Page 42 of Players Like Us
“Someone like Simon Bainbridge?” If that guy ever touched Rachel…
“Maybe, or maybe it will be Simon Bainbridge. Why do you care? Why should you have a say in anything? You don’t want her, remember? You pushed her away. I’m sure you put up the armor and acted like you could care less if you ever saw her again and we both know that is such straight-up BS. You haven’t been the same since you got back here, so go ahead and tell yourself lies. Turn to other women, see if any of them make you feel the way she does.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She could say she was going to stay forever…but she’d leave when she saw the real him…the one who wasn’t always funny or clever, the one who could be insecure and filled with doubt. She wouldn’t want that…wouldn’t want him…
“Fine, we won’t talk about it. No worries because I doubt we’ll hear from her again.” Dominic glanced at the portfolio spread out on Neal’s desk. “Rachel gave you that?”
Big sigh. “She actually threw it at me. So, I guess she doesn’t want it.” Just like she doesn’t want me… Not really.
“She’s got some great ideas we could use on the other restaurants. As for this place? You decide what you want to do, and I’ll reach out to her. We can pay her for the plans and the work she’s done so far and get someone else to take over.” Dominic sliced him a look. “I’m sure you two would not want to see each other again, definitely couldn’t work together. Better to make a clean cut.”
The man was baiting him, waiting for Neal to disagree. He wasn’t going to disagree, but neither was he going to agree. “Let me think on it, and I’ll let you know.”
“You do that.”
And then his friend was gone, leaving Neal with the disaster he’d created.
Neal spent the next hour studying Rachel’s portfolio, noting her recommendations, the color schemes, the patterns. She’d shown him several of her ideas before, but there were some he hadn’t seen: bolder, more daring. Truly impressive. He doubted she realized her talent or her potential because like him, she’d been too busy trying to prove she didn’t need anyone’s help or “commentary”. He got it. Overachieving siblings made it difficult to carve your own path and following the “perfect” sibling’s blueprint was a disaster. You knew it and so did everyone else. Eventually, you quit trying, and did the exact opposite.
Why not prove how unlike that overachieving, perfect sibling you were? Why not blow up any possibility of being your best self? Sure, why not? But trying to be the “life” of every situation, the most outrageous, the biggest partier, womanizer, spender? It got old. He and Tate had really talked when he was home and it felt good. His brother was proud of him and his business successes, not because of the money, but because Neal was claiming his life—not the one he thought he should live.
And Rachel? Yeah, he’d pretty much blown that up when she’d confessed she cared about him and asked him to give them a chance. What had he done? He’d gone ice cold and let hurt take over, pushed out words meant to inflict pain, words that weren’t true but were supposed to protect him. All they’d done was annihilate his chance for happiness.
It would have ended in disaster anyway once she learned he was the mystery man at Claudia’s and had helped the woman get started. Rachel wouldn’t care that the investment had been aimed at helping Dominic’s friend or that his mystery persona for the companion service had been his attempt to protect her from Simon. No, she’d consider it yet another betrayal of trust, accuse him of playing her once again, and she’d never forgive him.
Could he blame her? Not really. She hadn’t deserved the secrecy and pretense, yet he’d hidden his true self for so long that he’d been scared to reveal who he really was. Yet, once he’d begun to show her parts of himself, he’d wanted to tell her everything. Fear had stopped him.
What if she didn’t understand? What if she hated him for it?
Yeah, what if…
26
Tate Alexander called Rachel the morning after her disastrous encounter with Neal. For a few seconds, she thought he was calling about Neal. Had something happened to him? Had—
“Hi, Rachel. This is Tate Alexander. Am I catching you at a bad time?”
The man’s confidence filled the phone line, made it easy to understand why his brother would find it difficult to compete. “No. Is everything okay?” She wanted to add Did Neal tell you what happened between us, but she didn’t.
“Everything’s fine here. Charlotte apologized for not spending more time with you and she’d like to invite you back.” His voice gentled, followed by a laugh. “My wife takes her work responsibilities very seriously and apparently when overtime is required at work, she’s not going to let them down.”
Rachel had heard Tate’s wife worked in a manufacturing plant that required steel-toed boots, jeans, a lunchbox, and a buzzer. Who would have ever thought she and Tate would make the perfect couple? “I’d like to spend time with her as well, but I have no idea how that would happen.” Especially with your brother in the middle.
“My partner and I have run into a bit of a complication with the restaurant we’re building.” Big sigh. “The designer pulled out two days ago due to a ‘personal’ situation and now we’ve got bolts of fabric on order, leathers, and who knows what else and no idea what to do with it.”
“I see.” Was he asking for help?
“So, here’s the thing. We don’t have the time or expertise to sort through it all and make it work. Sure, I know about different types of fabric and lighting fixtures, and I can distinguish between antique white and ivory, but figuring out what to do with it? Not so much. Of course, I’d like to be involved with final approval, but not the day-to-day or coordination. I heard you have quite the eye and we’d like to meet with you to discuss you taking over.”
“I’d love to meet with you.” Rachel hadn’t said anything to her family or anyone in Reunion Gap about Matilda’s and Daniel insisted the interior design business was tough and near impossible to break into, so he wouldn’t have said anything. Had he felt sorry for her and asked Tate to do him a favor? “Did my brother talk to you? Did he ask you to call me?” If Daniel were behind this, they were going to have a long talk about minding one’s own business and setting boundaries. And if he thought—
“Daniel? No, he’s never even mentioned you do design work.” Pause and a quiet “Neal called me yesterday. Told me you’re working with his friend Dominic and sent me a sample of your work. Very impressive. You’ve got a lot of talent.”
“Neal called you?” Why would he do that? He’d made it very clear she was not his favorite person and he didn’t want to have anything to do with her.
“Why wouldn’t he? We had a long talk while he was here and when he told me about his businesses and what he’s been doing these past few years? I underestimated him.” His voice shifted, dipped. “I think we all did.”
“Businesses? You mean he has more than just part ownership in Matilda’s?” No, no. If that were true, then he really had been toying with her, playing games to test her and see if she could be trusted.
