Free The Relationship Coach by Sylvia McDaniel Page B

legitimate and satisfying for the people you work with.”
    Anxiety gripped Lacey, wringing her insides, until she felt nauseous. She would place the business she’d spent years building into this man’s hands in order to reach the next level. A level she had not confided to him.
    For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about the television show. That card she’d keep close to her chest. Right now, he didn’t have to know she needed him more than he needed her. Eventually, she would tell him, but not yet, not now. Not until he’d earned her trust.
    “Tell me why you’ve never married?” she asked, staring at the way his eyes reflected the candlelight, looking for anything that would help her understand him more.
    Her television show as the result of his documentary could only help him, as well. And while he kept insisting the final edit would be the result of the camera, she knew better than to believe that. How could he edit film without his personal prejudices slipping into the editing process?
    Reed’s brows rose at her question. He leaned back to study her. “What has that got to do with my documentary?”
    “I’m trying to understand you and your world view.”
    He laughed, his green eyes widened. “My world view?”
    “Yes. The more I know you, the better I’ll see what kind of film you’ll make.”
    He shook his head at her. “Psychology major?”
    “No, though I did take a lot of psych classes.”
    Raising the wine glass to his lips, he sipped and watched her, studying her like an ant under a microscope. Finally, he set the glass down. “Many of my college friends have had a big wedding only to realize two kids later that this is not what they wanted,” he responded, his brows drew together, his gaze dark as he shook his head. “It’s not fair to the kids. You know that better than anyone.”
    “Don’t you think you would pick the right person or that you could do a relationship better than your college friends?”
    “Maybe. But once I was engaged to a woman, and she chose a car over me. Since then, I’ve never found a woman who kept me interested enough that I was willing to take another chance. My career is my relationship, and we’re doing just fine.”
    “A car,” Lacey said.
    “Yes, a red Corvette. Her father said if she would dump me, he’d buy her a car.” He shrugged, and she knew he tried to act like it meant nothing, but he failed. Could this be the reason he seemed closed off, not open to love?
    “So you gave up on love.”
    He stared at her. “I’m way better than a red Corvette. She chose the car. I haven’t found a woman who has made me regret my decision to give up on marriage.”
    Reed didn’t acknowledge that he’d given up on love, but she could see it in his posture, in the tone of his voice, that he no longer believed in love.
    “What about kids?”
    “I like kids, but I don’t want my children shuttled back and forth between two homes and two parents, having to deal with step-parents or brothers and sisters. You of all people should understand where I’m coming from.”
    She nodded.
    He pinched off a piece of bread and raised it to his lips. “Until the day comes when I find a woman I can’t live without, I’m careful there are no accidental pregnancies.”
    His career was his life, and until he believed in love once again, no woman would complete him. But what were his career goals?
    “You’ve won an IDA award?” she asked, trying to avert her eyes from the way he licked his lips after eating the oil-dipped bread.
    Reed smiled. “Yes, my film on the Russian sex trade won an IDA award. Now my film on financial reform is up for an IDA award.”
    “Congratulations.”
    “But my last film about the underground sex trade in Russia and France disturbed me. I exposed how girls are often forced into brothels or sold by their parents. Despicable business, but the film garnered huge attention, and the studio made a nice profit.”
    She shuddered.