Page 124 of Boss of Me

After launching my company, I joined the club to network and cultivate relationships with other business executives. I earned their respect by purposely not discussing business on the golf course. Deals were made afterward—over drinks at the nineteenth hole or during private hunting trips.

The country club is also where I met Laurene. I first saw her on the tennis court, a leggy blonde in a pink tennis outfit hitting perfect volleys. She saw me at the same time and got so distracted that she completely missed her next shot. Flustered and embarrassed, she’d skewered me with a dirty look that made me chuckle before continuing on my way.

Two hours later, I was leaving the locker room after a workout when Laurene confronted me. She claimed that I owed her dinner for costing her the tennis match. She was beautiful,haughty and clearly too high maintenance for my taste. But I indulged her, and seven months later we were engaged.

Ten minutes after my fight with Marlowe, I march into the club’s main dining room, my blood pulsing with fury.

“Good evening, Mr. Ransom,” the maître d’ greets me with an obsequious smile. “Will you be dining at your usual?—”

“No. I’m looking for Miss Vandenberg.”

“Ah, yes, of course. Right this way, sir.”

I’m ushered to a private room just off the terrace dining floor. And there she is, holding court at a table with her circle of snobby friends.

I storm through the door, drawing shocked stares and scandalized gasps.

Laurene leaps to her feet. “Gunner?—”

I sweep a hard glance over the table. “Get out.”

The women take one look at my face and scurry off in a blur of designer labels and spray tans.

Laurene stands there fuming with her arms crossed. “Really, Gunner, there’s no need to be rude to my?—”

“You talked to Marlowe.”

She defiantly tosses her hair back. “So what if I did?”

Rage propels me forward. “You had no fucking right.”

“I hadeveryright!” she fires back. “It’s bad enough that you’re screwing your maid, but then you had to go and flaunt her in front of the world, and now everyone’s laughing at me!”

“Stay away from her.”

Her mouth falls open in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Dead fucking serious,” I snarl, rounding the table to reach her. “Stay away from Marlowe. I’m warning you.”

“That’swhat you came here to say?” she shrieks, outraged. “My God, Gunner, are you trying to make a fool of me? How could you take your maid to Hawaii instead of the woman you were actually engaged to?”

I shake my head at her. “We broke up, Laurene. People move on after breakups?—”

“I HAVEN’T!” she screams, pointing at her chest. “I haven’t moved on, Gunner! How couldyou?”

“We weren’t right for each other,” I say, keeping my voice calm if only to counter her near-hysteria. “You did us both a favor by ending our relationship.”

“I don’t believe this.” She gives me a wounded look. “How can you even say these things to me?”

“Because it’s the truth.” I look her directly in the eye. “Before you broke up with me, I thought our relationship was working. I thought we were both getting what we needed from each other. But I was wrong, and I’m man enough to admit it. Maybe I should have spent more time with you. Maybe I should have taken you on nonbusiness trips. But to be perfectly honest, Laurene, I didn’t think it was that important to you. We both traveled extensively when we were growing up. By the time we were ten, we’d visited nearly every country on the planet. We took those experiences for granted, lost sight of just how privileged and fortunate we were. But it’s different with Marlowe.”

“Why?” Laurene jeers. “Because she’s a poor hick who’s never been anywhere?”

I frown at the insult, but I’m remembering Marlowe’s girlish peals of laughter, her ecstatic twirling on the clifftop, the radiant wonder on her face as she took in everything. It may sound corny as hell, but experiencing Kauai with her made me feel reborn. It was as if I were visiting the island for the first time, seeing the sights through her eyes. She made me forget about work obligations, deadlines, market forecasts, balance sheets. She made me forget everything but the simple pleasure of being with her.

I’m not ready to give her up yet. I don’t know if I ever will be.

“Come on, baby,” Laurene says with a sulky pout. “I’m tired of fighting. We’ve had our time apart and you’ve had your little fun. Now let’s just?—”