Chapter 8 #2
“You do care. That’s the whole point of this arrangement.” She extracts her hand from my arm carefully. “I need some air. You should smile for the cameras.”
She walks away before I can stop her, heading toward the terrace doors.
I stand frozen, torn between following Bailey and maintaining appearances for everyone watching.
Larsson catches my eye from across the room and gives me a subtle nod of approval.
Well, at least the evening is going well for him.
The optics are precisely what he needs to feel confident about the merger, but Bailey is standing alone on the terrace because I failed her the moment I hesitated to defend her.
I make excuses to the nearest cluster of investors and follow her outside.
The terrace is quieter than the ballroom. String lights glow overhead, and the city sprawls below us. Bailey is at the far railing, a few feet away from a handful of people smoking and talking in low voices at the other end. She’s staring out at nothing in particular.
I approach slowly and carefully. “Bailey.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” I stop beside her at the railing. “I’m sorry.”
“For what exactly?”
“For not shutting her down immediately. I shouldn’t have let her speak to you that way.”
“You were being reasonable.”
“I was being a coward.”
She turns to face me fully. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears, and seeing her hurt twists something in me.
“You were supposed to act like you cared,” she says quietly. “That was the whole deal. I’m your girlfriend. Someone says something awful to me, and you defend me. That’s how this works.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“I know I’m right. But it doesn’t help that you know it now. I needed you to know it then. I needed you to act on it then.”
The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest.
“You think I don’t care?” My voice comes out rougher than I intend. “You think I didn’t want to tell Patricia Whitmore exactly where she could shove her social register?”
“Then why didn’t you do it?”
“Because I was being cautious. Honestly, her husband controls a huge chunk of my capital, and I didn’t want to…offend her. It’s so stupid, I know. I’m so used to calculating every word and action that I forgot the most important calculation.”
“Which is what?”
“That I shouldn't let anyone hurt you.” Bailey raises an eyebrow, so I quickly add, “Because it's bad for our image.”
“I failed you tonight. I let someone hurt you because I was too busy protecting my interests. That makes me exactly the kind of person Cassidy’s article described.”
“You’re not that person.”
“I am. Or I was earlier.” I reach up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers linger against her jaw longer than necessary. “But I won’t let it happen again. Next time someone comes for you, I don’t care who they are, I’ll make them regret it.”
Her breath catches, and I feel it against my palm.
“Daniel—”
“You’re safe with me,” I say, my thumb brushing her cheek. “I need you to know that.“
We’re standing close now. We’re standing too close. I can see the pulse jumping at the base of her throat. I can see the way her pupils are dilated. I can feel the heat radiating off her skin.
“This was supposed to be business,” she whispers.
“I know that.”
“We had boundaries we agreed to.”
“I know that too.”
“So why does it feel like we’re crossing them right now?”
“Because we are crossing them.”
I move before I can think about the consequences. My hand finds Bailey’s waist. She gasps softly but doesn’t pull away from me.
“We should go back inside,” she says. But she’s not moving.
“We definitely should.”
“People will notice we’re gone.”
“Let them notice.”
Her hands come up to rest on my chest. I don’t know if she’s pulling me away or closer.
“This is a terrible idea,” she breathes.
“It’s the worst.”
“We agreed to nothing physical.”
“We did agree to that.”
“So we should stop this right now.”
“We absolutely should.”
But neither of us moves away.
“Tell me to stop,” I say quietly. “Tell me this is just business, and I’ll walk away right now.”
Her eyes search mine intently. “I can’t,” she whispers. “I can’t tell you that.”
That’s all I need to hear.
I close the remaining distance between us. My mouth finds hers and she responds instantly with a sound low in her throat that goes straight through me. Fuck appearances, this is every night I’ve spent trying not to think about her, every moment I’ve forced myself to look away.
It’s desperate and consuming.
Her hands fist in my jacket, pulling me closer like she can’t get enough. I slide my fingers into her hair, feeling the soft strands wrap around them as I back her against the wall. She arches into me, her body fitting against mine too perfectly.
When her lips part, I deepen the kiss. She tastes like champagne and something sweeter, something that’s just her. My hand drops to her waist, then lower, fingers pressing into her hip, her ass, memorizing every curve through the silk of her dress.
She gasps my name against my mouth and my knees nearly give out.
I press closer, one hand braced against the wall beside her head, the other still gripping her hip hard enough to leave marks. She hooks one leg around mine, and the friction makes us both groan.
Then footsteps echo on the terrace behind us, and reality slams back.
We break apart from each other, both breathing hard. Bailey’s lipstick is smudged across her mouth, and my hair is disheveled from her fingers.
She touches her mouth with shaking fingers. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”
“No.” My voice comes out rough and raw. “But I’m done pretending it’s not real.”
A couple rounds the corner of the terrace. They’re guests I don’t recognize, but judging by how they nod politely at us before moving to the opposite end of the space, they’re people I should recognize.
Bailey smooths her dress down with trembling hands.
“We should go back inside,” she says quietly.
“Bailey, we need to talk about what just happened.”
“Please. I can’t talk about this right now. We have things to do.”
She’s absolutely right. Of course, she’s right.
But every instinct in me is screaming not to let this moment end. I don’t want her to leave without acknowledging what shifted between us.
“Later,” I say firmly. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Maybe we will.”
“We definitely will.”
She meets my eyes directly. “You said this was business.”
“I lied to both of us.”
“Daniel—”
“I lied to myself. I lied to you. I’ve been lying since the moment you walked into my office.” I take her hand in mine. She doesn’t pull away. “This stopped being business the second I remembered what you taste like.”
Her breath shudders out of her. “We can’t do this.”
“I know we can’t.”
“Trevor will kill you if he finds out.”
“I know that too.”
“This complicates everything we’ve set up.”
“I know.” I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. “But I’m done pretending I don’t want you.”
She stares at me for a long moment, visibly torn between running and staying. Finally, she pulls her hand from mine and takes a step back.
“We go back inside right now, finish the evening, and smile for the cameras, investors, and everyone else.” Her voice is steadier now. “And then we figure out what the hell we just did.”
“I agree to those terms.”
Bailey pulls out her phone and uses the camera to check her makeup.
She fixes her lipstick with steady hands, smoothing her hair back into place.
We walk back inside together. The ballroom has gotten more crowded since we left.
The music is louder and more people are dancing now that dinner is over.
Larsson catches my eye from across the room. He raises his glass in a subtle salute. Whatever he saw tonight satisfied his concerns. The optics are working precisely as planned.
Bailey and I make our rounds through the room. I introduce her to a few more important people. She’s perfect with every single one, charming and warm.
Her hand stays on my arm all evening. The touch burns through my jacket, a constant reminder of what just happened and what can’t happen again.
Except I know it will.
We’ve crossed the line. There’s no going back now.