Page 85

I feel as blindsided as she does. My dad is an unscrupulous businessman, but would he so deliberately deceive a business owner in a deal? Is that how he does business? There’s no getting around my role in this mess, and my intentions don’t matter. I can be mad all I want or place the blame elsewhere, but the bottom line is that I’m an attorney. My job literally requires me to read contracts. I was so busy worrying about the threat of having to move to Seattle that I lost sight of what was happening in LA and New York. How could I have let something this important slip through the cracks?

And now, the woman I love is in the hospital by her father’s bedside, with not only fear for her father, but the reality that her pride and joy was insolvent as of five o’clock.Will be, thanks to my signature.

Fuck.

I leave like she wants me to, rounding the block to find a taxi waiting. With my hand on the door handle, I debate if I should go or barge in and let her know that I’m here for her. I open the door and get in because I know the truth.She doesn’t want me anywhere near her at this time.I head to the hotel, getting an odd look from the desk clerk.Especially when I don’t have any luggage.Well, I don’t feel like I have anything at the moment, so this is fucking fitting.

Once in the room, I start the shower with Natalie’s words still rattling around my brain. I’ll respect her wishes tonight—she’s exhausted, so I’ll chalk it up to that—but tomorrow, I hope she’ll see me, and we can talk calmly.God, I hope her father pulls through. He has to make it.

And so do we.

As I’m learning, a life without Natalie is no life to lead. Surely, once she knows the truth and we get her company back on track with new funding, we’ll be okay.

29

Natalie

Five days.

That’s how long Nick sat outside the hospital.

I never saw him leave or take a break, eat, or talk on the phone. No. Every time I walked by, I stuck to the sides of the corridor or peeked out a window to find him still there as if I hadn’t told him to leave.

Why?

Why does he stay?

If I left to shower and change my clothes, or even get fresh air, I used a different exit, not ready to face him. Five days of listening to how not only my dad had to fight for my loan but feeling foolish for falling for someone so calculating has me avoiding another conversation with Nick altogether.

My heart hasn’t gotten the memo.

I miss him and hate myself for being a traitor to my family. But there’s no longer an us in this equation. It’s him, and then there’s me. There’s just no other way around it.

Freshly showered and in clean clothes, I’m glad to have the stale hospital off me. I park my suitcase at the door and then retrieve my laptop bag and purse. None of it’s been unpacked from California. Cookie shipped it as promised, and it arrived safely the next day.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” Tatum asks, snuggled on the couch. Her face is clear of the face paint she wore dressed as a cat for Halloween last night, and I can see how tired she is by her bloodshot eyes. It’s the first Halloween we haven’t spent together partying since we’ve known each other. I gave that up the tradition to be in California, to be with Nick. Instead, I spent it in the hospital eating bite-sized Snickers at the nurses’ station every time I left my dad’s room.

I haven’t been on a run since the morning I snuck out of bed in LA, so not only are my emotions tattered but I also feel like crap. I sit next to her. “I don’t know. At this point, we might be in the Hamptons through Thanksgiving.”

“Should I ask about work?”

I rub my eyes, so tired from staying at the hospital and getting so little sleep. “I need to figure some stuff out. Just keep doing what you’re doing.” I grin over at her sipping her hot chocolate. “Workwise, I mean. I’ll be working remotely for the time being unless I have to be in the city for anything. I’m not going to fail my clients, even if I have to work for free.”

“I was practically working for free already.” Grabbing a pillow, I pop her with it. “Whoa!” She starts laughing. “You almost made me spill my cocoa.”

The laughter dies off, and we’re left with the silence again. I know what’s coming, but I can’t help but feel like I’m not ready to face it. I won’t hide, though. Not from her. She’s always had my back . . . unless a hot guy’s involved like Harrison in Catalina.God, why does everything have to come back to Nick?

Oh, screw it.Might as well get it over with. “Go ahead.” I curl around a big pillow. “Ask away. I know you’re dying to anyway.”

She blows across the top of the hot drink to cool it, and then whispers, “What are you going to do about Nick?”

I’ve been dreading this conversation, but I’ve held it in for too many days. I couldn’t talk to my mom, and Jackson won’t understand. Taking a deep breath, I exhale, and say, “I think it’s best if Nick and I go our separate ways and never see each other again.”

“That’s drastic for someone you were in love with six days ago. Was that love real?” Her tone is gentle, cautious, but caring.

I nod because I can lie to the world about it. I can lie to Nick and say I never felt love soul deep like I did for him. I can lie all I want to everyone else, but that won’t change the fact that I can’t lie to myself. I loved him with my entire being. I love him even now.And I hate myself for it.

“Then why won’t you talk to him?” There’s no accusation or judgment in her tone, just compassion.