The Tycoon's Baby Revelation - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,34

accomplished something so wonderful while working a more than full time job, embarrassed that they’d been so self-absorbed that she and Pepper had gone on their merry way, earning their own degrees while it had taken her older sister seven years to finish hers, or intense pride that her sister had done something almost miraculous.

But the whole time she smiled and listened as Pepper questioned Sloane, Rayne was painfully aware of that man. He didn’t move and he didn’t even try to hide his curiosity. How rude! How arrogant! What a jerk, she thought.

Chapter 12

Sloane fought the urge to curl up in her leather chair and fall asleep. The low hum of the plane’s engines had always been the perfect background noise for her, luring her into a deep, dreamless sleep as they traveled across the globe.

But something was wrong. Rayne was sitting stiffly in her chair, staring blankly out the nearest window. Since the jet was flying above the thick clouds, Sloane knew that Rayne wasn’t looking at anything specific.

“Hey,” she said softly. When Rayne turned her head, Sloane saw the pain there and immediately jumped up from her chair. Taking the seat next to Rayne, Sloane took her sister’s hand. “What’s wrong?”

Rayne forced her lips to smile. “I’m just…nervous about leaving you and Pepper when I head to California,” she said. “It will be the first time that the three of us will be apart.”

Sloane watched Rayne’s eyes and knew that her sister was lying. Well, mostly lying, she mentally amended. But why? What had happened that was bothering her so deeply? “Honey, you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?”

For a long moment, Rayne fought back the threatening tears and Sloane held her breath, wondering if Rayne would tell her what was wrong. But her sister’s strength won out and the tears abated. Rayne smiled and covered their clasped hands with her free hand. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “Sad about leaving. That’s all it is. I promise.”

Sloane didn’t believe her and, when she glanced over at Pepper, she suspected that their youngest sister didn’t agree either. “Fine,” she said to Rayne. “You’re not ready to talk, but know that I’m here for you, okay? No matter what’s going on, you can talk to me.”

Rayne’s chin trembled and she laid her head on Sloane’s shoulder. “Thanks!” But she remained silent. Whatever demons were troubling her, Rayne wasn’t ready to talk about them. Not just yet.

Sloane didn’t move, but her thoughts were going about a hundred miles an hour. What had happened over the past few days? Had someone said something to her over the long weekend? Had she lost the money she’d won? Instinctively, Sloane knew that it wasn’t just about traveling to another state. That might be part of it, but the three of them had talked and cried about their departures already.

No, something else was bothering her serious, strong sister. Sloane knew that she’d just have to wait it out. Rayne would talk when she’d mentally worked through the issue.

Chapter 13

“Okay, so tell Charlie to shift the funds towards the Annex issue and change the weighting,” Josh snapped.

Sloane smiled, writing down his instructions with efficient accuracy. Josh’s mind was constantly working, always sifting through the data that he knew and searching for more so that he could make an informed decision on where to move his clients’ money so it earned the best results. Over the years, Sloane had learned to interpret his generally curt instructions into more actionable directions.

“Are you laughing at me again?” he asked.

Sloane glanced up from her laptop, still smiling. “Yes,” she replied honestly. They’d been working in his penthouse today, needing to focus away from the office.

Josh leaned back against the soft suede of his sofa, clasping his hands behind his head. “Care to share the joke?”

“Nope,” she replied, closing her laptop and stuffing it into her bag. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” he told her and stood up. “Dinner.” Josh walked towards the kitchen as Sloane’s heart started pounding. Just watching him was doing strange things to her now. What had changed? Why couldn’t she just see Josh as her boss?

“Um…Josh, I need to…”

He didn’t bother to turn around when he interrupted her. “You need to come into the kitchen and talk to me while I cook dinner. You’re not going home to the empty cottage again.”

She stiffened, but he simply disappeared into the kitchen. “I’m fine,” she muttered to her lap, then sniffed softly.

“You’re not fine,” he countered.

Her head