The Love Game

by Regina Hart

  His gaze took in her figure-hugging red skirt suit and matching pumps. “Us.”

  Iris’s eyes flared, then narrowed. “There is no us.”

  Tyler raised both hands, palms out. “Please hear me out.”

  “I have other clients waiting for me.” She stepped to the side but Tyler blocked her way. His reaction seemed to surprise both of them.

  “I’m sorry I accused you of trying to sabotage the company.” He couldn’t read the expression on her face. Were his words enough? Did she want more?

  “You’re forgiven.” She tried to step around him again.

  Again, Tyler mirrored her move, blocking her path. “When we first met, you asked that we be honest with each other. Why did you say you’ve forgiven me when it’s obvious that you haven’t?”

  Iris fisted her hands on her waist. The heat of her glare threatened to turn him to ashes. “You should have believed in me.”

  Tyler tamped down on his panic. “I did believe you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked for the key-card access report.”

  “You should have asked for that report before you accused me.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You accused me of the most vile and disgusting charges. If you knew me, you’d have known I’d never betray your trust.”

  The pain he’d caused her was in her voice. So were her tears. The realization hurt so much, it stripped him of breath.

  “You’re right.” Tyler struggled to speak. “Honey, you’re right. I should have known. I was thoughtless and rash.”

  “And stupid.”

  “And stupid.” He knew she was right. “But, honey, if you give me another chance, I promise I won’t be stupid again.”

  “Another chance?” Iris cocked her head. “This isn’t the first time you’ve believed someone else’s lies over my word. The first time, you chose to believe Pete Kimball instead of me. And stop calling me honey.”

  “I didn’t know you then.”

  “Apparently, you don’t know me now, either. You were my client. I could never betray you.” She lowered her voice. “You were my lover. You said you trusted me.”

  The heartache in her eyes reflected the pain in his chest. His gaze lifted to her glossy raven tresses. His hand trembled with the memory of their softness against his palm. “What can I do to convince you that I’m sorry?”

  “Nothing. There’s nothing you can do.”

  Iris’s words nearly dropped him to his knees. They left him without hope. This time when she stepped around him to leave, Tyler didn’t get in her way.

  * * *

  “It was Lauren all along.” Iris sipped the cup of chai tea Lily had offered her after their Wednesday family dinner. “I should have known.”

  It was a warm evening in early June. Night was beginning to fall. Lily had a CD of Patti LaBelle’s greatest hits playing softly in the background.

  “How were you supposed to know?” Rose was the only one eating the key-lime pie Lily had made for dessert.

  “She was waiting for me outside my office one day, right before lunch. She told me she thought Xavier would make a better CEO for Anderson Adventures because she thought Ty was incompetent.” Iris shook her head with a heavy sigh. “I bet she’d just sent the email minutes before I arrived.”

  The dining area still carried the savory aroma of the pasta Lily had made for their dinner—oregano, garlic, peppers and onions drifted around the room. As usual, the dinner had been wonderful. Lily was a talented cook. But Iris had been too upset to enjoy the meal.

  Rose looked up from her key-lime pie. “Iris, I owe you an apology.”

  Iris gave Rose a wide-eyed look. “For what?”

  “For not believing that you knew what you were doing when you started your firm. And for not believing that you could handle the Anderson Adventures account.”

  Iris gave her sister a reluctant smile. “There were days I didn’t believe I could handle this account.”

  Rose shook her head. “But you shoved aside those doubts and persisted despite Kimball’s attempt to undermine you, the conflict between Ty and his father, and then this leak. I’m proud of you.”

  This was one of those moments that Iris had often fantasized about. She blinked back the sting of tears. “Thanks, Rosie. That means a lot.”

  Lily reached over and squeezed Iris’s forearm. “The mystery is solved. The Andersons have dealt with Lauren—poor Xavier. And Tyler apologized to you. Have you forgiven him?”

  It was a little harder for Iris to swallow the tea past the lump building in her throat. “I’ve forgiven him but his lack of faith in me is not something I can forget.”

  “So what does that mean?” Rose waved her forkful of key-lime pie. “You’re breaking up with him before your relationship has even started?”

  “What relationship?” Iris snorted. “You can’t have a relationship without trust.”

  “But he does trust you.” Lily sounded as though she was buying whatever Tyler was selling.

  “He’s said that before.” Iris felt a stirring of irritation. “First, he believed Pete Kimball when Kimball told him RGB had fired me for unethical behavior.”

  “It impressed me that Anderson didn’t just take Kimball’s word for it.” Rose waved her fork again. “He asked for your side of the story rather than letting Kimball slander you.”

  Iris stared into her empty mug. Rose had a point. “We’d just met. I could understand his not trusting me. But after we’d been working together for three months, he should have known I’d never betray a client.”

  Lily drank more tea. “The fact that Ty ran the key-card access report proves he believed in you.”

  Rose shrugged her shoulder. “You’re being too hard on him.”

  Iris stared at her eldest sister in shock. She must have misunderstood Rose. “Are you saying you think I should give Ty another chance?”

  Rose shrugged again. “Why not?”

  Iris exchanged a look of disbelief with Lily before attempting to answer Rose’s question. “You think all men are bad. Why would you tell me to forgive Ty?”

  Rose held Iris’s gaze. “Because he asked for the key-card access report.”

  “He should’ve asked for that report before he told me to leave Anderson Adventures.” Iris crossed her arms over her chest. “If he’d had that report, he wouldn’t have had to fire me.”

  Rose actually laughed. “You’re going to hold a grudge because he ran the report after instead of before he accused you of sending the email? Why can’t you just be happy that he asked for it at all?”

  Lily gestured toward Rose with her mug of tea. “I agree with Rose.”

  Rose’s wide-eyed stare mocked her. “Shocking.”

  “I know.” Lily smiled. “The fact that Ty asked for the report shows progress.”

  “I’m still surprised that you’re advocating for Ty.” Iris stared at Rose, wondering what had changed for her sister. “After Ben, I thought you were convinced all men were evil and not to be trusted.”

  Rose pushed aside her now-empty dessert plate. “Perhaps I did get a little carried away. Men like Ben aren’t to be trusted. However, Ty is not like Ben. He can admit when he’s wrong and he can say that he’s sorry.”

  Iris looked from Rose to Lily. Maybe they were right. Still, she hesitated. “What if he hurts me again?”

  “We’ll break both of his legs.” Rose’s voice was a growl.

  Lily squeezed Iris’s forearm again. “The fact is, every relationship comes with risks, Iris. The question you have to ask yourself is whether Ty is worth the risk.”

  “What does ‘worth the risk’ mean?” Iris was reluctant to answer that question, even for herself.

  “When you’re with him, does he make you feel special?” Rose put down her teacup. “W
hen you’re away from him, do you feel like a part of you is missing?”

  Iris blinked. It was as though Rose had read her mind. “Is that how Ben made you feel?”

  “No.” Rose gave her a half smile. “Is that how you feel with Ty?”

  “Yes.” Iris briefly closed her eyes.

  “Then he’s worth the risk.” Lily said the words that were in Iris’s mind.

  “Fine. You want me to say it, I will.” Restless, Iris pushed away from the table and stood to pace the dining room. “I’ve fallen in love with Ty Anderson. Big deal. He doesn’t love me.”

  “You said he has feelings for you.” Lily watched her with concern in her tawny eyes.

  Rose frowned. “Why don’t you just ask him?”

  “I’m not going to ask him.” Iris glared at her elder sister over her shoulder. “All this talk about whether Ty’s worth the risk is a waste of time. The fact is you can’t have love without trust and he’s proven he doesn’t trust me.”

  “Then what are you going to do?” Lily asked.

  Iris stilled. She gritted her teeth as a burning pain radiated across her chest. So this is what a broken heart feels like. “I’m going to learn to live without him.”

  * * *

  “This is becoming a habit.” Iris’s expression was inscrutable as she stared up at Tyler from the threshold of her townhome’s front door Thursday evening.

  “I’m not giving up on you. On us.” Tyler took advantage of her shock to slip past her and into her home.

  As she locked her front door, Tyler drank in her appearance as though it had been weeks instead of a day since he’d last seen her. His gaze slid from her slender back clothed in a snow-white jersey to her ruby-red capris. Her bare feet allowed him to enjoy the whimsical sight of the pale pink nail polish accenting her pedicure. Tyler ached to pull Iris into his embrace and lose himself in the closeness his misguided actions had cost him. He’d wronged her. Could she ever forgive him?

  Iris’s cool coffee eyes tossed out a challenge. “When did you and I become us?”

  “The moment we started working together.” Tyler willed her to remember the chemistry they shared, in and out of bed. “Yes, we’ve butted heads. We’re both strong willed. But we were a great team. We still are.”

  Iris stalked past Tyler. “So now you want to talk about what a good team we made. Why didn’t you remember that when you were accusing me of trying to destroy your company?”

  Tyler spoke to her back as he followed her into her living room. “If you want me to apologize again, I will. I’ll say it as many times as you want to hear it. Honey, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please give us another chance.”

  “Stop calling me honey.” Iris threw up her arms as she spun to face him. “Why should I give you another chance? Because you need someone to wrap up your product campaign?”

  “If it was only about the launch, I’d call Pete Kimball.”

  Anger flashed across Iris’s elegant features. “Be careful what you wish for, Ty.”

  “I’m wishing for you.” Tyler stripped himself bare for her. His raw words revealed his vulnerability. “What do I need to do to convince you to forgive me? Tell me and I’ll do it. All I want is a second chance with you.”

  Iris was shaking her head long before Tyler finished speaking. “You still don’t get it. I needed you to step out on faith for me, to believe in me despite the evidence. Despite what other people might say. All I wanted was for you to trust me.”

  “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have asked for the report.”

  “I don’t mean trust me in hindsight. If you trusted me, I wouldn’t have to defend myself to you, ever, because you’d know me.” Iris’s coffee eyes were dark with regret, an emotion Tyler had become all too familiar with.

  “I do know you.”

  “You do? What do you know?”

  Tyler winced. She was right to be angry. But he wasn’t leaving until she’d heard everything he had to say. Everything.

  “Yes, Iris Beharie, I know you. I know you have guts. You started your own company. I know you’re independent. You were annoyed when your sister gave my father your business card.” He dared a step toward her. “You’re tough. You threatened Tipper with a lawsuit if he claimed that ‘Osiris’s Journey’ wasn’t market ready.”

  Iris’s expression remained cool. “So you’ve noticed a few things. Congratulations. You aren’t a complete knucklehead.”

  “I also know the most important thing of all.” Tyler closed the gap between them.

  Iris stepped back toward the sofa. “What’s that?”

  “I know that I’m in love you.”

  Iris dropped onto the couch. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock. She stared up at him in silence.

  Tyler’s smile shook. “Is it really that surprising?”

  Iris remained silent. Had she heard him? Tyler started to repeat himself when she spoke.

  “How could you be in love with me when you think I could sabotage your company?”

  “I was wrong.” Tyler sat beside her and offered her his hand.

  Iris’s eyes lowered to his open palm before returning to his eyes. “I need you to trust me.”

  “I do, Iris.” Tyler lowered his hand. “Give me another chance and I’ll prove it to you.”

  Iris stared at her hands folded in her lap for another quiet moment. This time, Tyler waited.

  “I can’t take that risk. I’m sorry, Ty.” She stood and walked to her front door. She held it open as she turned back to Tyler.

  No! Tyler’s mind shouted denials. He rose slowly. “Iris, I—”

  “I’m sorry.” But she couldn’t meet his eyes.

  Tyler’s mind spun, searching for better arguments, more persuasions, anything that would convince her to let him stay. He had nothing. He walked to the door on unsteady legs. Every step shredded his heart.

  He hesitated when he reached her. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Iris.”

  Walking out the door tore his heart out.

  * * *

  “I’m not ready to take charge of the company.” Tyler stood in his father’s office Friday morning. Through one of the windows, he stared blindly at the fifth-floor view of downtown Columbus. In the past four months, he’d come full circle. From wanting to prove to Foster that he could be the next chief executive officer of their family-owned company to realizing he didn’t have what it took to lead Anderson Adventures.

  “Ty, what are you talking about?” Foster’s voice carried from his desk behind Tyler. He sounded baffled. “You’ve been preparing for this since you were eight years old.”

  “I know.” In childhood dreams, you can do anything. But now it was time to grow up.

  “The internal launch was wonderful. Our associates are still talking about it. The external campaign was a great success. Presales are at historic highs.”

  Both accomplishments were all Iris’s doing. Now, she wanted nothing to do with him. “‘Osiris’s Journey’ will be another bestselling game for us.”

  “Another bestseller that you designed.” Foster paused. In the background, Tyler heard a very brief, faint sigh. “Look at me, Ty. After everything you’ve accomplished, what makes you think you can’t lead the company?”

  Reluctantly, Ty faced his father. “You taught me that Anderson Adventures is more than products. It’s people. But when the company was threatened, I sacrificed a person to protect it even though everything in me told me I was wrong.”

  A sudden restlessness—and shame?—drove him from the window. Tyler shoved his fists into the front pockets of his black Dockers and paced across his father’s office. The room was wide and bright. Thick burgundy carpeting silenced his footsteps.

  “You don’t think you can lead the company because of the w
ay you handled the leak?” The concern on Foster’s expression eased.

  “I never should have accused Iris.”

  “Why, because she still hasn’t forgiven you?”

  Tyler shot his father a sharp look. “I shouldn’t have accused her because she wasn’t responsible. My gut told me that. But instead of following my instincts, I believed a piece of paper.” He fisted his hands. If he could, he’d build a time machine and make all of this go away.

  “Next time, you’ll know to listen to your gut.”

  “There won’t be a next time.” When he came to the opposite wall, Tyler turned and retraced his steps.

  “I certainly hope not.” Foster shifted in his seat to face Tyler. “But in the meantime, I’m convinced you can lead the company and our associates once I step down. Kayla agrees.”

  Shock froze Tyler’s feet in place. “How can you say that?”

  “Because you did what I asked you to do and you did it well.” Foster straightened on his chair.

  “I appreciate your support but you’re making a mistake. The way I handled Iris when she was suspected of being the leak shows I don’t have good judgment.”

  “Ty, I would have done exactly what you did.”

  “Then we both would’ve been wrong.” Tyler rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. But I don’t think you would’ve made the same mistake. You would’ve listened to your instincts and asked all of the right questions before making a final decision.” His father’s instincts had helped grow a business that had started at a dining room table and made it into an international success.

  “I don’t understand you, Ty. You’ve been telling me you wanted to be CEO since you were a child. Why are you now getting cold feet?”

  Tyler massaged the back of his neck. “Because I don’t want my poor judgment to ruin this forty-three—soon to be forty-four—year-old company.”

  “Your concern proves you’re not going to make the same mistake again. It also means you’re the leader Kayla and I want for the company.”

  Tyler shook his head. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

  His father’s gaze locked with Tyler’s. “Ty, in life, what matters aren’t the mistakes you make but the lessons you learn from them.”