Chapter 6
In a rare instance of waking up before her alarm wailed, Layne had been trying to fend off the headache nagging at the inside of her skull all night. The events that transpired the day before with Joey, Eric, and Liam had left her mind unable to turn itself off.
When she did finally get out of bed, she got ready for her outing with Eric. She stared at her clothes hanging up inside of her walk-in closet. Layne internally debated as to what she should wear to meet with a potential ally who appeared to have the hots for her. She couldn’t deny that at least he was a sight worth looking at in return.
After spending far too much thought on it, she opted for a pair of skin-tight jeans that flattered the shape of her legs and the curve of her ass. They had always been her favorite pair. Matching the jeans with a light blue sweater with a low-cut v-neck was a compromise between casual and flirty. Not to mention a little bit of warmth, given the shift into the crisp autumn air that was falling over the northeast.
Layne swept her hair up into a loose bun, only a few rogue strands falling away from the bundle of chestnut locks at the back of her head.
Once she was downstairs, while she was draping a black knit scarf around the back of her neck, the chime of the doorbell sounded. Unhooking her coat from a rack on the wall, she swiftly slid it on before answering the front door.
Standing there on the other side was her potential new business partner, Eric. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and he held out a cup of coffee for her. “A peace offering for springing this on you last minute yesterday.”
Trying not to let on that she appreciated the coffee too much, she managed to only give him a polite smile before accepting the steaming cup of joe. “Thanks.”
After locking up her house, they walked a few blocks over until they approached Central Park. People were casually walking along a paved path, some with their dogs, others with their strollers, and some training for their next big 5k.
Layne took a sip from her coffee noting that it had notes of nutmeg and vanilla in it, a satisfying combination with the richness of the dark roast. It was fancy, much like Eric, but still appreciated for its caffeine content.
She looked over at the man who was determined to find mutual ground with her. “Well, you have me here. What’s your proposal?”
Eric wasn’t dressed nearly as formally as he had been when they first met. He was wearing a navy pullover sweater with a lighter blue shirt underneath and a pair of khaki pants that fit his lower body perfectly.
He smirked as Layne cut right to the point. “I hoped for us to get to know each other on a more personal level before diving right into business discussions.”
Her eyebrows lifted briefly before she gave a partial laugh. “I don’t bring my personal life into my business if I can help it.” She walked off the path onto the lawn that had the beginnings of fallen leaves sprinkled indiscriminately across it. The blustery air carried nature’s little messengers of the season change to and fro.
He followed beside her. “Your life is your business, and soon you’re not going to have either if drastic changes aren’t made.”
She stopped and turned to face him, not appreciating the way he pointed out the seriousness of her situation. “Are you trying to intimidate me?”
He shook his head. “Not at all, but you know as well as I that the state of things will make you and everyone tied to you a weak and easy target. I don’t want to see that happen.”
Layne narrowed her eyes at him. “Why should you care?”
Eric leaned in and dropped the volume of his voice as though he was going to share highly confidential information. “Call me a bleeding heart.” He smiled at her before he walked to a bench set underneath a line of trees and motioned for her to take a seat beside him.
Stupidity generally wasn’t one of Layne’s top traits, and it would be stupid of her not to be skeptical of his motives. After following him to the bench, she continued to stand.
“Alright, let’s get personal then.” Her eyes reflected her consideration of the next move she needed to make in this game of dangerous and violent real-world chess. “Bleeding heart or not, this isn’t solely a business move for you. If it was, you’d be speaking with Liam. So, why me?”
Impressed with her assessment he nodded.
“All due respect, your brother isn’t cut of the same cloth as your father was. You on the other hand, very much are.”
Her expression shifted slightly indicating she didn’t quite believe him. “Says the man who hardly knows a thing about me.”
Eric grinned and leaned back against the bench, as he spread his arms along the backrest and he locked arctic blue eyes on her.
“I know enough. Besides, I know that an alliance between us would send a strong message to the other factions. Together, we could be a force to be reckoned with. Isn’t that the type of respect you deserve? Your father had it.”
Layne hated that he was laying out a game plan that was not only beneficial but made sense. She finally opted to take a seat next to him but was sure to leave a comfortable amount of space between the two of them. There was no sense in letting him get the wrong idea that she was particularly keen on this. She drank from her coffee cup as she let the entire concept of both a personal and business merger soak in.
“Just spit it out. What are the terms?” She stared straight ahead, her eyes focusing on the scenery of buildings jutting into the skyline.
His hand reached over and rested on top of her leg, just above the knee. “For starters, we could make it clear to the public eye that we will be working together very closely. Then, we can discuss how you’d like to tie the knot.”
His touch immediately snagged her attention and shook something up inside of her. When her head turned to look at him, he seemed to be positioned closer to her.
“Gee, you go all out on a proposal, don’t you?”
Eric’s hand slid up her leg gradually. “Are you saying ‘no’?”
She grazed her teeth across her bottom lip as she brought her face in closer to his.
“I’m saying you’re going to need a hell of a lot more than a two-minute elevator pitch and a cup of coffee to convince me to say ‘yes’.” Layne straightened up and pulled back from him. When she decided to stand back up to distance his touch on her leg, his hand grabbed hers to encourage her not to leave. His hold was firm but not painful.
“Give me a chance to show you how you can have everything you’ve ever wanted and more than you’ve dreamed of. But, let’s face it, you don’t have much time left to make up your mind.” He was pointing out what she had been trying to avoid thinking about. Time.
After her encounter with Liam yesterday, she had even less time than most people knew. The painful realization couldn’t be hidden from her eyes knowing she was running out of options and the train was running out of track.
Eric keenly picked up on it and stood up, releasing her hand, and running his hands over the yarn of her scarf draped around her neck. He wrapped his hands up in the material and used it to tug her in closer to him.
Looking up into the devilish charm of his face, she knew he was more aware of how precarious her position was than he was letting on.
His face neared hers while his silky tone offered unspoken promises. “We can take the world by storm, my little harpy.”
She wanted to choke on the air around her. Damn him. Damn her. Damn it all. Damn everything to hell.
“I will have an answer for you by the time I see you at the party at the end of the month.” That at least seemed like a decent amount of a delay for her to figure her shit out. Miracles happen all the time, right?
He whispered into her ear with a purr. “I look forward to it.” The softness of his lips left a light caress against the side of her face as he uttered his words to her. Layne’s heartbeat quickened and when she turned her head, his mouth was right there hovering over hers.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t disappoint me.” His hold released from her scarf, letting the ends fall back down into place before giving her a little more room to breathe.
Eric had insisted on escorting her back to her house after they had carried a lighter topic of conversation. He told her about the renovations on his house and the way he was getting to know some of the other faction heads planted across the city.
As they left the park, Eric took ahold of her hand and quickly crossed the street to avoid getting run over by typical New York drivers. Walking by various parked vehicles along the street, Layne failed to notice that they walked by a black sports bike with a helmet resting on the seat. A helmet with decals representing a skull-like smile across the front of it.
After arriving back on her front steps, Eric managed to sneak in a quick peck on her cheek before he went on his way. Something in the way he had looked at her before he left indicated there was far more to his interests than he was divulging to her.
Layne was left wondering whether tying herself to Eric was grabbing onto a lifeline or was it an anchor that was going to pull her down into the depths of the ocean? There was only going to be one way to find out.