Chapter 30
VICTORIA
Itold myself I didn’t care what I looked like. I wasn’t trying to impress Jeff Connors. But I was representing the charity. I was going to be in public and that meant I couldn’t just show up in my tattered tee and worn jeans.
Connors picked the restaurant. Of course. He chose one of the nicer restaurants. To me, it seemed like we could save hundreds of dollars on these lunches by meeting for coffee. But here I was. It was showtime.
I gave the hostess my name and learned my lunch partner had arrived five minutes ago. That was a surprise. I expected him to saunter in twenty minutes late and give me some bullshit story about how important he is.
He was already seated when I was shown to the table.
He stood when he saw me coming, which I gave him credit for.
Maybe he wasn’t completely devoid of manners.
He extended his hand across the table. He was in his mid-fifties, well-dressed, and tanned.
All that time on his yacht had him glowing.
He had the look of a man who had never been told no.
“Victoria.” He held my hand, brushing his thumb across the back in an intimate caress. “You look absolutely stunning.”
I pulled my hand back. “Thank you.”
I sat down, smoothed my napkin across my lap, and looked at him. I was going to start with boundaries.
“Mr. Connors.” My voice was pleasant and completely calm.
Never let them see you sweat. “I want to make sure we’re on the same page before we get started.
I’m here to talk about the sponsorship and what it could mean for the children’s hospitals this organization serves.
If the conversation stays there, I think we’re going to have a really productive lunch.
” I held his gaze. “If it doesn’t, I’ll let you enjoy your meal alone. ”
The silence lasted three full seconds. The look on his face was priceless.
There was confusion and surprise and then understanding.
I watched him flow through each emotion without saying a word.
Men like Jeff Connors moved through the world operating on the assumption that their attention was a gift.
That women would feel special if he even spoke to them.
Not me. Honestly, from what I knew, there were few women that wanted his attention. God had gifted women with a sixth sense and that spidey sense picked up on his sleaziness from a mile away.
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
The version of Jeff Connors who showed up for the rest of that lunch was not the same one who had hovered too close at the auction.
He asked good questions. He had clearly done some reading on the charity before coming, which I hadn’t expected.
That moved him up about half a notch in my estimation.
He wanted to know about the hospitals specifically, how we chose who needed help and how the donations got allocated.
I didn’t know if he was a really good actor or if this was the real version of him, once he stopped being gross.
I wouldn’t be inviting him to my birthday party or putting him on my Christmas card list but his sponsorship of the gala would be tolerable.
By the time we finished, I felt cautiously optimistic. I didn’t have a check and I wasn’t quite ready to celebrate, but it hadn’t been a disaster. That was a win. We stood from the table.
“I’ll have my office reach out to yours about the formal terms,” he said. He sounded like a different person than the one who had greeted me.
“Betty will be in touch,” I said. “She handles all the formal agreements.”
“Of course.” He placed his hand on my upper arm in one of those reflexive social gestures that men did.
A pat. Barely any contact. I’d been touched like that a hundred times, but I still had my guard up around him.
I couldn’t stop my immediate reaction to stiffen.
His hand dropped immediately and he took a half step back.
“I apologize,” he said. “That was—I’m sorry.”
I opened my mouth to tell him it was fine because it actually was. It was very normal.
“Hey.”
The voice from my left startled and confused me. I didn’t understand why I heard it. Callum. He was there and he was furious.
“Back the fuck off.” Callum’s voice was all steel.
I heard the soft scrape of a chair somewhere behind me. I could feel eyes on me. On us. On the scene that was unfolding. I’d never been in the eye of a tornado, but I imagined it felt similar. All electric energy and danger. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a phone being aimed at us.
Oh shit. This was exactly the type of thing that would go viral.
Jeff Connors took a full step back, both hands raised. “Easy, Callum, I wasn’t trying anything.”
“Callum.” I stepped directly in front of him, putting myself between the two men. His eyes were on Jeff. They were flashing with anger. I’d never seen him like that. He was furious. I put my hand flat on his chest. “Callum, please look at me. Hear me.”
He looked down at me.
“I have it handled,” I said quietly.
“He put his hand on you.”
“And he apologized. I accepted it. We’re done.” I kept my voice low and my hand where it was, feeling his heartbeat going too fast under my palm. “This meeting went well. Please don’t undo that.”
Something moved across his face. The rigid set of his jaw shifted slightly.
I turned back to Jeff, who was trying to hold on to his dignity but I could see he was embarrassed. “Thank you for lunch,” I said. “I look forward to hearing from your office.”
He nodded once, shot a look at Callum, and walked toward the exit like he wasn’t in a hurry to escape.
I watched him go. Then I turned back to Callum. “Outside,” I hissed.
I didn’t wait to see if he was coming with me. I shoved open the door and was grateful to catch a glimpse of Jeff getting into a cab.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped.
“I was in the neighborhood.”
I stared at him. “Bullshit! You were spying on me. The entire time.”
“I wasn’t spying,” he said, shaking his head.
“You were sitting in that restaurant watching me have a business lunch.” My voice was sharp enough to cut glass and I didn’t care. “What would you call that?”
“I was nearby. In case you needed me.”
“In case I needed what, Callum? To be humiliated in front of a potential donor? In front of an entire restaurant full of people with phones?” I gestured back at the door we’d just come through.
“Someone was filming that. Do you understand that? That’s going to be online before I get back to my car.
I would imagine several people filmed, so every angle and expression will be available. ”
He opened his mouth and I held up a hand.
“No. You don’t get to talk yet.” I was shaking slightly and I needed to get control of it.
I pressed my fingers to my forehead and breathed.
“This is the second time you’ve blown up a work event for me.
The first one wasn’t directed at me. But this?
” I dropped my hand and looked at him. “This was deliberate. You followed me here. You stepped in like I was some damsel who couldn’t handle a hand on her arm. ”
“Oh, come on,” he said. “Jeff can’t be trusted.”
“I told you I didn’t love his energy. I did not ask you to show up and make a scene.
” I stepped closer, lowering my voice because I didn’t want to make more of a scene.
“I told him exactly where the boundaries were before we even ordered. I had it handled. He was behaving himself. He apologized the second he touched my arm. It was a reflexive social gesture. He knew immediately it was wrong and he backed off.” I shook my head.
“And then you came in like some kind of territorial wildebeest.”
“I’m not going to apologize for looking out for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to look out for me!” I threw my hands up.
“Callum, I’m a grown woman who has been navigating men like Jeff Connors since I was old enough to attend my parents’ dinner parties.
I know exactly how they operate. I went in there prepared.
I had an exit strategy.” I glowered at him.
“And you know all of that. Which means this wasn’t about protecting me. ”
He had the good sense to look apologetic. Briefly.
“Was this about him?” I asked. “Was this jealousy?”
“Hell no.”
“Callum.”
“It wasn’t jealousy. I just didn’t want him trying anything.” He looked away from me, down the street, jaw working.
I was still furious. I was also aware that no one had ever done anything like this for me before. Not once. Never had a man cared enough about my comfort to follow me to a restaurant just in case. That didn’t make it okay but it was making it very difficult to stay as angry as I needed to be.
“I have to go back to my office,” I said. “I have to explain this to Betty before she hears about it from someone else. And then I have to pray that Jeff Connors will still be willing to sponsor the event.”
“Victoria, I won’t apologize for looking out for you.”
“We’ll talk later.” I didn’t wait for him to answer. I walked to my car with my heart and logical side at war.
I was furious. I was also a little flattered.
That infuriating, gorgeous, thoughtful, completely unhinged man was under my skin and I knew he would have beat the shit out of Jeff for me, if the situation had called for it. That was terrifying and sweet. I drove back to the office with the radio off. I needed the quiet to think.
I had to decide what I was going to do about Callum. Was that his true self? Would he be a jealous man? I had to meet with men all the time in my work. Was I going to have to worry about him punching out innocent men for looking at me? That was not something I could deal with.
I knew he wasn’t going to apologize for being there. Maybe that was my fault. I had told him I didn’t like the guy. He was just doing what he thought was right. And I could agree it would have been right if things had gone badly. I had said I would call him if I needed him.
I returned to the office, practically tiptoeing in.
Betty wasn’t super social media savvy, and I had not dared to check my own feeds.
No one gave a shit about me, but I had been standing between two of the richest men in the country.
Those men would attract some attention. It would be on TMZ by the end of the day.
And I was going to have to explain to Betty I lost another one.
It wasn’t like we had wealthy donors beating down the door. We needed every single dollar and I kept pushing them away.