22. James
JAMES
James stared at the closed elevator doors in disbelief. How could Lauren have blown up everything they’d built because of a few emails? Even when James had assured her that he’d never have tried to steal her clients?
Because he hadn’t. He hadn’t touched her clients.
In fact, he’d struggled to focus on any work in the weeks since returning to San Valentino.
He barely had the energy to keep up current contracts, much less poach hers.
Instead, he’d spent far too much time thinking about Lauren, missing her, wondering if there was a chance she felt something for him, too, even though she hadn’t wanted to be together.
And she did. She’d said herself that she was falling for him, which had made James’s heart lift with joy — before he realized that it wasn’t enough.
He cared for Lauren, and she cared for him, but even that wasn’t enough for her to trust him.
At the first sign of trouble, she’d accused him of hurting her, which he never would have done.
James took a deep breath and let it out.
Since Lauren couldn’t trust him, it might still be too late to salvage his friendship with her.
And too late to act on the feelings he’d been trying to suppress since he’d met her.
But at the very least, he could prove that he’d never hurt her on purpose.
Taking a few deep breaths, James went to his computer and set up a meeting with his highest-level sales staff for the following day.
He’d get to the bottom of this and prove to Lauren that she was wrong.
And then, hopefully, she’d see that she’d overreacted and come back. Then, finally, they could talk things through.
The next morning, James was in early. He tried to get work done before the meeting, though he found himself thinking about Lauren again.
She was probably back in her own apartment, which he’d never seen.
Hopefully, she just needed a little time to cool down, and once James reached out to explain what had happened and that he hadn’t done anything wrong, it would all be all right.
There was no way she’d end their marriage.
Lauren needed the green card, and her reputation relied on this as much as his did.
And she’d said herself that she was falling for him, even though she hadn’t wanted to admit that.
Even if she was still furious with him (which she shouldn’t be after James explained that he’d never stolen her clients), she’d come back so they could work things out.
They’d gotten married as rivals, after all.
She couldn’t hate him more now than she had then.
Despite himself, he thought of their time at Floriela, too.
It had been the most magical week of his life, and he could never regret the nights they’d spent in each other’s arms. Laughing, talking, and being with Lauren made James feel alive in a way work never did.
Compared to that, being at the office felt hollow.
Being home felt hollow. In fact, everything felt like paper cutouts of what it had been without her around.
Finally, it was time for the meeting. He entered the boardroom he’d booked and sat down across from the heads of his sales team, Maeve and Elora.
“Good morning,” James said, smiling at them both. “I’ll get right to business. I’ve heard that clients of Sunflower PR, Lauren Maddox’s company, have been getting emails and calls asking them to switch to Pembrook PR and offering perks and financial rewards. Is that true?”
“Of course,” Maeve said. Her brows were drawn together, and she looked confused.
“Of course?” James’s brows shot up. “What do you mean? I never authorized this.”
“You did,” Elora said, rather apologetically. She adjusted her glasses. “See, your Iron Fist policy means that we pursue all clients whose contracts with other PR companies are about to expire.”
James’s eyes widened as his stomach dropped. Still, he shook his head. “No, it doesn’t make sense. Why are all of Lauren’s clients being targeted now?”
“She had a large number of five-year contracts she established when she first started the company about five years ago,” Maeve explained. “Those contracts are expiring now.”
“Iron Fist is very clear,” Elora added. “You made the policy yourself to crush competition, and it’s meant a large number of clients successfully poached over the years.
I’m sorry if we did something you didn’t want, but you’ve always emphasized that we need to be the best, steal clients, and even put other companies out of business if possible. That’s what we were doing now.”
James felt sick to his stomach. Elora and Maeve were right.
The Iron Fist policy, which James had created (and named) as a young CEO to keep his father happy, did mean that lots of clients were poached from other companies.
He’d always stood by it. Now, though, he realized his mistake.
No wonder Lauren had thought there was some kind of coordinated attack against her.
There had been; he just hadn’t known about it.
But Lauren must have thought he’d done this on purpose.
It made sense why she’d been so upset.
“Thank you for explaining,” James said tightly. “Stop pursuing Lauren’s clients. Reach out to any clients we successfully poached from her and explain that the deal is off and that they should return to Lauren.”
“But Mr. Pembrook—” Elora protested, but James shook his head.
“I know it’ll mean a loss for us, and a hit to our reputation. But no one steals Lauren’s clients anymore, policy or no. Understood?”
Elora and Maeve nodded.
“Beyond that, I want to put Iron Fist and all similar policies under review. Please have your teams look through these policies and be ready to discuss them, and likely phase them out, in a few weeks. We don’t want to be that kind of company anymore.” James stood. “Thank you.”
As he returned to his office, James’s head was spinning.
He couldn’t believe he’d given Lauren a reason not to trust him.
Now, there was almost no chance she would again.
She’d never believe that James hadn’t known about the policy.
Especially since he’d invented it himself. This shouldn’t have been a surprise.
James sat in his desk chair and dialed Lauren’s number. She didn’t pick up, so he left a message.
“Lauren, I need to apologize,” he said over the phone, wishing she was there with him so he could take her hand and look into her eyes.
“It wasn’t me who targeted your clients, but it was my fault.
I’m so sorry. I’ve undone the policy that allowed your clients to be poached, and it won’t continue to happen. Please, call me back. We should talk.”
He hung up and set his phone down on the desk.
He wasn’t sure what else to do. Surely, though, Lauren would hear the message and agree to talk to him again.
Then, James could explain again that he’d made a mistake – not just with the clients, but with her.
He wanted to be together. He wanted to prove to her that she could trust him.
He never should have agreed that what happened in Mexico shouldn’t happen again.
He was falling for her, just as much as she was falling for him.
James remembered the way Lauren had kissed him back at the resort.
Even if she was angry, she cared about him, too, and he remembered the way she’d blurted out that she had feelings for him.
With a little time, they could be friends again — maybe more.
He could earn back her trust. Or, at the very least, he could try. He had to.
Without Lauren, James’s life felt empty.
He had his work, but nothing else. With her, sharing meals, walking on the beach, lying back on the bed with her blue eyes bright and full of warmth, everything had been brighter.
Even if she didn’t want to be together anymore, he needed her to know that he cared about her, that he’d never wanted to hurt her, that he never would again.
James had decided not to be like his father by focusing on work and nothing else.
But maybe the better way not to be like his father was to prioritize the people he loved, even when it was hard.
Because he loved Lauren. He hadn’t wanted to admit it, but he’d loved her from the night in Floriela when he’d kissed her and taken her to bed.
Or maybe from the time he’d seen her at their wedding, looking brave and beautiful. Or maybe even before that.
Now, he just had to hope that Lauren would reach out.
Sooner or later, she’d come back, and he could explain, and all would be well.
She was a rational person, after all. She had to understand that going back to Canada and ending their marriage, such as it was, would be a mistake.
And hopefully, she still cared about him enough to want to give this a try.