“Thanks.”
“Thorn.”
She nodded. “I know. You’re a pretty famous man.”
I hoped my celebrity wasn’t just based on my scandal with Titan. I did a lot of work for my company, allowed my parents to retire comfortably, and I built companies from the ground up—ones that were immensely successful. I didn’t want history to reduce me to a man who’d loved and lost a woman. “Unfortunately.”
“It’s always lonely at the top. The higher you go, the more people there are to watch you fall.”
My eyes narrowed on her face, surprised by the second wise thing she’s said. She’d laid out some surprising things that I’d never expected her to say. But then again, this woman operated on a different wavelength. I should stop comparing her to the women I usually hooked up with so I wouldn’t be so surprised. “Very true.”
She took another drink from her glass, this time, licking her lips.
Now I wondered if she did that on purpose. It was impossible for me not to obsess over that perfect mouth. It would feel so good all over me, from my mouth down to my ball sac. “Are you from New York?”
“Brooklyn.”
“Born and raised?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Are your parents still around?”
“Yeah. They live in Connecticut now. They aren’t big fans of the city. They prefer the quiet countryside.”
“What about you?”
“I prefer the noise. It’s what I’m used to.”
I couldn’t imagine myself living anywhere else but in the heart of Manhattan. The world was going at constant speed, and I loved living in the fast lane. I liked staying out until four a.m. because nothing ever closed in the city that never slept. “They must be proud of you.”
“They are.” She smiled when she spoke of her parents. “My father was a high school teacher, and my mother took care of the house. Money was always an issue for us. My mother could never work because she has a condition.”
I didn’t ask what it was because I didn’t feel like I had the right to ask. But I’d deduced that they could only afford to move to Connecticut because she took care of them. “What did your father teach?”
“Physics.”
“That must be where you get it from.”
“Probably,” she said with a chuckle. “I always had a private tutor to help me when I came home from school.”
“You provide for them?”
She nodded. “They have very comfortable lives now. That makes me happy. They did the best they could, and I’m glad I can repay them after everything they’ve done for me.”
I knew I would do the same for my parents. I was close to my family, so it was something I could relate to. I admired her for doing that because not everyone was so generous. When people had money, it only made them greedy. “Then they must be even more proud of you.”
Despite the smile she wore, she shrugged. She never announced her success or bragged about her qualities. She wasn’t even conceited about her looks. She was one of the humblest people I’d ever met. Most people I knew in the business world were successful but also fiercely insecure. They compensated for their fear by bragging even more. The truly successful people said very little about themselves—because they actually wanted to hide their stunning success.
“You’re close to your family?” she asked.
If she saw me in the tabloids a lot, then she probably already knew this. “Very.”
She gave a slight nod. “That’s nice.”
“I have a younger brother too. He works in Chicago, so I don’t see him a lot. But when we’re together, we have a good time.”
“I’m an only child.”
I drank my scotch. “When did you start your company?”
“Shortly after I dropped out of college. So I was about eighteen at the time. My parents were so angry when I left the university and started working out of a storage shed. But within a year, I made some money and could pay my bills. After that, everything escalated very quickly. I’ve built on my existing technology and have created some magnificent things.”
“What are you working on now?”
She wore a guarded smile. “You know I can’t tell you that, Thorn.”
I didn’t consider our conversation a conflict of interest. I wasn’t planning on telling Titan any of this. The real reason I was having this conversation was simply because I wanted to get to know her. “I’m impressed by your work. I can only imagine what goes on in that brain of yours every day.”
“I have the same thoughts as anyone else my age. The only reason why I’m unique is because I apply my knowledge differently. That’s all.”
“I think you’re being too humble.”
“Or simply too honest.” She drank from her glass, and when she set it down, there was a bright lipstick mark around the edge. “Do you like working for your family’s company?”
“I don’t work for it. I own it.” I wasn’t on a power trip. I just didn’t want her to think I worked under my father or some other family member. My parents had walked away from the company over a decade ago. I’d been the chief operator of it ever since. “My parents are retired, and my brother is more interested in becoming a lawyer.”
“My mistake.”
I didn’t want to sound like a dick, but I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of me. I wasn’t some lazy rich boy. I worked hard for my money. I made my family proud of me by the effort I put into preserving our legacy. “And yes, I enjoy it. I’ve started other companies too, so I have other businesses as well.”
“Sometimes I think about
