chapter ELEVEN
It had been a month now and Laney had not heard from Nick. Aside from the check couriered to her home the day of her return, she had neither seen nor heard from him. There was word around the office that he was out of town on business, but she didn"t believe it. Nick was keeping his distance. Whether he was doing it because she had said so or of his own accord she was unsure. The only pleasure she got was watching Mary-Knight deal with her promotion. She"d been in Mary-Knight"s office when she"d received the call from Mr. Sinclair telling her that Laney was now the Co-Vice President of Art Direction and that all accounts were to be split between them. Of course Mary-Knight played nice while on the phone with her boss but afterward she and Laney had a screaming match that would be gossiped about for years. Mary-Knight accused her of pitching ideas to the executive team behind her back and Laney listed the number of times Mary-Knight had proven herself incompetent.
At the end of it, Mary-Knight ignored Laney, refusing to teach her new responsibilities. As a result, Laney had spent the past month working sixty-hour weeks learning the hard way how to do her job. So submerged was she with work that she had barely had time to deal with Rob effectively. Danny had informed her that Rob had been snooping in her home the entire time she was out of town. He had even knocked on Danny"s door demanding information. As a result, Rob was angry with her, making their arguments a balancing act of him begging her to come back and reprimanding her for skipping town.
Her life became a tiresome routine. She went to work an hour early to soak in as much as possible, ate lunch in her office and was among the last to leave for the day. When she arrived home, Danny was waiting for her with a glass of wine and a sympathetic ear. As always, he asked about Nick.
“Did you see him today? Did he call you? Check your answering machine, Laney.”
Her answer would always be the same. “No.” This didn"t deter her nosy neighbor. Danny piled on more questions until he had worked up a romantic theory for Nick"s actions. Laney would pretend not to listen but couldn"t help repeating Danny"s words in her head. At nine o"clock on the dot Rob called and poured out another sob story hoping she would forgive him. His phone calls always began the same way. “Did you like the flowers?”
Laney always responded, “Yes, Rob. Please stop sending them.”
During these times Danny hovered about watching television, pretending not to eavesdrop. As soon as she"d coaxed Rob to hang up the phone, Danny would get the update, replaying the conversation for his enjoyment. Danny did not leave until she was ready to crawl into bed and obsess over Nick. She missed him. She missed talking to him, being near him, sleeping beside him. Life without Nick felt empty and unwelcoming.
Playing the part of his wife for ten days definitely had its withdrawal effects. The tan lines where her rings used to be seemed like they would never fade, reminding her just how scarred Nick had left her. So life continued on for Laney. Work all day, deal with Rob, update Danny, and dream about Nick. It was pathetic she knew, but it was her existence for the time being.
* * * *
Another day at work, and Laney was accepting another bouquet of flowers when her phone beeped. A female voice flowed through. “Ms.
Parks, we are preparing for an executive meeting. Your presence is required.”
“Thank you, Linda.”
Linda Goldman was Nick"s secretary and right-hand woman. She was everyone"s liaison to Nick and no one got close to him without Linda allowing it. Fortunately for Laney, the fifty-something executive assistant liked her. She went out of her way to make sure Laney was aware of important events. As it was, Linda"s main task appeared to be gathering the team for meetings. Laney was used to hearing Linda"s voice calling for meetings. It seemed the executive team she was now a part of had a lot of meetings. They were usually short, thirty minutes at the most, but there seemed to be no limit to their frequency. She picked up her receiver and dialed a number. She dreaded making this call, but it had to be done. The minute she slipped in her resolve, he would think she was warming up to him again.
“Lawson Firm. How may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Mimi. This is Laney. Is Rob available?”
The voice brightened. “Hi, Laney. Hold on one sec, let me get him for you.”
Rob"s deep-timbered voice quickly answered. “Hi, baby, did you get my flowers?”
She massaged her temples. “Rob, how many times do I have to tell you this?
Stop sending me flowers. I"m tired of tipping the delivery boy.”
“It"s cool, baby. I added the gratuity in the bill.”
“Are you listening to me? Stop sending the flowers. I"m just going to throw them in the trash.”
“I don"t believe that. You love flowers.”
“Don"t send any more. I"m not going to tell you this again.”
“That"s what you said yesterday and the day before that, but I"ll make a deal with you. I"ll stop sending the flowers if you have dinner with me.”
“I"m not having dinner with you.”
“Baby, we"ll get through this. Just give me a chance to talk to you.
One hour. That"s all I"m asking.”
“No, Rob. Leave me alone, I mean it.” She slammed down the phone.
The man was going to send her to the loony bin.
Her phone beeped.
“Ms. Parks, are you coming?”
“Sorry, Linda. I"m on my way.”
Laney grabbed her tablet with notes from the last meeting and made her way to the conference room. Hopefully this wouldn"t take long. She had a lot of projects in the works, and since she was learning as she went, it took longer than necessary. She was already adapting to an executive lifestyle. She used to fret that every time she went to the conference room she would be confronted by Nick. As it was, Nick had not been present at any since he was „out of town". She was later informed that he rarely attended any of the meetings. If he was there, it usually meant there was a big problem. That knowledge eased her fears. She wasn"t ready to deal with him at work yet.
Laney was the last to join the team and was therefore the last to be shocked to see Nicolas Sinclair seated at the head of the table. She could hardly believe it. There he was, tanned and gorgeous. She made her way to the last available seat on numb legs. Everyone had pained expressions on their faces, all wondering what the problem was. Linda whispered in Nick"s ear for several minutes before he waved her aside and looked down the table. The women in the room made a soft collective gasp when Nick tugged on his tie with his left hand. They instantly noticed the pale ring mark on his ring finger. Laney slowly slid her hands under the table, lest someone notice she had the same mark.
He took charge of the meeting with great finesse. He addressed open issues and asked for updates on just about every project. Finally he asked for specifics on the Moore account. Mary-Knight quickly announced that Laney was supposed to be handling it. What she failed to mention to the team was that she had never told Laney she was responsible for the account. Laney had not viewed the file since leaving on vacation, so when Nick turned to her wanting an update, Laney had little to say. He made a point to mention that he already knew her information and was looking for a current update. Laney surrendered by saying she would have a full report on his desk this afternoon. Nick stared her down, and then made a note on his tablet. Everyone around the table gave her the look of death and Laney suffered the rest of the meeting in shame.
Before releasing the group Nick turned to Laney. “Ms. Parks, I would like a word with you in my office.”
Laney groaned as the team walked out. Mary-Knight laughed outright as she exited the room. Nick got up and walked to his office, leaving her to figure out that she should follow him. Once in his office, he asked her to close the door. It was a huge paneled room that she had never seen before in the entire three years she had been employed at Sinclair Corp. It was interesting to see where he worked. Sharing a stateroom with him for a couple of days had often made her wonder what his home looked like.
Seeing his office was a small peek into his real life. The richly decorated room with its massive windows was appealing, yet lacked warmth. It was an eerie effect. He did not say anything at first, just looked at her. Finally, he lowered his eyes and sat behind his desk.
“How have you been?” His voice was soft, non-threatening, not like the voice he had used in the conference room.
“I"m fine.” Her voice was clipped.
His blue gaze flicked over her before he turned his attention to his laptop computer. “The Moore account is a serious project. What happened in there?”
“Mary-Knight didn"t tell me ….” She stopped herself from sounding like a child. “I didn"t know I had the Moore account. I"ll work on it immediately.”
He nodded. “I"ll need that report today.”
She nodded her head, hating the thought of being reprimanded by him.
“We haven"t landed the Zelman account yet, but I"m confident that we will. Zelman is just taking his time. Overall, I feel that you fulfilled your part of our agreement. Congratulations on your promotion.” His words sounded devoid of emotion.
“As I said, we have not acquired the Zelman project yet, which is the reason you were promoted as Co-VP of Art Direction. I felt it was fair.” He looked up at her as if to see if she had something to say.
When she remained silent, he continued. “Right now, Zelman is comparing our services against Cooper Wright"s agency. When we finally get the account I"m assigning Mary-Knight to the project.”
Laney had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming. Mary-Knight would only delegate the work to someone else in the group and take credit for it. It was so unfair! As much as she hated the situation she knew why Nick was doing it. The team would have to work closely with Zelman and it was impossible for Laney to show up for a meeting.
Nick went on. “You are under no circumstances allowed to touch the Zelman account. I know this may seem a bit harsh but we both know the reason. However, I would like for you to sit in on the brainstorming sessions. Since you know Zelman personally, you may be able to help steer Mary-Knight"s group in the right direction.”
Great, she thought, I"m still doing her work.
Nick turned back to his computer screen. “That is all. I just wanted to keep you abreast of the situation.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair.”
He looked up at her, his discomfort with her referring to his formal title apparent. He opened his mouth as if to say just that but there was a beep from his phone before his secretary"s voice broke the tense silence.
“Mr. Sinclair, you have Heidi Peterson on line five. She says she"s a close friend of yours.”
Nick stared at the phone and then back at Laney. She met his gaze with icy disgust.
“Thank you, Linda,” he said stiffly. “I"ll take the call.” He looked up at Laney and in a curt tone said, “I"ll be waiting for the Moore report.”
That"s it? He was dismissing her like that?
Laney didn"t give him a chance to rebuff her again. Turning quickly, she spun on her heel and left the room. She would not embarrass herself by crying in front of him. No, she wouldn"t give him the pleasure.
* * * *
Nick watched her leave his office. God, he was tired of watching her walk away from him, it stung just as much as the first time. Laney Parks.
His mysterious muse. A month had passed since she"d shoved her wedding rings into his hand and he still didn"t know what to do with her. It had been hell staying away. Strange how strongly connected he felt to her. In the past, he had slept with many women yet he had always preferred waking to an empty bed. But Laney"s effect on him was bizarre.
After being with the woman nonstop for a few days he found himself reaching for her every night. It was as if his body felt abandoned. He had spent the past few days at the Zelmans" ranch in the Napa Valley. Vivian Zelman had been crushed to see Laney hadn"t accompanied him for the trip. He"d had to make up some lame story about her visiting family. Their infatuation with Laney still awed him, both of them singing her praises nonstop. However, he soon got the shock of his life when Cooper arrived. It was then that William Zelman announced his decision was still undetermined. Neither Nick nor Cooper had been overly happy about it but they dared not complain in Zelman"s presence.
Of course the inevitable happened. While out at a bar having a drink to bury the hatchet, Cooper thought it would be funny to ask Nick for Laney"s number. Nick took the first swing. The fight was quickly broken up but not before both of them got in good punches. Nick hadn"t been in a fight since he was in high school--and over a woman at that! He felt like an idiot knowing Laney didn"t want to have anything to do with him.
Twice he"d tried to talk himself into sleeping with other women to get Laney out of his head but to no avail. Her memory haunted him. If that wasn"t bad enough, he caught himself driving by her apartment late at night just to make sure she was where she should be. After weeks of obeying her
„stay away from me" command, he had decided enough was enough. He was going to see her whether she liked it or not. Attending their team meeting had been a surprise to everyone. He normally stayed away from them because he found the group was more creative and outspoken when he wasn"t there. He could feel their fear when he entered the conference room, but it was all worth it to see Laney walk through the door.
Nick was amazed at how good it felt to see her again. In an instant he fell under her spell and had to force himself to ignore her in order to concentrate on the meeting. He questioned every account until he found one that she was managing. If confronting her about the Moore account was the only way to get her to speak to him, he was willing to humble himself.
He could see the dread on her face when he called her into his office. He allowed himself to take in the sight of her and in an instant knew why he had never noticed her before. Laney dressed very conservatively. Her pinstriped pantsuit was flattering but not eye-catching. She wore her hair pulled back and sported a pair of trendy reading glasses.
Her cute round face was just as striking as ever, but she didn"t stun strangers with her curves as she did in her casual clothing. He rather preferred her like this in public. He didn"t like other men looking at her.
But it wasn"t like his opinion mattered. Where Laney was concerned, he was lower than slime. He was making one mistake after another and fate wasn"t helping. Her loathing for him could not be more evident, she was itching to get away from him and that pissed him off. In the end, he had to let her go. She had clearly made her stance and he wasn"t so pathetic as to try to convince her otherwise.
“Mr. Sinclair, you still have Ms. Peterson holding on line five.”
“Take a message.”
* * * *
Laney had to repeat her story twice before she could convince Danny to go home. He had literally been waiting for weeks for this development in the story. He begged her to tell it once more but she refused, needing to be alone to fully absorb her misery. The sight of Nick had been mindboggling. She"d driven herself sick worrying about him, secretly fearing something terrible had happened to him. There had to be a good reason he hadn"t tried to contact her. The longer he was missing, the more outlandish her worries became, so seeing Nick in perfect health today was a slap in the face.
Aside from the slight bruise under his eye, he looked perfectly healthy and breathtakingly handsome. Before, she had rarely seen him in the office and only from a distance. Seated at the head of the conference table wearing a dark suit, she was painfully aware of how striking he was and how much she missed him. As the meeting progressed, her heart sank.
Nick refused to even acknowledge her. The only time he addressed her was to chastise her about the Moore account. It was a devastating blow. And calling her to his office felt like being sent to the principal"s office.
She had almost hoped he would pull her down on his desk and make love to her, but the distant look in his eyes was distressing. She listened to him inform her that, even though she had been promoted, she would never touch the biggest account at the firm. That crushed her, but it did not compare to the damage done learning that Heidi was calling him. Were they dating? How could he? He promised he wouldn"t touch her. And then to be coldly dismissed by him. There was no warmth in those blue eyes when he looked at her. Was this the same man she had let make love to her? The same man she had shared such romantic days with?
It was a chilling realization to discover she had truly allowed Nick to use her. She had allowed him to use her for sex in exchange for money. He felt nothing for her. Hot tears gathered in her eyes and this time it wasn"t from anger. The upset from Rob had been mainly from the betrayal but the sadness she felt now was unbearable. She was heartbroken. Damn, how did she manage to get herself in these situations?