Second Time Lucky

by Debbi Rawlins

“I’m sure you’ll understand why I prefer you take copies and not originals,” he said, while he searched for a tactful way to find out what was wrong. Then it occurred to him what he’d just said. His admonishment wasn’t simply unnecessary, it was insulting.

  “These are copies.” She closed the box, showing no sign of taking offense, which was disturbing in and of itself.

  “I’m sure,” he muttered. “Have I told you how much I appreciate what you’re doing for us?”

  She blinked, refusing to look up. “Several times,” she said tightly. “No need to repeat it.”

  That she would be impervious to his thoughtlessness but annoyed at his gratitude sent a shaft of apprehension down his spine. He’d said nothing to her since yesterday, and he was quite clear that their limited contact was to her liking. So what had her suddenly packing up her work and avoiding his gaze? “Is there a problem I should be aware of?” he asked cautiously. “With Karen, perhaps?”

  “No.” Mia shook her head. “No. Karen’s great. She should take over the account when I leave.”

  He should relish the thought of her eventually leaving for good because it would make everything simpler for them. But he faced the notion with certain dread. At least now he got to see her, and if even for a second, lose himself in her beautiful green eyes. “Is this about us?”

  She met his gaze, hers filled with so much confusion and anger and sadness it practically cut him in half. “David, there is no us.”

  MIA SAT IN THE OFFICE of Anything Goes, doing paperwork while waiting on a shipment of smartphones and BlackBerrys. With Shelby and Lindsey at the warehouse taking a final inventory before opening day tomorrow, it was quiet and the perfect time for Mia to get a chunk of work done. If only she could shut off the incessant background noise in her helpless brain.

  She wished she hadn’t seen with her own eyes the proof of the firm’s downward spiral. In one way, it softened her to David’s dilemma, but at the same time, convinced her that he would’ve done anything to get her back in order to buy the firm some time to recover.

  Her talk with Karen last week hadn’t helped. Every instinct had told Mia to leave it alone, to refrain from urging Karen to spill what was being said about Mia and David. But no, Mia had to open Pandora’s box. How could she have been so dense that she didn’t know people had been talking about them? Not everyone but enough of the staff. And not just since she’d returned to the firm, but for a whole year.

  Cracks had been made about the many nights they’d worked late together, about how the emotionless David, man of stone, undressed her with his eyes, how she’d gazed longingly at him from afar. Stupid high school bullshit that had made her sick.

  A paralegal, whom Mia knew and liked, had actually instigated three different office pools wagering on when they’d have their first date, at what point they’d screw each other’s brains out and finally, whether and when they’d announce a wedding date. It was all so humiliating, especially considering how much Mia had prided herself in being circumspect about her feelings for David. And him…oh, God, he would be mortified to hear a quarter of the gossip that had circulated.

  He wouldn’t ever know, of course. At least not from her. She’d spare him that, just like she was pretty sure Karen had spared her some of the details.

  It wasn’t fair being the topic of break-room gossip. They’d both worked damn hard and had the track records to prove it. And this was their legacy?

  To top things off, now the stupid creeps were all pissed because they thought she was getting a free ride at their expense. Screw them. She was helping to save their damn jobs. But she couldn’t say anything. Not even to Karen. Mia had given David her word.

  What got to her the most was all that wasted time. She and David had been tap dancing around each other for nothing, and now their relationship had come down to this sad, confusing end. She was mad at him, too, damn it, for bottling up his feelings and not saying something sooner. Of course she hadn’t, either, but she’d been serious about her career, and if she’d opened up and been wrong, where would that have left her?

  Oh, God, it was her fault, too. She knew that. It was all such a nightmare, she wasn’t thinking straight.

  And yet, she still thought about him. All the time. Even though she’d been working from home for a week, balancing her responsibility toward Anything Goes and the firm and strategically planning her required trips to the office to meet with Karen. Twice she’d made the dreaded trek, timing it so she didn’t have to bump into David. It was bad enough that it was impossible to avoid other employees, but Karen sympathetically met with her in the conference room on the floor below, where Mia didn’t know all of the assistants and paralegals.

  Sometimes when she was alone like this, with no distractions, her thoughts strayed back to the time they’d spent in Hawaii and how simple being together had seemed. It made her smile a little, but inevitably, the longer she thought about him, the more the resentment mounted. Which in turn angered her because she had no business wasting her precious energy when it was needed for Anything Goes. Although she hadn’t burdened them with her trouble, she knew she was doing Lindsey and Shelby a huge disservice.

  Someone opened the front door. She pasted on a smile for the delivery man before she looked up. Except it wasn’t him.

  Annabelle, looking sharp in a deep red outfit that matched her hat and showed off her white hair, strode into the office.

  Mia jumped out of her chair. “Annabelle, I’ve missed you! You’ve been gone so long? I left messages.”

  “I know, dear, I just arrived today.” The woman laughed when Mia hugged her as tightly as she could. “I came as soon as I listened to your message. What on earth is going on?”

  “So much. I did it. I left the firm,” Mia said, and then dissolved into tears.

  16

  ANNABELLE HELD MIA away from her to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

  Embarrassed, Mia waved a hand and used her other to dab fiercely at her cheeks. “Nothing. I’m tired and being stupid and—Oh, my God, Annabelle, so much has happened since you’ve been away.”

  “Apparently.” She smoothed back Mia’s hair, and urged her to sit down, before situating herself on the upholstered guest chair. “Tell me everything.”

  “I told you I wanted to stop practicing law, remember?” she said, trying gracefully to wipe away the last of her humiliating tears. “You know I was thinking about starting a concierge business. Shelby, Lindsey and I jumped in. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”

  Her brows still puckered, Annabelle’s anxious gaze rested on Mia’s face. “You look terrible despite the color in your cheeks.”

  “Oh, I went to Hawaii for a week. See, I told you a lot’s happened.” Thinking about Hawaii naturally made her think of David, and she had to blink to keep the tears from welling again.

  “Mia.” Annabelle took her clammy hand and sandwiched it between her much smaller palms. “Now tell me the rest.”

  And Mia did. Almost everything. About how David had followed her to Hawaii, how happy she’d been until she found out the firm wanted her back, apparently at any cost. How she couldn’t completely trust that David hadn’t come after her for personal gain. As miserable as she was, she managed not to betray the firm’s confidentiality, saying only that there was a good reason why she couldn’t tell anyone why she had returned. She faltered when she got to the part about how people had been talking behind their backs, and she had to pause for a deep, calming breath for fear there’d be more tears.

  “It’s awful to be in that place,” she said. “I hate the looks I get. I hate that David doesn’t know about those bast—busybodies, but I would never tell him, either. I’m pretty mad at him, but not that mad.”

  Annabelle’s concerned eyes narrowed slightly. “Why are you angry with David?”

  Mia gave an inelegant snort. Didn’t anyone listen to her anymore? “Because I can’t be sure that he didn’t come to Hawaii just to hire me back.”

/>   “Hmm, I see. You don’t trust him.”

  Mia stiffened. “Of course I trust him.”

  Annabelle, her preoccupied gaze darting out the window, said, “You’d better think about that one, dear.”

  Mia was feeling edgy and defensive suddenly. “What I mean is, I trust him in every other way. He’s loyal to the firm and his family, to a fault, in my opinion. Definitely to his clients, too.”

  “So he hasn’t changed his colors, per se.”

  Mia rubbed her forehead. Annabelle was giving her a headache. “No, David is an honorable man. It’s one of the qualities I love—” She cleared her throat. “I admire him. I’m sure he didn’t want to have to trick me into going back to the firm, but he’d been backed against the wall.”

  Annabelle’s expression grew a bit alarmed, and she fidgeted with the big, gaudy rhinestone ring she seemed to favor. “Why are you so sure he tricked you?”

  “I’m not. But if you could see how dismal it is around the office—People are really scared.” She shook her head. “The tension was so thick I could barely breathe.”

  “Imagine what it must be like for David,” Annabelle said quietly, and Mia briefly closed her eyes as cold dread washed over her. “If he’s the man you say he is, he would feel responsible for the well-being of those frightened people.”

  Mia’s mouth had grown unbearably dry. “He absolutely feels that way. I know him.”

  Annabelle smiled a little, but she seemed clearly distracted.

  “Is something wrong, Annabelle?” Mia asked, ashamed that she’d been so absorbed with her own problems that she hadn’t noticed the strain on the woman’s face.

  “What? Oh, I’m just—” She shook her head.

  Mia hesitated, unsure how hard to push. She was distracted as well.

  Annabelle’s remark about Mia not trusting David wouldn’t leave her be. The lawyer in her fully understood the impossible task with which David had been presented. It was the woman in her who couldn’t stop wondering if she’d been the sacrifice.

  “You asked me once if I had any children,” Annabelle said. “And I told you it hadn’t been in the cards. There was a bit more to it than that. My Broadway career was more important to me than marriage and having children. You see, back then women had fewer choices. I knew I could continue to dance and act into my forties if I weren’t encumbered by children, and my Herman, rest his soul, tried to convince me that he would never stand in my way, even if we were married.”

  The sadness in Annabelle’s eyes was so real it hurt to look at her. “I didn’t believe him. Bless him, he waited for me anyway. We didn’t marry until I was fifty. No child-bearing years left, but we were happy for eight wonderful years.” She gave a small, sad shrug. “Herman was ten years my senior. A heart attack took him in his sleep.”

  Mia gasped softly. “Only eight years. I’m so sorry.”

  Emotions clouded the older woman’s eyes. “I have regretted the decision not to marry him earlier every single day. He left me a very wealthy woman, and once in a while,” she said, fondly squeezing Mia’s hand, “a ray of sunshine enters my life. But nothing changes the fact that I was a very foolish, self-absorbed young woman who couldn’t see past her nose.”

  Mia sighed. “Like me?”

  “Only you can answer that.” Annabelle smiled. “You have a fine logical mind, something being a lawyer requires, I’d imagine. And sometimes, I’d wager you ignore logic and go with your gut. This time, Mia, what does your heart say?”

  Mia’s eyes blurred and she had to put a hand on the counter to steady herself. She said she’d trusted him, but that hadn’t been true at all.

  How would she have reacted if David had turned his back on his family firm and all the employees? She would’ve been horrified and convinced he wasn’t the man she thought he was. She also would’ve been crushed that he hadn’t offered her the chance to help.

  He’d been pounded into a corner, and it was his honor that that kept him there. He was in hell, facing those employees every single day and unable to say a word. She’d hardly been able to handle the heat for two lousy days herself.

  God, he’d practically begged her to trust him, to believe that he was still the man he’d been in Hawaii. She moaned as her body rocked with how stupid she’d been. The damn fool loved her, and instead of being a comfort, she’d made him the enemy. Why hadn’t he…? No. She knew exactly why he hadn’t told her he loved her. Because she hadn’t trusted him.

  It was probably far too late, but she had to make this right. Tell him she loved him, admit that she’d been a fool, that she’d been the one who couldn’t be trusted. It would kill her to be so near him once he knew the truth, but she would suck it up and go back to work because she owed him that much. More. If by some miracle, he still loved her too, then she would fight.

  Damn the delivery guy for being late. She needed to see David, the sooner the better. But she couldn’t just leave the office. She jumped a bit as she realized Annabelle was still there. “Oh, God. I’m such an idiot.”

  Annabelle’s troubled eyes looked suspiciously damp. “No, you’re not the idiot. I’m afraid I am—

  Mia abruptly stood. “I have a huge favor to ask you.”

  “Yes? Anything.”

  “I’m expecting a shipment at any minute.” She sniffled. “But I have to see David. Now. It can’t wait. I do love him, Annabelle. With all my heart—”

  “Go.” Annabelle spryly sprang up from her chair. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Go,” she repeated, practically shoving Mia toward the door. “And when you return, we need to talk. There’s something very important that I must tell you.”

  “We will talk. I promise. And thank you.” She kissed the woman’s cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  The door opened. They both turned, expecting the delivery guy.

  David tentatively crossed the threshold.

  “David? What are you doing here?”

  His smile was faint as he glanced from Mia to Annabelle, back to Mia. “I have to talk to you. It’s personal.”

  “I was just coming to talk to you,” Mia said, her heart warming when she touched his arm and hope entered his eyes.

  “Good,” Annabelle said, startling David. “You two, skedaddle. Right now.”

  Mia laughed nervously as Annabelle pretty much steamrolled them out the door and onto the sidewalk.

  David looked as if he didn’t know what to think.

  “I’ll wait for Lindsey and Shelby,” Annabelle said, her trembling hand pressed to her stomach. “Don’t hurry back. Now get.”

  THEY WENT TO Mia’s loft since it was close. The place was messy because, with three women and too much stuff, they hadn’t fallen into a satisfactory routine yet.

  Mia didn’t care. She shoved aside a heap of freshly washed towels and made room for both of them on the couch. She sat first, in the middle, forcing him to sit close. He didn’t seem to mind, and made no effort to move when their knees touched.

  “Ah, Mia, I have so much to—”

  “No,” she said, holding up a hand. “Let me talk first.”

  His watchful eyes narrowed slightly, but he gestured for her to go on.

  “I’m not staying with the firm.”

  He didn’t seem surprised or even upset. Disappointment did flicker in his eyes because, to his credit and to her relief, he did nothing to keep his feelings in check. Still, he only nodded.

  “That’s not to say I’m bailing on you. I’m not. I’ll stay on, but only as a consultant.” She paused, and found she didn’t have to dig for courage. This was so right that it had to be said. “I admire you, David, your loyalty, your sense of responsibility. It’s all part of who you are, and I love that about you. I love you. And we deserve a chance.” She’d hardly dared to breathe, and it all came out in a whoosh. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough, but I do love you, and I hope we still have a chance to make things work.”

  David blinked, and then took his
time studying her. “A consultant, huh? I came up with a similar solution, although I do like mine better.”

  She didn’t say a word, just waited for him to continue, her heart beating faster and faster. He could’ve said he loved her, too. Was she wrong? No, not about David. She’d been confused for a while, but never wrong. He’d always been the man she thought him to be. The man she wanted.

  “Yes, of course, for obvious reasons I would like it if you stayed with the firm. But if that doesn’t work out, and I have to knock on every door in Manhattan to find another client, so be it. I won’t let you go. I love you, too, Mia. I have for a long time. And I promise you I will never let anything come between us again.” He took her hand, kissed it.

  “Oh, David.” Her voice broke. “I’ve loved you for a long time, too.”

  A reluctant smile tugged at his mouth. “I guess everyone knew but us.”

  The office gossip. Oh, God. He had to be mortified. “You know?”

  He sighed. “I know. Maybe it’s not too late to make my bet in the office pool,” he said dryly, and Mia laughed in spite of herself. “We could make a killing.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jeweler’s box. “Insider trading be damned.”

  Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

  “I don’t want you just to be part of the firm. Be part of the family, Mia. Be my wife.” He opened the blue velvet box. “Marry me.”

  She started breathlessly at the beautiful sparkling diamond…a princess cut, at least two carats. “You aren’t even drawing a salary.”

  David laughed. “Not the answer I was hoping for.”

  Mia threw her arms around him. The tears already filling her eyes. “Yes.” Her voice broke. “Yes,” she said more strongly. “Yes.”

  He buried his face in her hair, his arms tightly around her, and she felt the shudder go through his body. “I love you so much,” he whispered, his voice a low, throaty murmur.

  She was the one who finally drew back. She wanted to look at him, wanted him to kiss her. He took her face in his hands, and she threaded her hands through his hair. Then he pressed his firm, reassuring lips to her trembling mouth.