by J. K. Coi
Daniel crossed his arms. “Does that mean you’re done being Harrison’s best girl?”
She squared her shoulders and narrowed her gaze. “It means that we’ve both been vacationing long enough. Let’s get down to business.”
He nodded. “You’re right, but I’ve been talking to Vargas, too.”
“You have? When?”
“We ran into each other last night. He said he’d received the portfolio we sent him and was very impressed with the material and the calculations we’d made.”
“I emailed that package late last night. He had to have looked at it almost immediately. When did you talk to him?” Maybe that meant Vargas hadn’t already made his decision. That the email Ben received hadn’t been a solid offer, and Sharkston still had a shot. “Where did you meet him?”
“Just out and about the resort. It was pretty late.”
Her chest constricted, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t ask. If she mentioned the poker game, he would think she didn’t trust him. Maybe worse, if she mentioned the poker game, and he hadn’t gotten wind of it from someone else already, she might be the one who ended up knocking him off the wagon.
“Well, did he say anything else?” she asked.
“I think he’s looking to make a bigger commitment. What if he offered to buy our program outright? It would sway him over to our side for sure, and we’d be talking about a lot more money.”
“What? Why would we agree to something like that? After all the work we’ve done, we don’t want to just give it all up. Diego Vargas will get his money’s worth out of any investment he makes, but he’s not going to buy us out. That’s not what we’re looking for.” She was shocked Daniel would even suggest it. “Right? I thought we were both on the same page about that.”
“It was just a suggestion,” he said quickly. “So then what do you think we should do?”
They hashed out a plan for selling Vargas on investing in Sharkston instead of Optimus, and then Liz left Daniel to get dressed.
On the way to the convention rooms, she stopped for coffee. There was a long lineup, and Liz craned her neck to look over the heads of the customers ahead of her to see if Ben was there. She told herself it was a good thing he wasn’t, because as much as they needed to talk, she would take as much of a reprieve from that discussion as she could get.
She glanced out the big windows. Clouds blanketed the horizon again today.
“They’re sayin’ the big storm might blow over,” said a voice behind her.
She turned and smiled at the portly gentleman in line behind her. Wire-rimmed spectacles perched on top of his head, almost buried in his thick mop of silver hair. He wore a pair of boldly patterned Bermuda swimming trunks and a neon yellow tank top with the kind of leather sandals that strapped across the foot with two lengths of Velcro. There was a beach towel over his shoulder, and he carried a copy of the New York Times tucked into his armpit.
“That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?”
“Ayup, but who really knows? None of them weather experts ever seem to get it right.”
She chuckled and looked back out the window. There was just a slight sway to the tall palm trees lining the walking paths of the resort grounds, but nothing to suggest a big storm was about to hit.
She nodded to the beach towel. “Are you off to get some time in at the pool in case the storm does come later?”
“Ayup. This is my first vacation in thirty years. The missus and I planned it for a long time before we were able to get the money together.” He frowned and swallowed hard. “Never thought I’d end up going without her, but I suppose I ought to make the most of it.”
She felt a pang of sadness and put her hand on his arm before she even realized she was doing it. “I’m sure she’s here with you in spirit.”
“Thank you.” He patted her fingers until she pulled back. “You with that fancy group, what’s all about the computer stuff?”
“Yes. It’s a nice excuse to go on a trip like this,” she said with an upbeat smile. The line started to move forward again, and she was next at the counter.
As she took her coffee and waved good-bye she said, “Nice to meet you. Have a good day.”
The conversation she’d just had would never have occurred back home. Everyone was always in such a hurry to lock themselves away in an office for the day, they’d never have “wasted” time talking to a stranger. Even now, she walked along swiftly as if she were on a strict schedule. When she realized it, she took a deep breath and forced herself to slow down and actually take note of her surroundings.
It was a beautiful resort. The gardens and far-off vistas visible through the windows were breathtaking, and there was no need for her to be anywhere in a hurry. The convention was well underway, but the first seminar of the day was still half an hour from now, and she didn’t actually have a hard appointment until her seminar with Ben later. As much as she was dreading that now, it was freeing to have some time to kill, and she found herself smiling back at the people in the halls.
She half expected to run into Ben at every corner, but when she’d gotten all the way to the entrance of the lobby and he hadn’t appeared, she tried telling herself it wasn’t disappointment she felt.
She didn’t know what she would say if she actually stumbled across him right now anyway. She was still hurt, but there was also a hard ball of guilt sitting on her chest. She’d violated his privacy and then reacted harshly. Maybe he hadn’t felt the need to explain himself, but he’d wanted to talk and she hadn’t let him.
Turning down a hallway, she ran into Steve Nolan again, thankfully this time without physically bowling him over with her coffee. “Good morning, Ms. Carlson,” he said with a bright smile.
As genuine as he seemed, her back went right up, and her temper flared.
He stood there looking down at her, confident and sure of himself just like Ben. “I know you and your partner think you’ve got everything in the bag, but—”
Suddenly, another suit appeared at his side. Liz knew who it was even before she looked up. She tried to ignore the jump in her pulse.
“Don’t take your disappointment out on him,” Ben said in a low voice. “He has nothing to do with this.”
He could wear all the perfectly cut power suits he wanted and stare at her with those intense crystal blue eyes all day long, and it wouldn’t make any difference. “The two of you are in this together, so I assume he’s adopted your adage. Whatever it takes to get ahead, didn’t you say that just yesterday?” She alternated her glare between Harrison and Nolan. So much for apologizing to him. As soon as he’d stopped in front of her, all she saw was red.
“Beth,” he warned.
She poked him in the chest with a hiss. “Are you seriously going to pretend that you haven’t been purposely trying to distract me—oh, and getting me ‘out of your system,’ of course. Can’t forget that.” She practically snarled and pointed at Nolan angrily. “While he wines and dines Diego Vargas behind my back?”
His expression had turned to stone as he looked down at her.
“Nobody has done anything behind your back.”
“Are you so ruthless that you can’t stand some honest competition?”
His jaw clenched. “Why don’t we take this discussion elsewhere?”
She looked around them at the people milling about in small groups and put her hands on her hips. “Why? Are you afraid someone will realize you’re nothing but a big corporate shark?”
His hard expression turned into a laugh, and he crossed his arms. “Beth, every one of the people at this convention already believes that, because they’re the same way. They all recognize the reality of doing business.”
“So all that stuff about not wanting to step on people on your way to the top was just bullshit.”
He frowned. “That’s not what I meant.”
Beside them, Nolan cleared his throat. “Why don’t I let the two of you continue your discussion without me?”<
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Both of them nodded but didn’t notice when he turned away. Her focus was on Ben. For good or bad, he would always consume the bulk of her attention whenever they were in a room together.
He looked over her shoulder, and his mouth pressed into a thin line. He took her hand and pulled her along with him down the hall.
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” she protested, but she realized that people had indeed started to watch them with avid curiosity. Because of the competition, she and Ben were already the focus of so much attention, and the prospect of a juicy scandal would only set fire to the wagging tongues.
They entered an empty conference room. There were thirty or forty chairs set up theatre style in front of a short podium with a microphone. Ben shut the door, twisted the lock, and put his back to it as he turned to her with a frown.
“I shouldn’t have walked out last night without insisting that we talk this through,” he said. “But now you’re going to listen to me.”
“Oh really?” She snorted, arms crossed. “And you’re going to keep me locked up in here until I do? What kind of threat is that?”
“Shit, Beth. I’m not threatening you.” He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.
For some reason, his frustration broke through her anger. With a sigh, she took a step back. “Fine, let’s talk then.”
He looked down at her. “The truth is that Nolan did suggest I keep you occupied, because he figured it would give him an opportunity to get some extra time with Diego Vargas, but that isn’t why I was with you last night. You know that.” His voice was edged with steel.
“Oh, so it was just convenient,” she snapped. “You get laid, and your company gets the investment it needs.”
“I haven’t gotten any commitment from Vargas yet,” he admitted, his words clipped and short. “The email he sent me was a request for some numbers which, I might add, he mentioned asking for from your company as well.”
“Oh.” She had started to think that might be the case but had still been too hurt by the second email from his partner for it to make much of a difference in the heat of the moment.
“Have I done anything in the last few days to keep you from making appointments or talking to people about your work while you’re here?”
“No,” she said quickly.
“And I certainly didn’t sleep with you as part of some disgusting plot to undermine your efforts and push your company out of the running with Vargas.”
“I know. You were right,” she interrupted, feeling more awful with every word. “I was feeling vulnerable last night, and I already realized that I probably jumped to conclusions.”
He took her hand and squeezed. “Listen, I realize we’re both here for the same thing, and for one of us to be successful it means that the other likely won’t be,” he said gently. “But that part of it isn’t personal. I thought we agreed that what we do for our companies professionally wouldn’t affect what happens between us personally.”
Had they actually made such a promise? It would have been a good idea, right? A promise like that might have meant she wouldn’t have made such a horrible mess of this situation.
“As for getting you out of my system…sure, I hoped I could, especially when you only seemed interested in an island fling and nothing more.” He slipped his hand up her arm and curved around the back of her neck, making her knees weak. “But it’s not working.”
The rare vulnerability in the simple statement, and the fact that he refused to look away, letting her see all the way inside him, frightened her more than she’d even thought possible. She had to be strong. “Can we start over and pretend last night never happened?” she asked, breathless.
“I couldn’t forget last night even if I wanted to.”
She groaned. “Can we at least agree that it’s a bad idea to repeat it?”
If these last few days—and last night in particular—had proved anything, it was that Liz obviously wasn’t as different from her parents as she’d always tried to be. She was just as driven, just as determined to succeed. She didn’t want to give up on everything she’d worked so hard for, not even to give love a chance. She loved her work, and she wanted to win this competition and get the investment money from Vargas so badly her fists were clenched at her sides.
And that meant the decision she’d made a year ago had been the right one, the only choice she could have made. She’d experienced firsthand how destructive it was for two people like her and Ben to be together. They could never have a serious relationship. How could two wrongs ever make anything right?
He frowned. “Is that really what you want?”
“I think it would be for the best, don’t you?” She backed away.
“Not especially.” He didn’t follow, but stayed where he was against the conference room door with arms crossed, watching her. “Now that we’ve agreed to keep our business goals separate from everything else, tell me…we had a good time out on the boat, didn’t we?”
She nodded. That had been amazing. “Anyone would have had a good time snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of an island paradise for the day.”
“But we’ve also proven that we can work together pretty well, haven’t we?”
She shrugged. “To a limited extent, sure.”
“And there’s no doubt we’re fantastic in bed together.”
She blushed and nodded. “But that’s not—”
“Do you have plans this evening?”
She shook her head.
“Then have dinner with me after we finish our seminar this afternoon.”
“Nobody can have it all, Ben,” she murmured, her heart in her throat.
“How do you know until you try?”
God, he sounded so sure of himself. If only she could be as certain of anything. She swallowed hard. “I know. Trust me, I wish I didn’t, but I know what it’s like to be part of something that should have been wondrous and special, but ended up lessened because of ego and selfishness.”
“Beth.”
“No.” She looked away, angry with herself for succumbing to the past yet again. “I never want to feel that way again, to be second to anyone’s career.”
“It doesn’t—”
“And I won’t do the same to someone else. I won’t turn love into indifference. I won’t let something beautiful and bright be warped into regret and resentment.”
He sighed. “Then let me show you that at least we can still be friends.”
“What will that prove? What does any of it prove?”
“Maybe nothing,” he said in a low voice. “But maybe something. Something we both need to figure out once and for all.”
She didn’t dare agree with that. “How about we just try to get through the rest of the day and see how it goes.” She stopped and cocked her head at the sound of muffled voices and knocking coming from the other side of the door.
“Wait,” she whispered, pulling at his sleeve and looking over her shoulder at all the empty chairs. “Is someone trying to get in here?” All the meeting rooms in the resort had been booked by the convention organizers for seminars and workshops. Of course someone was trying to get in here. “What time is it?”
He checked his watch. “Time for someone’s seminar?”
She gasped, but then she pictured a bunch of confused corporate types staring at the closed door and a giggle escaped. More knocking. She slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, but couldn’t seem to stop.
“They’re going to think we’re doing…something…in here,” she squeaked.
“Something?” He waggled his eyebrows and made her giggle harder, until he reached over and brushed an errant lock of hair behind her ears and she froze, tingles dancing across her skin. “Nobody is going to think anything except that we were using the space to get ready for our presentation later today.”
With that he straightened his suit and winked at her before unlocking the door.
A flustered l
ooking woman with a “convener” badge stumbled into the room. She’d paired a brown business jacket with a narrow pencil skirt that went past her knees and kept her from taking full strides, making her look a little like a shuffling twig. Behind her was a crowd of at least twenty people, all of whom started to brush past her like water flowing around a rock in the stream.
“Excuse me,” the convener said in a chilly voice. “But you shouldn’t be in here. This room is needed for a seminar now.”
“Of course. We’re finished. I apologize for the inconvenience.” Ben turned a smile on the woman that would have melted a glacier.
It took less than a second, and her frown disappeared. “It’s no problem, sir. We still have plenty of time to get ready. Are you able to stay for the discussion?”
“Thank you, ma’am, I’d love to,” he said.
She flushed and smiled, reaching up to adjust her thick black librarian glasses. “Oh, I’m just Marjorie, sir. Marjorie Lamb.”
“Nice to meet you Marjorie. I’m Ben.”
Completely impressed, Liz watched as Ben and Marjorie chatted like old friends for a whole minute, talking about the convention and the coming storm. Finally, the woman jumped to attention and rushed to the front of the room to organize the speakers, throwing a wistful look over her shoulder every so often.
Liz found a seat in the front of the room and reached into her bag for her tablet. She had indeed planned on attending this seminar and wanted to take good notes.
Empty handed, Ben fell into the chair beside her and propped an ankle on his knee as the three speakers took their positions. She recognized one as James Kronan, president of Gemini—a company that had been the new kid on the block at this very convention only four years ago, just like Sharkston and Optimus Inc. were this year—and the other two were his top engineers.
“You could give this presentation, you know that, right?” Ben leaned close and whispered into her ear.
“Oh shut up. I’m not even close to being as qualified as these guys are.” She gestured toward the company president waiting patiently at the front of the room for everyone to settle down. “Don’t you know who that is?”
