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Perez makes his way back to his waiting limousine, promising us that his photos are spectacular, and his commentary will be even better. He knows this story should get him a lot of advertisers as long as he can get it on his site before everybody on that bridge posts their own version.
Time is money, after all.
We wave at the taillights of his limo as he drives away, and each heave a sigh of relief. Cars speed by on Lower Wacker, just thirty feet away or so. They're all obliv
ious, but we won't have this kind of privacy for very long.
“That really was wonderful!” she sighs. “I don't see how anybody could ever have asked for a proposal more perfect than that one. Thank you so much!”
“And what about me? Are you thanking me?” Dillon asks, nudging closer.
She bites her lower lip, winking at him suggestively. “You know every camera on that bridge is pointed at us right now. But I would like to see with you clothes off, just as soon as we get back to the penthouse. Fair enough?”
“I'll take what I can get,” he shrugs. But he's happy, I can tell. He's very proud of himself right now.
“And you!” she smiles, turning back to me. “You were so convincing! I totally believed that… well, almost. Good job!”
My mouth goes a little bit dry. “Well… you know me. Mr. Prepared.”
She picks up her left hand, sliding the ring from her finger. Making sure her hand is hidden behind her body and away from anybody who might see the gesture, she slides the engagement ring back off and holds it between her thumb and forefinger, staring into it for a few long seconds.
“It really is a beautiful ring,” she sighs wistfully. “Like… I almost wish I could keep it.”
“But you —” I start, then stop. She holds up the ring to me, tucking it against the palm of my hand and folding my fingers back over it before I get the words out.
“We did a good job, boys!” she declares. I stare into her face in the quickly fading light, trying to make out what she's thinking. Is she relieved? Glad to be done with the charade?
“Well I guess, um, oh wait,” she says, pulling her phone from her handbag. “It's Hannah calling… I have to take this.”
She walks away, drawing the phone to her ear. Dillon scowls at me, stepping forward confidentially. “What the hell just happened?” he asks quickly.
“I don't… I don't know, man, okay?”
“She gave you the ring back?”
“Well, yeah, she gave the ring back. Wasn’t that the plan? This is all just… fuck. I don't know. What was I thinking?”
“Were you thinking something different was going to —”
“Guys, I gotta go,” Bella interrupts. Dillon and I separate as though guilty.
“What do you mean?”
She holds the phone up, shaking it back and forth with a sour look on her face. “It's Hannah. Something about the merger. I gotta go talk to her, like, now. Could I… maybe use your car?”
“Sure, sure,” Dillon shrugs, shaking his head in confusion. “We’ve got two here. Pick the one you like best.”
“Okay, guys, sorry!” she says in a hurry, pressing her fingers to her lips and blowing kisses at us like nothing just happened.
Before I even really figure out what's going on, she gets in the car and the driver pulls away into traffic, leaving us both feeling like we just lost something very important.
CHAPTER 17
Bella
As I ride the elevator up to Hannah's office, I draw my shawl closer around my shoulders and try to stifle an involuntary shiver. The air-conditioning is blasting, but I don't think that's it. I haven't talked to Hannah in days, and I don't really feel like starting right now.
But, hell, I'm a goddamn professional. If I've learned anything about myself in the last few weeks, it's that I'm apparently as ambitious as all get out. I don't need Hannah's dragon lady stare trying to wither my straight-backed resolve. She's not going to get on my nerves today. She's just not.
