by Maggie Cole
“Want me to ask if Charlotte knows anything that could help you?”
I shake my head. “No. She’s made it clear. I just need to accept it and move on.”
“I don’t get it. Piper seemed crazy about you last night.”
I shrug.
“So, you two are going to be miserable all weekend?”
“Apparently so.”
“That really sucks.”
I threw my hands in the air.
“So what about your meeting today. Where is it?”
“All the meetings are at my office downtown.”
“What time is the first one?”
“Two.”
“How close are you to closing these deals?”
“I’m hoping a few months. These three companies aren’t that large.”
Xander wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Have you considered getting security once this goes down? I’m a little concerned about you. The target is going to be on you, and multiple arrows are going to be flying.”
“I’m expecting that. It’s why I don’t want Piper involved. I haven’t sorted security, but I know I probably need to.”
“Listen, why don’t you just tell Piper what you’re trying to do and add security to her. If she’s going to be with you, you’ll need to have security on her anyway.”
“Did you just miss our conversation where I said she isn’t going to be with me?”
Xander snorts. “I heard you, but I’m having a hard time believing any girl who is willing to pay 25K for your ass is going to let you go that easily.”
“You don’t know Piper Cadence. She’s not just any girl.”
I’ve been thinking about what Xander said all day, about telling Piper my plan, but I’m not convinced. I don’t want anything to happen to her.
I get a text from her around noon. “What’s the address of our meeting?”
“It’s at our NY headquarters. The car will be downstairs at one.”
“Is there an office I can work out of?”
“Yes. You can use my office.”
“You still have an office here?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll meet you over there.”
I wrack my brain on how to get her to ride over with me. “Piper, don’t be silly. Besides, Bennett is going to get a report. Do you want him asking us why you weren’t using the company car?”
It’s a few minutes before I get a response. Finally, “Okay. I’ll meet you at the car at one.”
I blow out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I finish getting ready and go down to the coffee shop in the lobby, order a coffee, and then sit down at a table with my computer.
Pulling up the Google sheets, I discover Piper is in them. Instead of reviewing what I intended, I watch as she’s highlighting columns.
As I watch the screen, I realize that she has information on insulin highlighted on all three companies.
Damn it. She’s figuring it out.
Of course she is, she’s the smartest person in the company.
I continue to watch, and she goes back and unhighlights everything, so I won’t know she’s catching on.
Shutting my computer, I put it in my bag and sit back in my chair.
One o’clock comes quickly, and I watch Piper head outside. I get up, throw my cup in the trash, and am soon next to her.
She pulls at her hair and glances at me. “Hey.”
I want to pull her into my arms, but I know I can’t, so I just stare at her, not saying anything because I also have on the tip of my tongue that I know she’s been highlighting our spreadsheets.
The car pulls up and we get in. Piper’s scent fills my senses, and I gaze out the window as I try to hold myself back from begging her to be with me.
I’m in love with her. I feel horrible about what happened to her, but that doesn’t change how I feel about her now or in the future. Some dickhead, or several possibly, from what she said last night, did a number on her, and now I’m paying the price.
Well, that and the fact that you haven’t told her, and now she’s going to figure it out on her own.
Better tell her before she figures it out and never forgives you.
But you have to protect her.
Get security, as Xander said.
The car pulls up to the building, and we get out. I check my watch. We have forty-five minutes until our meeting. After we get past security and go up to the office, I show Piper to my personal space. I lock the door as soon as we enter.
“Noah, what are you doing?” She glares at me.
“Sit down.”
“Unlock the door. This isn’t appropriate.”
I point to the table. “Sit down, if you want to know why I’m going after these companies.”
Her eyes widen in surprise.
“Well? Do you want to know or not?”
She slowly takes a seat then admits, “Noah, I already know.”
I sit down next to her. “And what do you think you know?”
“You want to control insulin.”
“Very good. Why?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.”
I raise my brow. “Do you want me to tell you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, but here’s the deal.”
“What’s that?”
“There is going to come a point in time where you will have security on you. I will decide when. You will not argue or in any way fight me on it. Do you understand?”
She gapes at me. “Noah, why would I need security on me?”
“I told you I wasn’t telling you because of your safety. That wasn’t a lie. So either agree with me now and promise me and stick to your word, or I am not telling you.”
She closes her eyes. “I’m sorry about going back on my promise to you last night.”
“Yeah, me, too. But this is more important than that because this is life and death. So give me your actual word this time.”
She bites her lip and slowly nods. “Okay. You win.”
“I need all three companies to control a big enough supply of insulin.”
“Why?”
“So I can offer it for next to nothing. The current prices are marked up over five thousand times the cost. If I offer it, with a big enough supply, for a decent profit over cost but not the exuberant one, the other companies will have to come down in price.”
Piper’s eyes widen. “You’re going to start a price war with big pharma?”
“Both big pharma and the insurance industry.”
“The insurance industry?”
“They are part of the problem. It’s all part of the markup.”
“Noah, you’ll get killed.”
“Quite possibly.”
“Noah!”
“I didn’t tell you for you to try to talk me out of it. This is happening. So now you know why I didn’t want you knowing this or to be a part of this project.”
Piper bites her lip and scans my eyes.
“And I want you in these meetings but not face-to-face.”
“What do you mean, not face-to-face?”
“I’ve been thinking how you can still be in these meetings but without being seen.”
“But why can’t I be with you in these meetings? The current companies won’t care what you do with the insulin once they sell.”
“Piper, all these people are connected. I don’t know who owns whom.”
She swallows hard.
I cup her face in my hands. “You’re the smartest and only person I want by my side, but I don’t want you exposed to this.”
“But Bennett seems to think it’s safe.”
“Piper, Bennett hasn’t been exposed to these people. He believes in sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows. I love Bennett, but he’s wrong about putting you in this meeting...at least not face-to-face. Give me any other merger, and I’ll put you front row with me, but this is for your safety. Please, trust me.”
Piper shifts in h
er seat. “Okay, what are you trying to propose here?”
“You stay right here, in my office. I have a microphone in the conference room I can turn on, and you can hear everything. You stay on the Google sheets and write numbers or comments during the meeting. I will have access to it, but no one else will know, and they won’t know you’re a part of this. Hopefully, they are all good people, but I can’t guarantee that.”
Piper paces the room and I give her time to analyze what I just told her, knowing that is how she makes decisions.
“Piper, I need you on this with me, but I don’t need you in the line of possible danger. Please.”
She surprises me and doesn’t fight anymore. “Okay, Noah.”
I almost kiss her but remember that she doesn’t want it, so instead, I just say, “Thank you.”
19
Piper
As much as I want to be in the meetings with Noah, I understand now why he tried to hide his reasons from me. Big pharma is nothing to mess with, and while I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’ve read enough stories about people who go against them disappearing to know that Noah’s concern is legitimate.
I agree that I’ll stay in his office and listen and stick to interaction only with him on the Google sheets, but that’s it.
The meeting with the first company, Cosoner, lasts about forty-five minutes. It seems to go well, and they are definitely interested in selling. Noah is careful to keep mentioning every part of their company and only touch a little on the insulin.
From time to time, I type a question or reminder on the Google sheet for him, and anything I type, he addresses in the meeting.
When the meeting is over, he returns to his personal office.
“That seemed to have gone well,” I cautiously state.
He nods. “You had good input.”
I smile at him. “Thanks.”
There is an uncomfortable silence. So many thoughts are racing through my head, but the biggest one is that this hurts so bad.
I want Noah, I do, but I still can’t risk anything. My career is all I have, and I know one day he will wake up and realize that I’m not someone long term for him because I won’t be able to give him what he should have. So I can’t risk it.
Noah absentmindedly says, “I need some air.”
“Me, too,” I admit then stop.
Noah stares at me, but I turn away from him. “Piper.”
I slowly gaze at him.
“Let’s go be work colleagues and grab some lunch.”
Lunch sounds good, but I don’t know if I can be that close to Noah.
He stands. “Come on. You don’t know New York, and I know a great Thai place.”
I freeze, wanting to go but not able to commit.
“It’s just lunch.”
My stomach grumbles, and he raises his eyebrows at me. I finally give in. “Okay.”
Within minutes, we are out of the building and strolling down the street. I almost hold his hand but stop myself.
It’s a quiet walk and we arrive to the Thai restaurant reasonably quick. The hostess seats us in a quiet booth in the corner. The waitress comes quickly, I order my usual spicy shrimp, and Noah orders a curry.
I’m staring at him. I know I am but can’t help it, and Noah gives me his sad eyes back.
“Sorry,” I say, and continue to stare.
He appears hopeful for a moment. “About?”
I want to tell him that I’m sorry I ran out of his room. That I love him, too, and that I want to be with him and trust that he won’t wake up one day and resent me and leave me because of it, but instead, I focus on my fork and bite my lip.
Noah sighs.
In the small booth, my legs have no other option but to rest against his, which is creating a never-ending wave of voltage running through my body.
Finally, I look at Noah. “Thank you for telling me why you’re doing this.”
“Do you understand now why I didn’t want you involved?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean we are down to two issues now?”
“Two issues?”
“Yeah. Your reasons why we can’t be together. That is hopefully not an issue any longer? So it’s down to me being your boss and the fact you believe I’m going to leave you.”
Because you will leave me. They always do. I had been in two serious relationships in my life where I explained what happened to me. The first guy, Zack and I were talking about marriage. He lasted a week before he said he didn’t think he could commit to never having kids.
I said, “Well, maybe we could adopt or get a surrogate.”
He told me that he wasn’t going to raise a child who didn’t have his blood and his wife’s.
The only other guy I had ever told, Taylor, fucked me after I told him, and the next day, when I woke up, he was gone. He never responded to my text or calls after that. We dated for four months before I told him. I thought we were getting serious, so I decided he should know. The girls all told me that he wasn’t anything like Zack and not to be scared to tell him, so I spilled the information.
They were wrong.
My face grows hotter, and I play with my spoon as my insides quiver.
He puts his hand on mine, but I jerk it away, blinking back tears.
“Piper—”
“You told me this was just lunch. I wouldn’t have come if I’d known you were going to bring this up,” I hurl at him.
Noah holds his hands in the air. “Okay. Sorry. You’re right.”
Noah wants me to believe he will be different, but I can’t trust it. My previous experience tells me that I am a wrong judge of character, and this time, my career can be affected. So as much as I want Noah Parker, it can never be. I’ll just have to deal with my desire to be with him and somehow figure out how to fall out of love with him, because as much as I don’t want to admit it, I am 100 percent, without a doubt, in love with him.
When he told me he loved me, my heart soared. I wanted to tell him I loved him, too, but I can’t allow myself to risk my career when I know someday he will realize what my reality means.
Our food arrives, and we both pick at it. The few bites I take, I don’t even taste. I feel Noah staring at me, but I concentrate on my plate of food.
My shaking insides and bleeding heart are causing me to blink back tears, and I can’t take being in his proximity any longer. “I need to get back,” I manage to get out.
Noah sighs, throws down some cash, and we get up to leave. About a block from the office, a biker almost plows into me, and Noah pulls me out of harm’s way, wrapping me tightly in his arms.
All of New York seems to disappear, and I don’t know if my heart or his is beating faster, or if it’s my body or his slightly shaking.
“You okay?” he murmurs.
“Yes. You should probably let go of me now.”
My heart rips further, and he slowly releases me. The rest of our journey is in silence, and we quickly are back at our desks.
It’s a painful afternoon. As usual, I’m sneaking glances at Noah, and he’s peeking at me. Several times, he leaves the room, and I don’t know where he goes, but every time, I want to grab him and kiss him and tell him I’m sorry. But I can’t go there.
At a little after five, Noah stands. “It’s quitting time. Let’s head back to the hotel.”
“I still have some things I want to finish up. I’ll catch a cab back and meet you in the lobby before tomorrow’s appointment.”
He opens his mouth to speak and then stops. “Okay. Have a good night.”
Trying not to cry, I put a fake smile on my face. “Good night.”
When Noah leaves, tears I’ve been holding back all day fall. I try to remember that I hate him, and he’s an asshole, but I know deep down that he isn’t. He’s done everything to show me he will be the guy I want, and it drives the knife deeper into my heart.
No matter how painful it is, I remind myself that Noah Parker cannot be mine.
<
br /> 20
Noah
I don’t take my laptop or phone. I wander aimlessly around the city, trying to get her out of my system, but all I can think about is how she felt in my arms, her smile, scowl, eyes, lips, knee, anything that is hers.
Darkness sets in, and I’ve walked for miles, but the burn I feel for her is only stronger. I realize I left my phone on my desk, and I go back to get it.
No one is in the office anymore. The entire building is empty, and it’s exactly how I feel.
I’ve told her all my secrets. The only thing standing in our way are her worries about me leaving her and destroying her career, neither of which will happen. But she doesn’t trust me.
I’m about to enter the office when I discover that Piper is still there, her back to me, working on her computer. I’m surprised because I thought she would have left.
Turning, I start to walk away then spin back, and my pacing pattern begins.
Don’t go in. Go back to your hotel and forget about your phone. It’ll be there in the morning.
Just go in and make her listen to you.
Leave her alone. She doesn’t want you.
Make her tell you she doesn’t want you. Make her tell you, and then you can get past her.
Time passes. She is frozen as if she knows I’m here. Any rational thought I have is gone. Obsession takes over. I step into the office and lock the door. Why? I don’t know since everyone else is gone.
Control is a ship that has sailed. This will be my downfall. I know it because I’m stepping over the line once more, but I can’t help myself. As I trace my finger down Piper’s spine, I grasp her hips and pull her chair into my body. Moving her hair to the side, my mouth is quickly on her neck, and I can feel her pulse beating against my lips. “Tell me you want me to leave, and I’ll leave.”
She doesn’t tell me to leave, so I move my hands onto her thighs and move my lips across her face, desperately wanting her lips on mine.
She’s struggling, grappling with herself about what to do. I inch my fingers higher on her inner thigh, and move my mouth closer to hers.
A glorious moan vibrates out of her, so I tell her, “No one is in the building for hours.” My heart is beating so loud, and I inhale the smell of her skin while my thumbs circle on her thighs, moving closer to her heat until I slide my fingers into her wet panties.
