1. Lana Pruitt
one
lana pruitt
“Hello?” my best friend in the whole world answered.
“Hey, bad time?” I asked while my knee bounced nervously.
“No, never.” Her quick answer made it stop, and I felt like I could breathe. Vivian DeLaCruz had that thing about her. A magic that made everyone around her calm. But something was off.
“You sure? You sound… out of breath? Winded?” I guessed.
“I was about to take a shower and had to run to my phone,” Vivi explained. Where I would have let it go to voicemail, my best friend would run to answer. Again, out of the two of us, she was the sweetest.
“Gotcha. Well, I won’t keep you long. I was just wondering…” I paused because if I was being honest, I felt like throwing up. I picked up the letter on my desk, and my gut churned at the harsh legal jargon that threatened a lien on my house. A lien! For a scratch on a car!
“Lana Banana? You still there?”
“I’m here,” I muttered. “I was wondering if maybe you know if Jen was hiring?” I asked.
“Hiring?” she repeated. “Wait, for whom?”
“For me,” I huffed, knowing it was time for me to come clean. It was only a matter of time before she’d figure out I didn’t have my car anymore. “Okay, so, don’t freak out… but I kinda got in a fender bender,” I blurted out.
“Lana!” she gasped. I hated how worried she sounded.
“I’m fine! I promise you I’m fine! Everything is okay.”
“You sure?” The concern was crystal clear in her voice. Vivi was more like a sister than a best friend.
“I promise. You know I would never lie about that.”
“Okay, but wait, what about the other guy?” I winced. Picking up the letter from the attorneys of Mr. Wilson Harding, I shook my head. The other guy was a douche canoe!
“He’s more than fine,” I said under her breath. Very fine, the man was drop-dead gorgeous and apparently had a whole team of lawyers waiting to chomp down on my neck.
“What?” she asked on a half chuckle.
“Nothing,” I huffed. “I just… I have a high deductible“—not a total lie just a partial truth— “and was wondering if you knew if she was hiring before I called her tomorrow morning.”
“She’s looking. But if it’s just for the deductible, you know I could always let you borrow?—“
“Nope. I don’t think so, Viv,” I cut her off immediately. There was no way I would let my best friend lend me money. Not when she worked her cute little behind off so damn hard. I was determined to figure out this thing with Wilson Harding myself.
“Lana—“
“Viv, I’m serious. That money you're saving is for a car. I’m not letting you spend it.” Not to fix some self-entitled rich jerk’s car when I was more than positive the asshole had a garage full of them.
“But what if?—“
“No.” I stood my ground.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Just make sure you let her know you have an end goal, so she knows you’re not a permanent hire.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. It felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. “I’ll call her tomorrow,” I shared. I wasn’t sure if I was telling her or myself. The idea of a second job on top of running my own business sucked.
“Okay, sounds good. Everything else okay?”
“Other than Mom freaking out because my car’s a wreck? Yeah.” That was a lie. Mom was on a cruise, and there was no way I would let her come back to try and save the day. “Everything will be okay,” I reassured Vivi and myself.
“It will be,” she promised. “I know you said no, but if you ever change your mind, the money is there, Lan.”
“Viv—“ I started to cut her off, but she didn’t let me.
“I know. And I get it. But it’s there. I know how busy you get with your business, and I don’t want you to get behind when I can help you.”
“Viv—“
“How many times have you helped me?” she said softly.
“That’s not the point.” The wind in my sails started to die down. Vivi always thought it was us who saved her from her horrible mom when I was pretty sure she was always supposed to be a part of our family.
“But it is. We’ve been friends forever, Lana Banana,” she whispered. “If I can help, I’m here. Not hesitations or ifs or buts.” I knew she meant it.
“Vivian Delacruz, you are too sweet for your own good,” I whispered back.
“You helped me with the deposit for this place and didn’t blink an eye when it took me three months to pay you back,” Vivi reminded me. I rolled my eyes.
“We’re family,” I pointed out, wincing at the fact I’d just made her point for her.
“Exactly. We’re family. And family helps each other out. Plus, it’s just money.”
Just money. I wondered if Wilson Harding thought of it that way. Just money. I shook the pessimistic thought away and breathed in deeply. Vivi meant every word, and I was grateful for her.
“Do you mind if I think about it?”
“Nope. Either way, it's just sitting there.”
“Okay. Thank you. You know I love you, Viv.”
“I love you, too. Talk soon?”
“Yeah, sounds good. Maybe we can get together next weekend for dinner at Mom’s?” I suggested because even though my mom was gone, we still liked to hang out there.
Hanging up with Vivi usually left me feeling better. And it wasn’t that talking to Viv hadn’t helped; it had. I had a practical plan in place. There was nothing wrong with working nights. I had done it in college when Viv and I decided to help pay my mom’s car off as a birthday present.
The problem was, I still remembered how exhausting that had been. How I’d fought to stay awake during classes. I’d been nineteen. Now at twenty-five, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to work around the clock. Heck, I watched my best friend work herself ragged and hated sitting on the sidelines wishing I could help her out.
I can always borrow money from her. Vivian’s offer had been sincere. I glanced at the letter in my hand and frowned. That anxious gnawing in the pit of my gut that had come to life since the stupid fender bender tightened.
I couldn’t believe that I thought Wilson Harding was hot when he opened the door for me. He had looked like the billionaire hero from one of the Spanish soap operas Vivi and I liked to watch in high school.
Wilson had seemed so gallant and chivalrous!
I’d been about two point five seconds away from swooning. Then he opened his big, dumb mouth, and I realized I’d been way off about him. The guy is a jerk! The biggest one ever!
He was as frustrating and entitled as he was hot.
An hour after leaving the scene, about the time my car had been loaded onto the back of a tow truck, a town car with a driver in a fancy chauffeur uniform was driving up to the bakery I had been on my way to, looking for me, letting me know he was there for me.
For a moment, I’d assumed the jerk was going to take responsibility.
Wilson Harding called later that night, and I actually thanked him for the ride! Stupidly thinking I’d misjudged him. I went on and on, and at the end, I mentioned I was glad he’d realized he was the one guilty of the fender bender, but he went off saying he never said that, and it was my fault. And I hung up on him. I’d never hung up on anyone! Not even on my high school boyfriend when he’d broken up with me to date the easy head cheerleader because she had promised to go down on him.
My attention drifted to the second letter that waited for me on my kitchen table. Taunting me.
I walked towards it and with shaky hands picked it up. The threatening, legal jargon was overwhelming. Wilson Harding had sent a lot of them. Or his attorneys had.
One after another, each more threatening than the last. The amount he was asking for to fix his stupidly expensive car was ridiculous! I didn’t even think my house was valued at what he said the car was worth.
Totaled.
I frowned, pissed I hadn’t taken the initiative of taking pictures of his car, or better ones than he had before he’d run off to whatever stupid important thing he rushed off to. Any insurance adjuster could see that.
The big, pompous, silver-spooned ass! I should know. I’d met my share of them.
The sperm donor of my dad topped the list.
My phone rang. I glanced at the screen and I ignored the call before seeing who it was. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Not when anxiety and dread crept up my neck.
I grabbed my phone, keys, and water bottle before locking up behind me. My mom had taught me early on that there was no reason to sit and stew. Worrying’s like a rocking chair, Lana . It gives you something to do, but it’s not going to get you anywhere. I opened and shut the door and started off on the route I liked to take when I went for a walk.
I wished I could talk to my mom about this. She’d have an answer. I just knew it. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t bug her. Not while she was literally across the globe on a month-long European cruise with some of her best friends. All three women were out there celebrating having just retired, and they deserved a carefree trip.
If I told Maggie Pruitt about what happened and the letters I’d started to receive, she wouldn’t hesitate to catch the next flight back home. That’s the kind of mom she was. Simply the best. And because of that, I couldn’t tell her.
I was twenty-five now, almost twenty-six. My birthday was right around the corner. I wasn’t a little girl anymore. I needed to put my big girl panties on and handle this head on. Just like I did everything else in life.
No, I wasn’t going to burden my mom with this. I couldn’t. I also wasn’t going to borrow the money Vivi was saving to buy her own car. I’d figure it out. This trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. We weren’t swimming in money, but things finally got a little better.
My business was doing well, great even.
The small amount of hope that started to build up inside of me dwindled when I thought about the large amount of money Wilson Harding and his attorneys demanded for the baby scratch on his car. My frown turned into a scowl.
There was no way in hell a scratch that size would cost that much! My own car had been totaled. The mechanic, an old high school friend of mine whose dad I’d bought the car from at the same shop he worked, took one look and shook his head. But to be fair, Paul had been telling me I needed an upgrade for the last five years when we replaced the engine. For the third time.
“I can do this,” I whispered to myself as I turned the corner that led toward my house.
I would simply call back the big jerk. I could swallow my pride and figure out some kind of payment plan I could live with. I’d call Jenna to see if she needed someone for her cleaning crews if I really needed to. I could even set up some kind of sale to help boost income for my graphic design business.
This wasn’t the end of the world.
I’ll be fine.
I stepped up to my door when this feeling swept over me. Almost like I was being watched. I glanced over my shoulder, but my neighborhood was quiet like it usually was. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Yet I still shivered. I felt someone watching and for whatever reason couldn’t shake it off.
Me and my dang imagination.
I was just overstimulated from the fender bender situation. I unlocked my door and shut it behind me, making sure to set the locks in place. I headed over to the letter I had left on the coffee table and picked it up.
“Just rip it off like a Band-Aid. Deal with this and move on. Who cares that you felt some kind of way when you saw the big handsome jerk? A jerk is a jerk, no matter how hot they are,” I muttered to myself.
I sat down on the edge of my couch and pulled up his information. I still couldn’t believe the name he had saved himself under.
Best wrong turn ever.
I frowned when his information popped up. I had no idea why I hadn’t changed it or why he had saved himself that way. The big, silver-spooned jerk was way too arrogant for anyone’s good. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pressed Call and was prepared to get his voicemail. Almost expected it.
A guy like him, obviously successful, important, and always rushing around, would be busy. Too busy to answer it for the little people! But I was wrong. It rang a total of two times before I heard the deep tone of his voice.
A voice I hated to admit I heard in my dreams since the accident.
“Lana?” he called my name, and I blinked. Why would he bother saving my number in his phone? The accident, dummy! a voice in my head reminded me. I winced. “Lana? You there? Everything okay?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Uh-umm…” I cleared my voice, hating how off I suddenly felt. Vulnerable. I didn’t know why even after being so upset with him and his attorneys I wanted to share things with him. Things I didn’t share with anyone.
“I’m fine,” I started to say but then shook my head, my shoulders slumped forward. “Actually, no, I am not. I’m not okay.”
“What’s wrong?” His voice was laced with so much concern I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at the screen before putting it back. This guy has a set of balls!
“What’s wrong?” I repeated, my voice a little higher. “Are you seriously asking me that?”
“Lan—“
“I have received all the letters from your attorneys, Mr. Harding.”
“Lan—“
“And I have to tell you, I saw the scratch on your car. That car wasn’t totaled, but I digress.”
“Baby—“
“I called to see if we could set up some kind of payment plan for this totaled car.”
“Payment plan?” he repeated, and I swallowed.
“The kind letters your attorney sent say they want a payout of over a hundred thousand.”
“Jesus,” he muttered under his breath.
“Look,” I sighed, defeat clear in my voice, “I obviously don’t have that kind of amount on hand. And setting a claim like that with my insurance would probably ruin me. So, if possible, I’d appreciate a payment plan. If not, I’m sure I could try and get some kind of loan.” My voice cracked at the end, and my eyes shut.
“Don’t you even think it,” he clipped. “First off, Miss Pruitt, I apologize for my attorneys and their… well, their enthusiasm trying to get a hold of you. I think I have only myself to blame for that.”
“You do?” My brows bunched. “You are?”
“Could you meet me in my office, and we talk about this?”
“Your office?” I repeated, completely surprised. This whole conversation was not going at all the way I’d thought it would.
“I’ll send a car for you, of course. My attorneys mentioned you haven’t been able to get yours… fixed?”
“I’ll probably need to replace it.” I had no idea why I shared that sad morsel of my life with him.
“I am sorry about that.”
“You should be since it was your fault.” It was like I couldn’t stop myself. Something about the man made me want to scratch him. Or maybe you’re that comfortable around him you don’t have to put up false pretenses? I wondered to myself.
“Miss Pruitt?” he called out, and I shook my head.
I should just hire an attorney instead of trying to reason with a man so out of my league, it was insane. Especially with how he made me feel and jumbled up my brain. Just thinking about the way he’d come up to my car, ripped the door open, and looked at me made me blush.
How many times had I realized I’d stopped working because I thought about that scenario over and over? One look at the stupidly handsome guy, and I’d turned into some boy-crazy version of myself. Though, there was nothing boy-like to Wilson Harding. He was all man.
“Lana? You still there?” The guy is a distraction!
“I’m here,” I rasped, then quickly cleared my voice, hoping he couldn’t somehow notice the thick need in my tone.
“I am sorry. It wasn’t my intent to make you stressed out,” he apologized, and for some reason, I started to relax, believing him.
“I’m not—“ I hesitated. I hated lying. Exhaling roughly, I knew letting my guard down around a man like him was asking for trouble, but my resolve in that moment diminished. “I am. I can’t lie. This whole thing has been stressful. My car and your attorneys.... I know that a hundred thousand is probably a kick in the bucket for someone like you, Mr. Harding, but it’s not for me.”
I wasn’t going to pretend like I hadn’t looked him up. I knew what the man was worth. He was in the billions. He might not have been a self-made man, but he hadn’t been a trust fund baby, either. Or not completely at least.
“Wilson. Or Wils, if you would like,” he corrected. There was a softness in his voice I liked way too much.
“Wils?”
“It’s what those closest to me call me,” he shared. I rolled my eyes. Is this guy for real? Is he honestly hitting on me right now?
“I don’t think we will be that well acquainted., Mr. Harding.”
“Lan—“
“As far as the car, I don’t think that’s necess?—“
“It is, and it’s been ordered. A car will be there for you by five, and I’ll see you here by five thirty.”
And with that, he hung up.
A soft little growl started to grow in the back of my throat. Wilson Harding was one of the most infuriating, frustrating, annoying men I had ever met. And I’d met my share!
Who ends a call just like that? And what the hell had just happened?! I set my phone down and ran my fingers through my hair.
I wasn’t going to his office.
Not when there was absolutely no need. Why couldn’t he just tell me I could pay two hundred bucks a month for eternity? Why would he want to see me for that?
Nope. I wasn’t going.
I stood and shook my head. There was no way in hell I would let that pompous, arrogant jerk order me around.
Who does he think he is?
He might be used to bossing everyone around, but he wasn’t my boss. Nope. No sir. I worked for myself. And maybe Jenna if I needed to pay a hundred thousand dollars for an outrageous damage claim.
I walked toward my kitchen and right to my backyard.
I loved my space.
It wasn’t a lot. Not big in any circumstance, but it was mine. With my mom and Vivi’s help, I had set up a nice little green space and a spray-painted old wrought-iron bistro set Viv had found on the side of the road on a trash day.
My eyes moved to the set, and my feet took me right to it. My hand slid over the tabletop, and a smile played on my lips. Just like that, I relaxed a little. The memory of my best friend and me hauling it into my car, making two trips because there was no way it would have all fit in my small older sedan.
I sat down while thinking about how my mom, Viv, and I had used crazy elbow grease to clean it off and then paint it as carefully as we could. How we gave the set another life. Fixed it up. It might have looked like an impossible feat, but we’d figured it out. Just like that, I would figure this current situation out, too.
“I have to go,” I said to myself. “I have to go and get this over with.” I shook my head s I stood and started to get ready.
Not that it necessarily mattered how I looked for this guy.
To him, I was probably some nobody he blamed for ruining his precious fancy sports car.