Dylan didn’t respond.
As concern tugged at her heart, Claire hurried over to him and grasped his chin with both hands. His five o’clock shadow scraped her skin, and she rubbed her palms over those bristly dark-blond hairs in a soothing motion.
“Hey, it’s okay,” she murmured. “You know everything he said was out of anger, right? A knee-jerk reaction to seeing…what he saw.”
“I’m not upset about what he said,” Dylan muttered. “I’m upset about who he is.”
The pain in his eyes made her chest ache. “He’s not a bad person, Dylan. He’s just…ignorant. And selfish. But he is capable of love—I know he loves your mom, and I know he loves you. He’ll come around eventually.”
Claire couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. After everything that just happened, she shouldn’t be defending Chris or rationalizing his behavior. She should be suggesting they throw a party to celebrate his departure, maybe pop open a bottle of champagne and propose a freaking toast.
Still, no matter how hurt and angry she was, Chris was still Dylan’s brother. He was family. And if she and Dylan and Aidan were ever to have a real future, she knew they’d have to mend fences with Chris sooner or later.
But it wasn’t going to happen overnight, so when Dylan brushed off her words with an unintelligible mumble, she didn’t push him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight.
And kept holding on until, finally, he lifted his arms and hugged her back.
Claire couldn’t believe how fast the next two weeks flew by. Terrifyingly fast. Heartbreakingly fast. As she parked her rented Toyota in the visitor’s parking lot behind the Savvy Tech building in Oceanside, she couldn’t help but bite her lip in dismay. The only thought that had been running through her mind all day was, now what?
What happened now that the assignment was wrapping up? What happened to her relationship with Dylan and Aidan when she returned to San Francisco?
And it was a relationship. She was no longer fooling herself into believing this was nothing more than a brief fling between three people in lust with each other. She cared deeply for both men, and the mere thought of leaving them made her feel like someone was scraping a dull blade inside her chest and slicing her heart to jagged ribbons.
The last two weeks had been the happiest of her life, filled with endless laughter and lively conversation and wild, passionate sex that left her breathless.
Aidan’s intensity thrilled her; Dylan’s lust for life inspired her.
Aidan’s serious, closed-off nature brought out a nurturing, sensitive side she hadn’t known she’d possessed, while Dylan’s openness and unceasing optimism gave her a sense of soothing comfort she’d never felt before.
How could she ever say goodbye to either one of them?
The sound of a car door slamming jerked her from her thoughts. She glanced over and noticed that a silver Lexus had just parked in the space beside hers. When the driver stepped out, Claire blinked in shock.
She hastily grabbed her laptop case and leather portfolio from the passenger seat and slid out of the car just as her boss approached.
“Barb,” she said uneasily. “What are you doing here?”
Barbara Valentine looked as elegant as always in her tailored black pantsuit and dove-gray Louboutin pumps. Her black hair was twisted in a neat bun, and the string of pearls around her slender neck sparkled in the morning sunshine.
“I thought I’d sit in on your meeting with Sanders,” Barb answered smoothly.
Although unexpected, Barb’s being here was not unusual—Claire’s boss often sat in when her consultants presented their findings to a client. Nevertheless, Claire felt apprehensive about Barb showing up out of the blue.
“Are you prepared for the presentation?” the older woman asked, oblivious to Claire’s growing agitation.
She managed a smile. “Of course.”
“Good. Let’s go inside.”
They walked into the building and informed the lobby receptionist about their meeting with Bryant Sanders. Five minutes later, the two women were being ushered into the conference room where Claire had spent quite a lot of time over the past few weeks.
She was still unsettled by Barb’s presence, but she forced herself to concentrate on her job instead of her nerves, setting up her laptop and loading the PowerPoint presentation she’d slaved over last night.
“Claire, good to see you again.” Savvy Tech’s CEO strode into the room and greeted her with a warm smile. Sanders was a lanky man with a head of salt-and-pepper hair and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses resting on a thin nose, and he’d been incredibly accommodating throughout Claire’s assessment of his company.
They shook hands, and then Sanders turned to Barb. “I’m glad you could join us, Barbara. And I must say, I’ve been very impressed with Claire’s diligent observations and insightful analysis.”