Lacey looked at both of her friends; they were staring at her, waiting for a sign of Drew’s response. Lacey shook her head and stood up to pace her floor. He might have been confident that she was hired on her own accord, and during her meeting with Mr. Willem and Mr. Vance, that was exactly how she felt, but now everything had changed.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“Because I am.”
“You said I could trust you.”
“Youcantrust me.”
“But you talked to him about me when I told you not to.”
“Yes, I talked to him, but that was after your meeting. I had no idea whether or not he was going to hire you, and I didn’t ask. He told me he met with this woman—”
Lacey cut him off. “I’m such a fool.” A chill ran up one side of her spine and down the other. “Do you understand that if I only got hired because of who I’m dating, not only will I lose that account, but I’ll probably end up losing my job?”
“Lacey, you’re blowing this out of proportion.”
“Funny, that’s what Kevin said when I found him on top of Candi.” Across the room, her friends gasped simultaneously, butthat only fueled her objective.
“You can’t be seriously comparing me to that jackass. You know me better than that.” Lacey could hear his irritation and imagined him rubbing his jaw, trying to calm down, but she remained silent. “I’d never break your trust.” Shewishedshe could believe him. When she still refused to talk, Drew said, “Lacey…”
“I went to see him today.”
“You went to see who?”
“Kevin. I wanted to know why he cheated on me. Why he did what he did. And do you know what he said?” Drew didn’t say a word, but that didn’t stop her from continuing, “He said that you would let me down too. That you were just pretending, and you didn’t actually care.” Tears flooded her eyes. “I didn’t want to believe him. I stuck up for you.” Her breath hitched in her throat as she choked back a sob. Any positive thoughts she had disappeared, leaving her confused and disappointed. “I can’t do this,” was all she managed to say before she clicked off the phone and stared at it. How could you go from being on such a high you’d think your heart was going to burst through your chest to wondering if it was still beating?
“Well?” Janine asked.
Lacey tossed her phone back onto the table and numbly sat on her sofa, blinking her tears away.
“Sweetie?” Grace pulled her into a hug.
Lacey released Grace and dropped her head into her hands. “I have no idea what to think. He said he talked to Pete, but he had nothing to do with me getting the job.”
Her phone vibrated and Drew’s picture filled the small screen. Lacey leaned forward and sent him to voice mail. Before she powered off her phone, she sent him a text asking for some space until she figured things out. Did Drew have anything to do with her getting the Carson account? Right now her emotions were too high to even tackle that question.
Janine chimed in, “Deep down in your heart, do you honestly believe Drew, the man who didn’t flinch to pretend to be your boyfriend, the man who defended you in front of Kevin, and the man who, from what I can tell, loves you with all of his heart, would breakyour trust, knowing how important it was to you?”
“I have to agree with Janine,” Grace said with the confidence Lacey wished she had. “I know we don’t know him, but from what you’ve told us, it doesn’t seem like that’s in his character makeup. The man loves you, Lace.Love. That doesn’t come along every day.”
Lacey stood and began pacing again. “You’re right, it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
Janine and Grace stood to leave. “Sleep on it, Lacey,” Janine said, shrugging on her coat. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll feel better. Don’t throw something wonderful away or lump Drew into the same bucket as Kevin.”
Just hearing him being compared to Kevin, even though she had done it herself, made her realize how awful that sounded. “I need to take some time. But all I can think of is maybe Pete thought he was doing his buddy a solid by giving his girlfriend the account of a lifetime.”
Her friends nodded, absorbing all of what Lacey had said. Janine opened the door. “Do you know what you’re going to do?”
The only thing she could do. “Yeah, I need to talk to Pete face-to-face and ask him one of the hardest questions… if I got hired out of loyalty to a friend or on my own merits.” Lacey knew how that would sound. All the confidence she had prior to their meeting now vanished.
“Call us and let us know how it goes. But for now, get some rest. You’ve had an eventful day.”
Once her friends were gone, Lacey turned off the light and headed into her bedroom. She clutched her pillow beneath her cheek and said a silent prayer that everything would work out.
Chapter 26
Drew slid his hands into his front trouser pockets and stood to look out his office windows, staring down at the busy city streets. Snowflakes swirled, making downtown Chicago look like it was contained within a snow globe. Deep in thought, he never heard his door open or knew someone had walked in until he heard, “Sir, is everything okay?” Turning, he found Anita setting a cup of coffee on his desk before taking her seat, ready to go over the day’s appointments.