"And what does that have to do with you?"
He shrugged. "I got him some work with a development planning firm that is willing to teach him the ropes. Now we'll just see if he enjoys that sort of job." He smiled at her. "If not, I'll find him something else to try."
More cousins came in, crowding around their table, and she didn't have a chance to question him further. But as they left the café and walked toward where Ross had parked his car, she held onto his arm and thought about him.
Mickey was right. He was the best. Just knowing that gave her a warm glow.
The point of their excursion had been to introduce her to Carringtons who didn't try to put on the Ritz, so to speak, and she'd met plenty. All that was very reassuring, but the fact remained-his parents did. And his parents were the ones who counted.
The trouble was, the more she thought about his mother and all those important ancestors, the more she began to let the doubts and anxieties mix into her relationship with Ross. It was a viper eating away at the heart of her love for him.
"Aren't you ever going to come live here with me?" she asked him abruptly a few days after he got back. She hadn't meant to say the words that way. She'd meant to invite and coax him with smiles and kisses, because she wanted him with her, wanted him in her bed every night. But the words came out awkwardly and when he looked at her, his face was impassive.
Something was wrong. He could tell that much. She'd been moody all day. Maybe, he thought as he looked at her, he'd been crowding her too much. Maybe she needed more room and this was her way of confronting the issue. If he said yes, he'd like to move in with her, she would have no recourse. But if he said no, she could always make an effort to talk him into it.
"I don't think so," he said carefully. "My place is close to the office and I have all my things there."
He waited, hoping she would laugh and give his reasons the contemptuous shove over a cliff they deserved. But she didn't laugh. Her face got very still and she nodded.
"All right," she said quietly. "If that's what you want."
It wasn't what he wanted at all, but it seemed to be what would satisfy her, and he was glad he'd done things that way so that the truth could come out. The last thing he wanted to do was anything to mess up this relationship. He'd never known a woman like Charity. He didn't want to do anything to risk losing her.