was there. Robert was at my place, and Wanda and Ashton never lived there, but always had access.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Robert purchased this place a couple of months later, and we moved in.”
“Who?”
“Just Robert and me.” He grabbed another cigarette and his lighter. “I knew the place wasn’t for me. It was for his son.” I watched his sophisticated movements, lighting and inhaling the cigarette. “You see, his highbrow mother, Rosemary Spencer, didn’t feel Robert turning himself into a self-made millionaire was enough. He had to date girls, marry one, and give her a grandchild.”
“She’s a bossy one, huhn?”
“Extremely. When her husband died, Robert became an obsession, and it almost broke him. But the grandchild wasn’t for her, per se. She was clear, Robert having a child was for his legacy. He needed an heir to take over the business he’d started. Rosemary knew she couldn’t do that for him. She’s too old. The fast-food restaurant business is a long-term game. She demanded that to protect her son. I guess I can understand that.”
“Does Ashton want to take over B-Way Burger?”
“That, you’ll have to ask him, dear heart. He barely speaks to me.” I watched Jimmy take a drink and a smoke before he continued, “I’ve been doing my part all these years with making sure he accesses his and the company’s quarterly earnings. I had to learn the system to stay on top of his lawyers and accountants. Many are the same people Robert worked with since he made his first million. And that Rosemary makes sure I stay on Ashton.”
“What about Ms. Wanda? Does she stay on you, too—to stay on top of Ashton?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Wanda Lee and I have been cordial over the years since Robert died, but she doesn’t speak of the money or business. It could be because she has her own relationship with one of the accountants and both the lawyers.”
“So, he doesn’t have to do anything? His father set everything in motion for him?” My eyes swept around the living room. “All of this was left to him? And all he has to do is breathe?”
Jimmy blew out smoke. “Not exactly. Ashton knows how to make calls regarding money. He’s got a good heart, too—though you’d do well not telling him I think so. He’s kept a few of the staff members after Robert passed. He pays their salaries, just as his father would have. He’s generous to his mother, too.”
That I knew from Thanksgiving. The thought of a kid giving his mother a luxury car still blew my mind. But I had been sensing Ashton’s generosity—had been experiencing it. Even now, I knew the gifts I managed for him wouldn’t compare to whatever he got me. That was if he’d gotten me anything at all.
“Is he anything like his father?” I was so desperate to know more about the strange and bossy human I’d been giving my body to.
“A lot,” he murmured, eyes out to the dancing fire.
“How?”
“They’re both abundantly confident men, both with brilliant minds, and both have and had impeccable taste. The only person Robert backed down to was his mother. But I told you much of that changed with me.” He shrugged. “Sir Ashton? Well, that remains to be seen.”
“What do you mean?”
That’s when Jimmy shifted in his seat to face me. His eyes bore into me with a meaning I didn’t quite get right away. “Sir Ashton has a girlfriend, dear heart.”
My eyes rolled away. “I know.”
“Your name is not Aivery. You don’t look like her, talk like her, or behave like her.”
I lifted my chin. “And you don’t like her.” I knew it from his statement earlier.
“I don’t.” He didn’t flinch. “But Rosemary adores her. Aivery comes from social status, exudes class, and is well-postured physically and in society. And you?” He took a long sip of his drink. I found myself gulping back the rest of mine. Fuck the burn.
“What about me?”
“You’re like me.” His brows lifted. “You’re not packaged correctly. You’re…”
“Unpolished?” I straightened my spine. “Poor?”
“Reckless is what I was going to say.” His head tilted. “And so is Sir Ashton. I don’t know anything about your finances, but I do know the type Rosemary Spencer thinks she is and knows what she wants of her kinfolk. She wants the best.”
“You don’t think I can be?” I cleared my throat nervously, chin lifted again.
Ashton made me feel I was good enough to hang out with, spend money on, help with school