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Into the gaping silence, Mariah hurries over to take my hand. “It looks like we came at a bad time.”
“It’s my fault. Your new coworkers overheard me offer you the company.” Daddy shakes his head in self-reproach. “I’m sorry.”
But is that really the issue? Josh and Marcus didn’t seem worried I would abandon our project or anxious I might leave Force Financial for my roots. They looked as if I betrayed them. I don’t understand…
Mariah sends me an assessing stare. Can she guess what happened here wasn’t merely about business? “Why don’t you finish your workday first, Katie? Dad and I haven’t checked into our Airbnb yet or eaten dinner. We’ll catch up with you tomorrow, after you’ve smoothed over the situation and—”
“I’ll come with you.” I need time to replay what just happened in my head so I can grasp what went wrong. Maybe if I can get my head on straight and the guys cool down, we’ll be able to talk everything out.
If not, maybe I should consider returning to Phoenix…
Tamping down my panic at the thought that I’ve lost them for good, I shove my laptop in my purse and pick up the pizza. “And this can be our dinner.”
“Are you sure? Maybe you should talk to them…”
Maybe. But they didn’t talk to me. They just stormed out. After my years with Derrick, I refuse to chase down another man and apologize for some transgression I didn’t intend and don’t understand. Besides, I’m not convinced they want to see me right now. As flattened as they looked, I wonder if they want to have any non-professional interaction with me ever again.
My father sends me a long stare. Like me, he’s wondering what the devil is going on. I don’t know how to answer. What would he say if he knew I was emotionally and sexually involved with not one, but both, of my project advisors? I can only guess…and I’m afraid he’d be ashamed.
“Work is over for the day,” I point out. “They’re probably just giving me time to be with you two. Neither of them are particularly social, so it’s fine. Tomorrow is soon enough for us to talk.”
I can only hope by then that we can discuss what upset them. If not, if they’re done with me—with us—I don’t know what I’ll do with a broken relationship and a shattered heart.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Josh
The next morning, I sit at my desk, black coffee burning my empty stomach. The sun isn’t up yet. I couldn’t sleep.
Kate never returned to our room. She never texted or called. She never tried to explain or even say a word about whether she intended to take over the reins of her father’s company and move across the country. She never even reached out to ask what was wrong.
That tells me Marcus was goddamn right about her—and everything else, too. We’re never going to find a woman willing to defy tradition and tell the people in her life that she’s committed to two men.
I’ve been fooling myself.
Dad, sis, this is Josh Hennessey and Marcus Hunt, my coworkers and partners on the project. They’re brilliant financial minds, and they’ve been assigned to help me get this new venture off the ground.
Still, the hope inside me doesn’t want to die. My heart argues that of course Kate wasn’t going to tell her father and her sister during our introduction that she’s been sharing an office—and a bed—with us both. It was too abrupt and too awkward. Marcus expected too much, too fast.
But the evidence suggests she never intended to tell her family at all.
I talk to my sister every day. I don’t think she’s ever failed to rave about your business smarts and acumen.
While the businessman in me appreciates the ego boost, it’s obvious Kate never said a word to Mariah about our relationship beyond spreadsheets and building plans. If she was going to confide in anyone, it would be her sister. And it seems clear she never intended to.
Come to think of it, she’s said very little to Marcus and me about her family, like she decided we didn’t need that background because we would never meet them.
If Kate had uttered any form of explanation last night—even sent us an apologetic glance—I would have waited, listened, still hoping that she’s different. I wouldn’t feel so betrayed.
But she acted as if she barely knew us beyond a handshake.
It was a bitter slap in the face. It still is.
At the desk beside mine, Marcus pounds on his keyboard, inputting numbers. He’s beyond focused, glaring at the computer screen like he’s furious that work hasn’t blocked his emotions. At his elbow, his coffee sits untouched. He’s refused to look at Kate’s empty chair.
“I’m sorry,” I say finally. “I should have listened from the beginning. You were right.”
He turns burning eyes to me. It’s obvious he barely slept last night. “I wanted to be wrong so fucking bad.”
