by Railyn Stone
Looking down at the outfit she had on, Sloane bit her lip. Liyah was right. If she left now, she’d have just enough time to shower and change and make sure Brayden was settled before meeting Gates. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to change. Look, I’ll call you later tonight.”
“Hopefully you’ll be too busy letting him push a few other buttons. Just call me tomorrow.” Liyah winked as Sloane shook her head.
“Whatever.” Picking up her purse and keys, Sloane followed Liyah through the doorway.
###
Making sure she wouldn’t be late, Sloane hurried into Elijah’s. She’d gotten Chase to watch Brayden for her since her Aunt Avery had returned home to Charlotte. She looked around and realized she’d beaten Gates to the restaurant and she breathed a sigh of relief. As she followed the hostess to a table, she tried to quell the nerves building up inside of her. She was glad she took Liyah’s advice to change. The little black tunic dress hung loosely on her svelte figure, stopping above her knees to show off her beautiful legs. The sheer kimono split sleeves left her beautiful arms half exposed. Taking a breath, she took a quick glance at her make up in her compact before putting it away and sipping her water. “Okay, this is crazy, Sloane. Stop fidgeting.” She was about to go to the restroom and check her make up again in a bigger mirror but stopped when she caught a glimpse of Gates crossing the restaurant toward her. She lost all ability to move and just stared at his gracious presence. Damn. His tailor-made suit fit every inch of his body perfectly and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him as he sauntered to the table. The man commanded attention without trying and it seemed all of the action in the entire restaurant had stopped.
“Sloane.”
“Gates, hi.” Cursing inwardly at her nervousness, she blinked and took a deep breath to calm herself.
“Can I get you something to drink, ma’am, sir?” The waiter asked as he visited their table, pouring a glass of water for Gates.
“Uh, no.” Sloane said, looking at the crystal glass that was the only thing sweating more than her.
“No, this is fine for me.” The waiter nodded and headed off as Gates took a seat across from Sloane, never taking his eyes off of her.
“You haven’t changed.” Sloane noticed Gates still didn’t drink alcohol.
“Some things never need to change.” She was uneasy and his unwavering glare made her even more anxious as she fiddled with her napkin.
“Gates, I’m not sure why you’re trying to block this project from going through, but if it’s because of me, don’t punish this whole community.” She hadn’t meant to jump right in with both feet, but she figured getting to the real reason they were at dinner would help her to get out of there much faster.
Leaning back in his chair, Gates flashed his unbelievably perfect teeth and raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think this is about you?” His cool demeanor dug deep underneath her skin and her nerves dissipated as she fought back the urge to lash out at him.
“Gates, really? You have never been interested in this area before, so why now?”
“D&S have a sure thing. It’s a moneymaker. That’s the business I’m in, Sloane.” He reached forward and took a sip of his water before placing the glass back on the table. She envied the beads of water on the outside of the glass that ran down the side and disappeared into the linen tablecloth. She wished she could disappear as easy.
“You could take that anywhere and make money. Why here?” Sloane sat forward and tried her best to put up a confident front. She didn’t want Gates to really know how nervous he made her.
“It seems like as good of a place as any, so why not?” The overconfident look on his face made her insides burn as hot as the open flame on the candle flickering on the table between them.
“You can’t be serious? This is such an important effort by a lot of people in this community. Don’t you even care what this hospital will mean to this family, to the people here?” She couldn’t believe how disinterested and detached he seemed. He’d become somewhat guarded before she left him, but never this cold.
“Sloane, that’s not my concern. I make money. That’s what I do. I don’t get personally involved in these things. That’s the difference between you and me. You let yourself be led by emotion. I don’t.” Sloane had had enough of his aloof demeanor and she could no longer contain her rage.
“You are so cold and heartless.”
“It’s a bit early in the evening for the name calling, sweetheart.” Narrowing his eyes at her, Gates smirked and she could tell he was reveling in the fact he was able to get her riled up.
Rolling her eyes, she tried desperately to compose herself. “You know, maybe this was a bad idea. There’s no talking to you; there’s no reasoning with you. You’re always going to do what you want regardless of who you hurt in the process.”
“Wow. Tell me, how much does it cost you to replace all that glass you break with those stones you throw? I think you’re the one that doesn’t care who you hurt.” Sitting forward, his smoldering eyes seared through her, branding her soul.
“This has nothing to do with...” She glanced around at the other patrons in the restaurant. She was hoping no one nearby was able to hear the conversation. “Gates, I-”
“No, Sloane. Tell me, what’d you expect? Did you expect me to just come in here and have a nice little chat with you? Maybe you could bat your eyelashes, say please and I would give in? It’s not going to happen.” He shook his head and continued to glare at her.
“No, I-” She was trying her best to steady her voice, but to no avail.
Leaning over, Gates placed his arms on the table and sneered. “Get this through your head, Sloane. I’m not here to be friends or mend the past. I’m here to make money, and that’s it.” It was amazing, but at that moment she felt her stomach drop as the words tumbled over his perfect lips. She knew their physical relationship had ended the day she walked out on him, but in her mind, somewhere remote, she felt maybe there was still a slim possibility he didn’t hate her. Now, she saw the fire in his eyes as he let her know in no uncertain terms he was only there for a business transaction. He was a lot different than the man she’d fallen in love with so long ago. He truly had become just like Victor McCall.
“Gates, you have to have some compassion in your soul. How can you look into the faces of the Reyes family and not care what they lost? How can you look at yourself in the mirror or sleep at night?”
“I can’t imagine the hurt they’ve gone through. Not having kids of my own does put me at a disadvantage in really knowing how they feel. So, I have to go with what I do know, and that’s making money.”
Her breath caught in her throat and she reached for her glass to try and cool the burning sensation growing in the pit of her stomach. With the way he looked at her, she wondered; even if he did know about Brayden, would it make a difference in the way he felt about the project. “You were never this cruel before.”
Laughing, Gates sat back and flashed an evil grin. “Get used to it.”
“It was a mistake for me to think I could appeal to the humanity in you. I hope you’re happy with yourself.” Sloane shook her head and reached for her purse as she started to push away from the table.
“What’s wrong, you can’t take the heat? That’s right; your solution to any problem is to walk away. How could I forget?” Her legs crumbled beneath her and she plopped back into her seat.
She had never seen Gates like this and it was unsettling. “That’s not-”
“That’s not what? Were you honestly going to say that’s not what happened? I was there, remember?” If looks could kill, she would have been sprouting daisies from six feet under from the daggers shooting from his stare.
“Gates, you and I, it wasn’t working.” Her voice trembled and her confidence waned. Who was she fooling? She couldn’t fake being strong anymore.
“Wasn’t working? For who, Sloane? Who was it not working for?”
“Where should we discuss it? Or are you never going to give me a real reason for why you left? Don’t I deserve the truth?”
“I told you the truth.” She watched him shake his head as he took his time to respond to her. Finally Gates sat forward, eyes slit like a snake, and he hissed at her through clenched teeth.
“You didn’t tell me anything. You took the coward’s way out and wrote a letter. A letter you had delivered to me by my best friend.”
“Gates, please…I never meant to hurt you.”
“You never meant to hurt me. Wow, didn’t anyone ever tell you not to say things you don’t mean?”
“How could you think that I wanted to hurt you? I love-”
“You love…you what, you loved me? Really? Because walking out on me without so much as a goodbye was a strange way to show it.” The hurt and anger she saw swirling in his beautiful eyes let her know he would never forgive her for abandoning him.
“Gates, please?” Sloane continued to fight back tears. She knew he was hurt, but she had no idea he held so much contempt for her. He really did hate her. That moment solidified the fact she could never tell him about Brayden. He was so angry with her and she couldn’t bear the thought of him taking that anger out on their son.
“Oh, I’m sorry, am I hurting your feelings? It doesn’t feel too good, does it?” He sat back in his chair with an unrelenting stare that made her feel two inches tall.
“You know, I thought we could have an amicable conversation, but I guess I was wrong.” Grabbing her purse, Sloane gathered the strength to stand and quickly walk away. She waited until she hit the door to grant the tears that had been screaming for release access to her cheeks. He’s arrogant; he’s so full of himself. Did you think for one second you could sit down with him and have a decent conversation? She could barely see as the tears careened down her face and she quickened her pace when she heard Gates call her name.
“Sloane!” Continuing to her car, she tried to ignore his calls, but she could hear his shoes echoing off the pavement as he increased his gait to catch up to her. “I know you hear me, stop. Please?” She was almost to her car and freedom but something in the way he said ‘please,’ made her stop and she slowly turned to see him approaching her.
“What? What do you want, Gates? You want to humiliate me out here too? Is that it? You came here to humiliate me and destroy my career? Isn’t it enough that you have everything? Do you have to make sure everyone who’s ever done anything remotely bad to you is miserable? Is that it?” She sighed, feeling her shoulders sag with the weight of what felt like the entire universe as the tears rolled. Why did I let him see me cry?
“No. I’m here because of a business deal. I came here to make money and that’s it. I will admit, when I heard your name was linked to the Reyes project, I was intrigued. I guess in the beginning it was about getting back at you, but this is a lucrative deal for me and now I can’t walk away from it.”
“Whatever you say, Gates; if that’s what helps you sleep at night.” She didn’t believe a word he said. She was tired and all she wanted to do was go home. It had been too much of an emotional night. She pulled her key from her purse and turned to open the car door.
“I’m serious.” Placing his hand on her arm, Gates gently turned her back towards him. Her bare skin prickled underneath his soft touch and she looked up to see something she hadn’t seen in his eyes for a long time. Sincerity. “Look, maybe I finally succumbed to my feelings,” he paused with a slight grimace. “Seeing you brought all of that back. I’m not always the best with expressing myself either, you know that.” His eyes had softened from the harsh glare he’d given her earlier and she looked at the ground.
“Gates, this project means a lot to me and you don’t understand that. All you understand is making your bank account bigger. I only want you to listen to us before you make a decision on what project to go with.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” His quick agreement shocked her and she jerked her head back to look at him.
“You’re right. You do deserve to be heard, so I’ll hear your presentation on Thursday. You can be ready, right?”
“Of course.” She stammered with a soft voice vaguely above a whisper.
“Good. Then I’ll see you Thursday.” Reaching up, he softly rubbed the pad of his thumb across her cheek to catch the last tear escaping her eye. She watched in suspicion as he turned and strode across the parking lot to his car and wondered exactly what just happened.
Chapter 4
“I still don’t see why you have to jump through hoops for this guy. This is a great project for the community and if he can’t see that then there is truly something wrong with him.” Chase grumbled, watching Sloane glance back and forth between her laptop and a notepad as she typed another executive summary for their presentation on Thursday. He’d brought her dinner and was now playing with Brayden on the floor. She was in her ‘pre-presentation work mode’. She’d left her hair in its naturally curly state and pulled it high into a messy ball atop her head. Her pencil was in a battle to stay stuck behind her ear as her old stand-by black-framed glasses fought against it.
“Chase, you and I know that, but this has to be flawless. I wish it was simple, but I know he’s going to make it difficult and now Liyah and I have to be perfect come Thursday.” She continued to type after glancing around to see Brayden crawling on the floor. She was still baffled by Gates’ abrupt turnaround. What had caused his change of heart? What was he up to?
“Is it just for the Reyes Foundation or are you doing this to impress Mr. McCall?” If she didn’t know better she would swear Chase sounded a little annoyed at the amount of time she was putting in to ‘re-doing’ her presentation for Gates.
Her fingers froze in mid-sentence and Sloane turned, resting her arm on the back of the chair to look at Chase. “What’re you getting at?”
“I’m just saying, you’ve already gone to dinner with him and now you need me to watch Brayden again tomorrow night. Another date with him, perhaps?” Chase raised an eyebrow and sneered.
“Chase, I told you I don’t have a clue what he’s thinking, especially after dinner the other night. I’m doing this because I promised Liyah I would do everything in my power to make sure this project comes to fruition.”
“You’re working mighty hard to perfect a presentation that’s already perfect. I know you’re passionate about this project, but I think you have some unresolved feelings for this guy.” Reaching over, Chase corralled Brayden who was on his hands and knees and headed towards a paper clip beneath Sloane’s chair. “Am I right?”
“What difference does it make?” Contemplating Chase’s comments, Sloane swiveled around to look at her screen and thought about her latest run in with Gates. He’d been so angry with her and she knew there was no way he could still want her in his life. Regardless of his sudden change of heart, this was a business deal for him, nothing more.
“A lot. You do, don’t you? You want him back?” Chase looked at her then he smiled at the baby bouncing on his lap.
“I don’t see what any of this has to do with that. I’m trying to get this project done and he’s the only obstacle at this point.” Sloane knew even as arrogant as he was, she still had feelings for Gates; but she was trying her best to put them out of her mind.
“Why can’t you answer my question, Sloane?”
“Why can’t you let it go, Chase? You’re starting to sound like a broken record.” She peered over her shoulder at his glib expression.
“Sloane, just answer the question.”
“Yes, okay, maybe I do, but right now…” Paus
ing, she let out a deep breath before placing her head in her hands. She knew he was right and she hated it when Chase could see through her. He was one of the best friends she’d ever had and he was amazing with Brayden. And if she weren’t still in love with Gates, Chase would make an amazing boyfriend, she was sure. “Things can’t be different between us. It’s too late for that. I figure if we can get this project to go through, then he’ll leave town. Plus after the other night, I can’t tell him about Brayden. He hates me. I won’t subject my baby to that.”
“Look, I’m nowhere near an expert on this. But I hardly doubt Gates hates you. Think about it. Why would he be here throwing a monkey wrench in a project you’re working on? Plus, is it really fair of you to keep Brayden from his dad? If it were me, I’d want to know about my son.”
“I know that you, Aunt Avery and Liyah are all concerned, but my mind is made up. At this point, I really don’t have a choice. Gates has no room in his life for a child. And I don’t want him to treat Brayden like his father treated him. Just pushing him to the side until he finally decides he has a use for him.” Sloane cringed at the thought of how Victor used Gates for his own benefit. When he and Bailey were children, he separated them from their mother and it was only when Gates grew up that Victor decided his own son had value.
“Look, Sloane, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. Really, I’m not. But I think you should be more worried about how to keep this little one from growing up and resenting or hating you for keeping him and his father apart.” Standing, Chase placed Brayden in his bouncer and gathered his things to leave. “Think about it.”
###
“Well, well, well, someone’s pretty special.” Sloane looked up to see a huge bouquet of flowers headed towards her.
“Those for me?” Dropping her pen, Sloane stood and watched Liyah move closer.
“Well they certainly aren’t mine, so…” Placing the arrangement of calla lilies on Sloane’s desk, Liyah straightened and handed Sloane the note.