“No, just don’t lie.” Adam held a hand up to Charles, but it did not hold the man off. They began a whisper argument with fake smiles plastered on their faces. I was certain they were fooling no one. After the back and forth, I glanced at Andrew who looked like he was trying to get rid of his wife. He smiled and held up a finger, and I turned back to the guys.
Charles insisted that I tell Andrew I was engaged, while Adam held firmly to the “positive misdirection technique,” which included never answering the question about my relationship status and only asking questions about Andrew. It had worked in other scenarios, but today even I didn’t have confidence in that approach. When their conversation took a turn, I wanted to plug my ears.
Listening to the bickering about whether to let our client in on our secret about Katherine’s age made me so frustrated, I started to walk away. Adam came jogging after me.
“Dude, what’s up?” Adam looked frantic. We both knew he needed me to finish the deal. I just wasn’t going to do this anymore.
“Listening to you two bicker is pissing me off. The only thing you guys’ care about is this client. No woman, not Katherine or anyone else, should be paraded around like a trophy in order to win a client. If this guy doesn’t like the firm because we’re bad at what we do, then so be it. But if he’s judging our ability to do our jobs based on our family life, fuck him. I’m not going to make Katherine a pawn in this game.”
“What do I tell Andrew?” Adam sounded desperate.
“Tell him I’m going to deal with something very important. I don’t care what you tell him.” Before either of them could protest, I walked away. We were at hole 14, so I had a bit of a walk back to the clubhouse, but it would give me time to think about how to apologize to Kat for my behavior. I strolled past other golfers, men with their expensive golf carts and clubs, sporting designer shoes. They probably couldn’t even shoot par if they had a pro do it for them. They were there for the money, for the show.
Golf was a rich man’s game, and that’s what they cared about. That’s all they cared about—the image. I realized that for the past few weeks, ever since running into Harwin Puschel at the farmer’s market, I had thought only about my reputation and what others thought of me. But the one person who mattered most hadn’t even mattered to me.
Katherine would be home from her performance later that evening and I had to make this right. So, I got in my car and headed for the florist to buy all the necessary items for romancing her and apologizing. Maybe in another life I would have been a hard ass and let her come groveling, but this woman had gotten under my skin in a way I’d never experienced.
16
KAT
Ihad fallen asleep on the flight home from New York despite its quick two-hour hop back to Ohio, and my eyes were heavy as I claimed my baggage and headed for the cab home. The airport was busy, and traffic heavy for a Sunday night, so I was grateful that someone else was chauffeuring me around.
After a week of barely speaking to Victor, I missed him. I had invited him to come with me, hoping it would have been a time for us to talk out the problem and reconnect. I thought maybe he’d see that I can support myself, that I made plenty of good money with my position in the symphony and didn’t even need to think about his wealth. But he had turned me down.
So, my days were spent sightseeing with Taylor and Zina. We went to Central Park, walked through Rockefeller Center, shopped at Macy's on Fifth Avenue, and had a great time otherwise. But I missed him. These women were work acquaintances, not best friends. Even Bethany would have been better company than them, but nothing compared to the feeling of Victor’s arms around me when I felt lonely.
The cab pulled up in front of my home and I paid the cabby. He helped me get my violin and carry-on bag out of the trunk, and I hefted it toward the front door. I could see through the window the light coming from my bedroom, and silently scolded myself for leaving what looked to be my closet light on the entire time I was gone as I let myself in.
Exhausted and frustrated, I dropped my things on the couch and went straight to the fridge for a beer. Having not eaten dinner—airplane food was disgusting, so I passed on it—I knew one beer would be enough to make me just the tiniest bit sleepier. I smelled something perfumy, but decided I was smelling things because I was too tired. After a brief search of the kitchen to make sure there were no rotting fruits or vegetables that could be playing on my sense of smell, I kicked off my shoes and headed toward the bedroom. A hot shower and my pillow were all I wanted at that moment.
The closer I got to the bedroom, however, the more I smelled the perfumy smell. And as I approached the door, I could see it was ajar, the light from within now streaming into the hallway. My senses were heightened, but not on alert. Nothing seemed out of place. I hadn’t heard any strange noises. So I pushed the door open and almost dropped the beer in my hand.
Victor lay across my bed, rose petals strewn about the room. Candles glowed from every surface, radiating their powerful mixture of lilac and roses into the air. My bedroom smelled like a botanical garden. He was not smiling, but neither was he upset. His face was calm, seductive even, as he patted the bed. Rose petals danced as the comforter bounced from his movement. A small teddy bear sat in front of his body, the perfect censor for his dick, which I knew was naked.
Part of me wanted to be upset that he thought this was the way to apologize to me for being an ass. I was so much more than just a sexual object; I had a heart and feelings. Another part of me was so blown away that he’d gone to all the trouble of sneaking into my house to put all of this together for me, that I almost ran to him and melted into his arms.
I did neither of those two things.
Standing just inside the door, I set the beer on my dresser and peeled my jacket off, tossing it across the armchair pushed in at my desk. When I looked at him again, his brows were furrowed in an expression that pleaded with me to not reject him. It was a sobering moment, me with the power to hurt him the way he’d hurt me. I would never—could never hurt him that way.
“I’m sorry, Katherine. I was an idiot. Please forgive me.” He didn’t move closer, probably due to the fact that it would ruin whatever romantic fantasy he had envisioned about my return. And I didn’t move closer to him either.
I thought carefully about how to respond to him, even as my body was beginning to respond to the fact that he was lying naked across my bed.
“I know this doesn’t change what happened, or how I made you feel, but I realized that I need you, that I want you.” He scooted closer, pushing the stuffed bear forward as he neared the edge of the bed. I watched his silhouette, tracing the line of his skin from shoulder to hip with my eye.
“I’m not just a vagina with legs.” The words came out without my permission, though it needed to be said. Sex was not an apology—but fuck did I want him anyway. Still, to maintain my dignity, I held my ground, crossing my arms over my chest.
He scurried off the bed, tossing the bear aside and scrambling for something on the far side of the bed. His erection stood proud as he pulled on his boxers. Clearly, he wanted me as badly as I wanted him, but he needed to do this the right way.
I didn’t even get a chance to protest. He was there, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. I fucked up so bad. I don’t usually apologize like this. I’m the type of guy that just lets people walk away because if they don’t get with my program, I don’t want them in my life.”
He paused, and my jaw tightened at his confession. Was that the type of man I wanted to be with the rest of my life?
“But I realized I don’t want to be that person to you. I can’t let you walk away. I will change my entire life to have you, Katherine. Even if all you really want is my money, I’d give it all to you. Sell everything I own, add it all up, give it all away, just to be with you.” His kisses on my forehead, coupled with the way he embraced me, was melting my heart.