Not Just Friends (Hot in the City Book 3)

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Not Just Friends (Hot in the City Book 3) Page 15

by T Gephart


  Rae shrugged, lost in her deliberations while I celebrated my good fortune. “I don’t know, Pres. Maybe. I think you should go with the white, it does amazing things for your skin.”

  Ordinarily, I’d agree with her because the white dress did look better. But I also knew white was a color frequently worn to Asian funerals, and I hoped I wouldn’t be walking into mine. I tossed both dresses aside and settled for a red pencil skirt with a matching thin twill sweater. It was both conservative as well as being a “lucky” color, and I was willing to take all the help I could get.

  “I’ll change into the white one later and wear it to the club. Make sure you save me a bagel.” I called over my shoulder and went to change in my bathroom.

  I wasn’t nervous for the meeting, more excited, butterflies fluttering in my belly as I slipped into my skirt and sweater and looked at my reflection. I’d wanted to tell Jared all about my meeting but was worried about jinxing it, keeping my plans and the two o’clock appointment a secret in the hopes I could surprise him with good news later.

  When I emerged from the bathroom, I was feeling pretty confident. Raelle had saved me a bagel, helping herself to some orange juice while I took tentative bites not to mess up my makeup. “You sure you don’t want me to drive you? It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

  “It’s fine.” I chewed, the need for someone to play babysitter surely over. “No one has seen Lewis in days, and there’s no way he’d know about this meeting. Besides, instead of driving me to the Plaza, you could go see Bennett. Strategize which parts of the team should stay in Midtown and who should go across to the Meatpacking district. Maybe it’s time for you to step up and be my bar manager at the new site? I know you’re more than capable, and poor Hank doesn’t do well with change.”

  I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but it was exciting to think about the future. Everything was going so right, the idea that David would be anything other than supportive, just didn’t enter my mind.

  “You’d let me be the bar manager at the Meatpacking district?” Raelle’s eyes lit up, her usual cool exterior sidelined with excitement.

  “Who else am I going to trust. Annnnnnd if you and Bennett are at two different sites, there really isn’t a conflict anymore is there?” I tossed out casually, pretending it wouldn’t be one hell of a sweetener.

  Raelle stilled, lowering her juice and grabbing me by the shoulders. “You go into the Plaza and you fucking wow the shit out of David Cheng. You hear me. Use that big brain of yours and hypnotize him with your profit margins.”

  “But no pressure, right?” I joked. “Just remember, out of all of us, I have the most to lose. He could think I’m insane for wanting another site so close, giving me my walking papers at the end of my contract.”

  There was a slight possibility he wouldn’t love it, thinking I was greedy instead of ambitious, something Lorena had warned me about. And while I was confident, I also knew that nothing came with an iron clad guarantee.

  “Yeah, he could totally do that. And a big fucking asteroid could come out of the sky and obliterate the planet and we all die. I’d say your chances are about the same.” She blinked, like she was actually being serious.

  I hugged her, willing to take my ego boost however I could get it. “Thanks. Make sure if you see that asteroid, you give me a head’s up. I want to be naked in bed with Jared when it happens.” I winked, pulling back and giving her a smile.

  My bagel was only half eaten but I didn’t bother finishing it. Instead I gathered my handbag and keys, walking Raelle out before hailing a cab.

  It was nice to be feeling independent again, the fear from a couple of weeks ago almost completely gone. I knew Tibbs and Jared were still keeping an eye on things, but the whole time the police had been investigating, they’d literally found nothing. So I felt completely justified in trusting my instincts, and going it alone.

  The drive to The Plaza didn’t take long, the cab driver dropping me off in front of the beautiful landmark hotel. David always stayed there, insisting on the same suite every time, and enjoying lunch in the Champagne Bar as he gazed at the Pulitzer Fountain.

  I took a deep breath as I entered the glass doors, a text message from Jared reminding me he was thinking of me, the last piece of luck I needed.

  It was hard not to be overwhelmed by the blatant opulence, the polished marble and the gold. But with my shoulders pushed back I walked confidently to where David was already sitting, his coffee and pastry still untouched.

  “David.” I put out my hand and greeted him, watching him smile as he stood. “I hope your stay in New York has been fruitful.”

  His hand grasped mine, the pleased look on his face, genuine. “Always. And even better when I see your numbers. Not sure how you turned that old warehouse into a diamond, but you’ve yet to pass the point where I’m not impressed. Please take a seat.”

  “I’m glad.” I took the chair opposite him, a waiter delivering a glass of champagne I didn’t order. I assumed David had, his tendency of not wanting to be interrupted when a meeting started, prompting it.

  But it was too soon to celebrate, moving the champagne flute to the side as I readied myself for our conversation.

  “Before you start, Presley. I have to ask if you’re here to tender your resignation. I can tell you have some speech worked out, and if that’s what this is about, I would rather we pay each other the respect of skipping through the pretense.”

  “My resignation?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise. “You just gave me a fifteen percent pay increase, why would you think I want to quit?”

  “Scott Collins?” His head tilted like he was gauging my reaction. “It’s the worst-kept secret in the business. He was looking to open something up in L.A. and I know he was in town recently. I believe he even visited Diablo. Tell me, and be honest, did he make you an offer?”

  Since the minute Scott had walked past those big black doors of the club, he’d been a huge pain in my ass. And while we had met, me barely entertaining the idea of helping him for a second, I hadn’t spoken to him since he’d left. I’d assumed he took my vineyard idea and ran with it, forgetting all about his disaster-waiting-to-happen.

  “Yes, I met with him. And he offered me a lot actually. Artistic control, a salary and equity.”

  “Equity?” David’s brows shot up, no doubt surprised Scott had cashed in such a big chip.

  “Yes.” I took a breath, deciding to go all in. “David, I know you’re a busy man so I’m not going to waste your time by pretending to be modest. Diablo has made a name for itself, we are at capacity every night of the week and are constantly listed in social blogs and magazines. And I don’t have to tell you that above all of that, we’re making money.”

  “And . . .,” David urged me, knowing I had more to say.

  “And I’ve worked my ass off to make it that way. I like my team, and the brand, and I’m not going to leave them to chase someone else’s pipedream. Especially when I have my own. You trusted me once, now I’m going to need you to do it again. But this time around as a partner instead of just an employee.”

  I laid out my plan, my ideas for the expansion and the second site, and even some rough expenditures I modeled on the data I already had. I did it without my notes, minus spreadsheets and with no fancy graphs. It was straight business, keeping as much of the emotion as I could out of my voice even though I wanted it so desperately.

  “You’ve been working on this for some time,” he nodded after I’d finished, tenting his fingers in front of him. “You flat out rejected Scott’s offer?”

  “Yes, I did. Feel free to call him if you want to verify it, I have his number.” I picked up my cell and tilted it in his direction.

  He waved his hand, dismissing my offer. “No need. But I am impressed not only by your ingenuity but your loyalty as well. I have no doubt you could have turned Scott’s toy into something of a success and reaped the benefits for yourself. And I’m almost positive I�
��m going to see you on the cover of Forbes before you’re forty.”

  “I say before I’m thirty-five, but let’s not split hairs.”

  David laughed, shaking his head as he reached down to get his coffee. “Yes, Presley. We will partner in this venture. But,” he warned, my heart almost stopping from both the excitement and the sheer terror. “Not a word to anyone until our respective lawyers iron out an agreement. With anything of this nature, you need the element of surprise. And I don’t want anyone else hearing about it, especially other developers until we are locked in, understand?”

  “Of course.” I nodded, having kept the secret for what felt like an eternity. “Two staff members know, but that’s it. I haven’t even told members of my family.”

  “Good, keep it that way. I’m sure they can celebrate with you once we’ve both signed on the dotted line. More deals have been ruined by loose-lipped relatives than I’d liked to admit.” He sighed heavily, his father probably the implication.

  I nodded, willing to take an indefinite vow of silence if it helped. “My lips are sealed. I won’t breathe a word of it until it’s finalized.”

  With the business out of the way, David flagged down the waiter and we ordered a light lunch. It was hard keeping my excitement under wraps, my heart beating a million miles a minute. After he’d agreed, I’d wanted nothing more than to run onto Fifth Avenue and dance like a lunatic. But I didn’t, keeping the crazy simmering while we talked KPIs.

  When David finally announced he had another meeting, my body almost sagged in relief. I tried to not look too ecstatic when he rose from his seat and waved me goodbye, my feet doing their best to keep even steps and not skip out the door to a cab.

  It was only once I was safely back in my apartment that I kicked off my heels and literally screamed. I was so excited, the smile so wide on my face I was probably going to develop laugh lines. I didn’t even care, squealing and dancing in the wide space of my living area with a feeling of happiness so huge I thought my heart might burst.

  And that was it, wasn’t it.

  I was happy.

  Not just content, but happy, all the pieces of my life finally falling into place all at the same time. And it wasn’t the job and the new expansion, or that I’d proved I didn’t need to be a forty-year-old man to be successful. It was that I had that, and finally someone who was worthy to share it with.

  Jared.

  God, I’d always thought he was just the guy I had a crush on, wanting to sleep with him because he was my older brother’s hot best friend. The forbidden fruit. And even though the sex had been beyond anything I could’ve imagined, he was sooooo much more.

  He was kind and gentle, and never once told me I should do something else. Hell, it couldn’t be easy for him, us spending almost every night at the club instead of doing fun stuff like other couples. We’d barely even dated, catching a lunch or dinner either in between my schedule or his. Not a lot of guys would put up with that. In fact, the long list of my ex-boyfriends was pretty much the testimony.

  But he was different, and when I got my good news, he’d been the first person I’d wanted to tell. Not Bennett or Raelle. Not even my parents or Justin.

  Nope, it was him.

  The guy who I could let into my heart and trust not to break it.

  The guy who had been there all along.

  Jared

  COLLISION.

  A family sedan had played chicken with a semi just outside the Lincoln Tunnel.

  We’d responded, expecting the worst, the scene the kind of stuff nightmares were made of.

  “Get the kids,” yelled Cap, a toddler and a baby still strapped to their car seats were crying in the back. The mother was unconscious, trapped behind the steering wheel, the hood of her car wedged under the grill of the truck.

  Rev and North took the front, using the piston-rod hydraulic Hurst, most people knew as the jaws of life. We had no idea if she was still breathing, our priority, getting the kids out of the car ASAP and I could already smell gasoline.

  “Locked,” Tibbs cursed, the door not budging.

  I shook my head, pointing to the front passenger side. “Smash the front, it’s too risky to do the back.” He nodded, popping out the front passenger side window, giving us enough access to reach the central locking.

  “Mommy,” howled a little girl, her face stained by endless tears as she reached out in fear. “Mommmmmyyyyyyyy.”

  There was no time to get emotional, our objective to secure the two kids while the others took care of their mother. Cranking open the door, I reached inside, doing a quick visual check for injuries before cutting loose the tethers for the car seats. With no idea what we were dealing with—and until one of the EMTs could make sure one or both hadn’t snapped their spinal cord—we were moving them as little as possible.

  “Take the baby,” I hollered at Tibbs, the smallest of the two screaming so loud he or she was literally gasping for air. “I’ll grab the other.”

  We each took a kid, ripping their seats out from the back and carrying them away from the wreck. The driver of the semi was already out, dazed and in severe shock.

  Darcy, one of the EMTs, took the toddler while Cole took the baby. Both were doing their best to calm the kids while North and Rev were getting closer to slicing a hole into the car’s metal.

  We’d barely left the kids when Cap yelled, “Get some foam down on that gas,” the small leak of gasoline quickly spilling onto the street. All it would take was one fucking spark and the whole thing would go from a really bad accident to a fucking disaster, so we wasted no time in getting the AFFF out and smothering it.

  North got the ram, using it to push the dash back so they could finally get to the mom. She wasn’t breathing, North starting CPR the minute she was on the ground, yelling for the EMTs.

  McGee was at his side, bagging her while North continued with compressions, not stopping until she finally gave a cough.

  “We’ve got a pulse. Faint, but we need to move her.” McGee pointed to a stretcher.

  Without waiting to be told, Tibbs and I grabbed the stretcher, helping to lift her on while McGee’s hand kept squeezing the BVM. She was far from out of the woods, but at least she was free and breathing, the rest of it completely out of our hands.

  It wasn’t until the family had been loaded into the ambulance that I stepped back and finally took in the whole scene. It was intense, the Honda the family had been traveling in was almost unrecognizable. The silver metal was twisted in directions that shouldn’t be possible, while the semi looked like it had eaten a car, and then vomited from indigestion. All the while traffic had backed up, the stream of cars wanting to get into the tunnel extending farther than we could see.

  “PD are handling the diversions. And I have a hazmat team on the way. Good work out there.” Cap nodded his head, pointing to the engine. “You guys head back, and I’ll keep the second unit here just in case. I’ll radio it in to the Chief.”

  Cap was hanging back with the second unit, North, Tibbs, Rev, Evans, and me climbing into the engine and heading back to the stationhouse.

  “Fucking crazy,” Tibbs shook his head. “It’s not even raining.”

  Traffic accidents were common, most a fender bender or two that people usually walked away from. And while it was inconvenient, and racked up insurance premiums like no other, if you had to have a wreck, that was the kind you wanted. Then there were the others. The ones like we’d just left, or worse, the ones where you pull out corpses.

  North’s parents had died in a wreck. Both high and drunk, they’d left to go find their next score while their eighteen-year-old kid was home trying to be the adult. He didn’t hide it, but I could never understand how it hadn’t messed him up beyond recognition. His ability to tune out all the bullshit and do his job better than anyone else, something that I fucking admired.

  “How’s Quinn?” I asked, tapping his shoulder as I leaned forward in my seat. “Must be getting close.”

/>   The guy turned, biggest smile I’d ever seen beaming from his face. “She’s doing great. Man, I can’t wait.”

  And that was all it took, the conversation turning to North and Quinn instead of the horror we’d just left. It was the only way you could keep doing what we did, finding a little part in your head to lock it away and go on with a life you were lucky to be living.

  We got back to the station, restocked the truck, and then showered and changed. We hoped to have time to eat dinner between calls, feeling confident when we sat down at the table while Chief dished up spaghetti.

  “Hey, you want to do something tomorrow night?” Tibbs asked, tearing off a piece of garlic bread before handing it to me. “We haven’t hung out in a while. Feel free to bring your woman along too, I’m beginning to think you made her up.”

  He laughed as did Cole, the rookie not knowing what was good for him. “She exists, asswipes.” I flipped them off. “But tomorrow’s my niece’s birthday. My mom is having everyone at the house. And even if I didn’t love Maddy and want to see her turn two, my ma would kill me if I didn’t show up.”

  Ironic how I could be excited and disappointed at the same time. Maddy was my sister Deanna’s youngest, and I fucking loved the hell out of that kid. So the fact she was getting to blow out two candles was a big deal and I wanted to be there. But it also meant I wouldn’t get much time—if any—with Presley. Kid birthday parties usually happened during the day, with my mother insisting on a family dinner after the extended relatives had left. Celebrations were a big thing, and I didn’t like disappointing my mother. Which meant by the time I’d get back to Midtown and Presley, she’d already be at Diablo. I’d have to wait hours before I’d be able to touch her. Having to sit and watch from a distance instead of pulling her into my arms and kissing her like I wanted.

  “Maddy is turning two?” Tibbs scratched his head, taking a forkful of his noodles. “Fuck, how the hell did that happen? Seems like yesterday Jeff and Deanna left the hospital with her.”

 

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