Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Chase
One Month Later
I sigh in relief the second Noah steps through the door and into my office.
“Elsa gave me this,” he says and holds up a bag from the deli down the street where she gets me food almost every day.
The problem is that Noah isn’t smiling, like at all. He looks focused, yeah, but just as there has been the past few weeks, there’s a tension-filled air around him that makes me try very hard not to worry.
I can’t bring it up, though, before he sets up the table by the windows with the food for us, and gets right to the matter at hand.
“I’ve heard back from all the publishing houses that have previously made offers, and if possible, you’ve exceeded their expectations. The bidding war hasn’t even really started, but the numbers some of them are offering are really the best I can imagine in this business.”
“That’s great,” I tell him genuinely, and stand to greet him. I place my hands on his waist and kiss his cheek. “I think we should schedule a two-hour meeting every day,” I murmur in his ear. “I haven’t had nearly enough time with you lately.”
He sighs into me, and I let myself enjoy the feel of him for just a minute before we get back to work. I kiss his jaw, his neck, nip at his ear, before finally brushing my lips against his and sinking into a deep kiss that has me forgetting everything but Noah.
It’s not enough to get him to put off work for an hour, and I have to resist the pout that wants to come out as I sit next to him after he pulls back.
He does suck in a deep breath to steady himself, though, so I haven’t completely lost my touch, which is nice.
The meeting over lunch goes by way too fast, as we discuss the options of different houses to choose for my book.
I also bring him up to date with the actual writing of the book, which I haven’t been able to do since the little time we’ve had together over the past month has been spent mostly in bed.
“I’m happy with this structure,” I tell him, pointing at the screen of my tablet.
I think having the longer introduction explaining why I wanted to write this book and why I think it can not only teach people some things but also maybe change the way they view money-making is important, but explaining the position I’m speaking from and the different situations I’ll explore is what will maybe push people to read more than one of the approaches. ”
“I agree completely,” Noah says, but he’s looking at his own computer—I hope he’s checking something off his to-do list. “And how far into it have you gotten? Do you have any ideas as to when you’ll be done?”
I let out a loud breath and tilt my head back, closing my eyes. After thinking about it for a moment longer, I nod at him and try to smile reassuringly.
“I’ve never finished a book before, and I’m sure there’ll be many rounds of edits with you or someone else you might recommend, but I think maybe another two months? It feels like I’m a third in right now.”
“That works, so we can tell—”
“Actually I’m wondering if we can hold off on any further negotiations until the book is done? I want them to read it, to actually believe in the finished product before making any decisions.”
That has him finally looking at me, his eyes wide, but I don’t see any traces of anger.
“That’s actually so smart!” he cries out, and his face splits with a wide grin, one I want to kiss right off him.
But then he goes right back to staring at his computer, talking about strategy and possible publication dates, and I can only sit and listen.
I realize when our hour is up and he closes the door behind him—he’s in a hurry because he has to finish another client’s book overview to send off as well—that I have officially crossed the line into worried.
I don’t know the exact number of nights Noah has spent with me at the house in the past month, or how many times he’s said he wants to work late, but what I do know is that the time we spend together has been declining.
I’ve never been a particularly insecure person, but right now it feels like he’s either lost interest in a relationship with me—a personal one—and is trying to drift away slowly, or he’s burning the candle at both ends and doesn’t even realize how much time he’s been spending working.
Everything in me vibrates with the sudden need for it to be the second one.
The start of our relationship has been a roller coaster, to say the least, with him starting his own company and getting it off the ground, as well as me being an investor and keeping up with work while also putting so much time into my book.
I never expected to love writing so much, but it’s a new type of freedom, getting to sit down and put all the knowledge I’ve gathered when it comes to business in one place.
It means I haven’t had a lot of time to give Noah the experience of a new relationship . . . not like I probably should if I want to keep this thing going.
I know I’m attractive, but what if what Noah wants is a life more full of adventure and fancy events every day?
Maybe he’s filling up his days because he has to to stay entertained, to stay fulfilled.
The need to act right now hits me like a sledgehammer. I fall back in my chair and reach for my phone, clicking on the contact before I can even second-guess myself.
“Hello, Chase.” Harry’s smooth voice grates on me.
“How do you keep Tristan happy?” I demand without preamble.
Complete silence isn’t really the reaction I was going for, but then again, I’ve never asked him anything like this before. I’ve never called in a panic before . . . I don’t think.
“What is this about? Gab told me you had things handled with Noah and you’d call when you had something to say.”
I curse silently at myself for not letting Harry know everything that happened after they left the castle.
Then again, they left without a goodbye, so it’s his own damn fault, isn’t it?
So I spend a good half an hour telling him everything. About how we’re now together, how I’m happily funding his agency, and how I’m worried he’s lacking something in his life that I just don’t know how to provide.
Or maybe I’m not the right man to provide it?
“Stop that!” he snaps at me.
“What?” I demand.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you asshole. You’re handsome and rich, you have good fucking intentions, and you’re already beyond salvation when it comes to Noah.
You were exiled by your family and abandoned by your best friend before you had a fully-developed frontal lobe and still managed to build an empire, so get a hold of yourself for fuck’s sake. ”
Well, that’s one way of getting me to snap out of it.
Whatever that was.
“Do something. If you think he needs more excitement, then sweep him off his fucking feet. Fly him down to Africa for a safari or to the Amalfi Coast or something. Take him to Japan, or to see the pyramids. You’ve got everything you need, you just need to remember.”
“What if it’s me, though? Or what if he’s just spiraling because of . . .”
“Because he’s now in charge of his own success?” Harry asks knowingly.
I hear him sigh before the creak of his chair comes through the line. He’s clearly settling in for another lecture—which I don’t mind at all because I’m lost with a capital L.
“We all get that way when we start out, until we find a routine that works for us, until we have a clear understanding that the whole world isn’t actually on our shoulders.
He’ll get there on his own eventually, I think.
He seemed like a bright man when we met him, but if you want to avoid him suffering in any way, then I’d say just get him to talk to other humans.
“It was that more than anything that actually helped me when I took over Crawford Inc.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, an idea already forming in my mind.
Just one day later, I finish lighting the unscented candles on the mantlepiece at the house, and I’m waiting for Noah to come home when the doorbell rings.
Nate and Ru aren’t early—that would be too impolite for someone with Ru’s training in manners—the problem is that Noah is late.
He’s late to dinner with our friends even though I told him last night, even though I saw him set a reminder.
He’s late and he’s probably engrossed in work and won’t even hear if I call him . . .
What the hell do I do now?