Come As You Are(31)

I wipe my free hand over my forehead dramatically. “All I’ve ever wanted is to win the gold over Dylan.”

She strides across the living room, reaching for her little girl, who squeals when she sees her mom. “Hello, my little love bug,” Olivia says to the baby, then to me, she says, “If you keep babysitting in the wee hours of the morning when my husband has to spay a dozen Chihuahuas, you could pull far ahead in the brother race.”

“A dozen?”

“Crazy, right? They were rescued from a puppy mill. Herb spayed them all, and now they’re going to Little Friends to find homes,” she says, naming one of the dog rescue shelters in the city.

“That’s fantastic. Now, can you two stop being such do-gooders? You make the rest of us look bad.”

She nudges me. “Speaking of doing good, how did your face-lift go the other night? I’m waiting for all the details.”

I groan and drag a hand through my hair. “Too well.”

“What does that mean?”

I give my sister the quick update, minus the wall-sex details, but including the I-met-this-awesome-woman-who-I-can’t-see-again part.

“And you really like this girl?”

“I do. I mean, I did. Is that weird?”

“Why would it be weird that you liked her?”

“I only spent one evening with her. Isn’t that too soon to really like somebody?” I stare at the ceiling, considering. “Okay, fine we texted later that night. And we did talk a little bit last night at the bar, even though we really weren’t supposed to.”

“So, it was almost like three dates.”

I seesaw my hand. “Technically, one could make a case for a trio, yes.”

She laughs, shooting me a warm smile, stripping her tone of our usual teasing. “You don’t have to convince me. I knew after my first date with Herb that I was crazy for him. We just clicked.”

I hold up my hands. “Whoa. I didn’t say it was love at first sight.”

She arches a brow. “It wasn’t love at first sight. It was chemistry. It was attraction. It was mutual respect. Then, the more I got to know him, the more all of my initial first impressions were confirmed. Sometimes it happens quickly. Sometimes it happens over the course of years.” She runs her hand over her daughter’s hair as the baby snuggles closer to her. “Is there really no way you can make this work?”

I shake my head, adamant that, in spite of the grammar games, I can’t go there again with Sabrina. “She’s covering my company. I have to focus on Haven right now, and the huge opportunity we have in front of us,” I say, and point to the door. “On that note, I should make my way to the office.”

“Wait. Why can’t you just see her when the story is over in a couple weeks?”

I stop with my hand on the doorknob, considering.

That’s a good question.

I suppose we could do that.

But doing that, or rather, planning for it, sounds a little shady. A bit like hoodwinkery. Like we might as well be getting together.

And that’s what we’re trying to avoid.

Plus, a bigger reason looms.

A reason that I can’t avoid. I can’t let my desire to chat with Sabrina from the masquerade party make me forget that Sabrina the reporter might not have my best interests at heart.

She might only have hers front and center.

I shake my head. “I don’t even know if I trust her. There’s a part of me that wonders if she knew who I was all along.”

Olivia stares at me, her expression soft. “You really think she was deceiving you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. That’s the issue.”



*

I power through work, focused on the three o’clock meet-up time. I cruise through contracts, review more marketing plans, make calls, and even conduct some of the other phone interviews Jennica has set up for the rollout.

Later that day, Carson and I go over the early numbers in my office. He’s nervous, shaking his knee as we chat. “We can stave off ShopForAnything. It’s looking good so far, and I want everything to go well.”

“Yeah, me too.” I give him a curious look. “Hey, are you okay? You seem out of sorts today.”

He sighs heavily. “Yeah, sorry. My mom is starting radiation next week.”

My heart sinks. “Sorry, man. How is she doing? Do you need to take some time off to help her out?”

He shakes his head. “No, she’ll be okay. I just want to make sure everything here launches without a hitch. I can’t afford to let ShopForAnything chase us down right now, know what I mean?”

I nod. I do know. He’s worried about his job. He doesn’t want to lose it at a time like this in his personal life. He doesn’t want us to be stomped on by the competition.

“We are going to crush it,” I say with confidence. Complete and utter confidence.

When he leaves my office, I renew that promise.

“We’re going to crush it,” I say to myself.

That’s the reason I can’t dally around with what happens in two weeks scenarios, and I can’t keep firing off flirty texts to the woman from the masquerade party.

I need to zero in on the goal—leading my company through these rougher waters.

There will be time, eventually, to think about women, about trust, and about falling for someone.