The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(87)
“Hi.” She heard the breathlessness of her greeting.
“Hey, Dimples.”
His rumbling, soothing voice made her miss him that much more. And it’d been one day. She was so screwed.
“I hear surf and sand.” She pictured the beach. The blazing sun. Surfing. Part of her wilted when she wondered if she’d ever see Hawaii with Tag again.
“You can’t hear sand.” He chuckled, the sound easing her nerves.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. I wanted to call and check in. Have everything you need?”
“I’m not wanting for anything.” She paused as a coworker walked past her with a full cup of coffee. After he was gone, she decided to be brave and added, “Except for you.”
“I like that.” His tone dipped into a low, sexy tenor. “So. I have good news.”
“The bar design is working?” Pride laced through her. She’d worked hard with him to make the Oahu bar project as seamless as possible.
“I think so, but that’s not the news. I’m standing on a patch of ground where there will someday be a new Crane Hotel.”
“Did you buy the land?” He’d mentioned he was going there to look at it.
“Not yet, but the Realtor is on his way, and I’m going to tell him yes. I already called Reese. It’s perfect. I can envision the direction the hotel will face, where the bars will go—maybe your designs.”
He sounded happy. Happy, and like he was a million miles away. From Chicago, from her heart.
“That’s great,” she forced out, feeling that gap widen further. She was ready to leap with him, but was he ready to leap with her? There was no way to tell for sure, and the timing was off…unless…She’d felt so distant from him lately. Like they hadn’t been on the same page. She’d turned over and over the idea of him joining her at her cousin’s wedding this weekend. Maybe he’d reconsider?
“I had a proposition for you, actually,” she said before she lost her nerve.
“Let’s hear it.”
She swallowed and cleared her throat, willing herself to ask. No. She wouldn’t ask. She’d tell him what she wanted. Be bold. After all they’d been through together, she should be able to speak her mind instead of tiptoe around him.
“When you get back,” she said, “I’d like to take you to my cousin’s wedding in Ohio.” She held her breath after she asked, feeling like she was at the edge of a very steep cliff.
Tag didn’t do weddings. Gena had told her that. Heck, Tag had told her that. She told herself she wasn’t testing him, but in a way this felt like a test. An easy way to determine how “in” he was with her would be him either accepting or dodging that commitment.
“The…wedding?” His voice was cautious, lost beneath the wind blowing over the speaker of the phone.
“It’s Saturday,” she pushed. This was important to her. If they were going to be together, he couldn’t shy away from a simple request. They would attend weddings and other family gatherings in the future if what they had grew into more. She wanted it to be more. “I know you won’t be back home until Friday, but we can leave Saturday morning. It’s only a six-hour drive.”
More wind. Then silence.
“Tag?”
“I can’t. I’m sorry.” Gone was the light happiness in his voice, replaced by rigidity.
The answer hit her like a slap. He was saying no to so much more than attending a ceremony with her. He was saying no to them.
“I’ll have a lot of work to catch up on when I’m back. Especially if I pull the trigger on this deal. Oh, hey, the Realtor is here. I’ll call later. And, Dimples, don’t forget, the moving company is scheduled to be at your apartment this afternoon. Make sure they get everything they’re supposed to into storage for you, okay?”
“Sure,” she mumbled, feeling her heart crush like an aluminum can.
“Hey, why don’t you take my Aston Martin to Ohio? Unless you prefer flying. I can book you a flight tonight if you text me the particulars.”
“A flight?”
“Whatever you like, Dimples. I’m happy to help. Gotta go.”
He hung up and despite his generosity and the sweet way he said her nickname, she still had the horrific urge to cry. She leaned against the wall and stared down at the floor, her mind muddy.
She wasn’t going to drive Tag’s two-hundred-thousand-dollar car to Derby, Ohio. And she wasn’t taking a private jet, either. Her invitation to the wedding was about forging a real connection with Tag—about him overcoming his fear. She’d tackled all of hers, and at times, it hadn’t been easy. Yet, he wasn’t willing to leap that same hurdle for her.
Unacceptable.
She couldn’t be the only one moving forward in this relationship. She couldn’t be the only one wanting more, or they’d stay in this endless loop forever…or until one of them left.
She’d fallen in love with him. And while Tag was willing to provide moving trucks and fancy cars and private jets, he seemed incapable of giving her the one part of him she wanted most.
His heart.
Chapter 25
When Tag arrived at his penthouse, he was ready to drop. The overnight flight had been rough, and thanks to the cabin shaking like a Mexican jumping bean, he hadn’t slept a wink.