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I wandered over for a closer look just as the blonde began her interview.
“Hey, Tigers fans! I’m Daniella up here in the section 122 suite with Amara Delatou, CEO of Delatou, Inc., and the owner of Chateau Delatou. This week, the Tigers inked a seven figure deal with Amara and her winery to make Delatou & Danvers, their new wine-based, ready to drink cocktail, the official canned cocktail of the team…a deal I had a large part in facilitating, if I do say so myself.”
Amara laughed, and said, “Honestly, I can’t thank you enough. These first five months since I’ve taken over for my dad have been trying to say the least, but now that I’ve got my first big win under my belt, I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
“How does that feel, to be the first female to run the company that’s been in your family for over 110 years?”
“Incredible…and daunting. My parents raised all five of us girls to work hard, and even from a young age, I was always interested in contributing what I could to the family business. It’s why I got my MBA and spent the last five years in Europe. But I’m not the oldest, and I grew up expecting Chloe to take over. So when she officially stepped down, I couldn’t help thinking, this is it. This is my chance. This is what I was meant to do. But, of course, there are people out there who view me as under qualified and would happily have someone else steering the ship. So it’s been a bit of a balancing act, trying to do my job while having eyes on me constantly. I’m really thankful the Tigers approached me with this deal. Hopefully now, my naysayers will be a little quieter.”
Her eyes met mine across the room as she spoke those last words, and irritation surged within me. No one could know she was talking about me—butIknew, and that was enough to urge my feet into motion until I was crossing the suite and stepping up to her side, the camera swinging to greet my smiling face.
I thought we’d moved past this, but apparently not.
“And who is this?” Daniella asked when I pushed into the frame.
“Calvin Ryder,” I said, extending my hand, which she accepted. “CFO of Delatou, Inc.”
“Ahh, the money man,” Daniella said approvingly. “How’s it been having this one for your boss?”
“Oh, I think we both know who runs the show up there,” I said with a wink. Daniella laughed indulgently, but Amara surreptitiously drove her elbow into my side. “And she’s not just my boss. She’s also my girlfriend.”
I swear to God, time stopped as soon as the word was out of my mouth. Honestly, I didn’t even know what possessed me to blurt out that complete and utter lie, but now that it was in the air between us, shimmering, morphing, expanding, I found I didn’t want to take it back.
“Co-workersanddating?” Daniella said, brow arching. “Do you spend any time apart?”
“Not much,” I said, throwing my arm around Amara’s shoulders and tugging her close. I didn’t miss the rigidity of her body against mine, and I knew there’d be hell to pay later. “But I like it that way.”
“Well, you certainly make a gorgeous couple.”
I risked a glance down at Amara and found a tense smile—more like a grimace—on her face. “Thanks,” she said.
Daniella asked me a few more questions about the deal with the Tigers, and I was effusive in my praise of Amara and my excitement over what this meant for the company going forward.
At last, when the next batter’s walk-up music blasted out across the park, Daniella wrapped it up, thanked us, and disappeared.
“Mar, I—”
“Not now,” she said through her teeth.
I simply nodded, though she was already walking away from me.
Sitting through the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth innings was pure torture. Amara refused to look at me, be within five feet of me, and she certainly wasn’t speaking to me. When the Tigers’ closer struck out the last batter, earning a victory for the home team, the Delatou family wandered out into the bleacher seats and prepared for the post-game fireworks show.
Amara, meanwhile, finally looked at me for the first time in twenty minutes, jerked her chin, and moved toward the door.
I followed behind like a small child who knew he was about to be scolded.
I offered to order an Uber, but Amara ignored me, intent on stomping down the sidewalks. I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find the concrete paths crumbling beneath her steps.
She was royally pissed off.
The thing I couldn’t quite figure out was…why? Given the progression of our relationship to this point, slapping the boyfriend-girlfriend label on it was a natural next step. Sure, the way I’d gone about it was a little fucked up, but I couldn’t regret it. I wanted her to be mine in every sense of the word.
Maybe I’d misread everything, and maybe she didn’t want the same things.
The thought had ice racing through my veins.
Once the door to our room clicked shut behind us, she exploded.
