For Richer, For Poorer （To Have or To Hold, Book Two）

CHAPTER 3

　　After a day of trying to relax, it was soon time for my dinner with Jace. I thought back over my time in Barbados, and I remembered the butterflies that were present whenever I was going to be spending the evening with him.

　　Now they were replaced with a numb sensation, and I wasn’t as excited as I should’ve been. Maybe it was because this wasn’t a date; this was an opportunity for us both to talk, and I would hopefully get some answers out of him. I could live in hope. That’s all I had left.

　　I hated not being in control of my own life and relinquishing that control over to somebody else to sort something out. I usually liked taking the reins, and yet all’s I seemed to do with Jace, is hand them over to him.

　　At seven o’clock, Jace was at my apartment, ready to collect me for the evening. Wearing my little black dress and heels, I was ready, yet not as raring, to go.

　　“You are a vision,” he complimented, stepping in and handing me a bunch of red roses.

　　“Thank you,” I replied, taking them from him and quickly locating a vase for the flowers. “Where are we going tonight?”

　　“To a nice restaurant that I like to escape to, every now and then,” he explained, waiting for me as I filled the vase with water and placed the roses inside.

　　“You escape often?” I chuckled, placing the rose-filled vase on the kitchen window ledge.

　　“Whenever I can. I find it best.”

　　Giving him a side-eye, I watched as he looked on at me in a serious fashion, and the more he came out with, the more I realised that I didn’t have a clue what went on inside that handsome head of his.

　　Allowing me to link his arm in his, we left the apartment, and I doublechecked the front door was locked before we headed down to the carpark. Jace had drove an Astin Martin here tonight, and I wondered whether he was on the run from the law – changing vehicles at every pitstop, so the police didn’t have a clue what car they were looking for.

　　Getting in and settling myself on the sleek leather interior, with its built-in displays and navigational systems, I could totally see why James Bond drove one of these cars.

　　“How many cars do you actually own?” I chuckled, fastening my seatbelt as Jace started the engine.

　　“A few,” he flippantly replied – hardly giving me a direct answer, again.

　　“I gathered that,” I murmured back, looking out of the window.

　　As we drove along, I thought about how many years it would take me to save for one of these cars, and it was doable – if I didn’t have a home, bills, and if I never ate anything for the rest of my life.

　　It highlighted to me how much money was at Jace’s disposal, to afford a multitude of luxury vehicles, and that was something that I could only have dreamt of. I still couldn’t work out whether that was a whole “good for him” situation, as it was his money, or whether it was a huge waste.

　　Arriving at the restaurant, Jace parked in front of the building, and a valet came out to take the car and park it somewhere secure. That was one job that I’d never want – I’d end up writing off the car after hitting the accelerator too hard by accident, and crashing into the nearest hedge.

　　Taking my hand in his, he led me into the restaurant, which oozed ambience, romance, and perfection, which dripped from its walls. Eyeing up the extravagant chandeliers which draped from the ceiling, we were led to our table by the waiter, who pulled out my seat for me to sit down and handed us both a menu.

　　“This place is gorgeous,” I remarked, taking in my surroundings of drapery, candles, and soft music.

　　“It’s one of the best,” he replied, scanning over his menu.

　　After selecting what meals we wanted to eat and being served some wine, I felt that now was the time to start asking questions, and hopefully receive some answers.

　　“I can’t work you out at all,” I commented, placing my wine glass down after taking a sip.

　　“That’s random.” He grinned, doing the same with his own glass.

　　“Not as random as the half-answers and behaviour I get out of you.”

　　“Wow, just come out with it.” He smiled, and I wondered whether I was overstepping the mark.

　　Even though it sounded ridiculous, I kept forgetting that this was now my boss that was sat over the way from me. It was probably because I’d gotten to know him in such a different way, and it wasn’t the average way of getting to know your future boss. Plus, did he often take his employees out for dinner on a Saturday night? I would’ve liked to have thought that he didn’t.

　　“It’s the truth, Jace. Or should I call you Mr. Morgan? I never know what persona I’m going to be facing from one day to the next.”

　　He sighed, fixing his cutlery that lay next to his plate. “I don’t mean to mess you around, Becca.”

　　“And yet you always seem to. I want answers, and you’re even incapable of providing them.” I sighed, lowering my eyeline and shaking my head.

　　Why was I out to dinner with him again?

　　“Becca, I’m so sorry,” Jace replied, reaching out and laying his hand on mine. “I’ve tried to stay away from you, but now…”

　　“What do you mean, you’ve tried to stay away from me? Wow, that makes me feel really desirable,” I huffed, pulling my hand away and taking a glug of wine.

　　“I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighed again, sitting back in his chair. “No matter how much I want to open up to you, you don’t realise how hard I find it to tell anyone the most basic of things about myself.”

　　“Well let’s start from the beginning, then, shall we?” I replied, feeling my patience slip. “What were you doing on my flight?”

　　His brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

　　“Jace,” I began, leaning forward, “look around you. You have money that I couldn’t even dream of. I’ve seen a few of the cars you drive, and yet you were flying economy to Barbados? That makes no sense.”

　　“If that’s the most baffling thing about me, then I’ve gotten off lightly.” He smirked, before seeing the unimpressed look on my face. “Okay, I can tell you that. Even wealthy people don’t mind flying economy every now and then. I had to fly last-minute to Barbados, and I booked a quick and affordable flight. Yeah, I could’ve gotten a private jet or gone first class, but if I would have, we may not have met. Don’t you think it was meant to be?”

　　“You’d make a great politician.”

　　“How so?” he wondered.

　　“Because you answer a question in an indirect manner, and still manage to swerve it back on to me. Meant to be or not, at least I have a partial reply to an answer to that question. So, what were you doing in Barbados? I saw you suited and booted, talking to some businessmen. Don’t even tell me that it was a fancy-dress party.” I arched an eyebrow his way.

　　Jace laughed, and I could see the glint in his eye at being caught out.

　　“I was buying the hotel,” came his answer.

　　“Because that’s normal.” I chuckled to myself, sipping more of my wine. “You were just randomly buying a hotel?”

　　“No, I wasn’t ‘randomly’ buying anything. I’ve wanted it for a while, and I knew that the owner wanted to sell. I like it there.”

　　“It is a beautiful place. On that I’ll agree with you.”

　　“But not on anything else?” He grinned.

　　“We’ll see.” I grinned back.

　　“Okay, and what else do you want to know?” he asked, scanning my face as if to observe every one of my facial expressions.

　　Before I could answer, our meals appeared at our table, so waiting for the waiter to lay them out before us, our conversation halted until he was out of earshot.

　　Leaning back into him, I lay the napkin on my lap. “I want to know how the hell your brother got into my apartment, and why did you tell me that you had no family?”