Page 73 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

“Lark Davenport!”

Recognizing the voice, I turn expectantly. And there he is—the tall drink of water that is Hercules Valentine.

He lifts a hand.

And I raise mine.

We rideup in the executive elevator in silence. It’s larger than the ones in the lobby. I wonder why one person gets to ride up in such a large space while the rest of us have to be cramped.

I restrain myself from mentioning my observation, though, for fear that if I talk too much, he might remember my voice. Instead, I take in every aspect of his image standing in the metal panel in front of us. He’s wearing black dress pants that are creased. The smell of freshly dry-cleaned clothes coalesces with his delicious cologne. I can’t see his shirt or suit jacket—if he’s even wearing one—because he has on a black cashmere duster. It’s sort of like the coat Max usually wears. Hercules is so grown-up—he’s such a man. No wonder he doesn't recognize me anymore. We've come a long way from high school and college. I don’t think I would recognize anyone from high school today, including Greenly.

My heart flutters as I inhale sharply. I’ve been so focused on his image that I didn’t notice him watching me.Damn it. I have to say something. Why hasn’t he said anything?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Not a Match

Hercules Valentine

Fourteen Hours Ago

Idon’t know why I’m looking at the menu. I know what’s on it. I’ve been to celebrity chef Jay Miles’s steakhouse enough times to recite the damn thing. It’s one of my favorite spots in the city. I’m waiting for Lilith Cope to arrive. She’s late.

Tonight will be our third date in six days. I try not to think about the first two, but I can't help it. I wouldn't say they were exciting. On our first date, I took her to dinner downtown. She did most of the talking, and I listened. It was as though she wanted me to know everything about her, down to how many kids she wants to have one day. She said she came from a small family, which was why she wanted a large one of her own. I can respect that. She said a lot more on our first date, but hell if I remember any of it. My mind was elsewhere, trying to figure out how to repair the damage between me and Orion.

I didn’t give Lilith a fair chance on our first date, which was why I asked her out again. She accepted with enthusiasm. Before we arrived to pick her up, James threw out some places I should take her to, depending on how she was dressed. One place was the Circus in Brooklyn for dinner, dancing, and pool.

“That’s if she’s showing skin. Lots of opportunities, you know?” He winked. Heels with jeans meant hot dogs with Benny. “Because she’ll want you to take off those jeans and get to it.” When Lilith walked out of her building, she had on a pantsuit. “Uptown. This one prefers the cash first, second and always.”

I laughed before he got out to open the door for her, doubting any of his assessments were true. James is one of those guys who needs the world to make sense before he can feel safe. For that reason, he comforts himself by making a lot of generalizations.

Anyway, on that date, I took her to the St. Regis. She talked a lot about her ex-boyfriend, who cheated on her with a neighbor. After the breakup, she had to go through a period of recovery. She said she never felt so rejected and unattractive in her life. I thought that was interesting and told her so.

“What do you mean byinteresting?” she asked.

“Did I offend you?” I asked, worried.

She chuckled. “No, not at all. Itwasinteresting. But I wonder why you thought it was interesting.” However, she didn’t give me space to answer because she spent a large chunk of time talking about her experience at the hospital.

“Am I boring you?” she eventually asked.

I blinked hard. I was tired. I’d spent the entire day working with Mason on setting up a phantom server that was accessible to only him and me. We also tried to track who was hacking into computers associated with me but kept hitting a dead end. I’d been trying to figure out who would want to mess with my calendar. Orion was the only person I could think of. Mason mentioned the Groves and reminded me how we’d had to fire two of their spies in the past.

“But we’ve been infiltrating each other’s companies for years,” I said.

“Maybe this time, they got closer than usual. None of this started happening until Lilith Cope arrived. Maybe she’s not who she says she is.”

When our dinner arrived, along with a bottle of wine, I pummeled her with questions about where she’d gone to school and why she chose finance. She gave me another long story about how her father mismanaged all of his money and their family had to live in a Winnebago until they were back on their feet a year and a half later. It was through that experience she realized how important money management was. She was only eleven years old when she’d started reading tons of books on the subject.

Then she went into what she’d learned about VTI’s financial ledgers. “Can I be straight with you?” she asked.

I nodded tightly, knowing that whatever she had to say wasn’t going to warm my heart. “Definitely.”

“If we keep going the way we are, VTI won’t last another year. Cuts in spending need to be made, from personnel to all the employee perks. The six coffee bars alone are costing us three hundred thousand dollars a month.” She emphatically raised her finger. “And those are just the coffee bars.”

We spent the rest of dinner with her detailing where we wasted the most money and what could be done about it. She said the only reason we were still alive was because my trust paid VTI enough to keep its head barely above water.

“My trust? You mean the family trust.”