Did she have to ask? Really?
I sat back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest, pouting like a petulant child, but I really didn’t care. “Yes,” I told her.
When she lifted a thick eyebrow skeptically, I uncrossed my arms.
“What? I did!”
“Okay.” She carefully pulled out a chair from the table and sat down across from me. She laid her elbows on the table and waited. “And?”
“And nothing,” I muttered.
“What do you mean nothing?”
“I mean nothing. That was what I got as an answer. Nothing. She didn’t even acknowledge it.”
Sarah’s face scrunched up into a frown. She wiggled her nose. “What? How could she not even acknowledge it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I never got a text back.”
Her face went blank, and then it shifted to one of annoyance, her lips mashed together and her eyebrows almost straight over her eyes.
“What?” I demanded.
“Are you telling me you texted her that you loved her?”
I hesitated. Although it didn’t sound bad, I had the feeling that there was something bad in her words. I suddenly didn’t want to tell her that that was exactly how I’d done it, but I had a feeling I’d already shot myself in the foot there.
“Um, maybe?”
She groaned. “Jesus, Trent! No wonder she hasn’t gotten back to you!”
“Jesus, what did I do? Girls make no fucking sense.”
She waved me off impatiently, wafting away my words as though they were a bad smell. “You’re an idiot and girls are not complicated. But no one wants to hear that someone loves them through a text message.”
“I text my grandmother that I love her all the time,” I pointed out. “She doesn’t mind.”
“You’re an idiot,” she deadpanned. “Your grandmother doesn’t mind because she already knows you love her. Genius. No girl wants to hear it for the first time via text message. ‘Luv ya, babe’ is not high on any girls’ list of romantic fantasy.”
The corners of my mouth turned down into a frown as a cold feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. Had I fucked this up already? It was sure starting to sound that way.
“What are you saying, then? That I need to tell her in person? ’Cause I’m pretty sure if I showed up at her apartment—which I have no idea where that is—she would freak out and get a restraining order against me for stalking.”
Sighing, Sarah shook her head. “Don’t be an idiot. I’m not telling you to say it in person, but I’m telling you you’re going to have to show her one way or another.”
“And by show, you mean…?” I prompted, motioning with my hand for her to continue.
“I’m saying big gesture it.”
I snorted. “I don’t do big gestures.”
She laughed at me, shaking her head at what she clearly thought was my ignorance. “Jesus, you are an idiot, aren’t you?”
I stuck out my tongue at her, just to prove her wrong.
Ignoring that, she said, “It’s your only hope at winning her over, so you should probably get with the program.”
I was not going to do a big gesture. Fuck that. I didn’t need to do something like that. People were either in love or they weren’t, right? Who needed all the bullshit that came with a grand gesture?
Of course, then I thought about it and realized I probably needed it.
“What kind of gesture?” I finally asked, not caring how much like a pansy I looked.
She grinned at me. “I don’t know. Climb the fire escape with roses.”
“No,” I told her flatly. “This is not Pretty Woman, and I feel like she’d take offense, considering the main girl in that was a prostitute.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe try tickets to her favorite show or, ooh, you could sing to her! A serenade. Chicks dig that.”
I groaned loudly and obnoxiously. “I am not serenading her! Are you crazy?”
“Fine. I really thought that one was good, but okay.” She thought about it for a moment before finally just shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe you should just write her a book.”
She pushed up out of her chair then and wished me luck, out of ideas. I watched her go, and it wasn’t until she was out of the room that it hit me.
A gesture.
A really big one.
One that was going to take some serious time.
“Sarah!” I called after her, shoving my chair back from the table and standing fast enough that it wobbled.
She came running back, startled. “What? What? What’s wrong?”
I grinned at her. “Go meet with Marnie and tell her that I’ll have the novel done in a month.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Uh, no. As in, no way in hell. I am not—”
But I ignored her protests. I was already halfway up the stairs. Inspiration had finally hit me, and I wasn’t going to waste a drop of it. This was my chance to make things come together, and maybe, it would save whatever was between myself and Courtney.
Chapter Fifteen
Marnie
I tapped my heel impatiently as I waited for Trent to show up—or to not, as he seemed to prefer these days. He was a thorn in my side, and if I hadn’t been made partner over him, I’d have tossed him to the curb already.
“He’s a best-selling author, Marnie. Get a grip,” I told myself, but it was difficult. I was frazzled more than usual these days. Between Trent’s complete lack of manuscript and Courtney’s… well, everything with Courtney, I was about losing my mind.
I thought of her words from the other day. Horrible. Mean. Deliberately targeted to hurt me. At least, that was what it felt like. And it was so unlike Courtney. We’d been friends since college, and when that friendship had transferred to the workplace, it had been seamless. We didn’t miss a beat.
But I was beginning to wonder if that had been more about a lack of romance in our lives rather than any special bond between us.
Courtney was a certified man hater, and all of a sudden she was moping excessively over some asshole that she knew was a player—not to mention the fact that he was my client.
And I was involved with Callum, a man whom I hated upon first meeting him. He also happened to be the owner of a rival company that my boss absolutely fucking hated.
Where the hell had we gone wrong?
I glanced at my wristwatch, and when I saw that Harvey was already five minutes late, I decided I would call him and wring his neck over the phone.
What a pain in my ass.
But before I’d completed dialing, there was a knock at my door.
I sighed. “Finally. C’mon in, Harvey. Let’s talk about your manuscript, which I still have not seen any of.”
“And you’re not going to.”
I looked up at the sound of a young woman’s voice. It wasn’t Trent Harvey standing in my office, but a young woman who was around my age, maybe a little younger, with thick hair and pale skin. She didn’t do much in the way of makeup, but she was pretty enough. A little plain, but attractive.
“I’m sorry, but this is a private office, and unless you have an appointment…”
She shook her head. “I’m here on behalf of Trent Harvey.”
My eyebrows tugged low over my eyes. Why was I not surprised? He sent some floozy to tell me he wouldn’t be here. How charming. I had half a thought to call Courtney and tell her that some woman was running errands for Harvey, but I didn’t think that was fair. I was out to hurt Courtney right now, emotionally anyway, because I felt slighted. But in a day or so, I might feel differently.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked flatly.
“I’m Sarah, Trent’s friend and unofficial secretary.”
My eyebrows shot up. I hadn’t heard anything about her… had I? Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure I had heard some mention about a Sarah. From Callum. Something about a young woman the equivalent of a little sister.
My stance relaxed slightly w
hen I considered her in those terms. “Okay, and in that capacity, what are you doing here?”
“I’m just here to let you know that Trent won’t be here for the meeting—”
“You don’t say,” I interjected dryly. I couldn’t say I was even slightly surprised by that, even if I hadn’t expected this Sarah lady.
She continued without pausing to acknowledge my quip. “—but that you’ll have the manuscript next month.”
Now that actually was surprising. My eyebrows shot up high on my head, and I thought they might permanently disappear into my hair somewhere, that was how shocked I was by this.
“I was starting to think I’d never actually get a manuscript,” I told her, half-honestly.
She pursed her lips together, her eyes narrowing at me. Despite having never met the woman, there was no question in her stance or expression that she did not like me. I wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t. “Trent told you you’d have it. You’ll have it. He’s a man of his word.”
I snorted indelicately at that. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Sarah looked like she was about to puff up and say something about my tone, but before she got the chance, the door opened. Dorian poked his head in, grabbing the attention of both of us.
“Hey, hope I’m not interrupting.” His eyes darted to Sarah and lingered there, his gaze slipping over the whole of her before returning to her face. He stepped farther into the room and offered his hand and a smile to her. “I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Dorian Leeson.”
Sarah’s sour expression shifted almost instantly, and her voice warmed as she laughed a little. Her hand slipped into his, and they shook as she said, “For just a second I was sure you were going to say Dorian Gray.”
He laughed, too. “No such luck. I’m afraid I’m only mortal.”
“But you could be the model for his portrait,” she cooed, her cheeks reddening.
I rolled my eyes. Seriously? They were flirting in my office. Honest to God, I’m not even here, flirting in my office. Talk about disgusting. Folding my arms across my chest, I tapped the toe of my shoes against the floor as I waited for them to finish their ridiculous flirting and get them both out of my office.
“You flatter me,” he answered her. They were still shaking hands. “And who would want to paint me if they caught even a glimpse of you.”
I wanted to gag. Partially because Dorian was a flirt and this was par for the course as far as he was concerned, but also because, really? Her? She wasn’t ugly, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call her beautiful. Definitely not prettier than Dorian. He’d always been on the beautifully masculine side and everyone knew it. This woman? She was the picture the dictionary used to define Plain Jane.
But the woman ate it up. She laughed and her blush deepened, which actually worked in her favor. I had half an interest in telling her to wear a little blush, it looked so attractive on her, but I held my tongue. Last thing I wanted to do was get mixed up in their silliness.
“I appreciate the compliment, but I highly doubt that’s true,” Sarah said, batting her eyelashes girlishly.
I doubted it also but was smart enough to keep my mouth shut.
“Don’t doubt it for a second,” Dorian told her seriously. And then he actually fucking winked.
I wanted to die. Deciding I’d had enough, I cleared my throat. Both Dorian and Sarah looked startled, as though they’d completely forgotten I was even there. Even though this was my goddamn office. “Thank you for letting me know Mr. Harvey’s revised timeline,” I said diplomatically to Sarah. “I appreciate the effort, but as you can see, I do have other business to attend to.”
Sarah blinked her large eyes at me, a deer caught in the headlights. She coughed awkwardly, then pulled her hand away from Dorian’s. Finally. “Um, it was a pleasure to meet you,” she told him stiffly.
Dorian was unfazed by my interruption and her embarrassment both. “The pleasure, I assure you, was definitely all mine.”
She giggled, then coughed again to try to cover it. She smiled at Dorian and glared at me, then left my office. I’d never been so relieved to see a woman go before.
Dorian watched her until she was most definitely down the hall and in the elevator. He seemed unusually smitten with her.
“Not really your type, is she?” I asked pointedly when he was still staring after her, even when the elevator went down.
He finally turned back to look at me and grinned. “You don’t think so?”
I shrugged mildly. “I always pictured you with someone more high maintenance.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a vote of confidence for me.”
“We all have our weaknesses,” I told him prettily.
Shaking his head but still smiling, he propped his hip on the edge of my desk. “I have those papers for you. The ones for Odessa.” He offered them to me.
I took them gratefully and flipped idly through them. I’d wait until I was home before taking a closer look at them. “Thanks, I’ve been waiting on these.”
He nodded, pausing. “Was she a new client?” he asked casually.
I didn’t even look up at him from the papers, smirking at the documents. “No, she’s not. She’s Trent Harvey’s secretary.”
“A secretary?” He sounded surprised. “She’s got to be more than a secretary.”
I shook my head. “Secretary. That’s what she told me. Sure she’s still your type?”
He was pouting slightly, an amusing expression on his handsome face. He was older than me by several years—I’d never asked how many—but he looked about nineteen sometimes. Pouting like this? He could have passed for a high schooler.
“Jesus, wipe that pitiful look off your face,” I told him with a laugh. “Maybe she’s got more ambitious dreams.”
He nodded. “Maybe.” Shoving off from my desk, he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. He was such a kid sometimes. “Regardless. Let me know what’s going on with Harvey, and let me know if there are any more issues with the Odessa project.”
I thanked him and he left. I thought I was in the clear, but then I received a call at my desk. So much for getting out of there. I answered it and was surprised to hear the same cool voice of Sarah from earlier. “Sarah?”
“Sorry. I forgot to tell you that Trent or I will give you a firm date for final delivery in the next day or two,” she explained professionally, really sounding like a secretary. She reminded me of Courtney, which hurt a little bit, to be honest. “Other than that, you’re not going to hear from him. He won’t take your calls. He won’t answer emails. And he’s not going to show up for meetings.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. That’s how he works. He’s finally got his groove back, so don’t fuck it up by trying to get in his business,” she warned me.
“Fine,” I bit out. “Oh, since I have you on the line, you’re friends with Harvey, right?”
There was a pause, then a drawn-out “Yes. Why?”
“I assume you know Callum as well?” What are you doing, Marnie? A little voice in my head asked me. I ignored it. I knew what the hell I was doing.
“Of course.” She sounded stiff.
“Well, do you by any chance know where he is?” I prompted.
“I assume with Amelia. He’s been with her most of the last week.”
I froze.
Amelia? Who the hell was Amelia? And why was he spending the whole week with her when he fucking told me he’d been swamped with work?
I told myself not to freak out and to be calm. Obviously, there was an explanation for this. I’d just ask Sarah who Amelia was and everything would be fine…
“I have to go. I’ll text you the date when I get home.”
Before I had the chance to say another word to her, much less ask who the fuck Amelia was, she’d hung up.
I clutched my phone to my ear for a long time, listening to the dial tone. As I finally hung up, I had to ask myself: was
Callum playing me?
Chapter Sixteen
Courtney
I ended up spending the following evening with Liz and her sister again. We hadn’t had to talk much the previous night as her sister, Amelia, had spent two minutes with us before apologizing and canceling. She cited an important interview as the reason, but I was skeptical.
Who had themselves dropped off at the restaurant to meet people they’d planned to meet with, only to turn around and cancel their evening events, catch a cab, and go to an interview?
It was all highly suspect, and I didn’t buy it. She said her phone had been demolished when she got in the car before dinner, but I had a feeling she was lying.
Or she was really just that ditzy, which was a pretty valid option.
But tonight, I was meeting up with the sisters again, this time at a nice little eatery with awesome outdoor seating. We put our orders in and made casual conversation.
Amelia spent a lot of time in Europe, and then along the East Coast, but she was really thrilled to be here in Washington now.
“Oh, I was going to ask you the other night,” I interjected casually, because whether I was fighting with Marnie or not, I had to know the truth to save my friend from any potential heartache. “Who was the guy that dropped you off?”
“Oh, Callum? He’s awesome,” she said, her face lighting up and her eyes practically sparkling. If she were the Barbie doll she looked like, I’d have thought someone painted those sparkly little diamonds on her eyes. “I mean, really. Absolutely wonderful. I just wouldn’t know what to do without him.”
My stomach dropped. Although I wanted to know, I’d secretly been hoping that I was wrong. That there was a reasonable explanation for who this woman was and what her connection to Callum was.
But this didn’t sound good.
“Yeah, Amelia is actually staying with him for a little while,” Liz added helpfully. She was seriously bored, stirring her drink which was now just ice. She was hitting the hard stuff early, thank you very much.
Amelia nodded. “Yeah. He’s so great. He doesn’t even get mad when I leave my bras hanging all over the place or run around in my pj’s.”
Dared to Love (The Billionaire Parker Brothers Book 3) Page 35