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Had he pushed her too far in those final months before his life had descended into hell? He’d thought he’d made his feelings and expectations clear enough. Hell, he’d even come straight out and told her what he wanted from her. What he wanted for both of them.
Only, things had gonespectacularlywrong.
He scowled at the narrow-eyed,concernedfaces staring back at him.
Jesus. He didn’t want to do this now.Or ever. Ashley washispast,hishell to inhabit for however long he chose.
Whatever his friends wanted didn’t matter.
His intercom buzzed. He leapt on it with relief.
“Yes, Maddie?” he asked his PA.
“The clients are here. They’re on their way to the conference room.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right there.”
He scraped his chair back pointedly. They made no move to budge. He sighed and speared his fingers through his hair.
“Seriously guys, I’m not doing this?—”
He paused as Gabriel reached into his suit pocket, extracted an envelope, and tossed it onto his desk.
Noah picked it up and turned it over. The indigo-colored envelope looked expensive and normally he would’ve used a little care in opening it. Right now though, he felt no compunction in ripping it open. The contents made him grunt in disbelief.
“No.” Hell, this was the last thing he needed. There was a reason he’d been so careful not to put himself in a situation like this… A reason he didn’t let the hunger within take over…
“Show some appreciation, man. We shelled out a quarter mil each to get you that ticket?—”
“Then get a refund,” he snapped at Gabriel, then immediately regretted it. He didn’t want to be drawn into a lengthy argument, but the last thing he wanted was to cause offence. The three guys eyeing him with varying degrees of concern were the same who’d stuck by him two years ago. They had his back, whether he liked it or not. And they were stubborn enough to remain put when he wanted them gone. “Shit, I can’t do this. I’m keeping seven Japanese businessmen waiting who will consider it an insult ifI’m any later than I already am. I’ll give you my answer on the next poker night.” It’d still be a no, but by then he’d have found a way to refuse without pissing his friends off.
Mike shook his head, the stubborn streak which had seen him battle through a shattered ACL and shattered dreams to head one of the most successful baseball teams around, in full residence. “No can do. Like I said, we made a fuckingpact.”
Noah hung on to his patience by a very thin thread. “Did you pinky swear too?”
Mike shrugged. “You can snark all you want, as long as you say yes.”
He looked down at the invitation. He knew about the Indigo Lounge—the A-class adults-only clubs operated from luxury super jumbo jets. There was no way he’d let himself be talked into taking the trip. For two years, he’d managed to stay away from temptation, to avoid the urge to lose himself… to indulge.
No way.
His hand curled over the thick envelope. “Okay. You win. I’ll go.”
Shocked faces stared back at him, then Damon’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re not jerking our chain? Because if you’re humoring us so we’ll leave…”
He maintained the poker face that had won him more games than he cared to count. “I said I’d do it. Now, can I get on with the rest of my day, or are you going to break out the tutus and perform theNutcrackerfor my enjoyment?”
“Fuck,” Gabriel huffed. “You’ve just proven that we were right to worry about you. Your imagination has strayed very deep into Tim Burton territory.” He tugged on his custom-made Armani jacket before turning for the door. “See you at poker on Thursday. And don’t even think about coming up with some lame excuse to cancel the IL trip. We may be buddies, but don’t think I won’t sue your ass if you let my money go to waste.”
The other two delivered equally pithy warnings before they exited.
Even before he strode down the hall towards the conference room, Noah had come up with several plausible reasons to turn down the invitation. If worse came to worst, he’d refund them the cost of the ticket with a firmno thanks.
Their friendship worked because they each knew when to push hard and when to back off. They’d come close to overstepping today.
It was nothing he wasn’t willing to forgive, but by accepting the invitation to the Indigo Lounge, he would be placing himself in a position where his control could be tested. Only Gabriel knew the true extent of what had happened two years ago with Ashley, and he was surprised his friend was advocating this.
So far, he’d resisted the temptation of the Indigo Lounge, had listened, unaffected, as Mike, Gabriel and Damon rhapsodized about the sheer hedonistic pleasures of the luxury outfit.