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“If I can get him to agree to work on Vex with me without…”
Without marrying Gabrielle.
“Vex will bring in enough to bail out the business. I just need to get it started,” he says. “We’ve had to tighten things… We’ve…” He takes a deep breath. “The business doesn’t have the means to make it happen right now. I need Spencer. Once he agrees to work together, it’ll all be fine. I’ve got the investors, I’ve…”
I nod, lowering my eyes to his tie again. The weariness in his voice tells me that even he is starting to doubt it will ever work.
“That’s good. You’re close then?” I say, unable to speak the truth that’s thrown itself between us like a thunderbolt.Hope has never been so far away.
“Yeah.”
I look into his eyes. They’re shining as he sweeps his gaze over my face slowly.
I curl my fingers tightly around my purse. “I should get back. Nate’s waiting. And everyone is probably wondering where you are.”
I pray he walks away before my legs give out beneath me. My chest tightens as he looks at me, his lips pressed into a firm line. After what feels like a lifetime, they curl into a faint smile.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening, Smiles.”
He walks past me and back into the restaurant, leaving the scent of his fresh aftershave and warm skin lingering behind him. It’s only once he’s gone that I realize I haven’t breathed properly. I suck in a shuddering breath as I stumble into the ladies’ room and lean back against the wall. I take a few minutes to compose myself and splash some cold water on my face before I walk back into the main room and back to our table.
Nate stands, waiting for me to sit so he can push my chair in for me. I look to the back of the room where a tinkling laugh has broken out. Gabrielle is sitting, like a vision, blonde hair shining, eyes lit up as she looks across the table at Logan. He doesn’t make eye contact with me. His full attention is on Gabrielle, his face relaxed as he smiles at whatever story she’s telling.
“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
“Um. I’m—”
Nate’s eyes narrow with concern. “Let me sort out the bill and I’ll take you home.”
I nod gratefully, fighting from looking over at their table again. Logan says he’s working on Spencer. But it doesn’t change the fact that they all look perfect together. Logan and his parents, Gabrielle, and Spencer. They all just… fit.
Nate pays for dinner, and I thank him as he helps me into my coat. I keep my eyes firmly fixed on his, too scared of what they might see if I let them wander. He places his hand on my lower back, keeping his body close to mine as he leads me from the restaurant carefully, probably worried I will pass out. I lean into him a little, needing the support as anxiety weaves its way through my body.
He doesn’t try and draw me into a conversation as he drives me home. He glances at me with concern a couple of times, but the closer we get to my apartment, the better I begin to feel. I have space. Distance. And it allows me the clarity to see tonight for what it was. A sign of what I must do.
I thank Nate profusely as he walks me to my door. It takes a couple of assurances that I’m fine before he wishes me good night. As he drives away, the rain starts.
What do they say about rain? That it’s cleansing? A symbol of new beginnings? Of re-birth?
After what I’ve seen tonight, it couldn’t be more fitting.
Chapter 31
Logan
Ileavetherestaurantmore worked up than I’ve been all week.
She was there. With him. On a fucking date?
I drop the gear down in my Vulcan and step on the gas. The engine purrs and I speed toward my house.
Dinner was a disaster. Spencer’s a tough old bastard. Dad’s right. He’s a businessman who knows what he wants, and he isn’t backing down. I’m getting nowhere. My only hope now is that the extra investment I got from Sterling is enough to push Vex through without Spencer’s involvement. But I’ve looked at the figures a hundred times and they tell me it won’t work. But I’ll check them again and again. A thousand times, a fucking million times if that’s what it takes. If I can get this project started without Spencer, then it could solve all our problems. We won’t need a merger. Or a sham marriage.
Gabrielle’s been uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing since our meeting in the hotel. I can’t believe that she wants this either. She’s doing it for Spencer. A loyalty which I admire and understand. But even good intentions can’t make this situation any less fucked up than it is.
My jaw clenches as my wipers turn on, swiping away the fast-falling drops of rain. I didn’t expect to see Maddy tonight. And I didn’t expect Nate to wrap his arm around her as they left. A protective gesture. One that had my blood boiling and wanting me to storm across the room and wrench his fingers from his hand, one by one.
I flex my hands around the steering wheel, then pump the brakes, turning sharply into an empty side road and swinging the car in a one-eighty before putting it back into gear and racing in the opposite direction, one destination in mind.
