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“Now he’s going to play the blame game, and Jace isn’t here to make it a fair discussion.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “I’m sure I can buy us some time. I just wanted to get your input on some of the stocks. They’re ones I’m not familiar with.”
William hesitated for a moment, glancing down at Lily before looking at him again. “I’ll tell you what, finish up what you need to, and meet us at my house in about an hour. You’ll have dinner with us and then, while Lily’s unpacking, you and I can go over these.”
“Um…”
“If you need to stay and work,” Lily quickly interjected, “I can fend for myself. I just need a key or the code to get into the house. I’ll pick up dinner and we’ll eat when you get home. It’s not a big deal.”
Noah almost sagged with relief. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who didn’t love this plan.
“It shouldn’t take much of your time. By the time Lily is settled in at your place, we’ll be done here.”
“Nonsense!” William said with a hint of humor, knowing exactly why he and Lily were doing their best to avoid having dinner together. “Not another word out of either of you. Lily and I will see you at the house in an hour, Noah.” Then he smiled at his assistant. “And I’ll see you sometime after lunch tomorrow, Sara. Have a good evening.”
“You too, sir!”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” William said after going only a few steps. “What should we get you from the Chinese restaurant?”
“Uh…the Peking duck, please.”
“Excellent choice! We’ll see you at the house!”
Noah forced another smile as William and Lily walked away. It wasn’t until he saw the elevator doors close that he let himself relax.
“What on earth was that all about?” Sara asked with a soft laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get that tense that fast.”
There was no way he was going to get into that right now.
Or ever.
“It was nothing,” he murmured. “I need to get a few things done before I go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sara.”
“Have a good night, Noah.”
He all but sprinted to his office to get his files organized and everything he needed tucked into his satchel, all while trying to come up with an excuse not to join the Montgomerys for dinner.
Why did Lily Montgomery have to show up now, after all this time? It wasn’t possible for this to be a coincidence—the timing was too spot on for it be…well…a coincidence. Cursing under his breath, he shut down his computer and quickly straightened up before heading out. He stopped to talk to Andrew and Kylie to let them know he was leaving a little early and why. Once that was done, he really didn’t have a reason to linger.
Except that he didn’t want to go.
Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. If this was just a business dinner between himself and William, he’d be almost giddy about it. But knowing that Lily was joining them? He groaned inwardly. It shouldn’t be a big deal, and yet it was.
You’re overreacting. Quit whining and man up!
That thought hit him as he got into the elevator, and he knew he was being ridiculous. What happened between him and Lily was nothing but a stupid misunderstanding. It had been three years and surely they were mature enough to forget about it and move on.
So that’s what he decided to do.
If Lily had any lingering awkwardness toward him, then that was on her. Noah was opting to take the high road and put it behind him. He was blaming his reaction to her earlier as simply being in shock at seeing her there in the office. After all, he never saw her there before the Christmas trip and he hadn’t seen her since, so…shock. And now he was over it.
The drive to the Montgomery estate—because…yeah…that’s how he viewed it—took almost thirty minutes due to traffic. He’d been there many times over the last few years, and every time he drove up that long driveway and the massive house came into view, all Noah thought was how it looked like something out of a movie. He grew up poor and had never seen a mansion in real life. The first time he’d been invited here, he’d pulled up to the house and then immediately turned around and left because he didn’t feel like he belonged there at all. Of course, he’d gone back because it was a company event that William was hosting, but he’d never felt so out of place in his life. But now? He was used to it.
As he got out of his car, he let out a long breath and mentally prepared himself. Just because he was ready to go inside and forget all about his and Lily’s unfortunate history didn’t mean she was doing the same. So he stood there, staring up at the house, and silently hoped that he wasn’t about to take another step backwards in his career if she provoked him.
Although, William had never held that one transgression against him. He’d had Noah’s back the entire time, standing up to Lucas whenever things got too tense.
Which was often, in the beginning.
