Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Griffin
I watch Reese leave, the sound of her boots swallowed by the crowd.
Yanking the hat from my head, I drag a hand across my scalp, trying to calm the frenetic energy dancing inside me.
Just breathe, man. Deal with Lauren—then fix things with Reese.
Her words replay on a loop in my brain. I can’t fall in love with you. But God, I really want to.
Baby girl, I’ve never wanted anything more.
I return to Lauren’s side and jerk my chin toward a booth. “Come on. Let’s talk.”
“Everything okay?” Lauren asks as we settle onto the hard wooden seats. She glances toward the front door of the bar and then back at me. “Reese seemed upset when she left.”
“She was,” I mutter, wrapping my digits around the beer bottle.
“Nothing I did, I hope.”
I toss my hat onto the table with a noisy sigh. “No. It wasn’t you. It’s… life.”
Lauren chuckles. “Living is a chore on the best days, isn’t it?” She reaches across the table, gliding her palm over my head with a small smile. “New look.”
“Don’t ask.”
“It suits you. Gives you that rough edge.”
I huff out a laugh and down another swallow of beer. “Not sure if that’s good or bad.”
Honestly, I’m not sure of much anymore, except I need to get to Reese. As soon as humanly possible.
I can’t fall in love with you. Trust me, beautiful, you can and you will.
“Change is good, Griffin.” Lauren’s voice cuts into my internal monologue, jerking me back to the din of the bar. “Speaking of change, I won’t waste your time. It’s late, and I know you’ve got plenty of friends here who’d love a moment with you. But I need to tell you this straight.”
My stomach knots. Here it comes.
“I spoke with my accountant.”
Of course, she did. No surprise there. A woman of Lauren’s status and net worth has to run things by her team.
“He thinks your plan is sound. Solid. But he doesn’t believe Tangled Vines is viable as a headquarters. Too small. Too limited.”
Any trace of a smile falls from my lips.
“Wait.” She squeezes my forearm, gentle. “Let me finish. He thinks you’d thrive in Portland. There’s wealth there. Established clients. Real growth potential.”
I tilt my head back, fixing my eyes on the beams crisscrossing the ceiling. “My life is here.”
“For now,” she murmurs. “But you could have a new one in Portland.”
I wish I could claim surprise, but her accountant’s voice in her mouth—the cold math of it all—is exactly what I expected.
Lauren sighs. “If I’m being honest, he thinks it’s a poor investment. Not because you can’t succeed, but because if you stay here, I’ll never see the money again.”
Her words hit like a hammer to the chest, driving a nail deeper into my heart.
“But that’s not my concern.” She fixes her gaze on me, folding her arms on the table. “Griffin, I care about you. I want to help. But I need something in return.”
I take a long pull from my beer. And here comes the counteroffer.
“I wasn’t kidding when I mentioned marriage.” Her voice is steady, almost tender. “I’m lonely. I enjoy your company. I think you enjoy mine. I’m tired of attending events alone. Dining alone. Throwing money at strangers. I’d rather help a friend. And I’d like to have him near me.”
“Yeah.” It’s as good an answer as I can muster right now.
Her eyes seek mine. “I’d like you to seriously consider it. Because then we both win.”
But that’s a lie. Because her proposition means I lose Reese. The woman who won’t fall for me but wants to. The woman I built a future with in my mind from the first moment she stepped into my world.
The booth feels too small, too close, like the air’s being siphoned out. My gaze drifts to the door—where Reese disappeared.
“Griffin.” Lauren tilts her head, studying me. “Are you listening?”
“Yeah. I’m just… distracted.”
Her wineglass hovers halfway to her lips, her gaze sharp and knowing. “Your mind is very far away tonight.”
Beneath the table, my knee jiggles out a fast-paced rhythm. “Yeah. Guess it is.”
“That’s three yeahs in two minutes. I came all this way to talk about your proposal, and you won’t even look at me.”
I brace my elbows on the table, burying my face in my hands.
“What do you want me to say, Lauren? You just told me that unless I pack up my life and marry you, my business is dead in the water. Which means my only other options are busting my ass eighty hours a week or fucking women for money. Forgive me, but none of those is the choice I want.”
Her nails drum the table, ire flaring. “Not for nothing, Griffin, but I’m offering to fully back your business.
I’ll cover your bills. You’d live in the lap of luxury in Portland, with access to my other homes.
All I’m asking for is your companionship and dedication to me, the same way I’d dedicate myself to you. ”
“It’s not enough,” I say, voice low. “Not if it costs me what I want most.”
She bangs the table—so unlike her it startles me. “Then what do you want?”
“Her.” I choke out the word as emotion clogs my throat.
With those words, I’ve sealed my fate.
Do I regret saying them? Not one bit.
Lauren releases a small sigh, and when I dare to meet her gaze, a funny curve quirks her lips. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re in love? Reese, I assume?”
Nodding, I take another drink of my beer. “She’s everything.”
“Then why are you sitting here ?”
“Because you’re my friend. You came all this way to talk, and I owed it to you to hear you out. Plus, I thought maybe my business proposal was enough on its own and that we could make a deal and then Reese and I could celebrate a new life together. A fool’s folly, I guess.”
“It’s not foolish to believe in love, but you understand my position.”
The gauntlet has been thrown. One last chance to change my mind and live a life on easy street.
“I appreciate your offer, Lauren. I do. But I’ll gladly muck stalls for the rest of my days if it means coming home to Reese.”
Lauren sips her wine, her long fingers fiddling with the condensation on the table. “Kind of figured you’d say that. Don’t blame you. Reese loves you, too.”
“She’s fighting it, but yeah, I think she does.”
At least, if she meant what she told me earlier.
Her eyes narrow, studying me with a mix of curiosity and sympathy. “Do you believe in true love, Griffin?”
The question catches me off guard. I look at her, really look at her, and for the first time in years, I don’t dodge. I don’t lie.
“I didn’t,” I admit, my voice thick with emotion. “But then I met her. And now I can’t believe in anything else.”
Lauren’s expression changes—just a flicker, but enough. Understanding. Acceptance. The realization that this isn’t some fling. That, for the first time in my life, I’m in love.
And God help me, it terrifies me. Because I’ve never been allowed the luxury of loving someone. Not since I sold my body for survival. Not since I traded pieces of myself that I can never get back.
But with Reese, it’s different. It’s real. And I know it.
Terror coils low in my gut, tangling with claws of anger. Because I was so damn close.
Not two hours ago, Reese was in my arms, her walls crumbling. I felt it—the way she melted against me, the way every ounce of resistance she’d built against love, against me, was shriveling up and falling away.
Now? It feels like a steel wall has been erected in its place, high and impenetrable. And I hate it. I hate that I let her walk away thinking I’d trade her for money and a mansion.
Lauren remains quiet for several moments before murmuring, “I think you broke her heart tonight. Hell, I helped, and that was never my intention.”
“I know. She wants me to be happy. Healthy. She doesn’t realize I need her in order for that to happen.”
If that’s even a possibility anymore.
I drag a hand down my face. The truth lodges in my throat, too raw to speak aloud. Reese’s voice continues to echo in my head. I can’t fall in love with you.
She thinks she can’t—but I know better. I’ll crawl on my hands and knees through fire if she takes that chance.
Lauren leans back and slides her purse over her shoulder. “That settles it then. Time for me to head home and time for you to find the woman you love.”
“Sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“Not for nothing. I saw you.” She pushes her glass aside and rises, smoothing her blouse. Then, almost shyly, she extends her hand across the table. “We’re still friends, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely,” I reply without hesitation, clasping her hand. “Always.”
I mean it, too. Lauren is a good woman, and I’m thrilled to have her in my corner.
Her smile warms, faint but real. “Any chance you might still come along as my plus one to the fundraiser in a couple of weeks? You’ve met most of those piranhas, and I don’t think I can face them alone, but it’s for a good cause.”
Ah, yes. The critical access hospital right outside of Tangled Vines. An evening I agreed to months ago when she first asked.
She holds up her hands. “As a friend, of course. Or a bodyguard type, holding the bloodsuckers at bay. I’ll pay you well for your time.”
Poor Lauren. Despite her wealth, she lives a solitary life. People always swarm around her, but never for the right reasons.
In that way, we’re exactly the same.
I shove my hat onto my head, tugging the brim low. “Well, I think I can manage that for you. After all, I’m working the tough guy angle now.”
“What brought about that change, anyway?”
I could get into the specifics, but honestly, time is wasting, and I have somewhere important to be. “A part of my old life that didn’t want to let go.”
“Reese is a lucky woman. Tell her I said so.”
“I’m the lucky one.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
But underneath my relaxed facade, I’m scared shitless.
I don’t have a damn clue what I’ll do for money now.
I won’t go back to escorting. I don’t have the capital for my business.
Looks like working my ass off is the only answer. Pearl and I might have to discuss new digs for her, too. Maybe she’ll move here to Tangled Vines. Perhaps a bank takes mercy on me and lends me the startup funds. Maybe an estranged uncle, twice removed, will leave me a fortune.
So many variables, with only one certainty.
I need Reese. She’s the one thing in my world I can’t compromise on.
And my next destination? Tracking her down and ensuring she knows how serious I am about making her a permanent part of my world.
I only pray she still wants that, too.