“Excuse me,” she spoke over the executives who had barely let her say two words since she sat down with them. “This list of products and brands—”
“Yes, they’re affiliated with the network and our advertisers.”
“Rexford Rum isn’t here.”
“No,” one of the suits said, checking his own notes. “Our network has a deal with Cain rum.”
“I needed a provision to still work with Rexford, since I have a promotion deal with them.” She and Reid may have fought, but she still had a professional responsibility to them. She wouldn’t renege on that.
The executives exchanged looks. “You’ll have to terminate that. It doesn’t align with our advertisers.”
She looked at her agent. “Why wasn’t I consulted on this before the contract was drafted? That was on my list of provisions. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“We were hoping it wouldn’t matter. Do we have to remind you that this is a television deal?”
She’d heard enough. With the pressure that came along with the channel, she felt herself snap. She could do it. She didn’t want it. If she wanted success, she would do it on her own. Not everything was about money and stability. “You know that cable TV is basically obsolete, right?”
“Lila—” James warned.
“No, I’m not going to sell out, sell my soul, and turn on people who have been good to me.” Reid might have been a dick, but she was still a professional, and wouldn’t renege on their contract. She put down the contact and slid it back to the executives. “I’m not signing this.”
“You’re a blogger, and you should be counting yourself lucky that we’re even talking to you,” the woman executive said.
“You know what? I’m done. Thank you for your time and consideration, but I think I’m better off remaining independent.”
“Lila, wait—” her agent called to her.
She stopped and turned, felt herself become light, and free. “James, you’re fired.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IT WAS THE first day Reid had called in sick since he’d taken over the distillery. He’d even gone to work with walking pneumonia, fractured ribs, that bout of flu that kept him quarantined in his office. But as he sat on his couch, he tried to summon the strength to sit up. He failed. He wasn’t physically sick, he reasoned, but tell that to the painful hollow beneath his breastbone. He missed Lila. There was no way around it. He sipped the rum from the crystal glass beside him. He’d done it to himself.
Knowing he would regret it, he pulled up her Instagram account—her pictures were fun, colorful, and he could see the passion in them. His thumb slipped and he accidentally double-tapped, liking one of her old photos. “Shit.” But his eyes were glued to the picture, one from Belize, where she wore an emerald-colored bikini on a beautiful beach. His heart throbbed. He regretted what had happened between them, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It was best to keep her separate from his personal life. She was a good brand ambassador. There was no room for a romantic relationship. It was what they’d both wanted from the start. He should have listened to reason and stayed away from her. If he had, he wouldn’t be in this situation.
“I thought we’d find you here,” he heard Gemma say. He raised his head and saw her and Quin walking toward him. They each took a seat on a lounger flanking him, boxing him in. “I heard you called in sick. Feeling okay?”
“No, I’m sick,” he told her, pointedly taking a drink from his glass.
“You’re hardly ever sick,” she reminded him. “And even if you were, it’s never kept you from work.”
“That’s how we know I’m really sick,” he told her.
Quin ripped his phone from his hand. “Looks like lovesick to me, big brother.”
“Give that back,” Reid demanded, reaching to grab it from his brother’s hand, but he was too slow as Quin tossed the phone over him to Gemma.
“You’re stalking her social media now?” Gemma asked. “What happened? I thought you guys had a good thing going.”
“We did. Until I fucked it up.”
“What did you do?”
“I said some things to her. Cruel.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I did it to drive her away.”
“Reid Rexford caught in deep introspection?” Quin teased.
“Shut up.”
“What did driving her away accomplish?” Gemma asked. “Besides make you miserable.”
He shook his head. “Check out the pictures. I’m miserable and she’s having a ball.”
“No, she isn’t,” Gemma said. “I might not know her as intimately as you do, but I know she really cares for you.”
“I thought Carolina did, too.”
“Holy shit,” Quin whispered. “That’s what this is about? What Carolina did to you?”
“You know she isn’t like Carolina. You can tell that right away,” Gemma said.
“I fell too deep, too fast for Lila. She was too close. I had to end it, to protect the distillery.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Gemma said. “You drove her away because you’re afraid. You’re afraid of being burned again.”
Reid didn’t answer. He couldn’t because Gemma had nailed it. “Can I have my phone back?”
She handed it back to him without a fight. “Figure out your life, Reid, or you’ll end up miserable and alone.” She took a deep breath. “But that’s not why we’re here.”
The grave look on her face got Reid’s attention. “What’s going on?”
“After Carolina’s visit, I asked my crew if anyone had leaked anything to our competitors. I found out one of them has been feeding information to Cain Rum.”
“What?” There was a sinking feeling in Reid’s stomach.
“He came to me this morning. He’s remorseful. They paid him to tell them what we’re doing. I fired him. It sucks.”
Reid put his head in his hands. He’d blamed Lila. He had pushed her away because he jumped to conclusions, and automatically believed the worst when he thought she’d betrayed him.
“Are you okay, Reid?” Quin asked him.
“No. I blamed Lila for the leak.”
“How could you?” Gemma whispered. “I didn’t know that was why she left. You’ve got to call her and apologize.”
“I can’t. She won’t talk to me. Nor should she.”
* * *
In her hotel room in San Francisco, Lila checked her planner. Her day was completely filled. But at least it was her own schedule, not some television network telling her where to go and what to do there. Even though she’d wanted a little downtime, she’d packed her day with activities. She forced herself to stay busy. If she didn’t, it might lead to too much thinking. And she knew the subject of those thoughts would be Reid.
She picked up the package that had been delivered to the hotel. It proudly bore the Rexford logo. She opened it and saw the promotional materials that she would start wearing and giving away. She picked up a cropped tank top. She wasn’t sure why, but she brought it to her nose. It didn’t smell like Reid. It just smelled like cotton and cardboard. She sighed and went to lie on her bed. She had it bad.
She rolled over and looked at her phone. It was time to check her notifications. She spent time every day moderating her feeds, responding to comments and messages. Instagram had hundreds of likes, but one stuck out to her. @RRexford. Reid. He’d liked one of her photos from a year ago. Someone was internet-stalking.
She smiled. So, he’d been creeping her feed. She brought up his contact information and debated whether or not she should dial. Before she could stop herself, she did. One ring went through. Two rings. She toyed with the idea of hanging up, but she couldn’t. There was no going back now. Even if he didn’t answer, he would still see her name on his
caller ID.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi, Reid.”
“How are you?”
“I’m good. And yourself?”
“I can’t complain. I’m in San Francisco. So that’s always good.”
“Nice city.”
Their conversation was so strained, so formal that it made her heart ache.
“What can I do for you, Lila?”
I miss you. What could she say? “I received that promotional package from you guys. Everything looks fine.”
“Great. And the payment went through fine?”
“Yeah it did.”
“That’s good.”
She could hear him take a deep breath.
“Lila, I need to say something.”
She almost gasped with anticipation of what Reid might have to say.
“I owe you an apology. We found out who was behind the leak. I know it wasn’t you. And I shouldn’t have blamed you.”
That’s it? She appreciated the apology, but she’d wanted to hear more. That he wanted her to come back. He wanted to try again. But those words never came.
“And if you have any other concerns, don’t be afraid to contact Quin. You have his number, right?”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Yeah,” she said, feeling her eyes water and her throat tighten. “Listen, I’m really busy at the moment. Why don’t we talk later?” She managed to squeak out the words.
She heard his sigh on the other end. “Okay. Take care, Lila.”
“You too, Reid.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE MAIN STAGE held little interest for Lila, as she made her way through the throngs of festival-goers. She was tired, wanted to go home. Home. That was a thought she’d never had before. But where was home, exactly? The only place she could think of was Miami.
“You ready?” one of the organizers asked her.
She had set up a booth at the music festival event to distribute the Rexford gear she’d been sent. “All set,” she muttered. She should be interacting, creating posts, going live from the festival. But she was tired and not feeling it. She gave herself a shake to relax. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She considered ignoring it, but she pulled it out. It was a text from Reid—the first she’d heard from him in more than a month.
All it said was French toast truck.
She looked up from the screen and took in her surroundings. The food truck area was nearby. Not caring that the organizer was calling after her, or that he was ready to start, Lila took off in the direction of the smell of the food, not sure what she was looking for, but hoping against hope that she would see Reid when she got there.
Lila wasn’t disappointed.
When she stopped in front of the food truck, the scent of maple syrup and butter tickling her nostrils, all she could focus on was Reid. He looked casual, in khaki-colored linen pants and a button-down shirt. He’d grown a short, dark beard since she’d last seen him, and his hair was mussed, as if he’d pushed his fingers through it more than once in the ninety-degree heat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I came hoping to find you, not that I was certain you’d want to see me.”
She looked around at the crowd. “You thought you’d find me among thousands of people?”
“It was a bit of long shot, I know, but I thought I’d try my luck drawing you to the food.”
She laughed. “I guess you know me after all.”
“Can I get you some French toast?”
She nodded. “Share an order?”
“Sure. Why don’t you find somewhere for us to sit?”
The few tables were all full, so she walked a short distance and found a mostly flat section of grass where they could sit. When he joined her, they picked at their food.
“Drop the crap, Reid. Why are you here?”
“I really wanted to see you. In fact, that’s all I’ve wanted to do since you left my house that day when I was a huge asshole to you. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“And I wasn’t fair to you. You were right, I didn’t trust you. But it wasn’t because you gave me a reason not to. It was my own inability to let someone get close. I got scared and found a reason to push you away.”
Lila nodded. Reid had been terrible, but she couldn’t put the blame fully on Reid. She’d run, too. The move to Los Angeles had been the easy option, not staying to work it out. “I’m pretty sure I was the one who ran. Like, literally. I moved across the country.”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t even listen to you. I should have known you weren’t responsible for the leak.”
“We can discuss this in circles all day, and I’ll miss Childish Gambino’s set. So why don’t we say what we want. What do you want?”
“I want you,” he said simply. He took a swallow of his beer, and Lila marveled at the scene. Reid Rexford, the buttoned-down businessman, always in control of his life, his appearance always impeccable, sitting cross-legged with her in a field, in rumpled clothes, drinking from a beer can, eating a piece of French toast on a paper plate. “And I’m so used to getting what I want. I don’t know if you noticed this, but I might be just a little bit spoiled.”
She faked a gasp. “You?” she asked, clutching her chest.
He laughed, but the sound was hollow. “When I realized you weren’t coming back, I was miserable. I tried to bury myself in the business, but that didn’t work. Nothing let me forget about you. Especially since I’ve been following your social media accounts. I wouldn’t let myself forget about you. Especially since it you looked like you’d moved on. You’re out here having a blast. It just reminds me that I’m not as fun and carefree as you. I like the quiet. What I held onto the most was that we couldn’t be together if we were working together. I know I was just making excuse.”
“Reid, you’re plenty fun. Think of all the fun we had together.”
He looked around. “We did have fun. But it’s not like this. Your life is so much bigger than mine.” He shook his head, laughing. “Can you make me stop talking?”
“No, I’m liking this. Talk some more.”
“I know you have a life in LA now, and God, I don’t even know what I’m asking you, or how we can make this work, but I don’t care. I want you in my life.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. She tasted the maple syrup and butter on his lips. “I want you in my life, too.” She looked around. “I know my life is more chaotic than yours. You’re more settled, I’m a little wild. I’m carefree, you’re serious. The balance is what makes us good together.”
“I know you’re living out here now, but we can make the distance work. If you want, I can take leave from the distillery and travel with you.”
“You’d take leave from the distillery?”
He nodded. “I know Quin and Gemma have everything under control. I can stay away for short periods of time. You taught me that.” He blew out a breath. “And you showed me that I can love again. I love you, Lila, and I’ll do anything to keep you in my life.”
She couldn’t believe the words he was saying. “I don’t want you to think that you can just come here and say some nice things, and all is forgiven.”
“I don’t expect that,” he told her. “I’m just grateful you’re willing to listen to me.”
“I love you, too, Reid.”
Reid dropped his food and drew Lila into an embrace. His mouth found hers and they kissed, and she poured every bit of love and emotion she could muster into him. She couldn’t believe they’d been given a second chance.
“I don’t want you to walk away from the distillery,” she told him when she broke away. “That place is everything to you.”
“It isn’t anymore,” he assured her. “You are. Why don’t we get out of here?”
“I would, but I have a whole box of Rexford swag to give away.”
“Just leave the boxes open on the ground, and let people take what they want.”
“Are you suggesting I bail on work?” she teased.
“Lila,” he said against her lips, kissing her lightly. “When are you going to learn that there is more to life than just work?”
* * *
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