“Why did you have me bring that here if you weren’t going to drink it?”
She shrugged. “I thought I would, but then I saw you and just wanted to get you naked.”
With the glasses in one hand and the bottle hugged close to her body, she eased the door open to check if the coast was clear. With a quick look over her shoulder to make sure Miles was putting clothes on, she left the room.
She waited for him on the couch with the TV on but didn’t bother to flip through the channels. A few minutes later, Miles plopped down and put an arm around her, pulling her to rest against him.
“Have I told you lately how much I love being rushed in the bedroom?”
“Take what you can get, Prescott.”
He took the remote and flipped channels. He stroked his fingers up and down her arm, the rhythm soothing and relaxing her even more. She hadn’t known that was possible.
“Hey, I was looking at your papers on the table.”
“Hmm?” She thought for a minute and then remembered her lists.
“Have you heard something about your job?”
“No. I’m preparing for worst-case scenario.”
“Your worst case looks pretty bleak.”
She lifted a shoulder as if it wasn’t a big deal. She didn’t need the reminder of how bleak it was.
“If things go south, I’ll help.”
She shifted to look up at him. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I’m not your charity.”
“I don’t think of you as charity. I also can’t sit by and watch you kill yourself working crazy hours so you can pay your bills and still be with your kids. That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s my life, my responsibility.”
“I understand, but I have the means to make your life easier.”
Suddenly, it was like their first night together when he’d made her feel a little like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. She knew he didn’t mean anything by the offer, so she took a deep breath before responding. “I know you’re trying to be kind. But I can’t rely on you financially, Miles. I did that for years in my marriage, and I regretted it. I don’t want money to come between us.”
“It wouldn’t.”
She swallowed a laugh. “That’s easy for you to say now, but it would. You have money, and I don’t. It absolutely would come between us.”
“So I’m supposed to watch you suffer, knowing I could help? That’s bullshit.”
“It’s the way it has to be.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Now he was irritating her. “It does. At first, it’ll be fine, but at some point you’ll start to feel like you’re being used. You’ll resent my inability to live the life you’re used to.”
He sat back, putting distance between them. “I don’t give a fuck about money.”
“That’s because you have that luxury.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not doing anything. I’m explaining to you why I won’t let you help pay my bills.”
“But you need help.”
“No, I don’t.” She stood, and he followed. “I have my job. I can get another. Like I said, those numbers, my personal finances, are worst-case scenario.”
He crossed his arms. “So if you hit worst case, you’ll let me help?”
She growled. “No. I’ll take care of myself.”
“You don’t have to do everything yourself.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because you might leave!” The words burst from her. She wanted to suck them back in but realized how true they were.
Miles dropped his arms. “I thought we’d moved past that. I’m here, Tess. I’m fitting in to your life. I’m not going anywhere because I love you.”
She had already filled her lungs to prepare for a rebuttal, but his words stopped her. Her heart leaped into her throat. Her own declaration tried to escape, but she held it back. Her breaths came quickly, and she wanted to throw herself into his arms. And because she wanted it so badly, she locked her knees.
“If it were just you and me, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. I have to think about the kids. I’ve brought you into their lives, but I can’t allow them to get used to a different lifestyle. Things changed for them when William and I divorced. William routinely uses money to buy their love. He misses time with them and buys a gift instead. They’re always gifts I can’t compete with.”
Miles stepped closer and took her hand. “I don’t want to compete with you. I don’t want to buy their love.” He paused, then added with a smile, “Well, maybe if I had to…”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. Now was not the time for jokes. He cupped her jaw and waited for her to open her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve played by your rules one hundred percent, and I have no desire to compete with you or make you look like less in the eyes of your kids. I can help with money if you need it.”
“I won’t.”
“Okay. Then I guess this is a silly argument.”
She wanted to believe it was, but a niggling feeling poked at her deep down.
He kissed her temple. “It’s getting late. I have an early morning meeting.”
“Okay.”
Miles continued to hold her face. “Can I take Billy shopping on Wednesday?”
“I’m working. I’ll have William bring him here and ask my mom to wait with him until you get off work.”
“Is that going to cause a problem with his dad?”
She huffed. “Not likely.”
“If you say so. I should be able to pick him up around four thirty or five.”
“Talk to you tomorrow?”
“Absolutely.”
His comment reassured her, so the sting of their argument lessened. He left, and she returned to her glass of wine and thought about how far into her life she could allow Miles. He was asking for full access and had even said he loved her.
After another glass of wine—or two—she picked up her phone and texted him.
I love you, too.
…
Miles went to work the following morning with a fresh mission. He might not be able to convince Tess to let him help her financially, but he could help secure her job. The first order of business for the James Prescott foundation would be a sizeable endowment to the PICU department of St. Mark’s. After leaving Tess’s house last night, he’d stayed up developing the proposal.
Because when you loved a woman, you did whatever you could for her. Knowing she loved him had set his world right after they’d argued. He would’ve preferred hearing the words from her lips, maybe while they were naked, but a text was better than nothing.
He proposed the endowment to St. Mark’s PICU to Sabrina via email. She thought it was a great idea. Although he presented the idea as something their father would have liked because St. Mark’s gala had been his favorite, Sabrina warned against making it all about his girlfriend. He assured her it wasn’t. Then he spoke to his contacts at the hospital to discuss the finer points of the endowment and what his family expected.
He had a few weeks until they revealed the foundation to the public, and he had most things in place—everything except the director of grants. He’d finally gotten a good email address for Toya and expected to hear from her soon. She’d switched jobs since he’d seen her last. He wouldn’t say she was climbing the corporate ladder as much as she was always looking for her next big challenge.
As he bounced ideas back and forth, a new message hit his inbox.
Hi, Miles! It’s great to hear from you. Sorry you had to work to track me down. I haven’t updated my contacts recently because the last job I took didn’t work out. The non-profit went belly-up less than a month after I joined. So much for my instincts. I know you said you wanted to meet with me this week, but that might not be possible. I have a job interview in New York. If all goes well, I’ll be moving there. I’ll let you know where I am when I land a new position. I’d love to cat
ch up.
Toya
Miles couldn’t believe his luck—both the good and bad. Toya was in between jobs, so now was the time to make an offer, but she was unavailable. He knew she’d get the job. Whoever was interviewing her would be foolish not to hire her. He checked his calendar. The only pressing matter for the next two days was his trip to take Billy shopping Wednesday night.
If Toya was unavailable to come to him, he’d go to her. He picked up his phone. “Eleanor, book me the next possible flight to New York. Get me a hotel room and reservations for tomorrow night at a great restaurant.”
“Any preference as to where you’d like to go?”
Miles almost laughed. Every time he’d been in New York in the past, he was partying with college friends. A fancy dinner had never been on his list of things to do. “Wherever Sabrina normally takes clients.”
“Will do.”
Miles emailed Toya and told her he’d be in New York tomorrow and asked her not to accept any job offer until after they’d spoken.
He spent the rest of his day juggling work so he could go to New York. He prepared a presentation to get Toya to sign on with him while he talked on the phone to Sabrina’s event coordinator to discuss the foundation party. He wanted the endowment to St. Mark’s to coincide with the celebration of the foundation being made public.
In line with the mission of the foundation, the celebration would be a family event, not a stuffy black-tie affair, because at the James Prescott Foundation, family came first. Miles was happy with the work he’d done and was sure his father would be proud to have his name associated with it.
He couldn’t count the number of times he’d picked up his phone today to tell Tess everything but then stopped. By the time he had everything done and was leaving the office, it was after nine. He called her on his way home.
“Hey,” she answered.
“How was your day?”
“Same as always. How was yours?”
“Exhausting.” On days like this, he was grateful to have a driver. He leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. “Very productive, though. I have to go to New York tomorrow to interview someone for the foundation.”
“New York? Wow.”
“I’ll try to call you, but I might be tied up. I’m not sure how long the meeting will go.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Why is this conversation so painful? Talking with Tess is usually so smooth and natural.
“Should I just take Billy shopping for robot parts tomorrow?” she asked.
“No. I’ll be back on Wednesday.”
“But you might be tired. That’s a lot of travel.”
“I’ll be fine.” He rubbed his forehead. “Are we okay?”
Silence hung in the air. He’d thought for sure after her text last night they were past the argument.
“I don’t know. Are we?”
He sighed. “I love you, Tess. We’re gonna fight, but it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t ruin us.”
“I wasn’t sure you got my text last night. I was a little buzzed because I drank all the wine after you left.”
“I got it.” She’d been drunk? A thought struck him. “You meant it, right?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have chickened out of saying it. You took me by surprise, and we were fighting, and…” Her sigh coasted over him.
“I don’t know why it was a surprise. I kind of thought it was obvious. If it wasn’t, I need to up my game.”
She laughed. “Trust me, your game is just fine.”
Dave pulled up in front of the condo, and Miles briefly considered having the car continue on to Tess’s house, but he needed to pack for his trip. “Good. Now that we have that settled, tell me about your day for real.”
“Billy woke up talking about his robot and hasn’t stopped since. I don’t know if he did any actual work in school.”
“Shit. I have his program. If I email it to you, can you give it to him? Or does he have his own email?”
“Of course he has his own email. Otherwise my inbox would be filled with video game crap every time he signs up for something. I’ll text it to you, and you can send whatever you want.”
“Just so you know, my guy said it’s good. You might have the next computer billionaire on your hands.”
“Not quite.”
“He’s only had one coding class. He’s got a knack for it.”
“Awesome. Then I can count on him to take care of me in retirement.”
“I doubt you’ll need him. You’re pretty good at taking care of yourself.”
“Is that a dig?”
He trudged through his condo, sat on his couch, and imagined being in Tess’s living room with her in his arms. “Not at all. You always impress me, but when I looked at your list yesterday, I developed a new level of admiration.”
“You have a way of making me feel like some kind of superhero.”
“Not far from the truth. Have a great day tomorrow. I have to go pack for New York.”
“Have a good trip.”
“Will I get in trouble if I bring back souvenirs for the kids?”
“If you buy a little snow globe, no. If you spend a gazillion dollars on something crazy, yes.”
“You have some silly rules, Ms. Howland, but I respect you. Snow globes it is.”
She laughed as they disconnected, and Miles knew he needed to finish building the foundation so he could focus on building his relationship with Tess and her kids. They were every bit as much his future as the Prescott Foundation.
…
All day on Tuesday, Miles functioned at a mildly panicked level. Eleanor couldn’t get him on a flight to New York until early afternoon. Normally, not a big deal, even with losing an hour to the time change. But by the time he got to his hotel, he was cutting it close to his dinner reservations, and he still hadn’t heard from Toya.
He’d texted her as soon as he landed, but she hadn’t responded. He knew she was in an interview and, depending on the circumstances and how badly the organization wanted her, it could take a while. They’d asked her to fly halfway across the country, so it wouldn’t be a twenty-minute conversation.
Then, as luck would have it, when she did respond, she said she wouldn’t be able to have dinner with him because her interview had gone well and they wanted to show her the town. She reassured him she wouldn’t accept the offer without giving him a chance and then offered him a lunch date for Wednesday. She was the best person for the job, and he needed to hire her. So he agreed.
He called Eleanor to get her to reschedule his flight, then called Tess as he ate a lonely room service dinner.
“Aren’t you supposed to be having a fancy high-powered dinner in New York?”
“Yeah, I am, but plans got moved. I’m eating dinner all alone, so I’m calling you to keep me company.”
“What happened with the interview?”
He sighed. “The woman I came here to interview got tied up with another prospective employer. We’re having lunch tomorrow instead.”
“Ouch. It’s not a good sign if she bumped you.”
“In her defense, she already had this scheduled. I’m kind of poaching.”
“Intriguing.”
“Not really. Just business.”
“Since you’re going to be stuck there, should I try to take Billy shopping tonight?”
“No. We’re eating lunch, and my plane takes off at three. I gain an hour coming back to Chicago. I might have to come straight to your house, but I’ll be there.”
“If you’re sure…”
Her doubt had his back up. He wanted to do this. She’d just started trusting him to do things with the kids without her constant supervision. He didn’t want to give this up. “I’m glad he got the code I sent. It was nice of him to text to thank me.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. I didn’t recognize the number, so it took a minute for me to respond.”
She chuckled. “The phone is relatively new. We obviously still have to work on phone etiquette. They always need reminders that not everyone texts like their friends.”
“He did fine.”
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I miss you already.”
“Better watch out, Miles. People might start thinking you’re all mushy. It’s only been two days since we saw each other. And you even got lucky that night.”
“I’ll let the world know you make me horribly mushy if it means I get to spend more time with you.”
“We like to have you around, so you’re on.”
He liked the sound of that. Tess had said we. She included the kids as part of the equation.
They said good night, and Miles crawled into bed with spreadsheets and reports. He had a good feeling about meeting with Toya. Then he’d get back to Chicago to be with Tess and her kids.
All of Miles’s good feelings disappeared the next morning with a simple text at eleven a.m. Toya needed to push their lunch date but promised she’d have coffee with him in the afternoon. Shit, what if he couldn’t make it back to Chicago on time? Tess was at work today, so he had to make it.
When he walked into the coffee shop to meet Toya, he calculated he’d have just enough time if he went straight to the airport. Toya was already there sipping a coffee. Damn, she wouldn’t even let him buy her a drink? She stood when she saw him and gave him a hug.
“Hey, Toya. It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too. I’m really sorry about pushing you off, but the non-profit that flew me out here wanted to squeeze every bit of time out of me. I felt obligated to give them that since I’m here on their dime.” She pointed to the chair across from her, and they took their seats.
“I understand. I’m also sure they offered you the position, but I think I can top it.”
She smiled. “You have no idea what’s on the table.”
“They’re a nonprofit, so I know I can beat the salary hands down.”
“You know I’m not looking for a corporate job, Miles. I would never be happy working at Prescott Workspace.”
“Neither would I.”
He told her about the James Prescott Foundation. Two sentences in, and he had her rapt attention.
One Night with a Millionaire (Daring Divorcees) Page 19