Page 41 of I Love You, I Hate You
“You and every other Minnesotan,” he said, gesturing at the steady trickle of people pushing strollers, walking dogs, and running past his house. “A whole state of people with chronic Vitamin D deficiencies, I swear,” he grumbled. Victoria frowned, Owen’s joke stirring something in her memory.
Owen crumpled the foil in his hand and pushed himself up. “For the woman who just literally saved my life, I think I can handle a walk. Let me grab my shoes and keys.” He disappeared into his house and returned just a minute or so later, once again toeing his cat away from the door as he closed it. “You stay there, little one,” he admonished the cat, and for the second time that morning she had to shrug away the uncomfortable resemblance to Luke. He had a tendency to dote on Cat-Luke in much the same way, half-exasperated and half-loving, but that was probably just how all cat owners were.
They fell into step beside each other, headed to the small lake that was just three blocks from his house. Thanks to a habit of scrolling real estate websites when she was bored, Victoria knew just how expensive a house in this neighborhood was, but for once she didn’t feel the familiar stab of annoyance at how much money Owen had.
The walking path at Lake Harriet was relatively crowded, everyone making the most of an unexpectedly nice late-fall day. The trees were a riot of color against the silver-blue of the small lake, the sky above a deep, clear blue studded with faint wisps of clouds. Owen was walking slowly, clearly still feeling the effects of the night before, and Victoria idled beside him. “I assume Mark and Andy are responsible for the hangover?” she asked, sipping her coffee.
Owen chuckled. “Mark and Cassie, mostly. They called me and Andy chickens for not taking shots with them, and we couldn’t possibly let that slander on our honor stand.”
“Male bullshit, got it,” she replied.
“I feel like Cassie would protest that characterization but . . . yeah, more or less. Usually we just grab a few beers, but last night got a little out of hand for no real reason.”
“And Andy and Cassie are back from their honeymoon already?”
“Those two workaholics only took three days on the North Shore.”
“How did Priyanka escape this fate?”
“By being smarter than the rest of us combined and refusing to participate.”
“I knew I liked her.” There was a faint sting in knowing they had all hung out without her, which caught her by surprise. It wasn’t like she and Owen were on that sort of casual hangout terms, despite the sex, but maybe she wanted to be.
He threw his coffee cup into a trash can and took a deep breath. “Do you know why fall always smells like a bonfire?”
“Nope. But I love it,” she agreed, and they fell silent for several paces. “I was thinking—” she started, but at the same time Owen said, “We should probably talk.”
They both laughed awkwardly, and Victoria waited for him to speak again, heart abruptly pounding. “What are we doing, Vee? This is obviously not just a one-time thing anymore and the lawsuit could drag on for who knows how long, and I guess I realized the other weekend that we should, I dunno, maybe talk about . . . us?” Owen said, eyes on the path in front of them.
What she had been planning on saying wasI was thinking we could find a bench and sit down, but now the conversation had taken an unforeseen left turn and she didn’t know how to back out. “About that,” she said, trying to figure out a way to word it so she wouldn’t be divulging privileged information. Because on Smorgasbord’s end, things were drawing to a close. She had worn Gerald down and was pretty sure she’d be getting the okay to send out a settlement offer to Owen’s clients in the next couple of weeks, provided all the right people signed off on it. She would never tell Owen this because his ego was already enormous, but she wasn’t sure Smorgasbord could beat him this time. After years of trying and countless lawsuits, he’d found one where his case was a lot stronger than even he realized. Sooner or later he’d find someone who would admit out loud what everyone already knew, and Smorgasbord would be screwed. The number she had pitched to Gerald was significantly less than Owen’s clients deserved, but enough to make accepting a settlement not feel like a total loss. There would be NDAs involved to keep the press out of it and Smorgasbord could claim they had not broken any laws, strictly speaking.
This time, at least, she would be able to get out of it with a slightly less bruised conscience. Fifteen thousand dollars in back pay for each claimant was peanuts for Smorgasbord, but was just tempting enough for people living paycheck to paycheck. She knew how much that money would have helped her and her mother, at any rate.
But until she got the okay to send out a settlement offer, she couldn’t tell Owen any of that. And she still didn’t know how to talk about her feelings for Owen, so the longer they put that off, the better. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said finally, taking a deep breath. Victoria was not a gambling woman, but she was about to bet on Owen. “About things taking much longer, I mean.”
Owen cocked his head to the side. “Is that so?”
“Possibly,” she said airily. “So I don’t know if we really need to discuss anything right now. Might be the sort of conversation that could keep. Maybe for a week or two, and we could see where things stand then.”
“Interesting,” he said, and his hand brushed against hers, so quickly she could have let it go as an accident.
Instead she slipped her fingers into his and squeezed.
Owen’s heart should have been singing. Victoria had all but confirmed Smorgasbord was preparing to settle and she had her fingers laced with his while they walked, leaning towards him just enough to bump their shoulders together. Victoria washolding his handwhile they walked, no ulterior motive on either side, and the romantic in him should have been winning this battle easily. But he’d accepted enough settlements from Smorgasbord to know what that usually meant: they were tired of paying the mediators and wanted him and his clients to just go away.
Except it never happened this quickly. Getting a settlement offer this early in the game meant there was more happening behind the scenes than he realized—this meant Smorgasbord wasworried. And if they were worried, it meant there was something to be worriedabout. Which meant he had a duty to his clients to keep pursuing this, even at the expense of his own happiness.
And make no mistake: he should have been happy. Ecstatic, even. He had somehow melted the Ice Queen’s heart and he hadn’t even known that was what he wanted. He should have been wanting to sprint around the lake shouting for joy, or at least he should have felt a warm, melting feeling low in his belly. But instead his stomach felt queasy, and it wasn’t just that fourth shot of fireball last night or the breakfast burrito he’d just inhaled.
His mind turned to Nora, wondering what she’d advise, and then suddenly he felt worse. He had to choose, one or the other, and since Nora didn’t seem at all bothered by their utter anonymity, the choice seemed clear. Technically there wasn’t anything official between him and Nora, but it didn’t seem fair to Victoria to keep someone else as that close of a confidante-slash-flirt-partner without at least disclosing it.
Victoria peered at him sideways. “Are you okay?” she asked, slowing and tugging him off the path to let a couple runners pass them by. “You’re looking pale.”
Owen dropped her hand and wiped at his forehead. “I think the hangover just hit me again, is all. I need a second.”
Victoria tucked her hands into her jacket pockets and lifted her chin back towards his neighborhood, her mood shifting slightly. “Should we head back then?” He could feel her withdrawing from him and he hated it.
“Probably,” he agreed, wishing that just about everything about this fucked up situation was a little different.