by Ella Jade
CODA STARED UP AT THE ceiling. She hadn’t slept all night. She thought about the events leading up to yesterday. Why had she gotten so offended over Spencer giving her that check? Just because they slept together didn’t wipe out the initial proposition. Spencer was a businessman. He would never go back on an agreement. He’d made that point clear.
“Hey,” her mother said as she came into the bedroom.
Coda sat up and pushed her messy hair from her face. Her mother had been using her cane more often in recent weeks. They had an appointment with a new neurologist in a month. Coda hoped he’d have some answers.
“You’ve been holed up in here since you got home yesterday. Do you want to tell me what happened?” She sat on the edge of the bed. “How did you end up spending the weekend with Spencer Cannon?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time.”
“I met him last week at his office and then he came looking for me at the diner.”
“Why?”
“He had a proposal for me.”
“To work at the agency? That’s wonderful.”
“Not exactly.” Coda had a feeling her mother might not like what she was about to say. “He needed a date for his cousin’s wedding.”
“Wow. A rich, good looking guy came looking for you? That’s romantic. Why didn’t you tell me that’s where you were going?”
“It wasn’t really a date. He kind of paid me to go with him.”
“What?” She saw the horror on her mother’s face. “How could you agree to do that?”
“It was a business deal. That’s all it was suppose to be. We needed the money, and it seemed like easy cash.”
“Coda?”
“I know, it sounds bad but everything was legitimate. I have the checks to prove it. It’s a lot of money, Ma. At first I thought it was a scam, but it wasn’t.”
“I feel awful that you think you had to accept money from a stranger to get us out of our current situation.”
“He overheard our conversation on the phone last week. He knew I needed the money and he needed a date. Could some question my morals? Probably, but he was hard to refuse, and I figured a chance like that would never come up again. We’ve struggled for so long. It seems every time we turn around we get the short end of the stick. I’m tired of scraping to get by.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’ve worked hard your whole life. I saw an opportunity to help you, to make things better, and I took it. I can’t apologize for that.”
“What went wrong?”
“I slept with him.”
“Please tell me that wasn’t part of the deal. Please tell me you didn’t sell—”
“Of course not! Spencer made it very clear sex wasn’t part of the agreement. He was the one who tried to resist because he said it would complicate things. He wanted to be a gentleman.”
“What happened?”
“I pursued him. I couldn’t help myself. His looks aside, he’s charming, polite, and he knows how to treat a woman. There’s something about him that pulled me to him. I’ve never been so attracted to anyone the way I am with him. He’s so incredible.”
Her mom shook her head and smiled.
“What?”
“You really like him.”
“Yes, but we would never work.”
“Why not? He looked pretty interested in you yesterday.”
“Everything was fine until I took his money.”
“Isn’t that what you were intended to do?”
“Yes, but it didn’t feel right. I know what I agreed to but after getting to know him I wasn’t there for the money. I thought maybe he’d feel the same way. Maybe he’d want to forget about the deal and see where we could take things.”
“Did you explain that to him?”
“No, I think I made him feel bad.” Coda couldn’t get that look on his face out of her mind. The one she witnessed before he got into his car. She had gone too far when she gave back the gift.
“Your Italian temper made an appearance?”
She nodded, feeling ashamed about the way she’d acted.
“Do you think there’s something between the two of you? Something worth pursuing? Not just physical attraction?”
“There is, Ma. I can feel it. He’s a tough man to break but he opened up to me. I could feel the things he said. I knew he meant them. I don’t think he’s ever opened up to anyone like that before.”
“Then you need to explain why you acted the way you did.”
“He hasn’t called me.” She glanced at her phone. “Not that I expected him to.”
“He’s a man, honey. You hurt his pride. You agreed to his terms. How was he to know if he didn’t offer you the money that you wouldn’t have reacted harshly? If he’s a man of his word then he had no choice but to abide by his end of the agreement.”
“I screwed up.”
“Maybe a little, but if you think your weekend meant more than a fling you could probably salvage things. If that’s what you want.”
“I do want a relationship with him, but I’m not sure that’s possible now.” She got out of bed. “I need to apologize to him. You’re right.” She hugged her mom. “I agreed to his deal. I shouldn’t have gotten offended when he paid me.”
“Explain to him how you felt. Be honest with him.”
“I will.”
“How much money are we talking?” her mom asked. “Out of curiosity.”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“Holy shit!”
“I know.” She laughed. “The man is crazy and knows how to get what he wants.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine that much money.”
“I can’t wait to tell you all about the wedding. It was unbelievable.” She pulled some clothes out of her closet. “I need to get showered and head over to the agency.”
“You do what your heart tells you. If the two of you are meant to have a future, things will work out.”
“I hope so.” She headed for the bathroom. “I had lobster.”
“How was it?”
“Good, but not as delicious as the champagne.” She hoped she had a chance to taste that again. “That was to die for.”
Chapter 13
“Ava’s gone too far.” Spencer threw the tabloid onto the conference room table. “You better get her under control, Pierce.”
His grandfather shook his head as he quoted from the article. “What’s to become of the future of Cannon and Carrington now that Spencer has cheated on his fiancée, Ava Carrington?”
“They were never engaged,” Tyler said. “Spencer didn’t cheat on Ava. They were broken up.”
“Pierce,” his grandfather said. “This is absurd.”
“I’m sorry,” Pierce said. “I never thought she’d go this low. I don’t know what’s gotten into my granddaughter, but I can assure you she’ll be dealt with.”
“I don’t care what this rag reports,” Spencer said. “I’m used to the media. Coda isn’t.” Spencer rubbed his temples. If he’d never taken Coda to Connecticut none of this would be happening right now. But if he had never approached her, he would have missed out on the best weekend of his life.
“This will die down,” his grandfather said. “Coda is tough. She’ll be fine.”
“Right now we have ten minutes before the client gets here,” Pierce said.
“I don’t give a shit about the client.” Spencer banged his fist on the table. “I have more important things to deal with.”
“I’m sure Coda will understand,” his grandfather said. “You’ll call her and explain it to her after this meeting.”
“No,” Spencer said. “I’m going to Brooklyn right now and apologizing to Coda on behalf of my delusional ex-nightmare.” Hopefully Dakota hadn’t seen the article. It was still early enough that she could still be at home.
“You can get in touch with Coda?” Vince asked a
s he entered the conference room with a stack of sketches. “I need to talk to you about her.”
“What are those?” Pierce asked.
“The new logos but I need the artist to sign off. I can’t get in touch with her and up until a few minutes ago, I didn’t know you could either, Spencer.”
“What are you talking about?” Spencer said as he flipped through the artwork. “These are spectacular.”
“Are they from the new artist you mentioned?” Tyler asked. “When did we contract a freelance job?”
“What new artist?” Spencer continued to look at the designs. They were just as Coda had described. These were her idea. “Who did these?”
“Coda,” Vince said. “I’ve been working with her in the evenings. She has a knack for logos. She takes the client’s direction and does exactly what they want.”
“Why is she here in the evenings?” his grandfather asked.
“She cleans the office,” Spencer said. “That’s how I met her.”
“Really.” The old man grinned. “She was resourceful enough to come in at the bottom level. Very impressive.”
Spencer should have known Jack Cannon would appreciate Coda’s tactics. She was a go-getter. Exactly the kind of employee he sought out.
“Why didn’t you present these designs before today?” Pierce asked.
“In all of our early meetings, Tyler said no to simplicity. We said we wanted a flashier campaign,” Vince offered. “Coda designed these after we had agreed to move forward on what we had discussed as a team. She was just playing with the design. We used these logos so I could teach her a new computer program.”
“I wouldn’t have made that call if I had seen these,” Tyler said. “Huh, Coda?” He rubbed his jaw. “Did you call her?”
“I’ve tried all morning,” Vince said. “It wasn’t until I saw that horrible article in that rancid paper did I realize that you even knew her, Spencer.”
“Are you calling her from the main number?” Spencer asked.
“Yeah, but now I know why she might not be picking up.” He glanced at Spencer. “I wouldn’t pick up if I saw this.”
“She thinks it’s me.”
“Surely she knows that article means nothing,” his grandfather said. “Haven’t you called and discussed it with her? She knows you were never engaged. She’s your girlfriend.”
“We had a misunderstanding last night.” Spencer couldn’t explain the real reason Coda was upset with him. “I haven’t spoken to her this morning.”
“Coda never mentioned that you were seeing one another,” Vince said. “I had no idea until I saw the paper, but I should have put it together when you asked for what she had already designed. I thought it was a coincidence.”
“She told me to tell you. She said you would know what I meant. I thought maybe the two of you had discussed the logo before. I had no idea she had worked on it.” Spencer had asked her and she told him she hadn’t. She probably didn’t want to get Vince in trouble.
“I’ve tweaked her designs, because hers were raw, but the more I look at hers the more I realize they’re what the client wants. I didn’t want to present them to you until I had her permission. I figured we’d need to work out a contract with her. I was going to explain to you that I’d been mentoring her. I was pretty shocked to see that you two are dating.”
“Right.” Spencer studied her designs. How had he managed to screw everything up?
“We need to get that girl in here,” his grandfather said. “Spencer, I don’t care what you have to do, I want Coda on staff.”
“The waitress?” Pierce asked. “We don’t know her qualifications.”
“I’d say she’s much more than that.” Jack looked at his grandson. “She’s Spencer’s girlfriend and a pretty talented graphic artist. She went to NYU. I don’t care if she waits tables or cleans this office at night. She has a flair for agency work. I haven’t seen work like this from someone so green in a long time. She’s special, and we need her.” He looked at Spencer. “Why the hell didn’t you know anything about this?”
“We just started seeing one another,” Spencer admitted. “I’ve never seen her work.”
“Now you have, boy. Get her approval on these designs.”
“It’s not her approval I’m worried about,” Spencer mumbled. “We need to postpone the meeting.”
“The client is already on their way here,” Pierce said. “Get Coda in here and she can sit in on the meeting. If they like her work, we’ll offer her a job.”
“No,” Spencer said. “I’ll approach her and discuss her designs with her as a professional, but first I need to clean up your granddaughter’s mess and apologize.”
I need to apologize for so many things.
“Postpone the meeting.” Spencer looked at his brother. “Tell them we had a glitch but we will have the designs ready by the end of the day. If Coda agrees to work for us, we’ll present her logos tomorrow morning, and if not, we’ll have to let the Bradford account go.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Pierce asked. “In the forty years of this company’s history we have never lost a client. I’m not about to now because you can’t get your love life in order.”
“Maybe if you had stayed out of my love life in the first place we wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Spencer stood from the conference table. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a personal matter to deal with.”
“Jack, get him under control,” Pierce demanded.
“I can no more control him than you can manage Ava. We never should have tried to keep them together.” His grandfather walked out of the conference room with Spencer. “You do whatever you have to do to make things right with Coda.”
“I can’t force her to work for us.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“You’re not?” The old man’s attitude surprised Spencer.
“She’s unique. I saw it in her eyes. She has a spark. But you know what I really noticed?”
“What’s that?”
“The passion in your eyes when you look at her. I’ve only seen you look that way one other time.”
“When I’m going after a national campaign?”
“When you sit in front of the piano.” He nodded. “Coda is your muse, Spencer. Whatever happened between the two of you can be fixed. Don’t lose her over a misunderstanding.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“That’s my boy.” He patted his grandson’s back. “Now go get her. I’ll handle the Bradford account.”
“Thank you.” He headed down the hall and to the elevators when his assistant stopped him. “Mr. Cannon.”
“It’ll have to wait, Lynn. I have to get to Brooklyn.” He pushed the down button. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“You have someone in your office,” she said. “A very persistent girl. Judging from her accent, she’s from Brooklyn, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She insisted that she wait in your office. She said she’d call her lawyer about that horrible article if I didn’t let her.”
“Did she?” Spencer smirked. “Her lawyer, huh?” My girl has spunk.
“Should I call security?” Lynn asked.
“No, that won’t be necessary.” He walked toward his office. “Hold all of my calls please.”
“Yes, sir.” She sat back down at her desk as Spencer turned the knob on his door.
He didn’t care what had brought Coda to his office as long as she was there. When he opened the door, he found her leaning against his desk. She straightened her back when he entered.
“I was on my way to see you,” he said. “When Lynn told me how persistent you were.”
He closed the door and moved toward her but she stopped him and waved the tabloid in front of him. “Did you see this?”
“I did.” Every time he saw it he became more disgusted with it. “I hope you know that nothing she said was true.”
“I am a waitress from Brooklyn.” She shrugged.
“That part’s true.”
“I was never engaged to her.”
“I know,” she said. “I didn’t even see the stupid thing until I got on the subway. Someone left it on the seat. I knew it was the work of a vindictive, jealous woman.”
“Ava will be dealt with.”
“It was useful when I needed to get inside to see you.” She tossed the paper on his desk. “Your assistant panicked.”
“Yes, I heard. You do know an attorney can be expensive.” He grinned as he took her hand. “I hear you’re going to contact one.”
“I’ve recently come into some money. I can afford one.”
“About that...” He cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No.” She put her finger to his lips. “That’s why I’m here. I need to apologize for making you feel wrong for doing what we’d agreed upon. We both decided to that proposal. What were you supposed to do? I would have been pissed if you tried to stiff me.”
He kissed her finger before pulling her into his arms. “I should have asked you if you were okay with accepting the money. I shouldn’t have took out the check and waved it in front of you as if it meant nothing me to me.”
“Yes, that would have been better.”
“You have always been more than a business deal to me. Even when I came into that diner last week, I knew you were more.”
“How?”
“I can’t explain it, but when I met you in my lounge I had to get to know you. I would have done anything for a few more minutes that night but instead I let you scamper out of the kitchen. I used your financial situation as an excuse. I shouldn’t have done that but I wanted to help you. You’re not a victim or a charity case. I never saw you that way.”
“I shouldn’t have said that. You were trying to help me, but I let my pride get in the way. When I accepted the first payment from you I told myself it was a mutual situation. It was before I knew you.” She stroked his cheek. “But yesterday was different.”
“I should have realized that. I was fulfilling my end of the deal. I wasn’t thinking. I thought if I got the money out of the way we could move on. I want to move on.”
“I do too.” Her expression lit up her whole face. “These past few days have been like a dream. The time we spent together meant so much to me. I want to get to know you better.”