Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(88)

“Don’t even think about it,” he said. “What I need from you is what I already asked you for—stay the hell out of it.” His phone buzzed. It’d been buzzing consistently all morning, which was nothing unusual. “I’m canceling today. I only came up to yell at you. I’m out—”

“You can’t cancel the whole day. Or at least you can’t cancel this morning. The NASA guys are already in conference room A. You need to make that deal happen and then you can go to Sadie.”

“No. As of right this minute, you’re in charge.”

Her mouth had dropped open. “Of the meeting?”

“Of the entire project. You wanted to take more on, you’ve got it.” He headed to the door. “Don’t blow it.”

“But—”

But nothing. He shut the door and hit the elevator. He was going to find Sadie and do whatever he had to do to get her back.



When Sadie hung up with Caleb, she left the day spa and strode through the courtyard. She had an hour before she had any clients on her books, which was good because she needed sustenance—the only cure for heartbreak that she knew.

Actually, nothing was a cure for heartbreak, but it might help her survive it.

She walked straight to Ivy’s taco truck. She’d texted ahead so Ivy was waiting for her. At the moment, The Taco Truck was up and running early, serving breakfast and lunch only, closing by early afternoon. When Sadie arrived, Ivy finished serving the two customers ahead of her and then handed Ivy an egg, potatoes, and chorizo taco.

Her favorite. Sadie felt her eyes fill.

“Oh shit,” Ivy said. “This is more serious than I thought.” She added a second taco. “On the house.” She came outside the truck and was wiping down the two picnic tables where her customers often sat and ate. “Tell me everything.”

“He betrayed me.”

“What?” Ivy gasped in shock and clear surprise. “Caleb?”

“No the tooth fairy. Yes, Caleb! ”

Ivy was instantly on her side without any details, the sign of a real friend. “That ratfink bastard!” she said angrily. “Why do men need to sleep with more than one woman at a time anyway? I’ve never understood—”

“No.” Sadie shook her head. “He didn’t sleep around on me.”

Ivy looked confused. “Okay. Then what did he do?”

“He allowed his sisters to do a background search on me. A deep one.”

Ivy stopped wiping down a table and looked at her. “I don’t understand.”

“They looked into me like I was applying for credit, only this wasn’t for credit, it was to see if I was worthy enough to date Caleb Parker!” Sadie was stuffing her face with tacos and crying at the same time. “I’m just so mad.”

Ivy brought her a stack of napkins and gave her a minute. “Honey, you know who he is, right? He’s like . . . Elon Musk. And there’s a lot on the line with a man like that. Surely you can understand why his people would be very, very careful.”

Sadie just kept eating.

Ivy just watched her for a moment, and then sat. “Sadie—”

“Hey,” said a man coming up to the food truck. “I need tacos.”

“And I need a million bucks,” Ivy said.

“I mean it.” He went hands on hips. “I can’t go to work until I’ve had your eggs, avocado, and queso fresco tacos with a drizzle of your amazing chipotle crema. I can’t get it anywhere else, not like you make it.”

Ivy nodded. She got that a lot. “Two minutes,” she said. “They’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” She turned back to Sadie. “Okay,” she said quickly and quietly. “I want you to just listen and not react for a minute. Can you do that?”

Since Sadie wasn’t actually sure, she took another bite.

“Is it possible you’re just really scared here and maybe, possibly, looking for a way out?” Ivy asked.

Suddenly full, Sadie put down her taco. “No.” She paused. Dropped her head to the table. “Maybe, yes.”

“Aw.” Ivy stroked a hand down her back. “The best of us are.”

Sadie lifted her head. “Not all of us. Caleb’s got his shit together. He’s faced his demons and beaten them back. He doesn’t let the dark get him and he doesn’t angst. He lives. There’s nothing messed up about him except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

Sadie felt her eyes fill. “I think he loves me.”

Ivy gaped at her and then turned to the guy waiting on her. “You know what? We’re going to have to make that five minutes.” She shifted back to look at Sadie.

“Shut up,” Sadie said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You said it with your eyes.”

Ivy smiled. “Okay, if you’re so smart, what did I say?”

“That I’m completely overreacting and most definitely using this as an excuse to run-not-walk away from one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

“Hey,” Ivy said, lifting her hands. “That was all you.”

“Not helping.” Sadie once again dropped her head to the table and this time banged it a few times.