Love Script (32 page)

Nick leaned back in his chair. Who was sending Laney flowers? And why? Was it Cooper? Is that how he’d swayed her into going out with him? Was she seriously dating him behind his back?
Over his
dead body.

Nick surged to his feet; he planned to set her straight. It was one thing to be upset with him, but she wasn’t going to date Cooper. He swung out of his office and stalked down the corridor leading to the art department. He could smel the fragrant flowers down the hal . Before he could step into Laney’s office, Mary-Knight spotted him.

“Mr. Sinclair, how wonderful to see you.” He walked into Laney’s office and looked around, nearly blind with rage. She wasn’t there, but it irritated him to see flowers on every tabletop. He jerked his head back to Mary-Knight. “Where’s Laney?”

She shrugged her shoulders in a practiced, dainty way. “I’m not sure. Perhaps she’s at lunch.

She should be back soon. Is there anything I can help you with?”

He was not in the mood to deal with Mary-Knight.

Ignoring her, he turned around and walked toward the lobby, intending to be the first face Laney saw when she entered the building. He rode the elevator down to the reception level. As fate would have it, he saw Laney crossing the lobby just as the elevator doors opened. He advanced on her.

Her eyes widened when she saw him. She looked around, apparently searching for the best place to hide, but he was much quicker. He was advancing on her too fast. Seeing there was no convenient escape route, she stood her ground, glaring at him as he reached her side.

“You sonofabitch,” she hissed. “You promised to leave me alone—”

He grabbed her upper arm firmly, demanding her attention. “Laney.” He struggled to keep his voice at a reasonable tone. “We need to talk
now
.”

“Nick!”

Both he and Laney turned at the sound of a female voice. Nick groaned when he saw Vanessa walking toward them. He hadn’t talked to her since their fal ing-out months ago, and if the trench coat she wore was any indication, she was here to make up.

“Nick, sweetie, I’ve missed you.” Ignoring Laney, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. “We have unfinished business to take care of.” Nick was stunned speechless. How many times did he have to tel Vanessa not to come to his building? She was either deaf or crazy. He was beginning to believe the latter.

Vanessa leaned into his side. “Are you going to help me with my jacket, or should I take it off here?” Laney looked neither surprised nor offended by Vanessa. She pul ed her arm free. “Excuse me, Mr.

Sinclair.” And again she was walking away from him.

The day couldn’t get any worse. Seeing Nick with that woman felt like having a knife plunged into her heart. Unable to be in the same building where Nick was probably having sex in his office, Laney left work early, pleading sick. And that was no lie. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. Another scene like the one today and she just might have a nervous breakdown.

Not for the first time, she considered resigning.

What was the point of being employed at Sinclair Corp? She’d gotten exactly what she bargained; her career had taken a huge leap and she was gaining invaluable experience, but she was miserable. She was tired al the time; her stomach never seemed to settle and her nerves were shot. Although she and Nick had an agreement, she jumped every time her phone chimed or when she got an email alert. She was constantly on her guard, always wondering if Nick was in the building and if so, was there a chance they might run into each other? How would he react? Would he acknowledge her presence or completely ignore her? Neither of which, she liked.

Combined with her heavy workload, it was amazing she’d lasted this long. At times, resigning seemed the rational thing to do, the only way out of the soap opera her life had recently become. At any rate, things could not continue like this. She needed to get her head together and quickly; her sanity was at stake.

Like clockwork, Rob was cal ing her cel phone.

She considered ignoring the cal , but she badly needed to hear a comforting voice.

“Hi, baby, I already know you’re upset about the flowers, but I have to ask if you liked them.” She cleared her throat, not wanting to sound as emotional as she felt. “Yes, they were lovely.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” His voice dropped an octave. “It’s real y great to hear your voice, baby. I didn’t think you would answer my cal .”

“I almost didn’t.”

“So I won on a technicality?” he joked.

“Rob, I can’t do this. I want you to stop, okay? I can’t take the flowers any longer.” She had to pause to force the quiver out of her voice. “If you real y care about me, you would listen to me.”

“Have dinner with me.”

“No.”

“Please…just one dinner; I need to see you. If you want the flowers to stop, consider it done. Just give me an hour of your time, and if you stil feel the same way, I’l leave you alone, Laney, I promise. I’l even draw up a contract stating that.”

“We’re finished, Rob.”

“Then tel me to my face.”

❧ ❧ ❧

Nick stepped out of the shower mental y worn out. After that fiasco with Laney and Vanessa, he could use another vacation. Vanessa and her sil y pranks had ruined any chance of him gaining Laney’s favor. If she was mad at him before, she hated his guts now. Vanessa hadn’t deserved the way he had unleashed on her, but she had received it al the same. If he couldn’t yel at Laney, Vanessa would suffice. Shit, he had made the woman cry.

Perhaps he would have regretted his reaction if he had been able to smooth things over with Laney afterward, but Laney had disappeared when he’d looked for her.

Why did it seem so impossible to get her to look at him without disdain? Everything was one extreme to another. They were either laughing together or screaming at each other. Drama had always been something that normal y sent him running, but there was something about her—something he couldn’t explain. And it was that same something that made it impossible to get her out of his system.

Nick slid into bed. With his hands stacked behind his head, he weighed the bleakness of his situation.

He final y had the Zelman account, but he felt uneasy and he was beginning to feel regret for the way he had gone about it. Laney was right; he was a sleazy salesman. It was no wonder she detested him. He had shown her the worst traits imaginable. It would be a chal enge to stay away from her, but if that’s what she wanted, he would conform. Having to go to work every day with him as her boss, after everything that had passed between them, must be difficult for her. The least he could do was be respectful to her wishes. It would be hard at first—the past weeks had been agony—but he would manage. He would do it for her.

She had every right to hate him. He had treated her like he treated al the women in his life—useful until something better came along. No, she didn’t deserve that. She was worthy of true romance and al the syrupy words that came along with it, someone she could love and who would love her in return. She ought to have flowers, unpredictable gifts, a man who worshiped the ground she walked on. A man who could look into her eyes and see his future in those deep amber pools. No, she didn’t need him in her life. He couldn’t give her any of those things.

Nick rol ed on his side, glancing at the picture on his nightstand. It was the photo of him and Laney at their anniversary dinner. She looked great and he looked happy. He remembered it was the first of many nights that ended with arguing, but al of that seemed strangely comical now. Reflecting on the total trip, his time with Laney had been an adventure he could only appreciate now that it was over. He brushed his finger across her smiling image.
Too
bad
, he thought.
He’d really fucked up
.

❧ ❧ ❧

Against her better judgment, Laney found herself, a few hours later, seated across from Robert Smith I I. He was every bit as smooth and handsome as she remembered.

“Laney, I know I fucked up but I’ve learned my lesson. It was bad judgment on my part and I want to make things right. I love you, baby; don’t throw our relationship away.”

Laney looked at Rob from across the table. Even the intimate setting of the restaurant wasn’t enough to make her consider his pleas. Funny how she had thought herself to be completely content with Rob mere weeks ago, and now she wondered how she could ever have imagined a future with him, and without Nick. He didn’t make her burn with wanting like Nick did. He didn’t hold her like Nick did. He didn’t make desperate passionate love to her the way Nick did. He wasn’t Nick. And the fact was she would not be happy without Nick.

But Nick had moved on, proving that his feelings for her had been shal ow at best. She felt helpless and lost. Yes, she had gotten everything she’d bargained for, but not the one thing she yearned to have. Nick’s cal ous actions both saddened and angered her, but after an hour of crying shamelessly in her bathtub, she was now pissed. Pissed at Rob for talking her into this pointless dinner, pissed at Nick for treating her like shit, and pissed at herself for getting into this mess.

“Laney, baby, are you listening to me? I said I want to make things up to you. Nina isn’t a part of my life any more. There’s only you.”

She sighed. “Rob, the only reason I agreed to have dinner with you is to make you understand I don’t want you in my life. No more flowers, no more phone cal s. You and Nina can do whatever you want; I don’t care anymore.”

He leaned forward, pinning her with serious brown eyes. “What happened to you? This isn’t the same woman who slapped me a few weeks ago.

You can’t tel me you don’t care, Laney. I don’t believe you, unless…”

“Rob, I don’t have time for your games; I need to go.”

“Are you involved with someone?”

“You know, for a minute there I almost thought you had a right to ask me about my personal business.”

“Are you sleeping with him? Is it Danny?”

“Danny’s gay, Rob. You know that.”

“He’s stil a man.”

“I’m leaving. Goodnight, Rob.”

Rob stopped her by towering over her with his large frame. “Answer me, Laney. Are you seeing someone else?”

She nibbled on her lip for a second before meeting his gaze. “No, I’m not, Rob.” He must have seen the honesty in her face because he dropped the issue. “I love you, baby.

Think about us.” He leaned close to her. “I miss you, Laney. Come back.”

There was a pang in her heart. She had to face it.

She was in love, and she had never felt lonelier in her life. Rob pul ed her into his arms, and she marveled how wel she fit into his side. Rob. The man she had loved faithful y for three years. This was the man she had planned her future with. But he wasn’t perfect. He’d made some wrong decisions, and they had both paid dearly for it.

Time was a funny thing. In the span of ten days, she had fal en in love with her boss, only to have her heart handed back to her in pieces. And here she was with Rob again, the man she’d once hung the moon on. It had taken her three years to fal in love with Rob, and one fateful afternoon to destroy it. But when she needed someone the most, here he was.

When she longed for another man, Rob was here pleading for her to love him again. She looked up into those warm, familiar brown eyes and broke down crying.

❧ ❧ ❧

Laney pul ed into her parking spot. Dinner with Rob had been a mistake, but as she was making plenty of blunders lately, she wasn’t quite sure where that one ranked. Rob had been persuasive at every turn, reminding her of their good times and what the future could be for them. In the end, she was crying so uncontrol ably she couldn’t even speak. How shameful. Her eyes were puffy and red; her throat was itchy and her head was pounding. The first thing she did when she was inside her home was take a long bath, trying to soak away the hurt feelings. No matter how many times she scrubbed her face, the puffiness wouldn’t go away.

Laney changed into a nightgown and clasped on the bracelet Nick had given her on their anniversary night. She found herself wearing it every night to bed.

In some smal way, it made her feel closer to him.

She yawned. The emotional col ision course she had experienced today had drained her. She didn’t even have the energy to recap the day’s events for Danny, who was expected to walk through her door at any minute.

As if conjuring him from her thoughts, she heard her front door open and close as she was pul ing back her bedspread.

“Hel o?” he cal ed out. “Where are you, Laney?”

“Back here.”

Danny walked into her bedroom with much comfort.

“Hi, sweetie, I brought over my favorite movies. I thought we deserved a movie night—” He took one look at her face and knew something was wrong.

Dropping his things, he held his arms out to her and pul ed her into a brotherly hug. “Oh, Laney, what happened? Your face! Did someone hit you?” Fresh tears gathered in her eyes. “Oh, Danny, I

—”

There was a loud crash in her living room. It sounded like her front door had just been kicked down. It happened so quickly, neither she nor Danny had time to react before Nick appeared in her bedroom doorway. She was both distraught and overjoyed to see him.