’m not like that and never will be. I never care where a person comes from. They can’t control those things. They can control what they make of themselves, and I’m not even talking about money. Those things don’t concern me.”

“Because you’ve never worried if the power would be shut off or not,” he said.

“No,” she said. “I haven’t. I will not apologize for that either. I like to think that I do good things with what I’ve got, the same as my family does.”

He nodded. “I don’t mean to get into it with you. I think I’m still processing this. All the money in the world doesn’t buy bloodlines. Women want me now for who I am or what I’ve got, but those with old money or class wouldn’t give me the time of day because of my background.”

She laughed. “Good thing I’m not like those women. Do you think people see me and think or know where I come from? I don’t want them to. It doesn’t define me. And I sure the hell worked hard to make sure that people don’t think I got where I am in my career because of any family name.”

It was the first she spoke with such conviction.

There was no smile on her lips.

No humor in her eyes.

She was dead serious and it reminded him that money comes with many burdens in life.

“I doubt many people believe that,” he said. “Maybe they buy one book to check it out, but if you aren’t good, they won’t buy another. Good authors have large fan bases that don’t always care what goes on behind the scenes. Right?”

“I think that,” she said. “But my readers and fans always want to know things about me. I’m very private about my life. Or as much as I can be. I interact with them once a week. I go on social media live and we talk about my books and my thought process. Even some of the research I’m doing.”

“I bet your fans love that you slide into the roles so that you can experience it firsthand.”

“They do,” she said. “I could research online all I wanted. Even talk to people who work in those positions, but it’s not the same as making the bed in a hotel myself. Or cleaning a toilet after a stranger has spent a week here.”

He lifted his head. “You really did that?”

“I did,” she said. “I spent one day shadowing a housekeeper here. I watched what she did and did some of the work for her. I didn’t do a great job and she had to go over it, but I got the gist. The Retreat isn’t the only hotel or resort in our family. We have several hotels in Boston and on Cape Cod. I spent time there too. It’s a different kind of guest.”

“I know,” he said. “And I bet the wealthier are dirtier.”

She pointed her fork at him. She was halfway through her filet now. “You’re right. They are so entitled. How dare they be?”

She was laughing as she said it.

“Well, we know you don’t have a private chef,” he said.

“No. I should get one, but then that would be someone I have to talk to or see. I’ll take a hard pass.”

He frowned. “I guess this goes into things I should know about you. Or if you’re interested in another date?”

“Sure,” she said. “We can talk about that.” She twirled some butter and cheese-coated spaghetti on her fork and took amouthful. He moved over to his vegetables to counter what she’d put in her mouth. “I’m not good with going out and being around people. Just letting you know that. I get lost in my work and my worlds and it’s hard to come up for air.”

“Your worlds?”

“I have to live and breathe what I’m writing for it to be the best. If it’s not, then why should I bother? That means if my characters wake me up at two in the morning because they need to find some clues for a mystery, then I have to jump up and give them my attention.”

“I live my life much more structured,” he said. “You should know that.”

“I would have never guessed,” she said, smirking and eating more pasta. “I don’t have a problem with it if you don’t have a problem with the way I live my life.”

If it didn’t make her want to run screaming in the other direction that he was OCD about certain aspects of his life, then he shouldn’t feel that about her.

But he’d never had the luxury to be that laid back.

He could be now, but he wouldn’t.

There was too much at stake.