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I watched his eyes nearly bulge from their sockets and his brows jump up in a surprised arch. His mouth fell open and snapped shut before falling open again as he scanned me up and down.
So he didn’t know, then.
Honestly, that almost felt worse. Because it meant he hadn’t been out to take advantage of me. Last night was a real accident . . . and there was a heavier loss of something in that truth. Something that might have been real between us.
But it would have been lost anyway, right? I mean, I walked out this morning with no intention of letting him find me. If not for this twist of fate, I never would have seen him again.
“Hello,” I croaked, watching the deep rise and fall of his chest as his stare turned intense.
His eyes searched my own, as if trying to be sure that it really was me standing in front of him. His mouth fell into a frown, and it was like a punch to the gut, how similar it looked to the expression he made this morning as he watched me disappear behind those elevator doors. I had to push down a sharp yearning to reach out and touch him.
“Mara?” he asked.
Behind me, Robert sucked in a breath. “It seems you two already know each other?”
My eyes never left Leo’s face as a quiet, incredulous laugh escaped from my throat. His gaze fell to my neck, to the same place that Robert’s had moved a few minutes ago. I opened my mouth again to speak, but Leo beat me to it. “Yeah, you could say that.” His voice was low and dejected.
I heard Robert shuffle off his stool, taking this awkwardness as his cue to leave. “Listen, I have to go. Alessandro is waiting for me at home—you know how it goes.” He huffed a laugh. When neither Leo or I shifted our attention to him, he continued. “I’m going to leave the whiskey here. It seems as though you two may need it. Leo, please let me know if you need anything. I’ll be around for another couple of days before I’m overseas again. Of course, you can always reach me by email if needed once I’m gone.”
Leo nodded once, a sharp dip of his chin. “Sounds great.”
My eyes narrowed on him as the facts continued to press themselves together.
Leo bought Larkspur. Leo was my boss.
Robert never gave me a chance, and my dream of owning this place was in the rearview.
I felt a warm hand wrap around my shoulder before Robert spoke again, keeping his voice low enough that I wasn’t sure if Leo could hear him. “Go easy on him, Mara. I know you’re disappointed, but it has nothing to do with him.”
I frowned. If only he knew.
He squeezed my shoulder before walking toward Leo to shake his hand, finally forcing Leo’s gaze away from me. I took the moment of reprieve to gulp down a few shaky breaths, closing my eyes as I clutched at the tightness in my chest. My blood was roaring in my ears, the room spinning. I tried to shove the emotion down—the last thing I needed was to start sobbing right here in front of Leo, but it took everything I had to keep my tears contained.
Eventually, I felt a soft touch on my cheek, and I opened my eyes to find Leo standing right in front of me. Concern laced through his features. “Mara,” he said firmly. “Mara, take a deep breath.”
My chest rose and fell rapidly with shallow breaths, and I realized I was on the cusp of a panic attack. I averted my eyes from his face, because seeing him like this was overwhelming. This was too much—this was all too much.
“Mara,” he said again, his fingers now gripping my jaw. “Look at me.” But I kept my gaze on the ceiling above us. “Jesus,” he murmured, letting his hand fall away from my face. He turned toward the bar—his bar—and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, pouring some of the amber liquid into the still-empty glass before holding it in front of me. “Here,” he said. “Drink.”
On this, we could agree. I took the glass from him and tipped the whiskey into my mouth. It burned the entire way down my throat, causing me to cough and force in a few deep breaths. I held the glass out and whispered, “Another.”
Leo didn’t hesitate to pour me another shot, watching intently as I threw that one back, too. He replaced the cap on the bottle and set it onto the bar, sighing as he planted his hands on his hips. “Look, Mara,” he started, his eyes falling down to the ground between us. “I understand this is completely unexpected?—”
“No,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “No. I can’t do this.” I could not have this conversation right now. I set the glass down on the bar next to the bottle, and without looking at him, I ran out of the club.
Chapter Seven
I stared at the ceiling above me as I lay on my bed, letting the tears roll down the sides of my face and onto the comforter beneath me. Larkspur’s doors would open to the public in a little less than an hour, but I was scheduled for the closing shift tonight. I technically didn’t need to get there for another few hours, which was convenient because the thought of stepping through those doors again—knowing who would be inside—had my stomach twisting fiercely.
After running out on Leo for the second time today, I contemplated never stepping foot in Larkspur again and what that would mean for my future. With the decent chunk of money I’d saved, I knew I could take a pause, reconsider the current trajectory of my life and possibly adjust the target to something brand-new. At the very least, the money would allow for me to take a little breather and let myself really process through some of the things I’d been putting off—namely the shit that came before I ended up at Larkspur.
But then I thought about how hard I’d worked, how much I’d sacrificed for Larkspur’s success, and the idea of giving up made me feel small. It made the time feel insignificant, like it had meant nothing. I mean, the embarrassing reality was that it had meant something, just not in the way I wanted it to. I’d lined Robert’s already-deep pockets with even more wealth and turned his business into an attractive opportunity for another rich man to swoop in and take.
Larkspur had been ripe for the taking, and I’d been too trusting and naive to realize Robert might actually go behind my back with a sale. At the end of the day, he didn’t owe me anything—I knew that. There was never a contractual agreement between us that said I’d have first dibs at ownership if he were to retire. But he’d told me to hang on, and I believed him. I’d taken him at his word.
His word meant shit, it seemed.
But still . . . I’d worked hard to make Larkspur the success it was today. I used my personal social media accounts to promote it, I developed theme nights and exciting events to drive more business, and I’d been managing the bar staff for the better part of two years. Larkspur was my baby, there was so much of me in it. Was I really going to give it all up because of a man?
