Hardline (9 page)

  
“You think they’ll kick us out for this?”
 

  
I sucked in a sharp breath. He cupped a hand at my nape and planted a chaste kiss on my lips. The other slid around my waist to hold me as he dipped me back. I smiled under the soft press of his kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck.
 

  
“You’re quite the romantic these days, aren’t you?”

  
He grinned and pulled me up, not loosening his hold around me.
 

  
“Still celebrating, I take it?”
 

  
My loving gaze shifted toward the door, the voice there reminding me that we were far from alone. Marie walked closer, a dark-haired man behind her. Curiosity, pride, and love shone from her eyes, and the look hit my heart. Blake loosened his hold so I could go to her. She pulled me into a warm hug. `

  
She whispered in my ear. “Congrats, baby girl.”
 

  
“Thank you.”
 

  
She stepped back and looked up to the man who was at her side now. He was tall, nearly six-feet, with short black hair and olive skin. His dark eyes captivated me for a moment.
 

  
“Erica, I’m Richard Craven. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
 

  
He captured his hand in mine as I reached out.
 

  
“Likewise. I’ve heard so much about you.”
 

  
Tall, dark, and unwilling to commit.
I looked between him and Marie. Marie, the woman who could be my mother but always seemed to strike me as too youthful and vibrant for her age, somehow looked even younger beside him, her expression soft and almost girlish in his presence.
 

  
Blake came up beside us. “Richard, I’m Blake Landon.”

  
Richard grinned and shook his hand. “We meet at last.”
 

  
Blake’s eyes narrowed.
 

  
“We’ve attended a few of the same events around town. I’m a journalist, so I’ve been there to cover local stories and what not.”

  
“I see. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you formally, Richard. Should we eat?”

  
Marie clapped and smiled. “Let’s.”

  
Blake caught my hand and nodded toward the approaching maître d’.
 

  
We settled at our table, and Marie peppered me with questions while we waited for our meal. Where and when would we have the wedding? Who were we inviting? When I was going dress shopping? I answered as many as I could. Blake and I would need to figure out some basic wedding plans before anyone else had the chance to pump me for details. Not having answers was driving me crazy and adding to the mountain of anxiety I was already dealing with.
 

  
I turned my attention to Blake’s conversation with Richard, desperate for an escape.
 

  
“Do you write for a specific publication?” Blake asked.
 

  
“I have a staff position at the
Globe
, but occasionally I write for others.”

  
“Richard is asked to travel quite a bit,” Marie chimed in.

   
“What kind of stories do you report on?” I asked.

  
His gaze shifted to me. Something passed behind his eyes. Curiosity, vague interest maybe, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “The type of reporting I do really runs the gamut, but I take a special interest in political coverage.”

  
“Do you enjoy it?” I hoped the disinterest wasn’t evident in my voice when I asked.

  
A charming grin lifted his lips. “What isn’t entertaining about politics?”

  
I could think of a thing or two.
I laughed lightly, unwilling or maybe unable to give him an honest answer that wouldn’t open a can of worms not conducive to polite dinner conversation.
 

  
“What about you, Erica? Do you have any interest in politics?”

  
“Not especially, no.” I put my napkin on the table. “If you’ll excuse me a moment. I have to use the ladies room.”
 

  
“I’ll join you, dear,” Marie said.
 

  
“So what do you think?” She freshened her makeup in the mirror, brushing gloss over her bottom lip.
 

  
“About Richard? He seems great. Definitely very charming.”

  
She shot me a sassy grin. “He charms the hell out of me.”
 

  
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “TMI, Marie. Anyway, I thought things were kind of rocky with you two? What changed?”

  
“He was traveling for a while, and we didn’t see much of each other. Honestly, I really thought things had fizzled between us. The past couple weeks have been different though. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain, but maybe we’ve just passed a certain point with each other.”

  
“I guess that’s good, right?”

  
“It’s good enough for now. I’m having too much fun to push the issue. What about Blake? You must be on cloud nine.”
 

  
I smiled, warming at the mere thought of him. We’d been apart for all of four minutes and I missed him. Was I ever hopeless.
 

  
“I am, yeah. He caught me completely off guard, so I think I’m still getting used to the idea of all this marriage stuff.”
 

  
She shook her head and patted my cheek. “My little girl. I can’t believe it. You’re going to beat me to the altar. If I didn’t love you so damn much, I might hate you a little.”
 

  
I laughed. “Blake’s the one who seems to be in a rush, otherwise I’d be happy to give you a head start.”
 

  
She cocked her head slightly. “You sure about this? Blake seems wonderful, but you know you don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. I don’t want you to be an old maid like me, but you have plenty of time.”

  
I looked down, my fingers twisting around the beautiful ring. I couldn’t imagine anything, any doubt or reservation, threatening to come between me and keeping this ring on my finger.
 

  
“I’m not sure if marriage is something anyone is ever ready for, right? Plus I already said yes, so I’m a little committed already.” I laughed nervously.

  
She brought her hand up, brushing my cheek softly. “Listen to your heart, Erica. There’s nothing but noise in this world, and that’s got to be the one steady voice in our lives. If your heart says yes, nothing else matters.”

  
I reached for her, holding her in a hug for a long time. I thought about all the times she’d comforted me, given me advice and solace.
 

  
“Thank you, Marie, for everything. Also, you’re not an old maid.”

  
She laughed softly and released me, blinking away the wetness in her eyes.
 

  
“All right, enough of that. I’m going to wreck my makeup. Let’s get back to our men.”

  
The rest of the evening went well. We chatted, and Marie shared stories of our summers together when I was back in school. Any embarrassment that came with her honesty was quickly replaced with gratitude that she was the one person who could represent my otherwise absent family. Blake squeezed my hand under the table, occasionally shooting me a knowing look, as if he too appreciated her little insights into my past. It was the closest to embarrassing baby pictures he was likely to experience in my world.

  
We finished a decadent dessert, and Richard picked up the check just as my phone rang. I fished it out of my purse and recognized the number.
 

  
“Excuse me, I have to take this.”
 

  
Blake’s brow wrinkled, but I slipped away from the table before he could question me.
 

  
“Hello?”

  
“Erica, it’s Alex Hannon.”
 

  
“Alex, hi. Thanks for getting back to me. Um, I’m not sure if you remember me.”

  
“Of course. Landon introduced us at the Vegas event. Took a minute to jog my memory, but you’ve got the fashion site, right?”

  
“Right. Clozpin.”

  
“So how’s it been going?”
 

  
“Overall really well. I’m actually brainstorming options for expanding the site, possibly incorporating some e-commerce. You came to mind, of course, which is why I’m calling. I’m not sure if there are any partnership opportunities, but if nothing else, I’d love to just get your advice. I know you must be busy.”

   
“No worries. It’d be easier to talk in person though, I think. Any chance you’re coming out for the Tech Awards this weekend?”

  
“Uh, no,” I said, not wanting to admit that the event wasn’t on my radar at all.
 

  
“I could scrounge up a couple tickets if you can make the trip. We could discuss any opportunities for working together while you’re out. And you could write it off as a business expense, of course.”
 

  
I laughed. “I think I could probably work something out. Let me check my schedule and shoot you an email to confirm, but I’d love to come.”
 

  
“Great, let me know. If you can’t make it for some reason, I’m planning to be out your way in a couple weeks to see some family, so we could always meet up then.”

  
“Sounds good. Thanks again, Alex.”

  
We hung up, and I couldn’t hide the smile on my face when Blake approached me in the entryway.
 

  
“Who’s got you smiling like that?”

  
“That was Alex Hannon.”
 

   
“Why are you talking to him?”

  
The furrow in his brow deepened and quickly released when Marie and Richard joined us. We hugged our goodbyes, and Marie made me promise to call her for dress shopping.
 

  
My mind spun as Blake led me outside.
 
The valet drove the Tesla up to the curb and Blake opened the door for me to get in. Settled behind the wheel, Blake pulled into the steady flow of evening traffic. After a few minutes of silence he finally spoke.
 

  
“So what’s going on with Alex?”

  
“I was talking to Sid about maybe taking Clozpin in a different direction, trying to think outside the box a little, and it occurred to me that Alex had offered to be a resource when we met. I’m not sure if he’d be interested in any partnership—”

  
“What kind of partnership?”

  
My excitement over the call waned quickly at the skepticism in his voice. “I don’t know if that’s something he would consider. His site is huge, and he’s obviously doing really well on his own. But Max and Risa are in business competing with us now. I’ve lost a handful more advertisers, and my revenue is going to take a hit. I just thought—”

  
“I get it, but you’re considering a partnership with Alex Hannon and you didn’t run this by me?”

  
I shifted in my seat. “I didn’t realize I had to. Is there something with Alex that I need to know about? If it’s anything like what you kept from me about Max, I’d like to know before I fly out to San Francisco to see him.”
 

  
He exhaled audibly, betraying his growing frustration. He parked abruptly down the street from the apartment and stared off a moment. “He’s nothing like Max. I’m a little shocked you didn’t talk to me about any of this though. I’m the investor in your company.”

  
“I’m grateful for what you’ve done, Blake. I have every intention of paying you back, but if I have any chance of doing that, I need to get us back on track. Otherwise this is going to be an epic failure and your investment will be lost.”

  
“I don’t give a shit about the money, Erica. Four million dollars would be worth losing if it brought you into my life. Every penny I have would be.”

  
My heart twisted at the proclamation. “Thank you, Blake. But this is about me making this business work. I reached out to Alex on a whim, and I honestly didn’t think he’d get back to me so quickly. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to be receptive to discussing this further, but it seems like an opportunity I should pursue. I’m telling you about it now, literally minutes after it’s happened. I’m sorry if you felt I was keeping anything from you, because that wasn’t my intention.”

  
He caught my hand and rubbed the back of it gently.
 

  
“Are things going okay at work?” I didn’t want to argue, but I could tell something was bothering him, hoping it wasn’t all me. “Have you been able to talk to Michael yet?”

  
“I put a call in to him, but I haven’t heard back yet. I might make a trip to Dallas. Some things are better discussed face to face.”
 

  
“Maybe you could go while I’m in California.”

  
He shook his head, his lips pulled into a tight line. “No, I’ll go with you. Alex is a friend. We’ve worked together before, and obviously I don’t want you traveling alone.”
 

  
“I’d like that. There’s some technology awards event this weekend, and he said that he could get tickets if I could make it.”