Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Kace
After a few hours of waiting at the rental, I lose faith that Loren will show up. Pacing back and forth past his wall of giant sticky pages, I realize how hard this must be for him.
Why he needs so much planning time is beyond me. But the fact that he has never moved forward on a project without wallpapering a room with his thought process, I respect that it is his way.
That’s part of what makes us a great team. We’re like a sailboat. I’m the sail, ready to let the winds carry me on my next adventure. He’s the anchor ensuring we slow down and consider the path.
It all starts to click into place. That's why he runs the charity that helps young entrepreneurs. He spends tons of time with them, gets to know them–vets them.
He only discusses the most viable ones with me. I put money behind them. I help them sail to success. I take the risks.
I can't imagine how it hit him when he realized I fucked Bellamie in a dressing room hours after he won her in the auction. The optics don’t show how I feel about her.
How I felt about her from the start. Fuck, it’s hard for me to believe.
After all of the women I’ve gone on a first date with, what made Bellamie so different?
Is it the same thing that drove Loren to bid on her. That was a risky plan for sure. Or was the sheer thought of losing her enough to force his hand? Was it testament to the effect she has on us?
He's always been protective of her, but if she shuts him out–
Beeping from the front door stops my pacing and thought spiral.
Loren looks ready to fight when he storms inside. “Why won’t you just leave?”
I hold my hands up. “We have to talk about our path forward.”
“You mean your path out this door?” He steps aside and motions behind himself.
“Are you willing to lose her?”
He gives up, looks out the window, shoving his hands in his front pockets.
I keep my tone calm. “I love her.”
“You barely know her.”
“It doesn’t change my feelings. What about you… do you love her?”
“It’s complicated. Our parents are–”
“Don’t blame this on your parents.”
“You’re an ass.”
“Do you love her?” I restate my question slowly.
“Yes.”
Even in the brevity of the answer, I hear the relief that he finally admitted it. That’s my way in.
“If you make her choose, someone’s going to get hurt.”
“If you had stayed away, she wouldn’t have to.”
“Loren, I was going to meet her at some point.”
He shakes his head. “Just like you meet all of your other one-night-stands.”
“That’s not fair.”
Loren scoffs. “What, the truth isn’t fair?”
“No, your assumption of the truth isn’t fair. Have I ever boasted about how many women I’ve dated, or how many notches I have on my bedpost as you’ve assumed?”
“No, but you go on a lot of dates.”
“And just like I always told you, I dropped every one of those women off after dinner because I could tell there was no attraction. Most of them were just after my money.”
“You really dropped them off?”
“Yes.” I move into the living room and take a seat, signaling for him to do the same. “Be honest with me. Why did you wait for the auction? Why didn’t you tell her how you felt sooner?”
“I didn’t know she was in the auction until right before it started.”
So he didn’t plan for the auction, wow. “In that case, I’m grateful you stepped out of your comfort zone and saved the day.”
He furrows his brows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You didn’t have time to plan, just jumped in and kept her from getting won by someone else. Thank you.” I catch his gaze, hoping he can see my sincerity.
He nods and his shoulders relax.
“Can I ask you something else?”
Another nod.
“Why are you so worried about what your parents think?”
He angles his face to look out the window again. His mouth opens a few times but nothing comes out. I turn my attention to the Christmas tree to take pressure off of him. He clearly needs a moment to consider whatever he wants to say.
Santa ornaments give me an idea. I should hand out Krampus ornaments and promote my favorite Christmas entity more. Somehow my naughty list and punishments got absorbed into the jolly guy’s persona.
“My father abandoned me.” Loren gets the revelation out, then pauses. All he’d ever said before was that his father wasn’t in his life and we’d left it at that.
“I’m sorry, Loren.”
He shakes his head. “I always thought I’d done something wrong for him to abandon his son. But Bellamie’s dad took me in like I was his own, despite my worse-than-teenage attitude–and he became the father I never had.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
“He’s the reason I wanted to help young entrepreneurs. Be there for them. Help them find their path. You never know who just needs one person to have faith in them.”
That clicks even more points into place. “That’s why you’re so talented as a mentor.”
“I owe it all to him.”
“Which is why you resisted crossing a line with your stepsister.”
“And now I’ve failed at that.”
“She loves you, Loren.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“I see it in the way she looks at you. And every time she said she didn’t want to talk about you, I sensed she was hiding her reason.”
“That’s quite a leap.”
“That’s my forte. Look, I may not have found out about the auction in time to participate, but I know that she had the right to turn down whoever won her.”
“How did you find out? Weren’t you doing the other festival?”
“Yeah, I was talking to the Santa, who was nowhere near as good as you, and he mentioned saving up money for next year’s auction.
On its own, that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Bellamie had gotten weird about not being able to date and then again about her Friday night thing.
I hoped I was wrong, but I put two and two together and got there as fast as I could. ”
“When we were leaving.” Remorse hangs on Loren’s words.
“Yeah.”
“This is so fucked.” He looks at me as if he wants advice.
“Yeah, but you and Bellamie can't go back from this. You and I can't go back from this. Why don’t we try moving forward together?”
“Because that’s insane. What are we supposed to do, share her?” His mind is probably mapping out schedules and rules.
Mine has sailed away with the obvious scenario. “We already know that the two of us are great together.”
“Not in that way.”
“No, but we could bring our different personalities together, becoming more than just two flawed guys. She can have steadfast security and planning when she needs it, or adventurous freedom when she needs that. Instead of making her choose–punishing her for wanting both of us, why not offer everything?”
“Her father will hate me.”
“He might need time to understand.”
Loren pounds his fist into the arm of the plush chair. “This should never have happened.”
“That's what everyone says when they fall in love at the wrong time or with the wrong person. You can’t control love. You have to trust it.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Chances are, that’s off the table, but we can minimize the chance Bellamie gets hurt.
You and I have worked through really tense negotiations.
We can get through this. And if you let your guard down…
Imagine, the three of us together, one house, one relationship. We can live in our own little world.”
Not knowing if either of us got her pregnant, I hold back on talk of a family.
He walks to his easel and makes a bunch of notes. I should have expected as much.
After a few minutes, he says, “I need to think.”