Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Diana
As I was walking back to my penthouse, I thought about calling Marcus. I decided against it because he will eventually find out what happened anyway, and he’s going to think what he’s going to think.
He’ll hate me. He’ll think I’m some spoiled rich brat who can just go around telling the truth with no fallout.
I laugh out loud at that last thought.
Telling the truth should always be a good thing, shouldn’t it?
Still, after my talk with my father, I had decided not to send that email. I had decided to put Marcus and everyone else who was depending on this contract ahead of what I knew was right, even though I knew in my heart it was the wrong decision.
In a way, Rod did me a favor. By snooping through my computer files and finding the draft email, he gave me an excuse to do the right thing. He made it so clear in that moment that he was not a person I wanted to work for and that his firm was not a company I needed to associate my name with. I no longer had any qualms about blowing the whistle on him.
It was the right thing.
No matter what the fallout is.
The client should always come first. The safety of visitors to that mountaintop resort should definitely come first.
And you never know. Maybe the client will see it the firm’s way. Maybe they won’t want to spend the extra money to fix the pipeline issue.
But I’m pretty sure that’s not the problem. The problem, most likely, is that the firm was paid a flat rate for these designs based on expenses, and adding to the expenses would be a loss not for the client but only for the firm.
I should call my father and let him know what happened, but I don’t really want to deal with that right now either.
The trip to Taos—such a sweet little town—sounds like a wonderful respite. And hanging out in my car with Dragon? That won’t suck either.
I’ll even let him drive.
I don’t really like driving long distances. Driving from the ranch to Denver is long enough.
I shed my work clothes and shove them into the hamper. Then I grab a pair of comfortable loose jeans, a Steel Vineyards sweatshirt, and my running shoes.
I throw some more clothes into a suitcase, grab my sundries out of the bathroom, scrub my face of makeup, moisturize, and then I’m ready.
I grab my small suitcase and walk out of my bedroom.
Dragon is standing by the door, his duffel at his feet.
His long hair is pulled back in a band, and he looks like a luscious bad boy in that black leather jacket, those jeans that hug his perfect ass just right, and his army boots.
My God, has any guy ever been so sexy?
He is so not my type.
At least not what I ever thought was my type.
But damn…
I feel things with him that I never thought I was capable of feeling.
“All ready?” I ask.
“Yup,” he says in that deep baritone that makes me swoon.
“Good enough.” I open the door. “We’ll take the elevator down to the parking garage. Then we’ll be on our way.”
“Sounds good.”
My stomach lets out a growl. Funny how doing the right thing brought back my appetite. “I forgot to eat lunch today. You hungry?”
He frowns. “I… I haven’t eaten either.”
“You haven’t? What have you been doing?”
He simply shrugs.
Definitely a story there. Definitely a reason why we’re going to Taos. Enough to keep his appetite at bay.
“We’ll get something on the road, then. My treat.” I give him a smile. “Let’s go.”
We take the elevator down to the parking garage where my burgundy BMW is parked. Dragon cracks a small grin as we approach it.
“What?” I ask.
“Just as I thought,” Dragon says. “Figured it would be either a Benz or BMW.”
“It was almost a Jaguar,” I say. “But this one rides better.”
He says nothing. Not that I expect him to.
I pull the key fob out of my purse and unlock the doors. “You want to drive?” I ask Dragon.
“That’s fine. If you want me to.”
“Honestly, I’d prefer if you drove. Plug in the coordinates to my GPS system in the car, and it’ll take you right there.”
He nods.
I look at him, flash him a smile. “So you’ve never been to Taos, right?”
“Nope.”
I squeeze his shoulder. “It’ll be great. Let’s go.”
Dragon starts the engine, pulls out of my parking space, and follows the exit signs out of the building.
“What do you feel like eating?” I ask. “We should probably grab something before we get out of town. The next major city we’ll hit is Colorado Springs, and that won’t be for another hour at least.”
“Whatever sounds good to you.”
“There’s a deli right on the edge of Seventeenth Avenue, and they won’t be crowded this time of day. How about a sandwich?”
He blinks. “Yeah. Sounds great.”
I show Dragon where to go, weaving through the diagonal streets of downtown Denver, until we reach the end of Seventeenth. With luck, there’s a parking spot open right in front of the deli.
“That never happens,” I say. “You must have good parking karma.”
“Good parking what?”
I laugh. “Never mind. I’ll go in. What do you want?”
“Corned beef on rye. Swiss cheese.”
“How about to drink?”
“Just water.”
“Sounds good.”
I get out of the car, enter the deli, put in my order, and then I wait. A few moments later, one of the employees hands me two white paper bags and two bottles of water. I bring them back to the car, open one, and find it’s the corned beef. I unwrap it, position the wrapper so that Dragon can hold the sandwich and eat while he drives, and hand it to him. Then I open his water and put it in the cup holder next to him.
“Thanks,” he says.
“Let’s get on the road,” I say. “I’ll unwrap my sandwich while we’re driving.”
He nods and grunts his approval and then starts the car. We don’t talk for the first several moments as we eat our sandwiches.
When we’re both done eating, and I’ve put all the trash into one of the white bags, I turn to him. “I know you said this trip is personal, Dragon, but maybe I can help. Does this have anything to do with what you’re having Alayna investigate?”
He doesn’t reply.
Not that I expected him to answer that question.
And as much as I’m looking forward to this trip with him, if we don’t talk at all, it’s going to be really, really long.