The Weekend Proposition (14 page)

“Hey, Ma. We’re fine.” She looked at Spencer. “I was just coming inside.”

“Mrs. Vercelli.” Spencer walked toward her and extended his hand. “I’m Spencer Cannon, a friend of your daughter’s. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Please, call me Deb.” Her mother took his hand. “Is that your car, Mr. Cannon?”

“Yes.” He smiled, turning on all of the Cannon charm Coda had become so fond of. “Call me Spencer, Deb.”

“Coda, where did you meet Spencer?” her mother asked.

“Spencer is the CEO of Cannon and Carrington. That ad agency I clean for at night.”

“Was this the interview you told me about? Did you see her work, Spencer? She’s amazing.”

“I’d have to agree.” Spencer looked at Coda.

“No, Ma, the CEO doesn’t look at the portfolio of cleaning people. Spencer needed help with something and I agreed to do it. It was no big deal.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure if you showed him your portfolio... Would you like to come inside for a cup of coffee, Spencer?”

“No!” Coda had to put a stop to this. “Mr. Cannon is a busy man.”

“Yes, but since he’s here you should take advantage of that.” Her mother nodded toward Spencer. “Don’t you agree?”

“Ma, please stop embarrassing me. I just need to get my things from the car and I’ll be in.”

“Okay.” She beamed at Coda. “I can’t wait to hear all about this mysterious weekend.”

“It was nice meeting you, Deb,” Spencer said. “I hope we see one another again.”

“Have a nice afternoon, Spencer.”

When she went back into the house, Spencer said, “You look just like her.”

“Can you have Andrew get my things?” Coda headed toward the car. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk. “I need to get inside before my mother starts bringing out my art work from fourth grade.”

“Coda, please.” He grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I only meant that an intimate relationship would cloud the agreement. I don’t regret sleeping with you, but it didn’t change the terms of our contract. You fulfilled your commitment and I owed you the rest of the money.”

“I get that.” Why was it so easy for him to treat her as a business transaction? “I just think you could have used some finesse, that’s all.”

“I don’t understand.” He looked down at his feet. “After everything, after last night, how could you think I don’t feel something?”

“It’s because of last night that I thought you would have treated me differently.” She unclasped the bracelet and placed it in his hand. “Everything else—the clothes, the shoes, and the money—was part of the agreement.”

“No.” He tried to give it back to her but she wouldn’t take it. “This was a gift.”

“I can’t accept it.” She let go of his hand and tapped on the glass. Andrew looked at Spencer for direction. Spencer nodded to him, indicating he could step out of the car.

“Thank you, Andrew. You could just put my stuff on the porch if you don’t mind.”

“No problem, Ms. Vercelli.” Andrew went to the trunk and quickly retrieved the bags. He placed them on the porch. “Will that be everything?”

“I believe so,” Spencer said as he gazed into his hand before clasping it over the bracelet. “I’m ready to leave.”

Andrew opened the door as Spencer moved toward the car.

What should I do?
The panic had set in over the realization that everything could end so fast.

“Sir?” Andrew waited for him to get in.

“Spencer,” Coda called.

He placed his arm over the open door and turned to face her.

“Thank you for this weekend.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“It was my pleasure.” He didn’t smile, just stared at her with a straight, impassive face before getting into the car and pulling out his phone. He never looked in her direction. Did she really expect him to?

Andrew shut the door and nodded at Coda. She could tell from his expression that he knew she and Spencer were arguing.

She waved goodbye and watched as they pulled away. Her heart felt heavy and her stomach nauseous. All because of the stupid little piece of paper she held in her hand. The money she had agreed to take in the first place. The same money that led her to Spencer.

Chapter 12

Spencer punched the bag with everything he had, causing Tyler to stumble back from the force.

“Are you going to hold it still?” he yelled. “Or do I need someone else to train with me this morning?”

“What the hell is your problem?” His brother held the bag steady. “It’s bad enough you pulled me out of bed while it was still dark outside to meet you here. Now you’re beating the shit out of me through this bag.”

“I don’t have a problem.” He set up for a round kick, spun around, and slammed his foot into the bag.

Tyler let go and fell back. “Christ!”

Spencer shrugged. “What?”

“I’ve had enough.” He held up his hands.

“Do you want to spar instead?” Spencer pointed to the ring.

“No fuckin’ way.” Tyler got up off the gym floor. “You’ll probably end up breaking my ribs with the mood you’re in.”

“I’m not in a mood.” Spencer chugged his water. He hadn’t slept all night. Coda had been on his mind. He replayed every minute of the time they had spent together, including their unpleasant goodbye.

“What happened with Coda?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

“What? I paid her for her services and we left it at that.”

“Ah, man. That’s cold.” His brother shot him a disgusted glance. “You don’t mean that.”

“You don’t know anything,” Spencer hissed. “Mind your business.”

“I know you like her more than you thought you would. I know she was more than a decoy. I know she likes you. She told me.”

Spencer didn’t want to hear about the weekend. He had enough reminders.

“See, I know a lot. I also know you screwed up.”

“Yeah, I did.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to fix it.”

“That’s what you do, you fix things. You find a solution for every problem. That’s why you’re in charge.” Tyler rubbed his elbow. “I went down hard.”

“Don’t be such a girl.” Spencer noted the time. “It’s too early to call her.”

He should have called her last night, but he let his stupid ego get in the way. When she gave him that bracelet, she’d hurt him. That had never happened before. No woman ever had the power to render him speechless or make him feel so much emotional pain that he couldn’t function.

“But it wasn’t too early to call me?”

“Let’s hit the showers. Pierce and Grandfather will be looking for us soon. Have you heard from Vince?” They walked to the locker room. “I’m getting worried.”

“He’s been pretty quite. I’m hoping that means he’s figure out that logo. He should have it on your desk this morning. He said he was trying to contact someone about the design.”

“What does that mean?” All the artists were in-house. They had no freelance designers he knew of. “Who did the design?”

“I don’t know. He told me to leave him alone and let him work.”

“I want this resolved today or I’m cutting this client loose. I’m not jumping through any more hoops. We have other campaigns that need my attention.”

As they walked to the locker room, Tyler stopped and picked up a local rag sheet someone had left on the lounge table. His family did their best to stay out of the tabloids but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided.

“Ah, shit,” Tyler said as he read the article.

“What? Pictures from the wedding in there?”

“Yeah.”

“Big deal.” He shrugged as he finished his water. “It goes with the territory.”

“I don’t think you’re going to like this.” He held the paper up for Spencer to see. Under the pictures of Spencer and Coda arriving to the hotel read the headline,

Cannon and Carrington’s CEO slums with Brooklyn waitress. Exclusive pictures of the two and an interview with Spencer Cannon’s disgraced fiancée.

“Ava,” he mumbled. “Fuck!”

* * * *

Coda stared up at the ceiling. She hadn’t slept all night. She thought about the events leading up to yesterday. Why had she gotten so offended over Spencer giving her that check? Just because they slept together didn’t wipe out the initial proposition. Spencer was a businessman. He would never go back on an agreement. He’d made that point clear.

“Hey,” her mother said as she came into the bedroom.

Coda sat up and pushed her messy hair from her face. Her mother had been using her cane more often in recent weeks. They had an appointment with a new neurologist in a month. Coda hoped he’d have some answers.

“You’ve been holed up in here since you got home yesterday. Do you want to tell me what happened?” She sat on the edge of the bed. “How did you end up spending the weekend with Spencer Cannon?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

“I met him last week at his office and then he came looking for me at the diner.”

“Why?”

“He had a proposal for me.”

“To work at the agency? That’s wonderful.”

“Not exactly.” Coda had a feeling her mother might not like what she was about to say. “He needed a date for his cousin’s wedding.”

“Wow. A rich, good looking guy came looking for you? That’s romantic. Why didn’t you tell me that’s where you were going?”

“It wasn’t really a date. He kind of paid me to go with him.”

“What?” She saw the horror on her mother’s face. “How could you agree to do that?”

“It was a business deal. That’s all it was suppose to be. We needed the money, and it seemed like easy cash.”

“Coda?”

“I know, it sounds bad but everything was legitimate. I have the checks to prove it. It’s a lot of money, Ma. At first I thought it was a scam, but it wasn’t.”

“I feel awful that you think you had to accept money from a stranger to get us out of our current situation.”

“He overheard our conversation on the phone last week. He knew I needed the money and he needed a date. Could some question my morals? Probably, but he was hard to refuse, and I figured a chance like that would never come up again. We’ve struggled for so long. It seems every time we turn around we get the short end of the stick. I’m tired of scraping to get by.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’ve worked hard your whole life. I saw an opportunity to help you, to make things better, and I took it. I can’t apologize for that.”

“What went wrong?”

“I slept with him.”

“Please tell me that wasn’t part of the deal. Please tell me you didn’t sell—”

“Of course not! Spencer made it very clear sex wasn’t part of the agreement. He was the one who tried to resist because he said it would complicate things. He wanted to be a gentleman.”

“What happened?”

“I pursued him. I couldn’t help myself. His looks aside, he’s charming, polite, and he knows how to treat a woman. There’s something about him that pulled me to him. I’ve never been so attracted to anyone the way I am with him. He’s just so incredible.”

Her mom shook her head and smiled.

“What?”

“You really like him.”

“Yes, but we would never work.”

“Why not? He looked pretty interested in you yesterday.”

“Everything was fine until I took his money.”

“Isn’t that what you were intended to do?”

“Yes, but it didn’t feel right. I know what I agreed to but after getting to know him I wasn’t there for the money. I thought maybe he’d feel the same way. Maybe he’d want to forget about the deal and see where we could take things.”

“Did you explain that to him?”

“No, I think I made him feel bad.” Coda couldn’t get that look on his face out of her mind. The one she witnessed just before he got into his car. She had gone too far when she gave back the gift.

“Your Italian temper made an appearance?”

She nodded, feeling ashamed about the way she’d acted.

“Do you think there’s something between the two of you? Something worth pursuing? Not just physical attraction?”

“There is, Ma. I can feel it. He’s a tough man to break but he opened up to me. I could feel the things he said. I knew he meant them. I don’t think he’s ever opened up to anyone like that before.”

“Then you need to explain why you acted the way you did.”

“He hasn’t called me.” She glanced at her phone. “Not that I expected him to.”

“He’s a man, honey. You hurt his pride. You agreed to his terms. How was he to know if he didn’t offer you the money that you wouldn’t have reacted harshly? If he’s a man of his word then he had no choice but to abide by his end of the agreement.”

“I screwed up.”

“Maybe a little, but if you think your weekend meant more than just a fling you could probably salvage things. If that’s what you want.”

“I do want a relationship with him, but I’m not sure that’s possible now.” She got out of bed. “I need to apologize to him. You’re right.” She hugged her mom. “I agreed to his deal. I shouldn’t have gotten offended when he paid me.”

“Explain to him how you felt. Be honest with him.”

“I will.”

“How much money are we talking?” her mom asked. “Out of curiosity.”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Holy shit!”

“I know.” She laughed. “The man is crazy and knows how to get what he wants.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine that much money.”

“I can’t wait to tell you all about the wedding. It was unbelievable.” She pulled some clothes out of her closet. “I need to get showered and head over to the agency.”

“You just do what your heart tells you. If the two of you are meant to have a future, things will work out.”

“I hope so.” She headed for the bathroom. “I had lobster.”

“How was it?”

“Good, but not as delicious as the champagne.” She hoped she had a chance to taste that again. “That was to die for.”

Chapter 13

“Ava’s gone too far.” Spencer threw the tabloid onto the conference room table. “You better get her under control, Pierce.”

His grandfather shook his head as he quoted from the article. “What’s to become of the future of Cannon and Carrington now that Spencer has cheated on his fiancée, Ava Carrington?”