Chapter 22
DANE
Ihadn’t sat at my desk for more than five consecutive minutes in three days.
Monday had been a hurricane of board meetings.
Tuesday had been Norma ambushing me approximately every hour on the hour to discuss hiring ten new matchmakers to handle the surge in applications.
The app was being overwhelmed. Our current team was drowning, and we needed to get some help quickly before our customers decided it wasn’t worth the wait.
Wednesday had brought IT fires. App crashes from the overload, servers that couldn’t handle the traffic, emergency calls with our infrastructure team at two in the morning because apparently success meant everything breaking at once.
I was told overwhelmed servers were a good thing. Lucas always found the silver lining even in the middle of a shitstorm.
Fucker.
And today, I spent the morning in yet another board meeting, this time with the full executive team.
I was determined to open Cupid’s Arrow to users who didn’t meet our minimum salary requirements.
The salary requirement was fine when I was trying to get established and it did set our service above the rest, but now it was time to let everyone in on the fun.
By the end of February, Cupid’s Arrow would be available to everyone, not just the wealthy elite.
It felt right. Like the company was finally becoming what it should have been all along. But it also meant more work, more planning, more everything.
Which is why, at four in the afternoon on Thursday, I was finally making my way back to my actual office to sit down for the first time in days when I was intercepted again.
“Dane! Got a minute?”
I closed my eyes and counted to three before turning to face Lucas, who was standing in the doorway of his office with an expression that told me this was not, in fact, going to take just a minute.
I was fried. I hadn’t seen Ina since the kiss. Well, I’d seen her but we were both pretending the other didn’t exist, which made everything a million times worse. It was an absolute shitshow and I didn’t know how to make any of it better.
“Is this urgent?” I asked.
Ten minutes. That was all I wanted. Ten minutes at my desk with the damn door closed.
“Define urgent.”
“Lucas.”
“Yes, it’s urgent. Come on, it’ll be quick.” He gestured me into his office. I followed with the resignation of a man who knew he wasn’t going to win the fight.
Lucas closed the door behind me, which was my first indication that this was going to be worse than I thought.
“Heidi wanted to be here, but I may have bought lunch for the entire marketing department to keep them occupied for the next hour. I thought this would be better with just you and me.”
“Is this another stunt pitch?” I asked, already feeling my shoulders tense. “Because I am really not in the mood. I said no and I meant it.”
“It’s not a stunt pitch. Well, not exactly.” He pulled up something on his computer and turned the screen to face me. “Have you seen social media lately?”
I shook my head. “I stay away from those viper dens.”
He gestured at his computer.
The screen showed a compilation of posts from all the major platforms, along with a few forums I’d never heard of. All of them talking about me and my “mystery girlfriend.” Along with the posts were photos that had been circulating.
Some of the pictures weren’t even of me.
There were entire threads dedicated to figuring out who she was. Amateur detectives zooming in on grainy photos, trying to identify her from the curve of her cheek or the color of her coat. Fan accounts posting countdown clocks to Valentine’s Day and the commercial reveal.
“It’s a firestorm,” Lucas said. “In the best possible way. Engagement is through the roof. But people are getting impatient. They want more.”
“More what?”
“More of you and Ina. More of the story.” He leaned back in his chair. “The gala tonight. You should take her. It makes sense. It gives people something to talk about.”
“No.”
“Dane, you know it’s working and you know it will feed the fires that guarantee some of us are going to get a nice bonus… right, boss man?”
“I said no. I want to keep Ina out of this from now on. No more public appearances. No more staged dates. She’s done enough.”
Lucas stared at me for too long. “Okay,” he said with a slow nod. “Can I ask you something? As a friend, not as your director of PR?”
I crossed my arms. “Do I have a choice?”
“Not really.” He came back to his desk but didn’t sit, just leaned against it. “Is something going on between you and Ina?”
“That would be against company policy.”
“You wrote the company policy.”
“The board adopted the policy. And both Ina and I would be on the chopping block if we let this thing get carried away.” I stopped myself, realizing I was about to admit more than I should.
“What thing?” Lucas pressed.
“We’ve been walking a very fine line, Lucas. Ina’s my secretary. There are power dynamics at play. If anyone thought for a second that something real was happening between us, it would look bad for everyone involved.”
“But it’s not real,” Lucas said slowly, watching my face. “It was just a PR stunt. A very successful one, but still just business. No harm, no foul. Right?”
The way he said it made it clear he didn’t believe a word of it.
We stared at each other for a long moment.
“Did something happen?” he asked finally.
“Define something.”
“Dane.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Which is answer enough.” Lucas sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Look, I’m not going to push. Whatever is or isn’t happening between you and Ina is your business.
But as your friend—and I am your friend, despite the fact that you pay my salary—I’m going to say this once: if you have feelings for her, figure out what you’re going to do about it.
Because this campaign ends in less than two weeks, and then what?
You two just go back to pretending nothing happened? ”
“That was always the plan.”
“Plans change. People change. And apparently, you change.”
“I haven’t changed.”
He snorted. “Boy, you’ve got stardust in your eyes.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I realized too late my Irish accent came out.
Lucas grinned. “Oh yeah, she’s gotten under your skin. That little brogue never comes out unless you’re flustered. That girl has you all twisted around.”
“Lucas, I appreciate your flair for the dramatic, but I’m too tired. I’m not flustered, I’m exhausted. Even I can admit I’ve been working a lot of hours.”
Lucas leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms with that infuriating smirk still plastered on his face. “You know what the scariest part is?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“You almost seem happy. Like, genuinely happy. It’s terrifying.”
I stared at him. “I’m not unhappy.”
“Dane, I’ve known you for a while now. You’re never happy. You’re satisfied. You’re accomplished. You’re successful. But happy? That’s new. And it’s freaking me out a little.”
“You’re reading too much into this.”
“Am I? Because last week you actually laughed at one of my dad jokes. You never laugh at my jokes. And I think I even caught a smile when I flashed my wings at you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was being polite.”
“You don’t do polite. You do brutally honest.” He looked around the room, even though we were totally alone in his office with the door closed.
“Look, all I’m saying is that whatever is happening with you right now—whether it’s Ina or the campaign or some weird midlife crisis—it looks good on you. Don’t screw it up.”
I rubbed my temples, feeling the tension headache that had been building all day finally settle in behind my eyes. “The gala tonight. Do I actually have to go?”
“Yes. You’re the CEO. It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year. You have to wear the penguin suit and schmooze with donors and pretend you enjoy small talk.”
I groaned. “I hate small talk.”
“I know. It’s painful to watch.” Lucas grinned. “But you’ll look devastatingly handsome for the cameras, so at least there’s that.”
“The show must go on,” I said with a shake of my head.
“No rest for the weary,” he said. “But look on the bright side. You two are almost done strutting your stuff on various red carpets and at charity events. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
“I told you I’m not taking her.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Even though it would be perfect timing? Even though the press would eat it up? Even though you want to spend time with Ina?”
“Lucas. No.”
He sighed dramatically. “Fine. Be stubborn. But when the stock price jumps another five points after Valentine’s Day and we’re all swimming in money, remember that I wanted to take this even further.”
“You have my permission to gloat and tell me you told me so.” I nodded. “Deal?”
My old friend grinned. “Now we’re talking. Deal. Just think about it, okay? Taking Ina would make sense for the narrative we’re trying to establish, and it would give you a reason to see her outside of work before this whole thing ends.”
“I’ll think about it,” I lied.
Lucas gave me a knowing smile. “Sure you will. Oh, and before I forget. Keith’s assistant had something delivered for his Secret Cupid. I need to go distribute it.”
“Don’t bother. Whatever it is, throw it away. I have Ina’s gift covered.”
The smile widened into a full grin. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”
I realized I just confirmed his suspicions and he was not going to let me forget it.
He opened the door and gestured for me to exit first, and there was a glint of mischief in his eyes that made me deeply suspicious. But I didn’t have time to interrogate him about it because the moment I stepped out of his office, I saw her.
Ina was standing near the IT department, talking to two of our senior developers.
She was gesturing animatedly, probably explaining something about scheduling or priorities.
She was wearing a dark blue dress that was pretty basic, but on her it just highlighted her classic beauty.
Her toned legs looked extra-long in the nude heels she wore.
I’d barely seen her all week. A few brief moments in the mornings when I grabbed coffee before my first meeting. A handful of Slack messages about rescheduling things. And casual glimpses from my chair.
But now she was right there. I felt the same pull I’d been fighting since the moment I kissed her in my office.
She looked up, and our eyes met across the open floor plan. For a second, everything else fell away. It was just her and me and the memory of Saturday hanging between us like a live wire. A carousel of fantasies flashed through my mind in vivid color.
Then she broke eye contact and turned back to her conversation, her cheeks slightly flushed.
I forced myself to keep walking toward my office. I had to pretend I wasn’t hyperaware of her presence just thirty feet away. My steps faltered like I had forgotten how to walk. Like the sight of Ina had knocked that ability out of my skull. And what did I normally do with my hands while I walked?
Muscle memory, don’t fail me now.
One look from Ina had scrambled my eggs. The effect she had on me was too powerful. That was why it was better to keep her away from tonight’s gala.
It was the event I’d been dreading for weeks, the one where I’d be paraded around as New York City’s Most Eligible Bachelor. Reporters would ask about my mystery girlfriend and I’d have to smile and deflect and play coy.
Lucas had been correct that I should take Ina. She was who they all wanted to see. It would be one more controlled appearance before the campaign ended. The other women in the room would back off. I wouldn’t be stuck fending off questions or advances all night.
And it would give me an excuse to see her and just be with her.
But I’d promised myself I was going to protect her from extra attention she had never agreed to. Even if it meant going alone. Even if it meant spending the entire evening wishing she was there.
I grabbed my laptop bag and coat, intending to head home early for once to get ready for the gala. Ina was at her desk. I paused, tempted one more time to ask her to join me, but I stopped myself.
“Have a good night,” she said with a polite smile.
“It’s unlikely but I’ll try.”