by T. J. Kline
Chapter Twenty-One
CHAOS ERUPTED IN the boardroom as soon as Gage offered to step down as CEO of Iconics. He hadn’t expected this kind of response, since he’d assumed that Cooper had turned most of the major stockholders or already had them in his pocket. By the look of shock on Cooper’s face, so did he.
“We can’t discuss this until it’s quiet.” George’s voice boomed over the ruckus, as several investors rose, threatening to sell their shares immediately if Gage stepped down.
“Values have already taken a hit. If you sell now, we’ll tank and never recover.” Griffin Masters, their CFO, pointed out the financial risk.
Cooper rose, slamming his fist onto the table, and pointed at Gage. “Granger is the problem. He’s the reason we’re already paying out millions in settlements.”
“That wasn’t all him and you know it, Cooper,” George said.
Gage was surprised to see him stand up to Cooper. Gage had always been the voice behind the pair. Usually, George was too timid to say anything, but maybe knowing the majority of stockholders were backing him gave his friend the confidence he usually lacked.
“We told you that program wasn’t ready. You pushed until Gage finally relented and signed off on it. You knew there were unresolved issues. You said we’d deal with the bugs when someone found them. Guess what, someone did.”
“You knew?” Griffin stood up, his fingers tented on the table as he stared at Cooper with his mouth open. “You told me you had no idea.”
“What kind of operation are the four of you running?” One of their biggest investors stood up, shoving papers into her briefcase. “You know what? Don’t tell me. I don’t need the culpability.”
“Are you happy now?” Cooper spun on Gage. “Just because you’re finished and your reputation is shit doesn’t mean you need to drag the rest of us through the mud with you.”
Griffin slid back into his chair and shook his head, disgust written plainly in his face. “Shut up, Cooper. You’ve said enough.” He looked at Gage and George. “Can you fix this?”
Gage nodded. “The program is fixed. Publicity is taking care of spinning the media, and once the settlements are finalized, we have a public apology prepared. But as long as this pressure on production continues, this is going to happen again.”
“And where does that pressure come from?” one of the investors asked.
Gage turned to see that the investors were still seated around the table, waiting for an outcome. He lifted a brow, waiting for Cooper to admit that it came from him.
When he didn’t respond, Griffin supplied the answer for him. “Mr. Cooper is our COO. He’s the one bringing all information to Mr. Granger.”
“Then I suggest, unless we want to see Iconics completely crumble, Mr. Cooper be replaced, immediately,” said the investor.
This entire meeting had deteriorated from Gage’s original intention. He’d come in to request Iconics invest in his new project, Apotheo, before agreeing to step down as CEO. He’d never imagined that the shareholders would insist on Cooper’s resignation, nor that Griffin and George would back that demand.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please, everyone come back in and sit.” Gage attempted to bring this meeting back on track. “There is still the matter of Apotheo to discuss.”
He had the attention of the investors now. “It’s a nonprofit organization you’d like to start for kids showing a high aptitude for technology and programming skills, correct? What’s to discuss? If nothing else, it would be great publicity and take some of the focus off the errors of the past year. I’m all for it.”
Several of the shareholders concurred before putting it to a vote. With only two of the twenty voting against it, two million dollars was appropriated toward the start-up of Apotheo, with Gage overseeing the efforts. It was also unanimously decided that Cooper should step down and be replaced as COO. Until his replacement could be found, George would step in as the interim COO. As far as Gage was concerned, it couldn’t have worked out better if he’d planned the scenario.
Now, he just had get back and make things right with Leah.
LEAH STARED AT her reflection in the mirror and smoothed down the front of her button-up shirt before reaching for a long chain and draping it over her neck. She pulled her hair from under it and cocked her head to one side.
“It’s going to have to do.”
She didn’t look bad in the jeans and knee-high black boots, but she didn’t look great either. Razor sat at her feet, cocking his head from one side to the other, while Chaz blew out a sigh of exasperation from the end of the bed.
“Well, I’m so sorry to have bored you with how long I took getting ready.” She rubbed each of the dogs’ heads in turn. “But if I’m going out, at the very least, I should look decent.”
Bingo yawned widely and rose, trotting out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, his nails clicking against the tile.
“Great, now even the dogs find me boring.” Leah could hear the kittens tearing down the hallway as they chased one another. “Remind me again when I signed up for this zoo?” she asked Razor.
In less than a week, she’d gone from taking care of herself and never having pets to having a houseful. She welcomed the dogs’ company, and the kittens hadn’t been nearly as enthusiastic as the first night, and they had all kept her mind from straying to Gage. She sighed.
Well, maybe they hadn’t actually kept her from thinking about him, but they’d kept her from thinking about him as much as she would have otherwise.
He hadn’t even called to apologize for running out. It had been several days with no word from him at all. If that didn’t speak volumes, she didn’t know what did. He’d couldn’t make it much clearer. She was a one-night stand and hadn’t even been worth the breath to tell her good-bye. She might have fallen for him, too hard and too fast, but she could find someone else to fill his place just as quickly.
Or not.
She’d been better off when she’d been alone. Except, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself of the fact, it just didn’t ring true.
She missed Gage. Missed the way he could make her smile with his cheesy pickup lines and compliments. Missed the way he would push her buttons just to get her talking. Missed the way he could heat her blood with just a look from those dark eyes. She might not want to admit he’d broken her heart when he walked out, but that didn’t change the hurt that echoed through her body, making her chest ache and sleeping difficult.
The knock at the door jolted her from her pity party. “Leah, you ready?”
Hurrying to the front door, Leah nearly tripped over the dogs as she reached for the knob and jerked the door inward. “Yeah, if these hairy beasts would move out of my way.”
Jessie laughed. “It’ll never happen. They live to be underfoot, I swear.”
She moved into the entry as Leah stepped into the kitchen. “Let me just get them some food and we can go.” She measured out the dog food and staggered the bowls around the room before reaching for her purse.
“Um, you might want to . . . ” Jessie pointed at the lint roller on the counter, where it had taken up permanent residence in the past two days, since bringing the dogs back to the ranch.
Leah looked down to see clumps of dog hair on her jeans. “Ugh! Do you realize this is the fourth time I’ve had to do this?”
“Have you not met Moose yet?” Jessie reached down and rubbed behind Razor’s ears. “But, when he cuddles with you, it’s all worth it.”
Lynx yowled loudly from behind Jessie, and she turned and scooped her up. “So, this is one of the kittens, huh?” She scratched under her chin, eliciting a loud purr. “You’ve definitely got your hands full, but the kids will love it. You might never get them to go home.”
“Speaking of the kids, maybe I should stay home tonight and go over the case files again.”
Jessie shot her a dubious glance and tipped her head to the side. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Gage,
would it?”
“No.” Leah realized she answered far too quickly and adamantly for Jessie to believe her. “I . . . I’m just not really into blind dates, and I get the feeling Bailey is setting me up.”
“Then don’t think of this as a blind date. You’re just going out to listen to Bailey sing.”
“With my boss?”
“Yes,” Jessie agreed, pushing Leah toward the door. “And a bunch of other people. You need to make some friends, Leah. You can’t stay holed away on this ranch only talking to teens. You need to live a little, too.”
Jessie tugged the door shut behind her, allowing Leah to lock it before waving for Nathan that they were ready. “Now, stop second-guessing everything and enjoy yourself for a change, okay?”
Leah slid into the backseat of Jessie’s truck and took a deep breath. Jessie was right. She’d spent every moment of her life waiting for something to go wrong, and it had, but she’d come to Heart Fire with the intention of starting over, living a different life. Now was the time to prove to herself that she would not only live differently but she could think differently as well. Tonight, she was going to have a great time for a change.
“BAILEY, YOU’RE INCREDIBLE.” Leah couldn’t believe the way Bailey had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand. She was a born entertainer, and it made Leah wonder why she was singing in bars and working at the vet clinic with her cousin. “Ever thought of getting a manager and taking your show on the road?”
“Nope, just not in the cards.” Bailey leaned into the crook of Chase’s arm and stood on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his pursed lips. “I’ve got everything I want right here.”
“Get a room, you two,” Blake said, laughing as he slid another pitcher of beer and frosty mugs on the table. “I swear, Leah, these two make out more than teenagers.”
“Jealous?” Bailey shot back with a wink. “Blake’s just mad because he’s not the hottest doctor in town anymore.”
Leah smiled slightly at their friendly banter, but in truth, the entire situation was making her uncomfortable. She didn’t know anyone well enough to hold up her end of the conversation, and she didn’t know Blake at all. He seemed friendly and nice, but there was an air about him that suggested his amicable laughter was a cover, a diversion from the sadness she could see in his eyes. She knew better than most how deep still waters ran, leading her to believe there was far more turmoil beneath the surface than anyone realized. Or, maybe it was the therapist in her just reading too much into things.
Blake rolled his eyes and turned toward Leah. “You want to dance?”
His question surprised her. So far, he’d been slightly standoffish, as if he didn’t want to let his guard down, but she didn’t want to make a snap judgment about Bailey’s friend. Leah bit her lip. She didn’t want to seem rude and refuse, but she’d never learned how to dance. She’d never had the opportunity growing up.
“I don’t know how.” She shrugged apologetically.
Blake reached for her hand and pulled her toward the far side of the dance floor. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.”
She looked up into his stormy eyes, praying for just a moment that the handsome doctor would make her pulse race or her heart flutter. She wanted to feel a sizzle of heat travel down her spine. Something to indicate that the way her body reacted to Gage’s nearness could happen with another man, that it was simply a matter of attraction. But even when Blake slid his arm around her waist and rested his hand on her low back, there was nothing.
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.
“Pardon?”
She hadn’t meant to say anything out loud. “Nothing. I was just afraid I stepped on your toes.”
Blake smiled and she could see why, according to Bailey, he was the “it” guy in town. A handsome doctor with blue eyes you could drown in and a disarming smile that could charm even the most prudish woman from her panties. Just enough scruff to be rugged and just enough mystery to be intriguing.
Come on, butterflies. Wake up.
“So, where’d you go to med school?”
“UCSF, Fresno. I grew up down there and was lucky to be able to stay. What about you?”
“Davis, in Sacramento.”
“So, this isn’t too far from home for you.”
“I moved to the Bay Area for my internship and then worked there for a few years before coming here.”
“What made you move? The Bay Area is beautiful.”
He stumbled, tripping her up, and mumbled an apology. “It was just time to leave.”
Leah didn’t miss the pain that flashed across his blue eyes, or the regret. When another slow ballad began to play, Blake’s arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer. Leah let him take the lead in their conversation and the dance, tucking her head under his chin and resting it against his chest. They had something in common, more than Bailey had known when she decided to set up this get-together. Leah recognized the acute agony of loss in Blake, felt her own recent anguish respond as she laid her head on his shoulder. It didn’t take a therapist to realize there was something far darker than leaving his home eating at Blake. Nor did it take a doctor to realize he didn’t want to talk about it. She was willing to be his shoulder to lean on, especially since he was willing to be her distraction from her thoughts of Gage for the evening.
He wasn’t Gage, he wasn’t even a friend, but for a moment, they shared a common bond of heartache and that was enough.
The music swirled around them as the rest of the crowd seemed to fade. Blake swayed slowly to the sad song that spoke of sorrow and love lost. They didn’t need to speak. For a few minutes, she could pretend she was in Gage’s arms, listen to Blake’s heart beat in time with the music and convince herself he was someone else, and she would assume the role he wanted her to play, of the woman he wished he was holding, the one he’d lost.
As the last strains of the song died, she heard Bailey take up the microphone. Leah took a step back as Blake looked down into her face, and she could easily read the gratitude in his eyes as they misted over.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion.
Empathy ripped at her for the anguish she could see in his face as she gave him a sad smile, cupping his cheek. “I know you probably don’t want to, but we can go outside and talk.”
Blake shook his head, dropping it so she couldn’t see his face. “Some blind date I make, huh?”
“I’m not exactly in a dating frame of mind either.” She glanced back at the table where Jessie, Nathan, Julia, Dylan, and Chase all waited, watching Bailey. “You sure you don’t want to just skip out and leave them behind?”
“Bailey would never forgive me.” He looked at the woman on the stage. “She thinks she’s saving me from myself. She has no idea.” His blue eyes cleared suddenly, as if he slipped on a mask, and he smiled brightly at Leah. “I think we need drinks.”
“I don’t think—”
Blake pulled her toward the bar. “Then I need one. I’ll get you a soda.”
Leah clearly recognized an attempt to drown misery. She couldn’t fault him, she’d done it enough in her life. “Okay.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they approached the bartender. “Bart, I need a Coke for my girl here, and give me a double Gentleman Jack neat.”
“Now that’s a drink I can get behind.”
Leah felt her breath catch in her throat. She could pick that husky voice out in a crowded room. What was he doing here?
Gage turned around, letting his gaze slide over her slowly. “Don’t the two of you look cozy?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“GAGE!”
He didn’t miss the surprise in her whiskey-colored eyes, the same as the drink he was about to finish. Gage tossed it back in one swift motion, trying to dull the pain of finding her on a date with Bailey’s friend.
He’d hurried back to Jessie’s after his meetings, hoping to find her at her place so tha
t they could celebrate his success. Not only had he been able to keep his company intact, but he’d also been able to acquire four new investors in Apotheo, more than enough to get started before the first of the year. He was finally going to tell her the truth about why he was at Jessie’s and tell her he was going to find a house in town, and he wanted her to stay with him.
But when Dylan texted him and told him to meet everyone at The Watering Hole to watch Bailey sing, he figured the conversation could wait until they were alone. He just wanted to see her and hold her in his arms again. The last thing he’d expected to see was Blake dancing with her, the two of them snuggling on the dance floor like lovers.
Okay, so maybe snuggling was a bit of an exaggeration. But that didn’t stop the raging jealousy from knotting and twisting his stomach. Bile rose in his throat making the whiskey taste sour as he slid the glass toward the bartender.
“Bart!” He pointed at his glass, motioning to the bartender that he wanted another. “Put the drinks for the happy couple on my tab, too.”
“Gage.” Her voice was as cold as his was. “I’m surprised to see you back so soon.”
“Obviously.” He glanced at Blake. “Good to see you again, Blake.”
Blake looked from Leah back to him. “Do you want me to go?” he asked, directing his question to Leah.
“Yes,” Gage answered.
“No.” She glared at Gage. “Would you like to join everyone at the table? I’m sure your brother would like to see you.”
Gage slid from the barstool and looked up at the stage where Bailey sang. She’d just finished a fast-tempo song that had most of the dancing crowd heading back to their tables to quench their thirst and launched into a melody he recognized as a slow ballad, her voice rich and sweet.
“Mind if I steal your date for a dance, Blake?” His gaze never left Leah’s face, even when her eyes shot flames at him. He could see more in the depths, something that looked more like pain. Why would she be hurt? She’d been the one to make love to him and go out on a date with a stranger just a few days later.
Blake looked to Leah for confirmation. Gage didn’t miss her slight nod just before Blake took his drink and leaned toward her, whispering something he couldn’t quite make out.
