“Well, he is my future you-know-what, so of course I am,” Paige replied.
“Sure. Why not,” I conceded with a shrug, my lack of enthusiasm obvious to just about anyone. I knew they were right; I did need to appear as though Will quitting was no big deal. Which it wasn’t, of course. Just a minor speed bump in my ascension up the corporate ladder.
We arrived at O’Dowd’s five minutes later. Most of the sales team, half the marketing team, and even a couple of the executives were gathered together in a large, rowdy group with Will at the center, laughing and joking. Paige caught Will’s eye and waived, blushing so much we could toast s’mores on her face. Oh, yeah, she’s got it bad.
We went to the bar and ordered our drinks. When we joined the group, it was clear Will had been there for some time enjoying the beer on tap with The Cavemen.
“Ladies!” he said, grinning at us. “How wonderful you joined us.”
Paige sidled up to him. “Hi, Will,” she purred, still the color of a Hawaiian sunset.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Millsey!”
I turned away, unable to stomach their mutual affection. What Paige saw in that gutless wonder was beyond me.
As I chatted to one of the team, I caught Will’s eye and he grinned at me, raising his glass. I smiled back and looked away. I had no idea what to say to the guy anymore. The sooner I got out of here and back to Parker—Oh, my god! In all the excitement of the day’s events, I had completely forgotten to meet up with him. I glanced at my watch, five forty-three. I had precisely seventeen minutes to get back to my car, drive through the busy Auckland streets, and get to my place.
I squeezed through the throngs to explain to Marissa why I was leaving.
“Good luck,” she said, giving me a hug, although her expression suggested she thought I’d need significantly more than mere luck.
I turned and scanned the bar for Will. It was the right thing to do to say goodbye to him. I would probably never see him again, and although I didn’t think a whole lot of him now, I owed him that.
As I made my way through the crowd, one of the executive team, Malcolm, a short, bespectacled man with wiry hair and a penchant for cravats, quietly congratulated me on my new job. “It’d be in poor taste at this event to mention it publicly, but I did want to congratulate you on your promotion, Cassie.”
I smiled at him. This man was now my peer. It felt strange—in a good way. “Thank you, Malcolm. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
“I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job. And with Will pulling himself out of the race, you were the logical choice.”
Stop the bus. What? “I’m sorry?” I questioned, trying to keep my tone light. “When, exactly, did Will pull out of the race?”
“I think Laura mentioned he did it over the weekend.” Malcolm picked up on my shocked expression. “Look, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. From what I understand, you were a strong candidate for the role all along.”
I swallowed. “So, he should have got the job?” There was a definite tremor to my voice I hope he didn’t pick up on.
Malcom put his hands up in surrender. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s . . . f-fine,” I mumbled. I looked over at Will. He was standing in a group of people, laughing at something someone had said. Paige was standing next to him, laughing along with him.
I made my way through the crowd to him. I needed to talk to him, to find out why he had done what he’d done.
“Hey, Will. Can I have a word?” I asked, trying to appear calm and relaxed.
By the look on his face, I had failed. “Sure. Get some air?”
I nodded and followed him to the front of the bar and out onto the street. Several smokers were chatting, leaning up against the wall.
“Let’s go upwind,” Will suggested.
A moment later, we stood facing one another as a truck drove past, revving its engine loudly. Suddenly nervous, I looked down at my feet. “Why did you do it?” I looked up into his eyes.
“Do what?” he bluffed. He gave up the pretense within two seconds flat. “You wanted it more than anything. You told me.” He shrugged, as though throwing his career away for me was a perfectly sane thing to do.
My breath hitched in my throat as my heart slammed against my ribcage. “You did it for me? Why?”
“Cassie, I—” He pursed his lips and looked up the street at a passing car. He turned back to face me and shook his head. “Never mind why. The job’s yours. You being happy is . . . well, I want you to be happy, let’s just say that.”
I looked down at my hands, clutched in front of my belly. Will left the company so I could become Regional Manager. He gave up a huge opportunity—for me. My heart was still banging in my chest. My mouth went dry. As I looked at him, his Poldark-handsome face, nothing else mattered. Not the job, not our rivalry, not even Parker and his “is-he-slash-isn’t-he-still-in-love-with-Sara” drama.
In that moment, all that mattered was that Will cared enough for me to step aside and allow me to win.
“Can you answer me one thing?” he asked.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Are you—” he began only to pause, pressing his lips together.
“Am I what?” I asked. My voice breathless, barely audible above the thudding of my heart.
“Look, don’t take this the wrong way. And I don’t want to pry into your private life or anything. But . . . do you think Parker is the right guy for you?”
I shook my head. Parker? He wanted to know about Parker? “Err, yes.” Other than the fact he’s in love with someone else, that is.
He looked crestfallen. “Oh.”
“Why?” My voice trembled.
“It’s just.” He stepped closer to me. My whole body tingled. “I wanted to know, that’s all.”
He was now so close to me, I could feel his warm breath on my face. Completely against my better judgment, I made the mammoth mistake of looking up into his rich brown eyes. I had long since known they were the kind of eyes a girl could get lost in.
Looking into them now, I knew it was game over.
In a moment that should have had its own romantic soundtrack, not the muffled thud thud of the music from inside the bar, without even knowing why I was doing it, I pulled his face down to mine with both hands and pressed my lips against his. I could feel him surrender as he kissed me back, pulling me into him until I was pressed up against him, his arms sliding around my waist. I inhaled his aroma and melted into him. Our kiss was warm and soft, it was . . . perfection.
He ran one of his hands up my back, slipping his fingers into my hair as our kiss intensified. My sudden need for him was overpowering. I tugged at his shirt, reaching my hand inside to feel his taut belly. A shot of desire ran through me, settling deep down, rendering me breathless, my legs suddenly unsteady.
Almost inaudible at first, a little voice inside me got louder and louder, telling me this was wrong. So, so wrong. It might have been an incredible kiss—quite possibly the best I’d ever had—but that didn’t make it right.
A moment or an hour later—I wouldn’t be able to tell you if my life depended on it—I finally came to my senses. With a strength Superman himself would be impressed with, I pulled away from him, utterly appalled with myself. And the way he’d made me feel.
I put my hand to my mouth, trying to wipe away our kiss. It was pointless, of course. What was done was done. I couldn’t un-kiss Will any more than I could make Parker love me.
“We shouldn’t be doing this, Will. It’s not right.”
He shook his head, his face full of desire—for me. “It’s not, Cassie. Can’t you see?”
I took another step back. “No.” I shook my head. “No.”
He reached for me, his eyes on fire, his lips parted. He took my hand in his. “You feel it, too. I know you do.”
My breathing was rapid, shallow. He was wrong. I couldn’t f
eel anything for him.
I swallowed, trying to control my breathing. “But . . . what about Paige?”
“What about her?”
“What do you mean? You’re dating her.”
He chortled. “No, I’m not.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Yeah, you are.”
“Dunny, I think I’d know if I was dating someone.”
It was a good point. “Well, she thinks you’re dating.”
He let out a sardonic laugh. “Good for her. We’re not.” He slipped his hand around my waist once more. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. I lingered, relishing the way he felt, his scent, his hard body pressed against mine.
No. This had to stop.
I stepped out of his embrace, resolved. “Paige or not, you’re only kissing me because you’re emotional leaving the company, or something. And I’m”—I wracked my brain for an excuse for my shocking behavior—“I’m drunk.” I’d had half a glass of wine. I wasn’t a huge drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but not even I could get drunk on that tiny amount of alcohol.
He shook his head. “If anyone’s had too much to drink, it’s me. I promised myself I wasn’t going to say anything. Do anything. But to hell with it.” He put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Cassie.” His voice turned breathless, his dark brown eyes boring into me. “This is real. You have to know I’m in love with you.”
I shrunk back from him, my eyes huge. “You’re . . . in love with me?” I could join the Chip ’n Dale line up, my voice was so unnaturally high.
Was this some kind of a joke?
He nodded, smiling, as though this was the best news in the world. “I love you.”
I took another step away from him, wanting to put as much safe air between us as possible. He watched me, still with those eyes I could get lost in, still with that look of desire for me written all over his face.
“No. No. We can’t do this, Will.”
Pain flickered in his eyes. “Why not? I know you have feelings for me. Cassie, we’re so right together.”
I smoothed down my skirt self-consciously, looking around me. A couple of the bar patrons smoking their cigarettes were watching us. I smiled weakly at them, and they turned away, talking quietly among themselves. We’d put on quite the show for them tonight.
Resolved, I shook my head, my lips locked together. I cast my eyes down to avoid his. I’d made that mistake once tonight: I wasn’t making it again. “I’m . . . I’m in love with Parker. I’m going to marry Parker. That’s just the way it is.” Forget the fact he was probably in love with another woman. “I . . . I have to go.”
“Cassie, don’t do this.”
Without looking at him, I turned away and headed briskly down the street, away from the bar and Will, as fast as my heels would take me.
I knew I was running away, I knew I was being as spineless as I had thought Will was being over leaving AGD. I had to get out of there. I had to get far away from Will. Will who loved me. Will who I had, only moments ago, kissed like my life depended on it. Amazing, incredible, confusing Will.
A block away and I began to breathe again. I was almost safe. It was then I noticed someone calling my name. It was a woman’s voice. I turned to see Marissa, rushing down the street toward me. “Cassie!”
I had to decide in a split second whether to stop and plaster on a fake smile for her, as though I’d been running for fun and not to get away from Will, or to simply keep on running.
I’m not proud. I chose to run.
Chapter 23
I REACHED MY CAR in the AGD building basement, threw my purse on the passenger’s seat, and sat down heavily at the wheel, slamming the door behind me. My mind was racing faster than a supersonic jet, trying to make sense of what had happened. In the same few short days, I had probably lost Parker to another woman, gained the job of my dreams, and had Will declare his love for me. Will!
I let out a bitter laugh. I had finally heard those magic three little words I had wanted to hear for so long. Only they weren’t from Parker. They were from Will.
I banged my head against the steering wheel, hoping to bash some sense into my deeply jumbled brain. Will loves me. It was bizarre. No, it was beyond bizarre; it was surreal. I’d stumbled into The Twilight Zone. I half expected Forest Whitaker to jump out from behind a tree, shouting, “Surprise!”
How did this happen? One minute, Will and I were work colleagues, vying for the same job, and somehow, through it all, becoming friends. Next, he was leaving the company so I could get the job we both wanted, making declarations of love for me!
I turned the ignition over and pulled out of my parking space. I pushed Will from my mind. I could work it all out some other time. It had to wait. Parker. I needed to get to him. I had a relationship with the man I was meant to marry to save. I didn’t have time for handsome men, telling me they loved me outside rowdy Irish bars.
Twenty-minutes of pushing the day’s events from my mind at least three hundred thirty-seven times, I noticed Parker leaning against his car as I pulled into my driveway. I took a moment to collect myself before I pushed my door open and stepped out of my car.
Parker was by my side immediately. “Cassie. Where were you? I was worried.”
I smiled up at him, tears threatening my eyes. “Sorry, I got tied up. Let’s go in.” I opened my front door, flicked on the lights, dropped my purse and keys on the side table, and plunked myself down on the sofa. Parker followed, facing me as he perched on the edge.
Without preamble, he launched with, “I went to see Sara.” He looked at me through hooded eyes.
“Oh.” I had no clue what he was going to say next. He could be about to break up with me for good, for all I knew. He could be about to tell me she was an Amazonian alien, here to take over the world, for all I knew. Today had been a very weird day, anything was possible.
“We had a good long talk. About her and me, about everything.”
My belly twisted up in a reef knot. “Are you back together?”
He shook his head, and I let out a rush of air in utter relief. “She’s moved on.”
“Have you?” I whispered, not sure I wanted to hear the reply.
He clasped his hands together on his lap. “I’m going to be honest with you, Cassie.”
I gulped. Telling someone you’re going to be honest with them is usually the preamble for telling them something they do not want to hear.
“I thought I was still in love with her. I thought she was my perfect woman. I was . . . thrown when I saw her at the club on Friday.”
You can say that again.
“I went to see her to ask her if she’d consider coming back to me.”
Tears welled in my eyes. I tried to blink them away, instead they rolled down my cheeks. That was that, then. We were over. Dead.
“The thing is I realized after I saw her that yes, I have moved on. Seeing her made me face up to a few things. It forced me to get closure.” He took my hands in his. “It made me realize how I feel about you, Cassie.”
My heart stopped. “It did?”
He nodded, smiling, his green eyes soft. He took my hands in his, forcing me to look at him. “I love you, Cassie.”
My jaw dropped. I blinked at his happy, shining face. He loves me? I had to work hard to shake myself out of my disbelief. “Are you sure?”
I kissed another man only thirty minutes ago, felt things I never thought I would feel for him, and now Parker was telling me he loved me?
He slid across the sofa, leaned in, and kissed me. Knowing where my lips had just been, it was uncomfortable, to say the least. I had to cut it short.
“Cassie?” he questioned, looking wounded as I moved away.
“Sorry, I—” I casted around for an excuse. I didn’t think telling him I’d been in an adulterous lip-lock was the right thing to say following his love declaration—the declaration I’d been waiting for so long to hear. “I’m surprised, t
hat’s all. I thought you were going to say something else. Are you sure?”
He laughed, his eyes sparkling. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s you, Cassie.” He smiled the smile of a man happy with the world and his place in it, a man who knows he’s in love—and loved back.
I, on the other hand, felt like I’d been put through a concrete mixer and tossed out the other side of reality.
“Can we make this work? You and me?”
I wiped my tears away and took a deep breath. “Yes,” I said. “I would love to.”
* * *
How did this ever happen? Two men professed their love for me on the same night—no, within the same hour! It was ridiculous, laughable even. The sort of stuff madcap Hollywood movies from the fifties were about. Only it was very, very real.
I guessed it was true what they said about men being like buses: you waited around for one to come for what felt like a lifetime, and then suddenly, two arrive at once.
Parker and I had spent hours talking that night after his big announcement. He came clean about wanting me to be like Sara—the golf, the jazz club, even the way he liked me to wear my hair—and apologized profusely for it. And I forgave him. Sure, I didn’t like it, and it was more than a little bit creepy, but I believed him when he said he loved me and wanted to be with me. And it felt good.
Especially if I didn’t think about Will Jordan.
The following day, he suggested we go out to lunch at Alessandro’s. With a start, I realized I had never taken him to the Cozy Cottage.
“Let’s go to my café for a change, okay?”
“Sure. I’d love to.” He smiled at me as he took my hand in his.
When we walked through the door, Bailey was at the counter, chatting with a good-looking guy. She was blushing and clearly flirting. “Good for you,” I thought.
“Where do you want to sit?” Parker asked.
“Oh, we always—” I gestured at my usual table in the window and noticed there was a couple sitting there with their young son. “Oh. It’s being used. Oh well, let’s sit somewhere else.”
One Last First Date Page 22