Lace

by Deborah Bladon

  Olivia is standing on a sidewalk in Midtown Manhattan next to a guy in a three-piece suit. He can’t keep his eyes off of her.

  Who the fuck is this?

  “Alexander Donato.” I shove a hand at the dark-haired, blue-eyed schmuck.

  He glances at Olivia before his hand lands in mine. “Derek Tocher.”

  I wait for someone to explain how the hell these two know each other.

  “How’s Alvin?” Olivia steps nearer to Tocher when a group of tourists pushes past her.

  I take a step closer to her to even the distance. “Good. I dropped him and Phoebe off at home earlier.”

  Her eyes scan my face. “I’m glad he’s doing better.”

  I glance over at Tocher who now has his eyes pinned to Olivia’s ass. I clear my throat, but he doesn’t even blink.

  Asshole.

  “Do you have time for a cup of coffee, Olivia?” I question as I step even closer to her. “Or tea?”

  “We need to be somewhere.” The bastard who is eye-fucking her responds.

  “We have a meeting,” Olivia chimes in.

  “You’re in the lingerie business?” I ask the dweeb, so he’ll raise his head and look at me.

  “No,” he answers succinctly.

  I shoot Olivia a look, but she’s glancing at something over my shoulder. Times Square has a way of stealing the attention of everyone.

  “It was good to see you, Olivia, and nice to meet you, Daryl.”

  “Derek,” he corrects me with a smirk.

  “I’ll text you later.” Olivia flashes me a cute smile.

  I don’t respond because what the fuck was that? I take off down the crowded sidewalk trying to brush off what just happened. My sole focus should be on the meeting I have in an hour because it’s going to change my entire life, but all I can think of is Olivia and what the hell is going on between her and Derek Tocher.

  Chapter 36

  Olivia

  Derek Tocher hasn’t changed at all since high school.

  He’s still the same annoying know-it-all he was back then. The only difference now is that he wears semi-expensive suits and too much cheap cologne.

  I try to shift my stool to the left to gain more distance from him before I pass out from the fumes.

  The other two women we’re with don’t seem to mind at all.

  They’ve been laughing at his lame jokes and nodding in awe at every one of his stories about his success on Wall Street.

  Unlike Derek, I do my homework.

  I did it back in high school, and I do it now.

  Derek Tocher is a junior broker with a small firm. He lives with his mom in Brooklyn and spends his extra time driving for Uber.

  I should know. That’s where I reconnected with him six months ago.

  He told me about his perfect life as he drove me home from a fundraising gala. I looked him up online the next day. Those facts didn’t lie, unlike Derek.

  Derek recognized me as soon as I got in his mom’s car. Admittedly it took me a bit to place him.

  I wasn’t popular in high school. He was. He was the all-star quarterback and the leading scorer with the cheerleaders.

  I didn’t make the cheer squad, so I was never on his radar.

  “I wish my husband was more like you, Derek.” Nancy, one of my former classmates swoons. “You’re so funny and attentive.”

  I try not to roll my eyes.

  “Should we get down to reunion business?” I flip open the cover of my tablet. “I made some notes since our last meeting.”

  Everyone at the table laughs.

  It’s the same reaction I get every time I come to one of these meetings.

  Derek was the one who suggested we chair the committee for our tenth high school reunion. I was on board immediately because I’m all for meeting up with people I haven’t seen in ten years to show them that I’ve finally got my life together.

  Unfortunately, no one at these meetings is in any hurry to nail down the details because the actual reunion isn’t for another year.

  “You ladies will never believe who I met today.” Derek takes a sip of his over-priced whiskey sour.

  I stare at my half-full glass of free water.

  “Who?” Tiffany inches forward on her barstool.

  We’re sitting in a barbeque restaurant in the middle of Times Square on a weekday afternoon. Tiffany’s husband is the manager. That’s the reason Derek is tossing back whiskey at warp speed. Everything is half-price for our party.

  “Alexander Donato.”

  My head snaps up.

  Tiffany clucks her tongue. “That hot-as-hell conductor of the Philharmonic? His billboard is right over there.”

  I glance out the plate glass windows in the direction she’s pointing. Ironically, I got my first look at it an hour ago when I was talking to Alexander. I spotted it over his shoulder.

  It was a surreal moment.

  The photograph on the billboard does not do the man justice.

  “We talked to him.” Derek gestures in my direction.

  “Do you know him, Olivia?” Tiffany asks excitedly.

  “I do…” I hesitate, wondering if I should blow all of their minds by telling them that he’s my lover.

  I wouldn’t be overstepping since it was Alexander who told me to introduce him that way to Cathleen last night.

  Nancy leans her elbows on the bar. “I know someone who knows him.”

  I sense a story coming on, so I settle back on the barstool to listen.

  “Do tell.” Tiffany taps the bar. “Details, details.”

  “She’s a friend of a friend. The night they met he took her home with him.”

  My stomach drops. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.

  “And?” Tiffany draws the word across her tongue. “Don’t stop there.”

  Nancy looks around the almost deserted restaurant. “He fucked her all night. I’m talking every position, every inch of his apartment and from what she said, the man has a solid nine inches to work with.”

  I bow my head.

  “It went on for a couple of months. One night she showed up at his place to surprise him. He answered the door in his underwear. A naked woman came out of his bedroom looking for him.” She shakes a fist in the air. “He’s a cold-hearted bastard.”

  “With a big dick,” Tiffany whispers.

  Derek clears his throat. “Not to brag, ladies, but for comparison purposes, I’m packing more than Donato.”

  Tiffany’s hand lands on his knee. “You must have had a growth spurt.”

  “A growth spurt?” Derek questions her with a nervous chuckle.

  “I was the head of the cheer team.” Tiffany laughs. “We fucked the night of senior prom, Derek. I know what you’re packing in your pants.”

  Derek is up and gone in a flash.

  The two women next to me laugh as he bolts down Broadway. I stare out at the billboard of Alexander, wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

  Chapter 37

  Alexander

  Derek Tocher is a schmuck. He has nothing to offer Olivia.

  “Who’s that?” Jack peers over my shoulder at the screen of my phone and the headshot of Tocher from his brokerage firm’s website.

  “No one.” I exit the site and drop my phone in my pocket.

  “His mother would disagree with you.” Jack pats me on the shoulder as he rounds his desk. “I’ve got everything together for you, Alex.”

  I watch as he drops a stack of papers on his desk. “Tell me this is the right thing to do, Jack.”

  “Do you want me to answer that as your friend or your financial advisor?”

  “Both.”

  He falls into his chair. “It’s the right thing to do. It’s smart. You’re not going to regret this.”

  I hope to hell I’m not.

  I’m not a wealthy man. I’m not a poor man.

  I’m comfortable with a little breathing room.

  Jack’s kept me on
track because I pay him to do that. He’s helped my money grow to the point where I can do something like this.

  I can invest in my future, and other people’s as well.

  “You don’t look convinced.” He leans back in his chair.

  I rest both hands on the edge of his desk, looking back at his open office door. His assistant, Everly, took off for the day when I arrived.

  I have no fucking clue if she was off the clock or if Jack sent her on her way so we could discuss this in private.

  Either way, I’m glad this is just between the two of us.

  “I’m confident in what I’m doing,” I say gruffly. “I put a lot of thought into it.”

  “I’m confident in it too.” He picks up a pen and taps it against the edge of his steel desk. “You’ve come a long way, Alex. I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming.”

  I didn’t either, but I’ve learned recently that life doesn’t give a shit about the plans you make. What matters is what you do with the opportunities you’re presented.

  “How soon can we get moving on this?” I point at the stack of papers. “Do I need to sign any of those?”

  He hands me the pen. “Get comfortable. You’re signing every last one of these.”

  ***

  I have no idea what Olivia’s definition of later is.

  It’s nearing eleven p.m. and I still haven’t heard from her. Granted, I didn’t reach out to her earlier. I spent the evening with Jack. After I signed documents until my wrist was numb, we went for a celebratory beer.

  That turned into three beers and the brilliant idea to come to Olivia’s apartment.

  The doorman remembered me from last night. He also recognized me from the performance of the Philharmonic he attended last week.

  One selfie later, and he let me come up to her place to surprise her.

  I hope to hell I won’t be the one in for a surprise. If I find Derek Tocher inside, I’ll tear him apart with my bare hands. Or I’ll fuck off and drown my sorrows in another few beers.

  I knock softly on the door of her apartment.

  Silence.

  I knock again, louder this time.

  Still nothing.

  Hoping the third time is a charm I bang my fist against the door and call out to her, “Olivia, it’s me.”

  The sound of a door opening behind me turns me around.

  The sight of Olivia in a pair of black sweatpants and a blue T-shirt almost drops me to my knees.

  Her hair is in a ponytail. Her skin is washed clean.

  She looks fresh-faced and innocent.

  She’s breathtaking.

  “What are you doing here?” Her brows pop up. “Did something happen to Alvin?”

  I shake my head. I can’t think. All I want to do is take her to bed. Hold her, kiss her, fuck her. I want to keep her.

  Her gaze falls back to her friend, Kate. “I’m going to go.”

  Kate nods but doesn’t a word.

  I stand to the side as Olivia unlocks the door of her apartment, turns on the light and beckons me inside.

  “Why are you here, Alexander?”

  I close the door behind me. “Who is he?”

  “Who?”

  “Daryl.” I shove my hands into the front pockets of my jeans.

  I had the sense to go home and shower before I went to Jack’s office. I needed the time between my meeting and signing those documents to think about my future.

  “Derek,” she says the lowlife’s name with a half-grin on her face.

  “Did you fuck him?”

  Her hands fall to her hips. “You did not just ask me that.”

  I repeat the question because I need an answer. “Did you sleep with him?”

  “That’s rich,” she begins before she turns to walk to the living room. “That’s so rich coming from you of all people.”

  What the actual fuck is going on?

  I watch the defiant way her ponytail sways as she marches across the room. I want to twist it into my fist and yank on it as I fuck her from behind.

  “Olivia, answer the question.”

  Her arms are crossed over her chest when she turns. “No.”

  I close the distance between us with steady, even steps. “Answer the question.”

  “Only if you answer a question for me first.”

  How the fuck did this turn into a negotiation?

  I want to know if he touched her, so I agree with a brisk nod.

  She steps closer to me, her eyes burning into mine. “How did you feel when your lover walked in on you and another woman? How do you think she felt to find you in your underwear with a naked woman?”

  I scrub my hand over the back of my neck. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Her finger jabs into the middle of my chest. “Let me refresh your memory. You met a woman and you took her home that night.”

  I shrug. “That doesn’t help.”

  She huffs. “You had sex. Apparently, you had a lot of sex for a couple of months and one day she showed up at your place and you were fucking someone else.”

  I stare into her stormy blue eyes. They’re filled with passion and anger.

  She’s jealous.

  She’s scared too. It’s there in her posture and the tremble of her bottom lip.

  “You’re talking about Lola.” I exhale harshly. “It was her idea to keep things casual. She was fucking her boss. I was fucking… other women. She happened to show up one night when I had company.”

  Skepticism knits her brow. “You didn’t cheat on her?”

  “We were never exclusive,” I say tightly. “She knew I was sleeping with other women.”

  She doesn’t say a word.

  “Her boss fired her that day,” I go on, “he ended the personal relationship too. She took that frustration out on me when she came over and I wasn’t available to…”

  “To screw her,” she finishes for me.

  I nod. “I don’t know who told you about her, but you only heard one side of the story.”

  She rubs her temples. “I didn’t know.”

  I take a tentative step toward her. “If I were in a relationship with a woman, I would not fuck around.”

  She works on a swallow. “Are you fucking around now?”

  “Are you?” I ask because I need to know if she’s sleeping with Derek.

  “No,” she whispers. “It’s only you.”

  I believe her. I see the truth in her eyes.

  “Derek is a guy I know from high school.” She rolls her eyes. “He was a dick back then. He’s a bigger dick now.”

  Relief rushes through me. “That’s good to know.”

  “We’re both on the committee that’s working on our tenth high school reunion, but the meetings are mostly Derek humble bragging about things that aren’t true.”

  I huff out a laugh. “I could tell he was an asshole when I met him.”

  “You have no idea.”

  I study her face, realization hitting me. “You’re planning your tenth high school reunion? How old are you, Olivia?”

  “Twenty-seven.”

  “I’m thirty…”

  “Five,” she interrupts me again. “I read it on your website. You were born in New York City before you traveled the world. You won some very prestigious awards.”

  “When did you look at my website?” I cock a brow.

  She turns to the side. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “When?” I press.

  Her bare foot starts tapping on the hardwood floor. “I don’t remember exactly.”

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  She stares at me, her mouth curving into a smile. “It was shortly after you left the boutique that first day.”

  That knowledge makes her want her even more. She felt the pull that day too. “I don’t want you to fuck anyone else.”

  Her chin rises. “I won’t if you won’t.”

  I pull her close. Staring down into her eyes, I kiss her softly. “We have a d
eal.”

  Chapter 38

  Olivia

  He presses his lips to my forehead. “I’m staying the night again.”

  I didn’t think it was up for discussion. “I’m not going to argue with you.”

  He takes my hand and leads me down the hallway to my bedroom. I stop him when he reaches to turn on the overhead light. “That’s too bright. I’ll open the curtain and bring in some moonlight.”

  I cross the room and tug on the curtains, opening them wide enough that when we are in bed, we’ll be able to see the skyline.

  I turn back to find him sitting on the bed with my watch in his hands.

  “Tell me about this.” He lifts it in the air carefully. “You wear it almost all the time.”

  I take a seat next to him. “It’s my most treasured possession.”

  “Did a man give you this?”

  There’s not an accusatory tone in his voice at all. It’s curiosity. “It belonged to my dad. My mom had it engraved with their wedding date.”

  He turns it over to examine the back. His index finger skims over the brushed metal. “You never talk about your dad.”

  I could say the same to him, but I don’t. Sometimes families are complicated. He has a close relationship with his sister and his nephew. They’re the people who matter most to him.

  “He died when I was young.” I sigh. “I don’t remember him, but that watch makes me feel close to him. I don’t know if that makes sense or not.”

  His gaze catches mine. “It makes sense.”

  “The day I graduated from high school my mom gave me a box of things that belonged to him.” I point toward the wooden box I keep on a shelf. “There’s a silver pen, a couple of neckties, some cufflinks, and this watch.”

  “It suits you.” He places it in my palm. “It’s too big and masculine for you, but for some reason it suits you.”

  I run my finger over the face of the watch. “I’ve always felt that too.”

  “Do you have any siblings or is it just you?”

  “Just me,” I answer with a soft smile.

  “You’re an only child?” That draws his brows up.

  I nod. “I like it that way.”