by Tia Siren
Riley sighed inwardly. “No, it wasn’t you, Marge. I didn’t give you the name, but thanks.” She was also not about to tell Marge, a stool pigeon for Riley’s father, which head she was meeting with. The so-called foundation was actually a shelter that served homeless youth, and she was certain her father would find a way to work her contributions into his campaign somehow. She wanted to keep her charitable acts quiet, and she didn’t want them to be any part of his fake altruism that he used to garner votes. His campaign was running full steam ahead, and she did not want her good works to fuel his ambitions. It just felt wrong, and what was more, she was still pissed off at him for interfering in her relationship with Gray.
He actually tried to buy Gray off. The thought made her angry all over again. Gray had turned the money down, but he’d also sent her walking. Either way, in the end, her dad got his wish, because they were not together anymore, and she missed him so much her entire being hurt.
Marge continued, “Also, your father wants to have lunch.”
“No.”
Marge slid a disapproving look over the rims of her glasses, a look Riley ignored. “So I suppose I won’t pencil that in then,” she said.
“You’d only have to erase it,” Riley snarked.
“Well, after the Foundation meeting, you need to consult with the finance manager at four, Charles Heprin. At five, you’re supposed to meet Lewis Jones for drinks at—”
“I know, I know,” Riley said, weariness spilling into her voice from her heart. She’d been roped into saying yes to drinks with Lewis, when that was the last thing on Earth she wanted to do. Not only that, but he was the last person on Earth she wanted to have drinks with. She knew all too well that her parents were still holding out hope that the two of them would end up together, that they’d marry and have a handful of perfect little children to add shine to her father’s political career, that she’d agree to settle down with him somewhere and be a poster family till the end of time, someplace nice and classy. Like stupid, boring Connecticut.
Her lip tried to curl back, she stopped it. She knew Marge was still watching and would most certainly tattle on her. “Please leave all that on the desk, Marge,” she instructed.
Marge nodded, set the paperwork and planner down on the corner of Riley’s desk, and backed out the door.
Riley gave the forms and documents a disinterested glance. Her entire life was carefully orchestrated on that calendar, confined in neat little boxes and time slots. It depressed her and made her feel tired and far too old.
The sky darkened, and roiling clouds stirred. Riley studied them in the corner of the windows and realized they were a lot like her life. Something was always brewing, some bad weather that kept the skies from being blue again. She’d grown so used to the gray that she’d actually fallen in love with it, and she wasn’t sure that was such a good thing.
She flipped the planner over and felt the tinge of an ache in her head. She sat back and sighed, the chair creaking beneath her weight. There was plenty to do: a dress to buy for a gala she had promised to attend, phone calls that needed to be made, endless reports to be filed, and a hundred other little things that were, in the grand scheme of life, meaningless and stupid.
Unimpressed by the busywork, she stood and started to pace. Her legs took her back and forth in front of the window. The sky darkened even more, and the rain soon turned into sleet. Time ticked away as she tried to outrun her heart.
Another knock came at the door, lighter this time but yet another interruption Riley didn’t want to contend with.
“Yes?” Riley answered tersely.
When Marge opened the door, her face held a hint of anxiety. “There’s a Jon, uh…somebody on Line 2. He says you might be interested in making a real estate deal with him. He claims you know him personally and that you will want to speak with him.”
“I do know him, and that’s exactly why I’ve got no desire to talk to him. Tell him I’m not and will never be,” she said, sharp and fast. She added, “Also, if he calls back, simply hang up on him. I want absolutely nothing that he has to offer.”
Marge’s face lost some of its tension when she realized it was not just a prank caller, but another expression filled it, a look of curiosity and suspicion that made Riley uneasy. Resentment filtered through Riley when she saw it. Marge had tenure at the office, and Riley could not fire her, but she did not want or need her assistance. Like so many things she did not want but was stuck with, Marge was just one more issue that always needed to be solved. Beyond that, Riley did not trust her at all, and she had no doubt that Marge would immediately call her father to tell him Gray’s dad was making calls to the office. Great. Now he’ll probably sic more watch dogs on me or have my phone tapped, if he isn’t already, she thought with a groan.
Irritated and furious by Jon’s call and Marge’s intrusion, Riley waited until her assistant turned to go before she said, “I’m heading to lunch. I also have to stop by Versace, for a gala gown. I’ll be too long to come back to the office today, so just put tomorrow’s schedule on the app for me. I’ll go over it tonight after I get home.”
Marge nodded.
Riley gave her a tight smile, put on her thick wool coat, and grabbed her expensive leather bag. Her feet carried her down the hallway too fast. Her anger simmered for a few steps but quickly became a raging inferno. Gray had told her the buyer for the resort had backed out, leaving Jon in a lurch. Now, she wondered where that left Gray, who had gone home to the resort. Her ass of a father hadn’t even given him plane fare like he promised, but she was relieved to find out that Gray’s brother had fronted him the money for that. Damn, he’s probably working his ass off at that stupid bar, just to get his old bed back.
She stopped walking and took several breaths that she hoped would be cleansing. They weren’t, and she didn’t feel a bit better about Gray. He deserved better, and so did she. Still, her thoughts battled within her over the matter. He threw me out, she reminded herself. Plus, she was growing so tired of the strain her money always put on the table between them. She was equally exhausted by the giant toll that being with him took on her as a person. She was rich and privileged, and she didn’t want to apologize for that. After all, she had not asked to be born into a wealthy family, and he just couldn’t deal with that.
Her mood soured as the elevator opened and she stepped inside. “No, he could have dealt with it,” she whispered as she violently pressed the button for the first floor, “but he just chose not to.”
***
Lewis sat at the bar, dressed as impeccably as always in a tailored suit with a crisp, pastel blue shirt below. His tie was Hermes, his cologne expensive. His blond hair was carefully arranged, his eyes sparkling and clear. He exuded an aura of inherited wealth and ease. That should have soothed Riley, but it had the opposite effect; it put her on edge, even as she set her bag down on the bar and said hello.
“I ordered wine for you,” Lewis said in his low and slightly raspy voice.
“Thank you.” Riley picked the glass up and let the aroma of the good red, a Malbec, drift into her nostrils. It smelled of leather and tobacco, with just a hint of chocolate. Her shoulders did not release the tension even as she took a healthy slug of the wine, letting the tannins dissolve on her tongue. It was slightly bitter and very dry, quite like she felt as she set the glass down.
The bar was dim and softly lit, peppered with people speaking in hushed voices. The aura of wealth permeated every corner. The quiet was deliberate, as was the massive amount of space between groupings of barstools and tables set farther back along the floor. The booths had high sides, designed to give privacy to their occupants, another thing that spoke of just what went on there.
High-dollar deals of all sorts were made in that place, and Riley’s nerves tightened and stretched as she realized it was precisely why Lewis had chosen it. The whole thing was a façade, meant to impress upon her that they were part of an elite crowd. The deal he wanted to broker was
one that would see them merging their massive trusts in a marriage that had been given the stamp of approval by their parents long before they even considered each other as anything more than the occasional playdate or classmates at their pricy, demanding private school.
“Would you like to sit in a booth?” Lewis asked.
“No, thanks,” she answered quickly as she shot a glance over to the booths briefly, then gave the expensive watch on her wrist a pointed look. “I have a lot to do yet. I actually can’t even stay.”
Lewis caught her wrist. “Don’t go yet, Riley,” he said, more of a command than a request.
His touch made her skin feel clammy; to say there was no spark would have been a broad understatement. She was actually a little creeped out by him, and she felt woozy. She began to wonder if the bitterness in her drink was the wine itself or some sort of foreign substance he’d added before she got there.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, “but I have an important matter to take care of. I didn’t want to just stand you up without telling you face to face, but I’ve gotta run, Lewis.” She was still wearing her coat, so she quickly snatched her bag from the table and ducked back out of the club, bemused but also more than a little concerned that he might follow her.
Riley’s car sat nearby, and her driver looked startled when he saw her coming back out so soon. “Uh, where would you like to go, miss?” he said.
She smiled when she saw no sign of Lewis trailing behind her. She sat in the back seat, her hands clutching the bag nervously. Her heart and head were going in different directions, something that had become uncomfortably familiar since she had met Gray. “Home please,” she said quietly. “Just take me home.”
Chapter 42
Summer had swung back around. Gray, washing glasses behind the bar, gave the beach a long look at the resort and was disappointed to see that it was only half-full. The staff had dwindled down to bare bones, far too small to accommodate many guests, and the news of the bankruptcy had spread. The guests who did had reservations now really had them, and in a panic, they canceled, afraid they would show up only to find themselves bilked of their money and left with nowhere to stay.
On the contrary, the other resorts lining the sand were in full swing. It appeared that thousands of people occupied the white sands and crowded into the water. Reggae music blared from the pier, and a feeling of fun and festivity filled the air.
Gray had agreed to continue tending the bar at the resort, at least until he could find something else. Even with a bum arm, he was needed, and he, in turn, needed the tips, even if Jon was paying him jack shit. He kept that job and two others, one as a part-time manager for a small condo-tel. He didn’t mind the hectic pace or the long hours, as they kept him from thinking too much; as far as he was concerned, the diversion was a good thing, because left unoccupied, his mind always wandered to Riley and what could have been had things been different.
“I’d like a drink.”
The words resounded through his head, the voice familiar, one he knew as well as he knew his own. His heart began to thunder in his chest as he lifted his eyes away from the glasses and saw Riley standing there, her face pointed at his. “Sure. What’re you having?” he asked nonchalantly.
She looked amazing in a jade-green bikini, the bottom only slightly peeking out from beneath the sarong carelessly knotted around her hips. Her blonde hair, gathered in a loose knot low on her neck, gleamed in the striking sunlight.
Gray was pretty sure he’d gone crazy from the heat. Maybe I died from a heat stroke, had a few too many secret shots. He was sure she was a mirage, a figment of his many imaginations over the time they’d been apart, but even still, his hand shook slightly as he poured her a glass of red wine, her favorite, and slid it down the bar to greet those luscious lips of hers.
Riley regarded it solemnly. “No fruity, rum-laden thing?”
He finally found air and drew it into his lungs. “You don’t do hard liquor and can barely hold beer. You love red wine, not sweet but very warm, properly decanted of course.”
She chuckled. “God, do I really sound like that?”
He grabbed the bar rag and wiped it across the counter. “Sometimes.” He paused. “You look great.”
She hooked a finger onto her sunglasses and slid them down. They stood there, just watching each other. The year had changed them both. Gray was even leaner and more muscular, and all that work, worry, and missing her had caused him to lose whatever had been left of the stupid immaturity that had clung to him. For Riley’s part, her face wore an expression of such seriousness that it broke his heart. Even when things had been at their most dire, even when they had been struggling to pay the rent and nearly starving, she had not looked like that.
Riley sighed and looked down. “I need to talk to you.”
“Oh?”
She reached out and caught his hand that was still in the process of wiping up the bar with the rag. Her touch sent tingles flying up and down his spine, and his dick instantly stiffened, letting him know that the old magic was still there.
“I was really mad at you for a long time.”
“Yeah, I bet. I woulda been if I was you.”
“Why did you go?”
It was a tricky question with an even trickier answer. He wondered how badly the truth would hurt her, and he wasn’t sure it was the right time to confess it. He sighed and offered, “Riley, we just weren’t cut out for each other. You know that. I can’t handle your life.”
“You mean you can’t handle me having money.”
“Exactly. I’m a man, damn it, and I shouldn’t have to depend on a woman. I don’t and won’t. I wanted to give you everything, but… Well, you already have that and then some.”
“Not everything.”
He blinked. “What?”
“I don’t have everything.” Her voice was even, but her eyes flashed at him, a sign that she was angry.
“What are you missing?”
“You,” she said, falling into a slump on the stool. “Damn it, Gray, you were all I really wanted. Being stuck in that shitty apartment and working that shitty waitressing job made me realize how much I really have in life, how lucky I am. I tried to explain that to you. I didn’t blame you for our being there, but I knew we could have had so much more if you would have just given in a little, set your pride aside and let me help us.”
His throat ached. “It wouldn’t have been help if you had to do it all, Riley. I won’t be a charity case, one of your lost causes.”
“I get that.” She gave him a long, considering look. “What would you have me do, Gray? I mean, if I gave all my money away, could we have a chance at being happy?”
“It wouldn’t make you any happier,” he blurted, the very words he’d wanted to say to her for so long. “I watched you work your ass off, watched you go without, and it made me feel like less of a man. I didn’t know how to handle that. It wasn’t any easier to watch you flit around a cabin that’s really a mansion, something I will never be able to give you. I had no idea how to be the man you need, Riley. I as..clueless.” He paused, but when she said nothing, he continued, “I also didn’t know how to deal with a family who thinks nothing of offering bribes to rid their lives of someone they don’t like. It was obvious we’d never fit into one another’s lives. I was fine for fun, for a summer fling, but beyond that... Well, you deserve way more than what we had down in the Republic. I didn’t know how to handle not being able to do better by you. The playing field just isn’t exactly level.”
Her fingers rested on the bar, so very near his. “No, it wasn’t. We couldn’t be just two young people setting out an adventure. It was hard as hell. I didn’t realize how spoiled and selfish I was till just a few months ago, Gray.”
“Spoiled and selfish? Riley, I shouldn’t have said that. I mean—”
“No, you should have said it, because it was true. I was all that and even worse and didn’t see it. I didn’t understand that if I had been bo
rn as anyone else, I would have thought nothing of those hours, the low pay, or the struggle to pay rent, all that stuff regular people deal with every day. That was me being…well, rich and spoiled and inexperienced in how real, ordinary people live, and it made me unbearably unhappy while we were there. I couldn’t be content or grateful because it was so much less than what I was used to, what I always took for granted.”
He sighed. “It was the same for me too. Tahoe could have been an adventure all its own, but I was too worried that you’d get sick of me and resent me for not having any money.”
Her lips tilted upward. “It was quite the adventure anyway, Gray. With you, everything was.”
A slow grin lifted his lips, and hope began to rise in his heart. “Yeah, well, there was that thing with the shark.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I coulda done without that.”
“Me too, but what can I say? The ocean is their house. We’re just trespassers who like to swim in it.”
Riley drew a fiery breath, one that lifted her chest. His eyes went to her breasts, but he managed to yank them upward again. He found himself grateful for the bar between them, as his erection was suddenly straining against his shorts, and all the feelings he had managed to tamp down but had never vanquished completely floated to the surface.
Gray still loved her, he really did, but he had no idea why she was there. Maybe she’s seeking that closure the psycho-babble types are always going on about, so she can move on, he reasoned. Maybe she’s here to throw me into the friend zone. Whatever the reason for her visit, he hoped it would help them both heal from all the hurt they had heaped upon each other, as unintentional as it was. Still, he had to know, so he asked casually, “So, what brings you down here?”