Love Script (30 page)

Very talented. I suspect he wil soon be too expensive for me.

Vivian nodded. “I can’t get over how lovely your home is, Laney.”

Laney could only smile with false pride.

“Mrs. Sinclair.”

Laney was surprised to see a uniformed maid smiling at her.

“Dinner is ready, Mrs. Sinclair. Would you like the staff to prepare to serve?”

Laney had never been addressed by a maid before; it was an odd feeling. She couldn’t find the words to respond, so she gave an awkward nod instead. Nick helped her to her feet and led the way to the dining room.

Even she had to marvel at the beautiful room.

Royal purple hues and shimmering gold fil ed the eyes. It was classical y designed without being overwhelming. Vivian was more vocal about the ten-person glass dining table.

“This is gorgeous, Laney!”

“Thank you,” she said, finding her voice. “The room was recently featured in
Traditional Living
.”

“I love that magazine.” Vivian beamed. “You’ve certainly outdone yourself.”

Laney smiled, pleased she had remembered that piece of information.
Thank you, Danny!
She was beginning to relax.

Dinner seemed to fly by. One culinary masterpiece after another was presented. Laney was not only impressed by the endless dishes but by Nick’s staff as wel . Nick’s entire household staff treated her kindly, and Nick was ever the gentleman.

It helped her loosen up. The couples were jubilant in talking about their time on the cruise together. By the time dessert arrived, Vivian had initiated everyone into another one of her famous debates.

They moved into the sitting room for coffee. Nick stroked Laney’s back tenderly while they listened to Vivian argue with Wil iam about how he preferred his coffee. By now, Laney was pleased by how the evening was going, but she was beginning to tire.

She leaned into Nick’s side, too tired to worry that his hand had begun to stroke her upper thigh.

“Wel , we should be on our way.” Wil iam came to his feet. “I can see Laney is fal ing asleep.” She blushed. “I’m so sorry, Wil . Lately, I find I can fal asleep standing up.”

Vivian hugged her. “Thank you for having us.” Laney kissed her on the cheek. “You’re welcome anytime.”

Nick and Laney saw the couple out, watching their car drive down the lane before it disappeared behind trees. Standing beside Nick with his arm around her shoulders, Laney was suddenly reminded of their reality. Nick didn’t care for her. The tenderness he had shown tonight had nothing to do with how he felt about her; he only wanted to deceive the Zelmans. She was nothing more than a pawn in his game, an end to a greater mean.

Silently, she pul ed away from him and returned to the guest room. She quickly changed into her casual clothes, desperately needing to get away from Nick and his perfect home. Gathering her things, she fol owed the stairs down to the foyer. Nick was waiting for her at the foot of the staircase, his face downcast, his eyes hooded by golden lashes.

Tension hung heavy in the air.

She stood before him. “Congratulations, Nick.

You pul ed it off.”

“Thank you for coming, Laney.”

“We made a deal. I kept up my end; now it’s your turn.” She handed him an envelope. “This is for you.”

“What’s this?”

“The check you sent me, I never cashed it. I’m returning it. I would have mailed it, but I figured you wouldn’t want to risk someone seeing it. I know how private you are about your personal life.” He shook his head. “This belongs to you, Laney.”

“I told you I didn’t want your money and I meant it.

I al owed you to treat me like a whore, because that’s what I was.” She took a steady breath. “My—your rings are inside the envelope.”

His eyes were intense when he looked at her.

“You worked real y hard for this.” She tilted her head slightly, examining him. Stepping closer, she reached up and tugged lightly at his tie, her touch delicate as she straightened the garment, smiling sadly when she was finished. She shrugged at the absurdity of her actions. “I’ve had a lot of practice.” Their eyes met, and for a second she thought he final y understood the meaning behind those words.

Pressing her hand against his cheek, she kissed him softly on the lips. “I hope you got everything you wanted.” Her hand smoothed over the lapel of his dinner jacket before fal ing limply to her side.

And then she was gone. There was no heartfelt goodbye. She was simply there one moment and gone the next, the faint scent of her stil hanging in the air.
Roses
, he thought.
She smells like roses.

Why did she have to be so damn proud? Why couldn’t she just turn around and say—wel , he wasn’t sure what he wanted her say. He wasn’t even certain if words were necessary. If she would only stop and look at him, he was sure her eyes would say it al .

But she hadn’t stopped. She’d kept right on walking, a briskness in her step as if impatient to get away from him. He wanted to pul her back, hold her close to him, force her to forget the bad times and start al over again. But he couldn’t. Laney deserved better than that.

It was a moment of clarity. Al this time, he’d been fighting to win Wil iam Zelman’s attention. It had become a ruthless game that he refused to lose.

And damn if he hadn’t been chasing the wrong thing.

Now, she was gone. With a sigh of regret, he had to admit he had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.

It was almost noon, and Laney was preparing to leave for lunch. She logged off her computer and locked her file cabinets. She normal y waited until one p.m. before taking her lunch break, but she was famished today. She opened her cosmetic compact to check her image; the puffiness beneath her eyes was stil there. She refreshed her foundation, not wanting to look as bad as she felt. She was a mess.

She hadn’t been able to stop crying. Danny had been kind enough to hold her last night until she had fal en asleep. As painful as it was to admit, she needed to be held by a man. She longed to feel protected and cared for. It did not matter that the arms that held her didn’t belong to Nick. When she closed her eyes, she dreamt that they did.

Last night’s dinner with the Zelmans had been brutal. Sitting next to Nick, pretending that everything was wonderful between them, was absolute torture.

And the worst of it was she felt completely alone.

Nick had gotten what he wanted from her. Rob had gotten what he wanted from her. And Laney Parks was once again alone in her misery. How did she manage to get into these situations?

Needing to get away from the office, Laney quickly pushed away from her desk and took the elevator to the lobby. The fog of depression began to clear as she made her way to the front doors. As she was passing the receptionist’s desk, a familiar face caught her attention.

“Cooper?”

Cooper Wright turned around. His lips curved into that same lazy smile that had charmed her the first time she’d met him. Though he had a slight cut along his lower lip, his smile was as appealing as ever.

“Laney.” He kissed her cheek. “You look wonderful. You stil have that Caribbean glow.” She gave a weak smile. “Thank you, Cooper.

Are you here to see Nick?”

“Actual y,” he laughed, “I’m here to see you.”

“Me?” She frowned. “I don’t understand.” He grinned. “Then let me clarify my intentions. I would like to take you out.”

She laughed. “You’re joking, right?” He did not smile. “What about Heidi? Wouldn’t she have a problem with you being here?”

“Laney, you should be an authority on my relationship with Heidi. There was never anything romantic between us. It was just…”

“Business?” She shook her head, finding the similarities between him and Nick disturbing.

He immediately realized he had upset her. “I didn’t mean it like that, Laney. I’m sorry if I—”

“Cooper, I’m flattered by the invitation, but I’m off the clock now. I’m not going to be used by you to get back at Nick. I am no longer involved in this feud between you two.”

“I’m not here for business reasons, Laney.” He lifted her chin up to force her to look at him. He had sincere silver eyes. “I asked you a question when we were on the cruise, and you promised you would think about it. I came here to get my answer.” She remained leery of him. “I’m stil thinking about it.”

“Great.” He smiled brightly. “We can weigh the pros and cons over lunch. I’l offer the cons; I’ve got a list a mile long.”

She laughed. It felt good to be humored.

“That’s a good sign.” He took her hand and guided her to the lobby doors. “Fuck Nick and the Zelmans. Have lunch with me, Laney.” She considered her options. Having lunch with the handsome Cooper Wright was a lot more interesting than spending her lunch break crying in her car.

She smiled up at him. “Where are we going?”

❧ ❧ ❧

“I can’t tel you how happy I was when you returned my cal .” Kim leaned forward. “I owe you an apology for what happened in Florida. You’ve always been honest with me about what you could handle. I should have never pushed you.”

Nick patted her hand. “Let’s not talk about it, Kim. It’s in the past.”

“Did you get to talk to that guy?” she asked.

“What guy?”

“You know,” she said with a wink. “The guy you wanted to meet on the cruise. The one you wanted to do business with. Bel man, right?”

“Zelman,” Nick said icily.

“Right.” She giggled girlishly. “Did you get his account?”

“I think so,” he said.

She smiled brightly. “You see? It al worked out in the end. I knew you could do it.” It was like a punch in the gut. He hadn’t told her about Laney, so she had no idea what it had cost him to secure the Zelman deal, a deal he technical y stil didn’t have. No contracts had been signed. Not even a single preliminary discussion about a joint venture. And here Kim was, shrugging off al he’d sacrificed just to please fucking Wil iam Zelman. He could have slapped the sil y little cunt. She didn’t have a clue how much he’d given up.

He had no idea why he had agreed to this. Kim had left a dozen messages for him to cal her, and although she was the farthest thing from his mind, he had agreed to meet her for dinner. He needed to get out of the house. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he found himself drifting by the guest room Laney had used when she’d come to his home days ago. He’d loom in the doorway, staring at the mirror she’d been standing in front of. He’d stand there frozen, unable to step inside. Afraid he might disturb the energy she’d left behind.

Honoring his agreement with Laney, he’d been working from home for the past week. In the past, he had preferred to work out of his home office but something had changed. He didn’t feel the same sense of freedom he once felt and was instead a prisoner in his home. He worked and ate in the same room, and it was beginning to drive him crazy.

Hating the tediousness his life had suddenly acquired, he’d agreed to see Kim. It was a mistake.

Kim was just as he remembered her, pretty and neat. She was what Cooper referred to as his
type
.

So why did everything about her annoy him tonight?

She had clearly gone to great pains to look pleasing to him this evening, wearing a pale green cocktail dress that flattered her wheat-gold hair. Her slender, long legs looked great in spiked high heels. Even her posture was correct. Everything about Kimberly was pretty and neat. So why wasn’t it enough?

“You forgive me?” Her red lips split into a provocative grin.

He gave her a tense smile. “It’s water under the bridge, Kim.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” She leaned closer, offering him a better look at her perky breasts. Her hand traveled up his thigh to fondle his groin. “But I plan to make it up to you.” His brow arched. “Exactly what did you have in mind?”

“I’d rather show you.” She kissed his cheek. “Can we skip dessert?”

His heart wasn’t in it but his body was. Besides, he had to find a way out from under the spel Laney had cast over him. “I’l arrange for the check.” She smiled. “I need to go to the lady’s room. I’l meet you in the foyer.”

He watched her cross the room. A few men gave her an approving nod. He imagined that any of them would be happy to take a woman like Kim home—

she was eye-catching—and it was high time he indulged himself with options. Laney wasn’t the only woman in the world.

After paying for their meal, Nick headed for the foyer. Just as he turned the corner, he ran into the last person he wanted to see. “Coop?”

“Sinclair. Nice to see you.”

Both men grudgingly shook hands.

Cooper Wright smirked. “We have to stop doing this.”

“I agree.”

“Cal ing it an early night?”

Nick shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m on a date.” Cooper looked past Nick’s shoulder and smiled. “Ah, here she is.” He held out his hand and pul ed her into his side. “I believe you two are already acquainted.”

Laney’s shock was obvious. Her smile vanished.

She stared at Nick. Their eyes met for a nerve-racking moment before she dropped her gaze to the floor.

Nick was stunned. Seeing Laney rendered him speechless. She looked amazing and happy, that is, before she saw him. He went rigid with anger.