Recognition dawned on their faces, though both did a fair job masking it—and their surprise—as they shook hands with Haleigh. Taylor had given them the full report on Haleigh’s experience only days ago. Her name and face was probably still fresh on their minds. He’d undoubtedly have questions to answer about how they’d ended up here at the party together.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Bryant said. “And I hate to do this, but I need to borrow Ian for a minute.”
“Not a problem at all.” If she was bothered, or even a little apprehensive, Haleigh wasn’t letting on. She really had come out of her shell through this experience. Their little experiment with the app had paid off for them both.
Leaving her with Sarah, he joined Bryant backstage to double-check the technology they’d be using that evening for the presentation. Assured everything was online and ready for them to hit “publish” on a live screen for everyone to see, they returned to the party in under ten minutes.
Taylor intercepted them and pulled Ian aside, her eyebrows knit together. “Is that Haleigh?”
“Probably.”
“What’s she doing here?”
“I invited her.”
Her eyes widened. “You did what?”
“I invited her.” He hid his grin in his glass. “Why? Is that a problem?”
“No, not exactly . . . I didn’t realize you were still . . . hanging out.”
“We are.” Now would probably be the best time to fill her in on the latest development—the only development—in his personal life. “We’re actually—”
“Dating?”
“It’s a long story, but while I was . . . coaching her through the app, we got to know each other and . . .”
“You fell for her. It makes sense. You seemed pretty smitten when she came for the tour.”
“Not exactly those words, but . . . yeah.” He shrugged, suddenly relieved it was out there now. “I know it probably crosses a few murky lines, but it’s new and it didn’t happen until after she’d given her summary. We’re seeing how it goes.”
“The summary . . .” Taylor’s eyes widened, and for the first time, her face registered genuine emotion. “Oh my God.”
“What?”
“I gave the summary to a couple of the investors.”
“Right?” He wasn’t sure why that needed to be said, as it had been the plan all along.
“Her name was on it. I included some of her photos from her profile.”
His heart thudded. “You did what?”
“Her notes were good, but they needed to be a little more . . . visual.”
“So you pilfered her profile?” He shook his head. “And you left her real name on it too?”
“Just her first name.”
That was something at least. Now he just had to find her before one of the people who’d seen the report made the connection. She deserved a heads-up at least.
Taylor’s next words gave him pause. “Too late?”
He rounded on his heel. “What do you mean?”
“It’s too late,” she repeated, her dark eyes filled with sympathy. “She’s already talking to one of the investors. And based on his expression . . .”
Ian didn’t wait to hear the rest. He frantically scanned the room until he located her—standing next to the stage with the PR guy and the board chairman of their biggest investor. Taylor was right. The glee on their faces, the confusion on hers, told him he was too late to spare her embarrassment.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to make this up to her, but he’d better figure it out fast.
Chapter Eighteen
While Ian was backstage, Haleigh finished her glass of wine. Sarah was asking about the partnership with the Girls Who Code, when she was quickly pulled away by someone who looked very busy and important.
Alone, Haleigh took the opportunity to study the room. It buzzed with energy and anticipation. Some of the faces she recognized from the tour of LD. Others were obviously there as plus-ones.
Others were probably local dignitaries and investors. It was hard to tell who was what, but she tried to make it a guessing game with herself all the same.
A young woman with matte orange lipstick and part of her hair shaved into an edgy haircut ordered a gin and tonic from the bartender.
LD employee.
A middle-aged couple wearing his and her suits most likely bought on a weekend in New York City, rather than any of the local stores, discussed the pros and cons of a new proposed budget for the state.
Investors.
A man in his early 30s made his second trip to the bar in five minutes for a shot of tequila and a glass of bourbon and cola. Dressed in a dark jeans and a suit jacket, he returned to his spot next to another man and barely feigned interest in what the group was talking about.
Definitely a plus-one.
On and on she guessed. When Ian was finished saving the world—or at least the launch party—she’d ask him how she’d done.
“Haleigh!”
If she hadn’t been caught up in her game, she might have seen them before they called her name. A cold wave rolled down her spine. She recognized at least two of those voices, though they were somewhat garbled by the buzzing party around her. Maybe it was the wine. She stared into her now empty glass. It hadn’t been a particularly large serving, but it had gone down easily. Too easily. It was possible the wine was making her hear voices. That had to be it. The wine. The alternative—that Nina and Greg were now within earshot—was too terrifying to consider.
She heard her name again. This time it was closer and clearer. So close and clear, she doubted she could blame the wine this time.
Maybe if she closed her eyes they’d go away. It was an impossibility. They’d already seen her. There was no way of escaping. Not without making a scene. She wanted to make a scene even less than she wanted to partake in the imminent conversation. The sooner she acknowledged them, the sooner she could get it over.
Even knowing that, Haleigh took her time lifting her chin until she came eye to eye with Nina, Greg, and their dates.
“Hey.” As far as greetings went, it left plenty to be desired. Still, at least it had been a legible word. She could’ve garbled.
“Hey, yourself.” Nina, dressed in a form-fitting lemon-yellow number that almost no one else on the planet could pull off, threw her arms around Haleigh’s rigid shoulders. “I bet you’re surprised to see us.”
“And you’d be cashing out a winner.” Haleigh lowered her voice. “What are all of you doing here?”
“I told you, the hubby’s company wants to invest in Link Digital.” Nina pulled back, nodding toward an older gentleman moving toward them. “That’s his boss.”
“Okay . . .” That still didn’t explain Greg’s presence, or his wife’s.
Nina’s husband introduced her to his boss. There was no way Haleigh would remember his name if anyone asked in another minute, but at least it kept her from having to interact with Greg just yet.
“Hubby forgot to tell me about the party,” Nina explained. “So, I accidentally double-booked us for the night. Luckily, one of his co-workers couldn’t make it, and we brought along these two. Won’t this be fun?”
Almost as much fun as getting punched in the face repeatedly. Surely, Nina understood what kind of position this put her in. Was she really that conniving she’d purposefully create drama just to be the first person to report back to everyone else?
Greg cleared his throat. He probably wasn’t used to being ignored. Especially not by her. This had to be driving him crazy.
Knowing there was a high probability of just that, she took her time facing him. When she did, she kept her back ramrod straight and a blank, but pleasant, expression on her lips. She wouldn’t let him accuse her of sulking.
“Hello, Greg.” She extended her hand. “What brings you to town?”
A cloud of doubt briefly covered his hazel eyes. “I’m here for the reunion.”
�
��Oh, of course. That’s this week.” That earned her an annoyed look, and she had to fight a chuckle. Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. As long as he was off-kilter and she was the one with the upper hand, she’d be just fine. “It was good of you to come back.” Shifting her gaze to his wife, she flashed what she hoped passed for a dazzling smile. “I’m Haleigh.”
The perma-pout on the woman’s plump lips turned upward a fraction. “I’m Stacy. Greg’s wife.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you.” Somehow, Haleigh managed to sound sincere. Learning to feign interest and enthusiasm on all those blind dates was paying off. She’d have to tell Ian to add that to the list of possible positive outcomes when he reported to the investors. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should probably find my date—”
“Actually,” the boss, who’s name had escaped Haleigh’s mind as expected, intercepted her before she could escape. “Before you head off, I hope you don’t mind if we chat for a few minutes. I have a few questions.”
“You want to ask me questions?” Haleigh couldn’t imagine why.
“When I read the summary of your experience using the app, I’ll admit, I was impressed. And entertained.” His lips curved up like they were old friends. “I get a lot of investment proposals, but yours really sealed the deal for me. When I read your report, I just knew I had to get in on the Link Digital bandwagon before there weren’t any seats left.”
“My report?”
“You’re the woman who beta-tested the app and wrote about it, right?” How could he know that? Wasn’t the report supposed to be anonymous? “Your name is Haleigh, right?”
Okay, apparently it wasn’t anonymous. Ian and Taylor had never said it would be, she’d just assumed.
Nina’s eyes widened. “You never said you used the app.”
“I . . .” She could play dumb. Haleigh was a popular enough name—especially if you didn’t know how it was spelled.
“You look just like your profile picture.”
Haleigh froze. Her profile picture? Had they really attached her photo to the report? Once again, she wished she could disappear without anyone noticing. “I tried it for a couple of weeks.”
“You had a compelling trial,” the boss said. “Two dates a night a few nights a week for weeks.”
“You were dating a bunch of random guys from the Internet at the same time?” Now Nina’s jaw dropped. “What about Ian?”
“Ian—that’s the developer who tagged along for your dates, right?” The boss pulled out his cell phone and pushed a few buttons. Pulling up a document, he scrolled through it a moment before nodding. “That’s right. Ian, the app developer, was there to observe.”
“So you weren’t even dating?”
“Not right away.” Haleigh’s heart rate sped up and seemed to get louder, pounding in her ears. She wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining. It was complicated. It reeked of desperation. The details jumbled in her head at high speed. She couldn’t seem to grab hold of any of them long enough to put them in the right order. “We started dating after I finished the beta test.”
“When was that?”
“Last week, I’m guessing,” the boss said, flipping the phone around for Nina to see.
Before Haleigh could prevent it, Nina was skimming through the document, occasionally darting shocked stares her way. Her husband stood by while his boss shared some of his favorite—and her most embarrassing—moments from the report. She had no idea how Greg and Stacy were responding to the exchange because she’d intentionally avoided any looks their way.
The night had taken a horrible turn, and she couldn’t figure out how to get it back on course. When she’d sent her report to Ian and Taylor, she’d known it might go out to investors. She hadn’t realized it would include her name, photo, or anything else that might identify her to anyone reading it.
Now it had fallen into Nina’s hands with Greg there to witness it all. She couldn’t imagine anything worse.
A shrill pitch squawked over the speakers as Bryant and Sarah stepped up to the microphone, cutting off the music.
Oh, thank God. In another minute, everyone would be paying attention to the founders as they announced the official launch of XO On Demand. She’d make her escape then while everyone was dazzled and impressed by them. Once she was a safe distance away, she’d explain everything to Ian before deciding whether she was going to escape into a bowl of ice cream or a bottle of wine.
Maybe she should order a car now. There were at least a couple of apps for that. Wasn’t it funny that one app was about to be her savior after another one had sent her evening into a tailspin?
The lights dimmed, leaving a spotlight on the stage. Okay, she just had to get through the next one or two minutes and she’d be out the door. She could survive one or two minutes more, couldn’t she?
While the founders began their welcome, a hand pressed the small of her back. She sensed Ian’s presence before she turned up to face him. Somehow her heart managed to soar and sink as his blue eyes locked on hers. How much did he know?
“Are you okay?” he whispered in her ear, and then nodded toward Nina, the boss, and the rest of her entourage of humiliation.
So, he knew. She hadn’t realized how hard she’d been holding on to the possibility that he hadn’t realized her name and photo would be paired with her sad story before it went out into the world. She shrugged, unable to form words. From her other side, someone swapped out her empty glass for a full one.
“I did it,” Taylor whispered. “I created the file. I sent it out to a few of our most probable investors.”
“Why?”
“We needed to dress it up. Humanize it.” She waved her hands, seemingly struggling to find the right words. That had to be frustrating. Taylor didn’t seem like the kind of woman who was at a loss for words that often. “We’re an inch away from securing the funds we need to take our careers to the next level.”
Haleigh frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Ian and I are on the verge of being promoted—to VP level. Do you understand how hard we’ve worked for that?”
“And telling them my sad story will help you get there?”
Was that why Ian had stuck it out with Haleigh? She’d known he was invested in making the app a success early on. Was he with her now just to use her and her pathetic dating woes to woo investors? Was he only trying to keep her happy until the launch?
That possibility sent a sharp pain through her gut that made her earlier embarrassment pale in comparison.
“The promotions were dependent on securing the investment to hire more people.” Taylor shrugged. “I’m sorry you’re embarrassed, but I had no idea you’d be here.”
“That doesn’t excuse it,” Ian hissed. When she met his gaze again, she could see the agony in them. “I swear, I had no idea about this.”
Unless he was the world’s next Marlon Brando, he was telling the truth. That was something, at least. She could be pissed at Taylor and Link Digital, but at least she knew Ian hadn’t sold her out. That what they had was real.
“It’s true,” Taylor said. “He had no idea. And . . . I probably wouldn’t have done it if I’d realized you would be here.”
It wasn’t much of an apology, and it did even less to curb the humiliation waging war inside Haleigh.
“I’m so sorry.” Ian’s hands rested on her shoulders, and he gave them a slight squeeze. “If I’d known, I would’ve tried to talk Taylor out of it. Or I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
It would’ve been a perfect apology if he’d left that last part unsaid. She opened her mouth to speak but froze when she caught a glimpse of the stage out of the corner of her eye. There, projected on a massive screen, was her face, her name, and the number of blind dates she’d gone on with XO On Demand.
The world around her seemed to spin. Every head in the room turned in her direction. Her ears failed, or maybe it was her brain. Either way, whatever Bryant and Sarah said
blended together in some strange gibberish, another language she couldn’t decipher. She might have fallen to the floor if Ian’s hand hadn’t grabbed hers. She squeezed it, desperately holding on like he was a life raft, keeping her afloat in this sea of humiliation.
Then, the slide on the screen switched. Her eyes blurred, but it appeared to be some sort of bar graph. The eyes returned to the stage. The flames of panic licking her eased, and her hearing seemed to return.
That’s when she caught the laughter. Spinning on the high heels she wasn’t accustomed to, she stumbled around and came face-to-face with Greg. Greg, who was laughing like he’d just stumbled across a video montage of guys being punched in the groin. He was laughing at her. Judging her. It was only a matter of time before he posted the whole story on the reunion page.
Again, a brick seemed to weigh down on her chest, making it impossible for her to catch a breath. She had to get out of there.
Shoving her glass at Ian, Haleigh moved out of the crowded ballroom as quickly as she could. If anyone noticed the tears burning in her eyes, she couldn’t tell. She just had to get outside where she could breathe.
Once she made it out of the ballroom, she raced toward the hotel’s front door as fast as her heeled shoes could carry her. Outside, she groped around her clutch until she found her phone. Even with her fingers shaking, she was able to pull up the app to order a car.
“Hey!” She turned as Ian ran out the door. “Sorry, I got stopped by a security guard in the lobby. Apparently, you can’t carry open containers of alcohol outside.” His eyes pierced hers as he pulled her into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“He laughed at me.”
“Who?”
“Greg.”
“Your ex?” Ian’s brows knit together. “How does he know about it?”
“He was in there. He came with Nina and her husband. Her husband is the PR guy for—”
“Our investor.” Ian shook his head. “I had no idea. I’m sorry.”
“Nina was reading the full report. How much do you want to bet she calls up her gossip phone tree the second they leave the party?”
Counting on You (Amarillo Sour, #1) Page 18
