Page 23 of The Match
Isabeau turned to Georgie, Julian’s fiancée. “Darling, I hope it’s okay that we’re talking about the Deverauxes.”
Georgie had dated Kyle at one point, and he’d been a complete jackass to her. He constantly put her down and ended up cheating on her.
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry. I’ve actually never met Grace. Kyle only mentioned her a few times to say that she’d gotten married, and...” She frowned. “I didn’t like the way he spoke about her. Almost as though he didn’t like his own sister.”
“I don’t know why those boys turned out like they did. Their parents are good people,” Dad said.
“Anyway, people are saying that Grace is actually quite charitable and a good person. She just had a rough few years with the divorce and then the whole scandal with her brothers,” Isabeau went on. “What was your impression?”
That she’s smoking hot and a spitfire. “I didn’t interact enough with her to form an opinion,” I said.
“Want me to look into her financials?” Xander asked.
“No,” I said a bit too forcefully.
He frowned.
Anthony chuckled.
Beckett was grinning. “Careful, guys. We’re pissing off our brother, and I’m not even sure why.”
“I know you all want to help, but no one needs to look into anything, okay?” I insisted. “This is just going to be a passion project. If I get to do it, fine. If Grace ends up partnering with them, I won’t sweat over it.”
That wasn’t strictly true. I really wanted to invest in this, though I couldn’t explain why.
Although, after our kiss, everything changed. I couldn’t understand what the hell had been going through my mind, and I wasn’t going to try any longer. But I was starting to accept the fact that there was no denying my attraction to Grace Deveraux. It had started off as something purely physical—especially since I’d pegged her so wrong in the beginning. But she’d simply had her guard up because we’d started off on the wrong foot.
“I personally think that this would be a great side project for you,” Mom said. I tilted forward so I could see her. “You’ve always had different interests than the rest of us, and I think this is a very nice investment.”
Sometimes I thought Mom secretly wished I’d have become an EMT or a doctor so she wouldn’t be the only one who wasn’t involved in the Orleans Conglomerate. But she never told me that to my face.
“We’ll see how it goes,” I said, then looked at my grandfathers. “So, how’s fishing going?”
“Fantastic. We found this great spot. I don’t know why the fish congregate there,” Grandpa Felix said.
Grandpa David nodded. “It’s our new favorite spot. Let’s hope others don’t find it.”
I was feeling a bit guilty that I didn’t go out with them as much lately, but Dad was on it.
“I’m going to join you this weekend,” Anthony told them.
“Me too,” Beckett replied.
Those two were always a duo. But I supposed that was to be expected. They’d been very tight growing up too.
“Sure. The more, the merrier,” Felix said. “We can even make a little competition, see who gets the most fish.”
“We’re always up for that,” Anthony said lazily.
Beckett groaned. “No, I always get my ass beaten. It’s an unfair competition. You two”—he pointed to our grandfathers—“spend half your time out on the bayou.”
David laughed. “You boys can always join us.”
The competitive streak was strong in the family. But that made for great conversation, and it shifted the focus off me and Grace.
Once I left the house, though, my mind was back on her. Fucking hell, the more I tried to forget about the way she tasted, the more details I recalled. I was barely fighting the temptation to contact her. I didn’t have her phone number, but I had my ways of obtaining it. And yet I knew it was a bad idea.
When I got into the car, I decided to call Gaston. My new phone was more sophisticated than the one I’d lost in the Mississippi, and I was still getting used to it, but I liked it. Thankfully, all my contacts and other information had been backed up to the cloud, so I was able to transfer everything over as soon as I’d purchased it.
