CHAPTER 12
Every Moment Is Borrowed
Josh
Josh didn't sleep.
He sat in his suite, staring at the ceiling, replaying every moment with Helen. The ballroom. The garden. The library. The way she looked at him like he was more than the sum of his sins. The way her voice had broken when she said "You made me feel like I wasn't alone."
He had made her feel not alone. And then he had destroyed it.
At 6 AM, Marcus called.
"Everything is ready," Marcus said. "Final confirmation?"
Josh opened his mouth to say yes. Nothing came out.
"Josh? You there?"
"I need more time," Josh said.
Silence. The kind that stretched across phone lines and threatened to swallow everything.
"Time for what?" Marcus asked. "The deal is locked."
"I know what the deal is."
"Then what's the problem?"
Josh closed his eyes. He could see Helen's face. The fury. The hurt. The betrayal. And beneath all of it, something that looked like hope.
"I met her," he said quietly.
"Met who?"
"Helen Campbell."
Another silence. Longer this time.
"Josh... you can't be serious."
"I'm not sure I've ever been more serious."
"You're going to throw away a billion-dollar deal for a woman you met four days ago?"
Josh didn't have an answer. Or maybe he did, and he was too afraid to say it out loud.
"I'll call you back," he said.
He ended the call. Then he sat in the silence and watched the sun rise over Chicago. The sky turned from black to gray to gold. The buildings caught the light, one by one.
And Josh Baylor, who had never lost a deal in his life, realized he was about to lose something much more important.
Her.