Page 122 of Need You
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been three days since Delaney had left for LA and all Colt had received was one lousy text. He got it—she had major problems. But it felt like shades of Lisa all over again. This was the way it started. Girl has career crisis, finds man to latch on to, then dumps him as soon as she resolves her professional problems.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have his own job issues to focus on. It had been a while since he’d talked to Ben and hadn’t heard a word more on the subject. For all he knew Pond had been cleared and Colt’s pink slip was in the mail. Still, all he could think about was Delaney.
The judge had issued a clarification, ruling that Delaney had to take “Delaney Scott” off all her existing merchandise, which would cost her a fortune. So much so that it put her company at risk until she could get capital. Luckily, investors had been impressed with her new designs, but she had to stop the bleeding before anyone would commit.
He knew she had a lot of meetings set up and planned to squeeze in house hunting. To his mind that meant she’d move back to Los Angeles. It made sense. She’d been away from the business end of her company for nearly a year. He suspected that this was a wake-up call to return to the mother ship.
“I lost six pounds.” Carrie Jo came into his office and he blinked up at her.
“Yeah? Weight Watchers?”
“No diet, really. I cut my portions and have been walking in the evenings.”
“You look good, Carrie Jo.” She’d always been hot to him with or without the extra pounds.
She sprawled out on his sofa. “You in here feeling sorry for yourself?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Colt, I’ve known you since before you could drive. And for the record: I don’t think Delaney is anything like Lisa.”
“Who said she was?”
She snorted. “You’re like one of Lisa’s bad songs. One woman does you wrong and you think they’re all alike.”
“You saw that fashion show. Did you happen to notice the Who’s Who list of people sitting in the audience? I don’t exactly fit in with that crowd.”
“No, you don’t. And the little I know of Delaney, neither does she. She needs those people for her business, which doesn’t necessarily make her one of them. From what I can tell, she fits in to this little town just fine. Her clothes may be better than the rest of ours, but there’s nothing about her that’s pretentious or snobby.”
“Her company is based in Los Angeles.”
“So? You’ll both have to commute. Have phone sex. Or Skype sex. With technology the possibilities are endless.”
He shook his head. “It won’t work.”
“It’ll work if you want it to work, if you make it work, which means letting go of what Lisa did to you.”
Colt didn’t know if he could do that. She’d just walked away without so much as a phone call, not only taking a piece of his heart with her but eviscerating his trust. How do you let that go?
Josh popped his head into Colt’s office. “I looked for your gatekeeper but I see she’s in here.”
Carrie Jo got up from the couch, squeezed by Josh, and cleared her throat. “Do you have an appointment, sir?”
“I don’t need no stinkin’ appointment.” He came in and took her place on the sofa. The love seat got more use than Colt’s couch at home.
“What’s up?” Colt asked, noticing that his brother’s limp was barely noticeable. That last surgery may have done the trick.
“We missed you for Sunday dinner at Mom’s.”
“I had stuff to catch up on.”
Josh gave him a hard look. “You hear from Delaney?”
Colt hitched his shoulders. “I got a text from her Saturday night.” And a missed call Sunday, which he never heard ring. “She’s busy.”
“I would imagine she is. Hannah says this could cost her millions.”
