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As soon as the door slammed behind Taylor, her roommate glanced at me, then turned to her father, forcing a smile to her face. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Mr. McStay for a moment.”
Reed looked conflicted. He no doubt felt the same protectiveness toward Harley as she did toward Taylor, but his daughter was a grown woman now. So, he gave a nod, shrugged at me, and turned to walk back into the room. He beelined for Blake Kincaid, who owned one of the top coworking space franchises in the country.
Turning back to face me, Harley narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “What, exactly, do you want from my friend?”
“Want?” I asked. “I don’t want anything from Taylor.”
That wasn’t true. I wanted everything. Her heart, her time, maybe her hand in marriage, assuming things worked out. But that wasn’t looking all that likely right now.
“Pleasure Valley’s a small town,” she said. “I’m friends with Colleen Gilliam.”
Colleen Gilliam. My mind was drawing a blank. I probably had just a few seconds to come up with it, though, unless I wanted to look like an even bigger jerk.
“Last year’s Christmas party,” Harley prompted. “She said you went home with her.”
Oh, Lord. Colleen Gilliam. Now it clicked into place. We both had a little too much to drink, and she’d been all over me. Not that it was an excuse, but I hadn’t gotten the impression she’d thought the two of us were forming a lifelong bond by having sex. She’d come across as a woman who knew what she wanted and had no problem taking it.
She knew what she wanted, alright. And what she wanted was me. For a solid two months, I dealt with relentless texts and calls, starting as flirty and escalating to hostile. Finally, when she showed up in my lobby on a workday, sobbing and demanding to speak to me, I had my attorney send a cease and desist.
“I’m not that guy,” I said. “Colleen…”
I hesitated. Was what? A mistake? That would sound just as heartless as she was accusing me of being.
No, I had to take a different route. I had to make her understand that what I felt for Taylor was different.
“I just met Taylor,” I said. “But I want to get to know her better. I will do right by her, I promise. I know I’ve been a heartless son of a bitch most of my life, but I think of myself as a screwup more than anything when it comes to relationships.”
I thought about that a moment, and she seemed to sense I needed that space to think through things. She just watched me, her expression not judgy at all.
“I’m just like anyone else when it comes down to it,” I finally said. “I’ve been searching for the right fit all my life. I never could voice what was missing…I just knew something was, you know?”
“And you think my roommate’s the right fit?” she asked.
“I think she is, yes.” I nodded. “I’ve never felt this way with anyone. I know that sounds crazy since I’ve known her all of twelve hours.”
Harley’s expression had softened a little. I was speaking from the heart. That was all I knew to do.
“I fell in love with my father’s biggest rival,” she said. “Everyone—my friends, my dad, my coworkers—they all said the same things I said about you to Taylor just now. I can see it in your eyes, though. Plus, Taylor’s pretty awesome.”
I smiled. “You can say that again.”
She glanced at the door, then back at me. “What are you waiting for? Go get her. And Mr. McStay?”
I’d started to head around her toward the coat check room, which was basically coats piled on chairs in the break room, but her words stopped me. I turned to look at her.
“You break her heart, I’ll cut your balls off.”
7
TAYLOR
I stared down at my phone. The rideshare driver hadn’t budged in at least five minutes, and he was a good eight minutes away. Even if he started moving now, eight minutes was far too long to stand out here in this chilly night air.
An SUV breezed by, strains of “Winter Wonderland” blasting. It was so loud, I could even hear it with all the windows up. It joined the surrounding lights and garland to taunt me with the fact that it was my favorite time of the year and I was miserable.
The door opened behind me and I turned, expecting to see Harley, demanding I let her give me a ride home. I probably would take her up on it. Her car would be in the parking garage, which meant it would be significantly warmer than where I stood right now.
But I suddenly found myself looking into the eyes of Jonah McStay.
