Page 59 of Conflict
“Do you know that man, Lyss?” she asked, her eyes wide. “He’s…well, hell, he’s one of the finest men I’ve ever seen.”
I rolled my eyes, even though I agreed. Completely. I downed my wine, then stood, ready to bolt. The last thing I wanted was a confrontation with the man I’d slept with, then promptly left without so much as a goodbye, thanks, or here’s my phone number if you wanna do this again. And, God, I so wanted to do it again.
“Shane Wellington. I, um, I know him through work. I don’treallyknow him. Just of him. And word on the street is he’s a player, a womanizer, and it’s best to steer clear of him.”
I plastered on a smile I’d hoped wasn’t too fake and hightailed it out of there, Ariana on my heels, after having her own freak out over seeing who I now know was Branson.
Instead of answering her this time, I push all thoughts of the past away and quickly say my goodbyes to Branson and my sister. Before she can ask again, I slip into the cab, grateful I survived another night with Shane. That is until I’m no longer in the taxi alone. Somehow, without my realizing it, he slipped in beside me and told the cabbie to take off, straight to the wine bar where I saw him all those months ago.
My eyes widen, and I turn to him. “You saw me, didn’t you?” I ask weakly, as if I hadn’t seen him chase after me and burst into the parking lot just as Ollie had peeled out of it.
He grins, leans in, and kisses my forehead.
It’s sweet.
It’s too much.
It’s everything I need right at this moment.
I love it. I hate it. Or may I just hate loving it.
“Of course I saw you, sunshine. You can’t step into a room without my seeing you.” He pulls back. “But you sure as hell can leave one before letting a guy make his way to you.”
At that thought, the corners of his lips turn down a bit. “First, you leave me at the beach with no way to contact you, and then you run away at the first sight of me. You don’t return my cards. You don’t say anything about the flowers. You act as if I don’t exist. You could give a guy a complex, sunshine.”
“You know why I left.”
What he doesn’t know was how much I’ve come to regret it.
“I do. And I get it. But what we shared that night… How could you walk away so easily? I don’t getthat.”
His earnest eyes are nearly my undoing, so I close mine and try to keep the memories away. Branson’s asking about the Filiatrault merger comes to the forefront of my mind. Of course we’d be working for separate firms competing for the same account.
When I reopen them, Shane’s still staring intently at me. I swallow hard, unable to believe what I’m about to do. “Shane, I…want to… Really, I do…but…”
My words trail off, because while my heart says,YES GIRL DO IT, my mind is telling me that it’s a bad idea. Especially after overhearing them talk about Filiatrault.
Shane places a hand behind my head and kisses me on the forehead. I nearly melt. “Then say yes, Alyssa. Come home with me. I need you.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to agree. And then I glance down and see a file sticking out of his briefcase. The moonlight is a practically a spotlight on one damning word.
Filiatrault.
Shane’s hand falls to the seat when I pull away. Our eyes meet, his full of longing, mine full of what I can only guess is regret.
“I can’t do this. This is a bad idea.” I don’t care where we are. I lean forward and ask the driver, “Sir, please pull over and let me out.”
The instant disappointment in Shane’s eyes threatens my resolve, but then his demeanor quickly transforms into one of relaxed ease, as if he hasn’t a care in the world. “Right. I’ve gotta get up early for my flight anyway. It was nice seeing you again, sunshine. I look forward to our next meeting,” he says, tossing in a charming wink just to remind me of why I half fell head over heels the first time I met him.
When the cabbie pulls over and I get out, Shane lets me go without another word.
And for reasons I’m not strong enough to explore, I’m now the disappointed one.
The moment I walk in the door and see Bryan lounging on the couch, I realize he wasn’t just right about Corinna. Apparently, I can also give relationship advice but don’t know how to follow it myself.
I’m an idiot.
Of all the timing in the world. Of all themenin the world. It had to be him, now. When I’m working on the most prominent account of my career and wanting someone more than I’ve ever allowed myself to dare, only to find out he’s the freaking namesake of our biggest competition.
But like Shane said, we’ll see what happens at the wedding. I just don’t know exactly what I’m hoping for.
