Chapter 30
“Okay,long story, but in law school, I did a test,” George said. “When I used my real name Georgiana—or Georgie as my family calls me—only a few people wanted to work with me—either other women or fuckboys. But when I was George, I got the achievers. And that’s all I wanted, you know? I wanted to be first in our class, but of course, this guy got it.” She reached behind Lorelei to pat Slick’s shoulder.
“It could’ve gone either way,” he said.
“No.” George shook her head. “You got it because your GPA was higher. Anyhow, I work in a male-driven world, so while people might take a call from George Willet, I’d have to convince them Georgiana’s worth their time.” She lifted a napkin to her mouth. “I’m babbling. Don’t underestimate how big of a Mini Callow I was. By the way, did you come up with that nickname or was it the fans?”
“The fans.” This woman was nice. Friendly. There was no weird vibe. So, why was Lorelei spiraling? She forced herself to sit down, but her body moved like she’d worked out too long and too hard. Everything ached.
“You look beautiful,” Booker whispered, his hand on her knee.
“Wait, so how long have you two known each other?” One of his friends wagged a finger between George and Booker.
“I think this is our fourth lifetime together…is that right?” George asked, laughing.
“Since undergrad,” Slick said.
“Pretty ballsy of you two to leave a top firm like Elite,” one of his childhood friends said. She thought he might be the goalie of the team.
“She’s the one with the balls,” Slick said. “I wouldn’t have left an established agency if she hadn’t pushed me.” He gave Red Lips a warm smile. “Best decision I ever made.”
Okay, what the hell is happening here? He’d only ever talked about George as his partner.
Except yesterday, she’d overheard him say, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Lorelei cut a look to Red Lips. Holy shit.
Her heart pounded, and she could only take shallow breaths.
George smiled, looking a little embarrassed. “Well, trust me, he’s been there for me more times than I can count. Remember junior year when that rugby player cheated on me? I was a hot mess, and I’m telling you, Booker would not let me fail. He came to my dorm room every single day and shoved a protein bar in my hand, dragged me into the shower, and made me go to class.”
“You smelled pretty bad,” he said, and George tossed a roll at him.
Everyone laughed.
But Lorelei was picturing that tiny dorm room. The single bed. Had they slept together?
See, that was the thing about Slick. He put people into categories. She believed him when he said he’d never had a girlfriend, but George might’ve been his friend with benefits.
He certainly didn’t look at George the way he looked at her, and she hadn’t seen him touch George.
He can’t keep his hands off me.
But still, have they been hooking up since undergrad?
That would be close to fifteen years.Panic gripped her chest and squeezed.
You need to stop making things up.
Talk to him.
By the time she’d tuned back into the conversation, the partners were reminiscing.
“I don’t snore,” Slick said.
“Uh, excuse me? Let’s not forget how many times we shared a bed.” George spoke to the others at the table. “First year of law school, my apartment flooded—and I mean, I came home to find a giant hole in my ceiling and two inches of water in my carpet. I had to sleep in his room for six months. Not only did he snore, but he sprawled. Total starfish, am I right?” she asked Lorelei.
What is happening right now?
Is she playing a game of Who Knows Slick Better?
Because she’ll win.
I can’t compete with a woman who’s known him fifteen years.
“And try sleeping with him in a car.” George talked animatedly. She was a storyteller. “We had to get to Syracuse University to talk to this basketball player, and we got caught in a pileup. We didn’t get hit, but we were still trapped for like thirteen hours.”
“It was a rental,” Slick offered, as if that detail mattered.
It didn’t. Fear had taken over her body and held it hostage. It gripped her throat and ransacked her mind. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t see the food on her plate.
“And tiny. Which, trust me, does not work for a sprawler.” George made a show of twisting her body and flailing her arms, making everyone laugh. She was lively and bold and awkward and extremely likable.
Of course, they’ve slept together.
He hadn’t mentioned it because it didn’t matter to him. He liked his partner. They were comfortable with each other. But he didn’t love her.
“Here.” Booker offered Lorelei a piece of his trout. “I caught this one just for you.”
Everyone was watching, so she smiled. “You sure about that? This exact fish is the one you caught?”
“I’d know it anywhere.” He kissed her on the mouth.
Right there. In front of everyone.
He kissed her.
“What is happening right now?” George turned to his friends. “You guys have known him a long time, right?”
“Since kindergarten,” the one with the movie star smile said.
“So, you agree Lorelei’s a witch or something, right? She’s cast a spell over Mr. Hard-Ass over here. I have never seen him like this with anyone.” George smiled. “And trust me, we’ve been through everything together.” George gave her a look that telegraphed, He’s a good guy.
Lorelei needed to get out of there.
She’d gotten so swept away in the romance, in the relief that she’d found Stevie’s father, she’d lost sight of the fact that she didn’t really know him.
They’d had thirty-six hours in the cabin, and four days here.
What in the world are you doing?
It’d be one thing if it were just her. But she had a daughter to think about.
She couldn’t go crashing into a relationship.
She needed time to find out if they were compatible beyond the bedroom. She didn’t even know what life would look like when he was working. Both in the cabin and now, he’d had time off.
But maybe this isn’t about Slick. Maybe it’s about George harboring a crush all these years.
As a sports agent, she was a shark. She knew how to come across as a goofy fan all while letting Lorelei know her place in Slick’s world.
Is she staking a claim?
I’m too frantic. I can’t tell.
“When he moves out here, you’re going to lose your partner in crime,” someone across the table said.
“We’ll still talk every day. Nothing will change.” George gave a reassuring smile.
Nothing will change. It hit like a punch to the stomach.
Slick would be in New York one week out of every month. He’d still travel with George. Would they share a hotel bed? Would they drink a little too much one night, forcing George to crash in his suite?
They’d share dinners and cab rides.
He’d be talking to Lorelei on the phone, and George would whisper in the background, toss one-liners into the conversation. Maybe he’d be in bed, while George was in the bathroom.
It was their habit to hook up when they were together, so why would it change?
After all, George was in a separate category.
Panic clawed at her throat. “Excuse me.” She got up.
“Everything okay?” Booker started to push back his chair.
She set her hand on his shoulder. “Stay. It’s fine. I just left my phone inside, and I want it with me in case Stevie needs me. Be right back.” As she wove her way around the tables, she glanced at Noa to make sure her friend was having fun. She and Ginty were laughing and talking to some guests. Happy, carefree. Wildly in love.
Her friend’s day had gone perfectly. Thank God.
She stepped outside to find the sun had gone down behind the mountain, filling the valley with shadows. Stevie was sleeping at her grandparents’ house tonight, which was good because Lorelei’s brain was revving. She needed to hide out in her room for a few minutes, pull herself together, but she didn’t want Booker to come looking for her.
Where could she go? She thought of her conservatory, but he’d think of that.
The kitchen was a hive of activity as the staff replenished platters of food. And she couldn’t cross it because if Chef saw her, he’d stop and ask her what was wrong. He’d try to fix the problem.
She didn’t even know if she had a problem. She hadn’t picked up a single negative vibe from George. Sure, maybe she was a shark in business, but Lorelei had enough experience with bad people in the music industry that she could recognize phony people.
Pull it together.Before anyone saw her, she headed down the stairs to the basement. The game room was big, and she needed four walls squeezing her in, holding her tightly, so she didn’t spiral out of control.
She slipped into the wine cellar. Perfect. No one would find her there.
Closing her eyes, she tipped her head back against the stone wall and did some slow breathing. It took a moment to notice, but instead of smellinglike cool, dry air in here, she got a whiff of something masculine—soap?
That’s odd.And then, she heard bottles clanking together.
Oh, crap.
Someone’s here.
But before she could sneak back out, she heard a deep, rumbly voice. “Caught you.”
She turned to see the bartender, Jude, holding a case of the special pink champagne they’d bought. He lifted it. “This the shit you want for toasts?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She stepped aside to open the door for him.
“You didn’t even look.” He shook the case, so the bottles rattled. “I could have Coors Light for all you know.”
She cracked a grin. “I’m not sure this crowd would notice.”
“Oh, they’d notice. But it might be better than the pink shit.”
“The pink ‘shit’ is delicious.”
The muscular, tattooed biker made an expression of disgust. “Pink means fruity. Ya ain’t puttin’ fruit in my booze.”
“Fine. Next wedding, I’ll let you serve tequila shots.”
The scruff parted when he grinned. “Now, we’re talkin’.”
“Come on. Let’s get toasting.”
But he didn’t budge. Studying her, he rested the case against the wall. “What did you need down here?”
“I—um…” Her mind went blank.
“Did that motherfucker do something?” His biceps flexed, and his gaze hardened.
“No.” The word shot out of her mouth before she could consider his question. “He didn’t. I just…I met his colleague. All along I’ve assumed George was a man. But she’s a woman. And they’re close. Really close.”
“He fuck her?” Trust Jude to get right to the point.
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him about it yet.”
These guys knew her entire story because she sang about it at their bar. Most times, before her set, she’d chat with them.
“You don’t like the idea of him working with someone he’s fucked?”
She let out a shaky breath. “It’s not the past I care about.” She couldn’t do it. After what Landon and Cissy had done right under her nose, she just couldn’t. “It’s about continuing to work with someone he’s slept with.”
“Seems to me, you got two choices. You either end things now because of something that might happen, or you give it your best shot, knowing your heart’s taken a lickin’ before and you survived.”
“You’re right.”
“Is he worth it?” Jude asked.
“He is, yes. Totally.”
Jude nodded. “Then, don’t condemn him before he does somethin’ wrong. Give him the benefit of the doubt. If he starts throwin’ down red flags, you walk.”
He made it sound so simple. “Thank you.” She got up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good friend.”
He shrugged her off and headed out of the room. “Close the door behind you.”
By the time she got upstairs, Jude was gone. But he’d set her straight.
She had no reason to doubt Slick. He’d been loving and attentive to her and hadn’t shown a hint of anything but affection for his business partner.
Besides, it was time to do the toasts, and she wasn’t going to miss a single moment of her friend’s wedding.
This is Noa’s night.
With a fresh perspective, she stepped out into the cool evening air. She thought about the way he’d mouthed, “Us,” put his hand on her knee, and said, “You look beautiful.”
And the way he’d sat with Stevie in the sandbox. He’d been around his clients’ kids before, but he’d never been a father. For his daughter, he’d jumped right in. That showed his true character. A man who stepped up, not only meeting his responsibility but taking it so much further by jumping into the deep end of fatherhood.
As she neared the barn, she spotted movement in the trees. She knew right away it was George and Slick. They stood close together, her hand on his shoulder, as they had an intense conversation.
Lorelei was thrown back to that night at the music festival when she’d seen Landon and Cissy come out of the woods. The unquestionable intimacy between them. She’d known immediately they were sleeping together.
This time, that wasn’t what she was seeing. She didn’t see sex. She saw a closeness that only came after years of road trips, study sessions, and helping each other through breakups.
It was a connection born out of time and experience. Lorelei didn’t have that with him yet. They’d had fun in the cabin. They’d made a baby together.
But it wasn’t deep. It wasn’t solid.
How could it be? They hadn’t even known each other a full week.
She was sick to her stomach at how selfish she’d been. If she hadn’t met George tonight, Slick would’ve moved in, and they’d have played house. They’d go through all the growing pains of a new relationship in front of their daughter. And if it didn’t work? Stevie would be devastated.
She couldn’t do that to her girl.
“Booker?” someone called. “We’re ready for toasts.”
He had one last heated exchange before heading back into the reception. George was about to follow him when she caught sight of Lorelei.
“Hey.” George came up to her with a sad smile. “I’m sorry about that.”
For what? What did this woman have to be sorry about?
That I caught the two of you touching outside in the dark?
This was why Lorelei lived on this remote ranch. So reality wouldn’t creep in and scrape her raw all over again. “What happened?” she managed to ask.
“I tried. I really did. I know how much he wanted to move out here.”
Wait, he’s not moving here?
Embarrassment had her wanting to run away from this woman who knew more about Slick than she did.
It all just felt so familiar. Landon and Cissy sneaking around, sharing intimacies, lying to her face.
The secret smiles, the hushed whispers. Tonight, Booker had confided in his partner before sharing the bad news with Lorelei.
“My partners won’t agree to change the contract, and they won’t demote him to associate. They say if they do, it’ll be the end of our agency. We’re not established well enough yet to let these kinds of life changes pull us away from what we’re building. I’m sorry.”
So, he’s not moving out here. She felt like such a fool. “It’s fine. It wasn’t realistic anyhow.”
George’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?”
“We had a good time in the cabin, and now, we’ve got a child together. We got carried away. I wanted Stevie to have a dad, so when Booker showed up in my life, it was like a dream come true. But his life is in New York. He can’t have a sports agency in Calamity.” She gestured around her. “On campgrounds miles away from town.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Booker charged over to them.
“I’ll, uh…” George gave him an apologetic look. “I’ll let you two talk.”
Booker reached her with a wild, bristling energy. For a man who only let go of control under the covers, this was way out of character. “We had a ‘good time’ together? We got ‘carried away?’”
“Be quiet.” She led him farther from the barn.
“Where the fuck did you ever get the idea that we’re having a ‘good time?’ I’m backing away from my career for you. I’m changing my life. I’m not doing that for a ‘good time.’”
“I know, but we got swept away. Listening to George’s stories, watching you talk to her just now—she has fifteen years with you. I have a total of six days. It’s ridiculous to think we could just fall into a relationship.”
“I don’t need seven days or seven years to know you’re the one. I knew in twelve hours. Are you telling me you don’t feel that? Dammit.” He tipped his head back. “Forget it. If George’s stories could make you question what we have, then I have my answer.”
She couldn’t think. Her mind was racing.
He waited but when she didn’t say anything, he jammed his hands in the pockets of his dress slacks. “So, let’s get clear on this. You’re okay with me going back to New York? Did I hear that right?”
“Yes. I have to be.”
His eyes were fiery, his neck muscles corded, and she’d never seen him wound so tightly. “You were with your shitbag ex for twelve years. Does that mean you knew him better than you know me?”
“I mean, of course.”
“He fucking cheated on you right under your nose. How well did you know him?”
“God, stop. I’m confused. I thought George was a man. Why didn’t you tell me she’s a gorgeous woman?”
“Because I don’t see her as a gorgeous woman. Do you see your brother as a hot man?”
“No, but you can’t tell me you never slept with her. You were eighteen when you met. You’ve slept in the same bed. Isn’t that what you do? Hook up?”
The fire petered out. His shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
Now, she grew scared. “Okay, what?”
“We’re nothing but two people who fucked during a blizzard.”
“And made a child together.” There, that was what she needed to focus on. That was the part that mattered. “We can’t rush into anything—and you can’t deny that’s what we’re doing.” It’s been four days. “We told Stevie you’re her dad. We thought you were going to move here and open an office, but George just said that’s not going to happen. Which means you’re going back to your busy life.”
“Sure. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. We’re moving too fast.” He turned away from her, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I was ready to give up my career—while I wait for you to catch up.” He gave a bitter laugh. “But don’t worry. This one’s on me. I saw the signs, and I ignored them.” He started backing away. “My bad.”
“What signs?”
He shrugged like it didn’t matter and started for the barn.
Frantic, she ran in front of him. “What signs?”
“You were never as into this as I was. It’s okay. I’ll spend time with Stevie before the brunch tomorrow, and then I’ll head out.”
“I didn’t say we had to break up. I’m not breaking up. All I’m asking for is time.”
“Sure. You got it. You’ve got all the time in the world.” He walked away.
And got swallowed up in the brightly lit barn with the happy, shiny guests.
Leaving Lorelei frozen with fear.
Too numb to feel anything, she followed him inside to make her toast.
But in the back of her mind, a refrain played on repeat.
What just happened?
What have I done?
Have I just lost the only man I’ve ever really and truly loved?