That Dating Thing Read Online Free PDF

that you noticed. You’re far too oblivious when it comes to men.”
    “Not oblivious,” Rylee corrected. “Busy.”
    Rylee’s infrequent dating, or more precisely, the reason behind her disinterest in dating, was one of her aunt’s favorite subjects. When Sil cast a cautious glance in Elliott’s direction, Rylee knew they were about to revisit the issue.
    “A real man wouldn’t give a damn who your daddy is. If you don’t bother to look, you won’t ever find him.”
    “What are you talking about? I look. I went on a date three weeks ago.”
    “You went to dinner three weeks ago, and took on two new students the very next day so you’d be too busy to give the man a second opportunity to learn more about you.”
    “Please.” Rylee scowled. “He stared at my boobs the entire meal. On the cab ride home, he actually had the balls to announce he was about to give me the best orgasm of my life. He’s lucky I didn’t make sure he never had another orgasm in his life.” She shook her head. “What’s with guys who consider a steak and a glass of wine foreplay?”
    Sil laughed.
    “Besides, I let a guy learn more about me once and look how that worked out.”
    Sil’s laugh died on a disgusted frown. “Marcus Perry is a mama’s boy and his mama is an overbearing, ignorant bitch.”
    Rylee agreed with the assessment of her ex-fiancé and his mother, but that didn’t change the facts. When your father was famous for bilking thousands of people out of billions of dollars, people tended to paint you with the same brush, deserved or not.
    “Face it, Sil, once people learn I’m Ponzi Pete’s little girl, my innocence doesn’t matter. Keeping my true identity a secret from strangers is one thing, but I’m uncomfortable with the idea of developing a relationship with a guy while lying by omission.”
    Sil reached across the table to cover Rylee’s hand. “Just as people are wrong for equating you with your daddy, you are wrong to equate all men with that weasel Marcus.”
    “Even if that was what I was doing, and I’m not saying it is,” Rylee added quickly. “I already feel like a one-armed juggler. Between the dogs and Adam’s House, a man is the last thing I need in my life.”
    “You love the dogs.” Sil waved off her argument. “As for Adam’s House, Brian could run the Foundation’s projects with his eyes closed.”
    Sil had a point. The dogs were a joy and Brian Hurley was more suited to his chosen work than any man Rylee knew. Not only did Brian have the talent to handle the foundation’s projects, he’d loved her cousin Adam like a brother, just as Rylee had. Growing up next door, Brian was Adam’s friend long before Rylee came to live with her aunt and cousin, and like them, Brian welcomed Rylee into his life with open arms. To hear Sil tell it, Rylee, Adam, and Brian grew to adulthood exploring the streets of Jackson, Mississippi like the three musketeers.
    Life changed with Adam’s death, but Brian’s friendship eased the grief. And when Rylee suggested he help grow the foundation named for the man they’d all loved, he jumped at the opportunity. Under his guidance, the foundation’s projects were flourishing, putting Rylee’s unwanted inheritance to good use.
    She had been stunned the morning of her twenty-fifth birthday to receive a visit from an attorney representing the estate of Agnes Pierce. Her uber-rich maternal grandmother hadn’t approved of Peter Morris, and had cut Rylee’s mother out of her life long before Rylee was born. Rylee had never even met the woman, so learning she was the recipient of Agnes’s estate was a shock.
    She immediately knew she couldn’t keep the hefty inheritance. Ponzi Pete’s victims would scream bloody murder if they discovered his only child was suddenly worth thirty million. Besides, wealth, or more precisely the pursuit of wealth, had destroyed her family.
    Upon receipt of the inheritance, Rylee chose River View, the smallest of the old