Page 2 of Tender Offer (Chance at Love #3)

Preston

Now

I ’m rarely on the receiving end of rejection.

For one, I don’t take no for an answer in business.

I get what I want or find another way for the odds to work in my favor.

That’s what makes the woman across from me struggling to let me down gently so damn entertaining. Because when the fuck does this happen?

Tonight, apparently.

I steady my expression to keep from cracking a smile. Justice is fighting for her life the way her hands keep fidgeting over the white tablecloth. Her trepid brown eyes dart everywhere but to me. They finally land on the night sky twinkling over the frosted valley.

This holiday is full of surprises.

Vail, Colorado, is an experience. It’s no Maldives, but it comes with the advantage of anonymity and being a continent away from the life waiting for me back in London. Time is a luxury even I struggle to afford. I don’t give it freely for anyone to waste, but I can’t help seeing her one more time.

Round tables and rattan chairs with patrons enjoying the finest dining in the valley fill the once-empty ballroom. Large crystal chandeliers hover from high ceilings, set low for an ambiance that’s absent from this table.

Choosing a spot near the floor-to-ceiling windows was intentional.

I read body language, and Justice shifting in her black dress tells me she’s nervous.

Normally I don’t give a shit who withers in my presence, but I’ve developed a soft spot for her in the days since we met.

I want to take the edge off the conversation we’re about to have.

One that will end with her severing whatever was building between us.

Justice is a breath of fresh air. She’s awkward and a touch anxious but sexy as hell.

Her lighthearted giggles drew me from the stables the first time we met two days ago.

She’s here with her best friend for this week’s singles’ retreat at the resort.

I’ve steered clear for privacy but filled in for one of the horseback riding instructors.

With my schedule, I seldom get to enjoy riding anymore.

An opportunity presented itself to shed my suit for flannel and an Appaloosa, so I took it.

The need to fuck had me circling Justice and her infectious grin. But the more time we spent on our horses in the snow, the more I got to know her. Every quirk matches her beauty, woven in rich chestnut. Stunning women aren’t rare for me, but her easygoing personality kept my attention.

To Justice, I’m Preston. A guy who spends time outdoors. I’m in a tailored charcoal suit tonight, and it doesn’t matter. Finding out I was rich didn’t change her perception of me.

My phone buzzes in my pocket in rapid succession. Stephanie knows to forward me items that require my immediate attention. Two weeks is all I have for this holiday, and the persistent hum of pending messages is threatening to cut it short.

“Preston, I need to tell you something,” Justice says, meeting my eyes from under coiled black curls.

Ah, yes. The rejection.

“That you and your ex are no longer estranged?” I still the sarcasm tempting my tone when a frown knits her brows.

The shock of my discovery threatens to siphon the blood from Justice’s face. She lets out a breath at the smile dusting my mouth. She feels guilty, but she shouldn’t.

I’m neither upset nor surprised that she’s reconciling with her ex, who is also here for the week. On paper, they’re still married—once headed for divorce until life rerouted their paths to collide after seven months of no contact.

How the hell do you compete with fate? The simple answer is you don’t.

I’ll admit Justice captivated me, but it’s clear she’s still hung up on her husband. She admitted as much and wouldn’t be tripping over her words right now otherwise.

“Were you spying on me?” Her cheeks flush on a gulp. She’s a doe caught in headlights, questioning if I’m someone who follows women for sport.

I smirk. “Relax, Justice. I’m not a stalker.” I like to watch, just not the way she thinks.

Did I review security footage of her at yesterday’s salsa lesson, cozied up to her ex once she’d let her guard down?

I did. I own the damn resort. An emergency business meeting arose, which took me away from the hotel.

I peeked at the video of her on the dance floor to make sure she was okay after I broke our date.

It’s safe to say she was.

My departure created the space for Terrence to go after her.

Can’t say I blame him. She’s unlike many of the women I encounter.

Her presence draws you in. I can be myself without expectations, which is why I’m clinging to whatever time we have left together.

It feels good not to carry the Donnelley Brand for once.

We owe each other nothing. Two days and a kiss are no match for her fifteen years with her former ex. It’s the same amount of time since I’ve seen Heather.

Heather.

I haven’t uttered that name since she walked out of my life. Remembering is a fucking knife to my gut.

My phone buzzes again, a reminder that the space I’ve carved out for myself will expire sooner than expected.

I assure Justice that I’m not a serial killer and sit through the story of how she and Terrence reconciled.

I never considered myself a masochist, but I have no explanation for why I’m still here, mingling with rejection, when I could be elsewhere.

Preferably fucking. I haven’t had sex on this holiday, and I am not crossing the ocean with blue balls.

“When you find your soulmate, it’s hard to let go,” she says. An apology plays across the faint smile she forces through a frown.

A sharp pain lodges itself at the fragmented memories pressing against my ribs.

Cinnamon brown hair and heart-shaped lips transport me back to the only relationship strong enough to tilt life on its side.

To a time when I stood in the sun, trying to catch flecks of gray glinting in the hazel eyes that still haunt me.

I never meant to hurt you.

Fifteen years, and I can still see Heather clear as day.

Regret and yearning are present at the table, a reminder of how exposed I am outside of the Donnelley Brand and its CEO demands. I’ve kept myself busy while on holiday so my mind wouldn’t wander back to when I was just me. Beyond my status, when ordinary was extraordinary.

Justice doesn’t realize that the mirror she’s holding up forces me to contend with scars still tethered to the edges of my mind. No matter how hard I try to forget, I can’t let go.

“Honestly, I envy your situation,” I say to Justice, who’s staring at me like I have two heads.

“I thought you said you don’t do long-term relationships?”

I don’t do feelings anymore, either, but I’m still at this dinner, which would typically never touch the shadow of my calendar. They’re uncorked—the feelings—forcing me to assess the man I am today and the one decision I made that cost me everything.

“I’m not opposed to anything long-term,” I admit, “but part of the reason I’m hesitant is I was once in love with someone who got away.”

In my forty-one years, no one has compared to Heather—not even Justice. I’ve fucked my way across continents to try and fill the empty space she created once she left. I was twenty-six and never realized what I had until she walked out of my life.

“I was so young, just coming into the business. I didn’t know what I had,” I say, the scent of late-night eclairs on the balcony wafting in the distance. “I would marry her today if I ever found her.”

The arrogant little shit I was had an inflated ego. I was impenetrable. No one could shake me until a woman in a French museum with a masterpiece of curves turned my world upside down.

Diving headfirst into pussy and the career my father molded for me have yet to make whole what’s missing.

I should’ve fought harder to keep her instead of pushing her away.

Every resource is now at my fingertips, but I let too much time pass.

Heather isn’t her actual name, but what we shared was real.

Pressure squeezes the hard granite formed over my heart. Tonight is the first time I’ve told anyone what I’ve held in silence.

Finché c’è vita c’è speranza . As long as there is life, there is hope.

Nonna always challenges me to open up. “We’re not meant to carry our burdens alone, zuccareddu .” Easier said than done.

But tonight, it feels right to release the weight.

Justice is still a stranger, but my gut says to trust her. I was ready for rejection, but I’ll leave with a gift I haven’t felt in fifteen years. Hope.

Dinner is pleasant, light conversation over a four-course meal.

Lamb chop fondue and onion soup decorate the table next to votive candles and red roses.

Justice wastes no time digging into each plate.

I don’t discuss my wealth, but her jokes about “eatin’ good” pull a grin every time.

The way she puts away the twin lobster tails, truffle fries, and creamed spinach she orders should be a topic of study.

She’s humming around a bite of chocolate cake when something near the entrance to the ballroom reaches for her attention. I follow her line of sight through a sip of bourbon and freeze. The swallow I’m holding burns in my throat at the illusion only feet away.

A man who I assume to be Terrence takes measured steps to the bar, wearing a dark button-down and jeans. He’s tall and has a muscular build, blocking the view of the woman by his side. It’s hard to make her out, but what few glimpses I get prickle my skin.

French manicured feet in black heels keep pace across the ballroom carpet.

I start at the toned pecan legs and move up the profile to find flared hips in a knee-length black dress and a thick ass that switches with careful precision.

Her face is still hidden, the result of a half-foot height difference.

Thick, wavy hair flows down her back, and my heart pistons at its cinnamon hue.

It can’t be.

“Hey. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I swallow the wire caught in my throat and plaster on a smile. “I take it that was Terrence and the woman he’s about to let down.” Her presence tugs for me to bear witness with a familiarity that shouldn’t be there.

“It is. Her name is Madison. They dated for a few months in college. She broke up with him, believe it or not.”

The surrounding chatter of diners and Justice fades under the blood pounding in my ears. My mind races to keep up with the impossible reality that my eyes aren’t deceiving me.

The magnetic pull.

The body I licked and held sacred.

Sweet notes of magnolia stroking the memory of the last time we made love.

Madison is Heather.

“…she’s been pining after him all these years in a not-so-subtle way.”

Has she now?

Hearing that the woman who’s invaded my dreams for over a decade is hung up on another man lands like a punch. She was unforgettable, and I’ll be damned if she acts like I wasn’t.

Everything clicks into place. Heather—or Madison—only mentioned this ex once. Not even by name, which was clearly a running theme, given she withheld her own. He meant nothing then and only serves as a distraction now.

I smirk into my tumbler. It’s a small gesture that mimics a genuine smile to mask the predatory urge to reclaim her.

The instinct to chase overwhelms the shock of seeing her again after all this time. Here, of all places. My pulse skitters at the vow I made fifteen years ago—to never let her go should life ever bring us back together.

My evening with Justice wraps up. I walk her back to her room and wish her well before heading to security. Now that Madison is here, I won’t make it easy for her to leave a second time.