pose. She raised her hand and

her wrist effo

it, he finally noticed: her hand wa

nd her whole body, her voice sharp with an

The more pissed she got, the more it proved she sti

chuckle. "If you had the guts to do

arisse's tone was laced with

t him. "What, Mr. Grant wants to go for round two? If you ke

n't flatter yourself. It was just... heat of the moment. Old feelings?" He

he turned and walked into the in

of the table so tightly

After her family went bankrupt, she'd heard stuff ten times mo

big deal. At least she'd earned five million out of

irst to change her clothes befor

nxious. "Charisse, why'd you text m

gaze. "It's not you, Owen. You've been gre

started trying to talk her around. I promise, I'll make her accep

her, keeping his voice soft, like an

and looked at him. "Owen, I.

ng herself to explain

s expression froze. Color drained from h

sor

g was sharp, but she kept her voice steady. "Owen, thank you for ever

e. His eyes were rimmed red, hurt and confusion tangled i

sor

en suddenly s

ven Elliot, just stepping out of the p

Come on, calm down. You know we don't work. Your mom's not wrong-my family's bankrupt, we

ed. I'm just working in a hotel now. Your family's well-off, they care about repu

on. "The bankruptcy had nothing to do with you, and the time in jail-I've been looking into

just pleading, like all his

nd ruffled his messy curls.

letely red now, tears

d her hand out of his

lashed back to the first time she'd met Owen, when he pulled up in a flashy yellow sports car, revved the engine ri

her for her when everything was falling apart. He'd burned through money like it was nothing, until his parents

owed hi

, she'd already made up her mind no

'd written down. Someday, she'd

tall, gleaming window-still standing there, shoulders slum

him stood a tal

ween them, Charisse could f