Lying there in bed together entwined, touching and talking and making love, Alice felt like she’d been given the gift once again of innocence, to look at him and wonder, to admire him, to love him without the burden of anxiety.
She wasn’t even concerned when it came time for them to rise and get ready for the press conference, still encapsulated as she was in the bubble of their intimacy. She decided to wear a dress that Dylan had bought for her, a cobalt blue wrap dress that was professional-looking but still complimented her figure and eyes. When she saw Dylan choose a dark blue suit, she walked into his enormous walk-in closet and chose a cobalt blue tie. She draped it around his neck, grinning.
“So we look like we go together.”
He quirked his dark eyebrows and slid the tie beneath his collar. “We more than just look like it.”
His reply made her giddy. She grinned wider and started to turn away to put on her shoes. He caught her hand. She turned around, her eyebrows arching when she realized how sober he looked.
“You don’t fully grasp it yet, Alice, but your life is about to change forever,” he said quietly. Her smile faded at his intensity. “You’re about to be acknowledged as Alan Durand’s sole heir. You’re a very wealthy woman. People are going to question our involvement. They’re going to insinuate and assume a lot of things about us.”
“I don’t care about that—”
He held up a hand. “Let me finish.”
Alice nodded.
“I want a future with you,” he stated simply.
“I want one with you, too.”
“Because of that basic truth, I will never, upon any occasion, ask you for or share a penny of the money or estate your parents left you. Never. That’s not a shifting promise, Alice. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to step down as the executor of your trust. You can take it over yourself, or hire a legal and financial representative or a team to handle it. If you want advice on who to hire, I’ll give it, or I’ll point you in the direction of someone else who can advise you on some different candidates. The point is, you are the sole beneficiary. It’s your choice to make.”
Alice flushed in discomfort. “Do we really have to talk about this now?”
He squeezed her hand. “Yes. Don’t let the topic of money make you wary. You, of all people, are going to have to learn to talk bluntly about it. It’s not crucial to our relationship, but it is important in a general sense to your life. Very. I want you to know right up front that, thanks to Alan and the success of Durand, I’m not doing too badly myself.”
She exhaled in exasperation. She knew a thing or two about Dylan’s financial standing, thanks to the research study she’d done. “You’re worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I realize you’re hardly pauper material, Dylan. Do you think I care?”
“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish at Durand. But if some day, you decide you want to take the helm—”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “Dylan, that’s such a ludicrous possibility at this point.”
“At this point, it may feel like it,” he said quietly. He reached up and touched her cheek. She moved her chin, assured by his touch, and looked up at him in quiet desperation. “I assure you, with your talents, it won’t always seem so bizarre. I just want you to know, I’ll be okay no matter what. I could have a whole new future somewhere else.”
“I don’t want you somewhere else,” she said emphatically, alarmed at the mere thought.
He smiled that smile that always made something pull tight inside her, the one that made her feel so cherished. “When it comes to you and me, I’ll always be here. A job is something different. You know that.”
She nodded, a measure of relief seeping through her. “I can’t do this without you, Dylan. Don’t leave me just when I’m taking my first steps.”
“I’m not going to leave you,” he assured, his eyes flashing. “I just don’t want you to ever have to think twice again, like you did with Thad Schaefer, when he started in with his insinuations about me.”
“I didn’t ever believe you only wanted Alan’s money,” she denied hotly.
He quirked one brow. “You thought about it, even if not for long, and even if you did discount it in the end.”
“I never—” She cut off her defense, frowning as she considered how miserable she’d been the night Thad alleged Dylan had ulterior motives when it came to her. Maybe Dylan was right. The insinuations had created a splinter, one that could have easily grown into a giant wedge, if she’d ever let it.
“You see what I mean?” he asked, reading her expression. “Money can easily get between people and split them apart. It happens before they even realize it is. I won’t let that happen to us, no matter how unusual our situation is.” He leaned forward and kissed her brow. “That’s why I’m telling you right now.” His dark eyes gleamed with determination. “It will never, ever happen, that I will take anything from your estate; so you never, ever have to think twice about it. Alan left you a legacy—”