Page 21 of Past and Present

“Why those dates?”

“Because the first time something appeared in the tabloids was the eleventh.”

Lance hummed. “That would have been two days after the party at our house. I’ll try to see if anything shakes loose. I gotta run though, babe. Next meeting is here. Love you.”

The rush of excitement every time he said he loved her never grew old. “Love you too,” she said before he hung up.

10

Wednesday, December 19th

Lance

Lance clenched his fists as he listened to someone from Nathan Griffin’s office explain that they needed to cancel dinner on Friday night.

“Can I speak to Nathan, please?”

“I’m afraid he’s busy, Mr. Moss.”

Lance closed his eyes. “Bull shit. Put him on the phone.”

“I beg your pardon. That language is uncalled for.”

“And Mr. Griffin’s behavior is uncalled for. We’ve been trying to get a meeting with him for months and you bail on us last minute? It’s unprofessional, and I’d like to speak to him directly.”

The woman sighed. “Just a minute, please.”

“This is Nathan,” a gruff man said a few minutes later.

“Nathan, it’s Lance Moss. I was wondering if you could tell me why you’re pulling out of our meeting on Friday.”

“I’m sure my assistant told you it was a scheduling conflict.”

“And I call bullshit. You don’t have scheduling conflicts on a deal with this much potential.”

The older man was quiet for a moment. “No. You’re right. I’ll be honest and say I don’t think you’re in a stable enough position to be taking on a project as big as mine.”

Lance dragged a hand through his hair. “What gave you any inclination that we’re unstable?”

Nathan laughed. “I’ve read the gossip rags and like it or not, there’s usually a grain of truth to some of what they say. Not to mention the last time you broke up with your fiancee the police got involved.”

“That was five years ago.”

“And from the sounds of it you’re on the verge of breaking up again.”

Lance had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing. “I assure you we are nowhere near breaking up. Marissa and I are in this for the long haul. We’re getting married over the Christmas holiday.”

He winced. Marissa was going to kill him for spilling that bit of information, but if it saved their meeting, it would be worth it.

“I don’t know, Lance. I respect you as a player in the tech industry and I was looking forward to working with you on this security project but I have to listen to my PR team and right now they say we need to back off. Maybe we can revisit the idea in a few months. Now I really have a scheduling conflict and I need to get off here. I’m late for a meeting. We’ll talk after the first of the year. Have a happy holiday.”

He tossed the phone on the desk in disgust and went to the bar along the wall for a drink.

It was just after six in the evening, so he went to his window and looked out. Chicago was beautiful at night. He’d told Marissa to head home without him if she got done early, but he had a feeling they would wind up leaving together.

His door opened, and he smiled, expecting to hear Marissa’s voice.

“I thought I told you to go home,” he said as he took a drink, keeping his back to her.

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