Chapter 32 #2
I walked over to them with quick steps. Griffin glanced at me when I was only a few feet away. His face lit up, but his eyes scrutinized me. He cocked a brow in a silent question, and I nodded to let him know that everything had gone smoothly.
“Phoebe, darling, I was so happy when Griffin told me you’d join us,” Jude said as he rose to his feet, shaking my hand and then leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“I’m happy to see you again,” I told him earnestly.
I sat down next to Griffin, who put a hand on my lower back, rubbing it up and down. I leaned into his touch, immensely grateful that he was here. Even though the morning had gone well, I realized that I was still a bit unsettled. My entire body only calmed down at Griffin’s touch.
The man has magic powers, I swear.
“What looks good?” I asked Griffin. He had a menu open in front of him.
“They have five types of waffles,” he said with a smile. “And pancakes.”
“This day calls for a waffle,” I said.
He laughed, kissing the side of my head. “I thought you might say that, but I didn’t want to order for you.”
“How’s Emma?” I asked Jude.
“She’s great. She went to visit our grandkids and is spending the week there. We miss them a lot. We’re both trying to convince our kids to move closer, but we’ll see how that goes.”
My God, these two were so sweet. I opened my mouth to ask if he planned to visit them soon as well, but my stomach lurched when I saw Marshall step into the garden.
Shit, did he follow me? No, that was ridiculous. He wasn’t even looking around.
I nudged Griffin, and he frowned at me, raising a brow in question. I couldn’t tell him that Marshall was here, but I turned to look in his direction. I was simply keeping my fingers and toes crossed that he wouldn’t notice us.
Of course, I didn’t have any such luck.
Marshall jerked his head back when he spotted us. To my dismay, he walked right toward us. That was when Griffin noticed him too. He went completely rigid.
Shit, shit, shit. This couldn’t be happening. My mind was racing. Should I excuse myself and ask Marshall to talk to me outside? But that would just draw attention to the fact that something was off.
I wasn’t sure what to do. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion without being able to do anything about it. Hopefully, we could shut down the conversation before Jude suspected anything.
“So, you’re both here,” Marshall said, looking from me to Griffin. “Should have known you were close by. That’s why she talked about you like you’re the Eighth Wonder of the World or something.”
“Excuse me,” Jude said. “What is going on?”
“Leave these premises or else,” Griffin said nicely, but the threat was clear.
“Or else what?” Marshall said, looking straight at Griffin. “You’ll have me removed? You don’t own this place.”
“Get out. You’re interrupting a business meeting.”
“You bring your girlfriend to your meetings? Whatever, man. You’ll come around to see things from my perspective when you’ve been with her for longer than a roll in the—”
Griffin rose from the table and grabbed Marshall by the collar. “Stop while you’re ahead. Remember last time?”
I jumped to my feet too. Jude was simply looking at us with a stunned expression.
“Griffin, he’s not worth it,” I murmured.
Jude cleared his throat. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m guessing you’re an ex-boyfriend of Phoebe’s. I suggest you move on. Phoebe and Griffin have been going together for eight or nine months now. And we have a meeting to conduct, so please leave us.”
I sucked in a breath.
Marshall scoffed. “What are you on, man? Phoebe and I broke up three months ago.”
Jude opened his mouth but didn’t say anything else. He looked straight at me. I didn’t have it in me to lie to his face again.
“Marshall, go! Just leave,” I demanded.
“Whatever!” he huffed.
I was fighting tears, trying to keep my composure, but I held my chin high, not breaking eye contact. He was the one who looked away first, turning around and heading out of the establishment.
“Are you okay?” I asked Griffin.
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. You?”
I nodded, nervously looking at Jude.
Griffin straightened up, turning to him, too, as if he’d just remembered that Jude had witnessed everything.
He was staring at both of us with a serious expression.
“Jude, I’m sorry you witnessed that,” Griffin said. “The guy is a complete asshole.”
“Normally, I’d say that this is none of my business,” Jude said in a measured tone. “But something he said bothered me. When we went to dinner, you two told me and Emma that you’d been going out for about six months. Or did I have that wrong?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, glancing at Griffin. My mind was racing at a million miles an hour.
Should we make up something quick? He was kind of giving us the option, but honestly, I didn’t have the energy.
As if reading my mind, Griffin took in a deep breath, then grabbed my hand under the table, squeezing it lightly.
“There’s something Phoebe and I wanted to share with you.”
I knew from the tone of his voice that he wanted to fess up, so I squeezed his hand right back under the table. I was shaking slightly from the encounter with Marshall.
I should have known this morning went too well.
“We didn’t exactly tell you the truth from the beginning,” Griffin continued.
“I just put that together,” Jude said smoothly. His voice wasn’t overly harsh, but it missed the usual warmth. “Why?”
Griffin looked at me briefly before going on. “When you and I met, you implied that you didn’t like my reputation. And then, as luck would have it, I ran into Phoebe.”
“And we started to pretend that we were dating,” I finished for Griffin.
“So, you’ve been lying to me and to Emma all this time,” Jude said. Now his voice was harsh, and I didn’t blame him.
“I can explain,” Griffin said, but Jude got up from his chair.
“There’s no need. I don’t want to know any details, but I don’t do business with liars.”
“We really—” I began, but he waved his hand, and I stayed silent.
“No, no. I’ve heard more than I need to know.” He shook his head before getting up from the table. “I’m shocked that you tricked me and Emma. This is unbelievable.”
I couldn’t find my words—or any words at all—as Jude walked away. I felt horrible that we’d disappointed him. And I hated that Emma would no doubt feel the same as her husband.
I nudged Griffin. “Go after him. I’m sure you can calm him down, explain it all.”
Griffin turned to me, cupping my face with one hand. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re shaking, and I’d rather be here with you.”
“Well, then, I can talk to Jude.”
“Forget about Jude. I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”
“I think I’m fine, Griffin. I just need to process this for a bit. But I don’t want you to lose this deal.”
He frowned. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll let things cool down for a bit.” Pressing his thumb on my lower lip, he asked, “Do you want to take the day off?”
“I can’t do that. I told my boss I’d be in the office at nine thirty. He expects me there.”
Griffin’s gaze zeroed in on mine. “I want to take you home and spoil you all day long.”
My heart exploded with joy. I wanted to climb him right here, right now. “It’s not possible, though.”
He groaned. “I know. I’ve got a full day, too, and I have to drop by Sterling Investments. But for now… do you want to order waffles?” he asked.
I sighed. “Honestly, I’ve kind of lost my appetite. Maybe I should just go to the office.”
“I’ll drop you off there.”
“Do you think Jude will pull out of the deal?”
Griffin’s smile faltered. He rolled his shoulders back. “It’s possible. But I’ll talk to him before he has time to do anything too rash.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt horrible about all this.
“Don’t. You’re more important than any deal, okay?”
I nodded, but I was still upset. I knew how important this deal was for him, and I felt incredibly guilty that Marshall had completely shit on it. Griffin would have to start doing damage control immediately, and I didn’t want him to waste any more time on me.
“I think we should go,” I said. “My boss will be happy if I show up earlier.”
“Okay.”
It took a while to flag a waiter and ask for the bill. After paying for the coffees, Griffin took my hand and led me to the car.
As we climbed inside, his phone rang. He immediately answered.
“Hey.” He frowned, then closed his eyes. “For fuck’s sake! Yeah, I literally just had a meeting with him. Hold off for now. I’m going to fix this.”
“What happened?” I asked when he hung up. My heart was in my throat. I was afraid of the answer.
“Jude already informed my team that they are no longer considering us as a potential investor.”
“Oh God!” It was all my fault. If it weren’t for me and my ass of an ex, Griffin wouldn’t be in this situation.
“I didn’t think he’d act so fast.”
Griffin said nothing else after that. His mind was probably working at full capacity, thinking about how to fix things with Jude. I wished I could help, but I didn’t have a single good idea.
The man was right. We’d lied to him, and I couldn’t really imagine a more terrible way for him to find out.
“Hey, want to bounce ideas off me? We’re good at coming up with stuff together,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“No, I need to discuss the options with my team.”
I didn’t know how to reply to that, or how to make this better. But the silence felt heavy, and I had a sudden urge to fill it with chatter.
“Are you going straight to your office?”
“No, I’m dropping by Sterling Investments first. We need to vote on a strategic decision.”
“Right.”
We sat in utter silence for the remainder of the drive because I had no idea what else to talk about. My heart felt heavy.
When we arrived in front of my building, he got out of the car, opening my door. Deep lines marred his forehead.
After getting out of the car, I traced those lines with my thumb. “You’re stressed out.”
He took my hand, kissing my palm. “This is an unexpected development. But it’s nothing I can’t deal with.”
Hmmm… that didn’t seem entirely true, though. His shoulders were hunched. His jaw was set. He was worried, and I wanted him to know that he could be vulnerable around me.
I rose on my toes, pressing my lips to his. The kiss started out chaste, but then he deepened it. The next thing I knew, he’d pressed me against the car.
I pulled back slightly. “Griffin,” I murmured, “we’re at my office.”
“Fuck. I completely forgot that.” His frown had dissipated. Ha! This was progress. “No one makes me lose my head the way you do.”
I grinned. “I feel very full of myself right now.”
“You should.” He splayed his fingers on the side of my neck, zeroing in on my lips. “I’m going to go before I make a spectacle of us.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “Have a great day.”
“You too.”
Even after he drove off, I stood rooted to my spot.
Tonight, I was going to take care of him just the way he deserved.