Driven to Temptation, page 15
“You were clueless. Showing up to interviews in shorts and a dirty T-shirt.”
“The shirt was clean. It was just stained. But the point is, wasn’t that all you were doing with Delaney? Showing her how to present herself? Really, you were doing her a favor. Same as what you’d done with me.”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, felt lost as he continued to survey the room. Grant had a point. Still…
If she’d just hung around, they could’ve hashed through this.
Wait.
She was a fighter; she didn’t run. Why was she running now? More importantly, where was she running to?
I’d rather be caught dead than weak.
Her words echoed through his brain, sent shock waves following it. Who knew what lengths she’d go through to not show any weakness.
He pulled the suit out of the closet and turned toward the room.
Delaney was right. He needed a partner. In every sense of the word. He only hoped she would believe him.
“Grant, I gotta go.”
“Now that sounds more like you. Go get her.”
Aidan held up the pantsuit. “That’s the plan, bro. That’s the plan.”
And if getting her back involved methods that were out of the ordinary, he’d do it.
…
Delaney pulled her windbreaker tighter around her as she sat on a boulder along the trail that led to the far side of Chinaman Hat. It was one of the few places in the area where she could get a strong internet connection.
Professor Keith’s conversation, and her advice, were exactly what she’d needed to hear. It was about time Delaney took full control, full charge, of her life. And owned it.
“What did you say?” her father asked.
She kept her features firm as she stared at the tablet’s screen. Her parents were sharp. They’d notice any change in her.
Screw it. Let them see. “I messed everything up with Aidan, so I’m leaving Ross and Associates.”
Beside him, her mother let out a long sigh. “It’s about time, Delaney. We told you the engineering world was tough, that it wasn’t for you. I’m glad you’ve finally seen sense and are coming home. Now, my friend Ashley has a son who’s—”
Thankfully she stopped the eye roll in time.
“I never said I was coming home,” she answered firmly. “I said I was leaving. But I’m leaving to start my own company.”
Her father’s gaze narrowed. “And you want us to finance it.”
This time, she allowed her smile to widen. “No, sir. I have the funds.”
“You have the funds?” her father echoed.
“That’s correct.” After all, she’d spent very little of her earnings over the past couple of years, banking every nickel she could. “I have the funds to start this company. And I’m going to do it.”
“Back up. How, exactly, did you mess up with Aidan Ross?”
She swallowed past a nervous laugh. “Dad, in this case, I promise you don’t want to know anything other than I’m going to make it right again.”
“What kind of company do you plan to start?” he asked.
“I wrote a software program for Ross and Associates that’ll help the company’s clients visualize the completion of a project. I can write other software programs for different companies, maybe even keep a database that subscribers can access for different construction scenarios.”
Excitement bubbled up inside her, one that almost rivaled getting the job with Ross and Associates in the first place. She’d had a lot of time to think about this move on her drive down from Seattle. Her plan would work. She knew it would.
“Now, honey, there’s probably a non-compete clause somewhere in your contract,” her father insisted.
“I’m sure there is, Dad, but not as a software engineer. Plus, by partnering with Ross and Associates, I can take them to a whole new level on the software engineering side.”
“What makes you think it’ll be a success? What makes you think you can make it happen?”
Leave it to her mother to ask the practical questions.
“I nailed the Pierce Engineering account for the company. They’d tried for a couple of years and couldn’t make it happen. But today, I nailed it.”
Was she imagining things, or was that a smile on her father’s face? “You landed the biggest account they couldn’t?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re a rainmaker,” he said slowly, his green eyes lighting up with pride. “You can grab up accounts.”
“That’s also right.” She grinned. And now she had the outfit to do it in. Too bad she’d left it behind, but she’d get it back as soon as Aidan showed up.
And, yeah, she knew he’d be here in a few hours. She just had to wait him out.
“I’m very proud of you.” Her father’s smile broadened. “You’re going to be okay.”
Now her mother smiled. “Yes, you will. I can see it on your face. You really are an incredible young lady. I’m very proud of you, too.”
Delaney blinked. “You are?”
“Of course. I had no idea you’d accomplished so much.”
“You mean graduating in the top ten percent out of college wasn’t a clue?”
“Oh, I knew you were smart enough to do that. But you were also stubborn enough to do it just to prove a point. And you never shared any of your accomplishments, either. You just kept insisting you weren’t going to settle down and get married.”
Delaney alternated her gaze between her parents. Had she really been that defensive all these years?
“And we worried about you, honey,” her father added.
Then the truth stared at her like a blinking cursor on a computer screen. Shutting out her parents was a defensive strategy on her part, and only encouraged them to continue to try to get her to move back and settle down. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
“We’re your parents. Of course we’d worry.” Her mother’s features softened. “You care about Aidan, don’t you?”
Awkward.
“Ummm…” What the hell? They were, after all, her parents. “I do.” And the fact that she would no longer be an employee at Ross and Associates meant she and Aidan might have a shot together.
“You really want the career, too?”
“Yes,” she answered firmly. “I doubt that will ever change.”
“Then go for it.”
Wait. What? Was that pride in the older woman’s voice?
Her mother clearly read the confusion on her face. “You go after him, Delaney,” she said. “Because it’s clear you can have both.”
Well… This was, admittedly, the last thing Delaney expected to hear today.
“Thanks, Mom. I will.”
Her father hugged her mom close, then looked at Delaney. “All we want is for you to be okay and have a good life. We probably pushed you too far the wrong way, and we’re sorry for that.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She fought back the well of emotion that threatened to clog her throat.
“You might’ve messed up some, but you’re going to be fine,” her mother added. She smiled encouragingly. “Better than fine.”
Yeah, she would. Delaney knew it—felt it—deep inside her soul. No matter what, she’d be fine.
She ended the conversation and gazed up at the peak of Chinaman Hat. She’d been here a while, walking the short trail to the base of the mountain, trying to sort things out. Everything was falling into place. She’d made peace with her past, and her future looked pretty great, too. She smiled as the realization struck her. In a couple hours, Aidan would show up. Neither one of them might’ve wanted to admit it, but there was some sort of a connection between them. One she knew he wouldn’t ignore.
She just hoped she’d brought enough snacks to wait him out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aidan dug into the emergency tote bin he kept in the bed of his truck. He had a box of matches somewhere back here.
He searched past the bags of trail mix and bottles of water. Army training had taught him to be prepared, and while he hadn’t had to use any of the emergency stash he carried with him, this definitely constituted an emergency.
There. He grabbed up the matches and pocketed them before shoving the tote back and slamming the truck bed cover shut.
He looked around the parking lot and the smattering of vehicles as he headed toward the fire pit. Where was she?
He was so sure Delaney would be at Chinaman Hat, sure he’d find her and they could talk things out. But in the hour since he’d arrived, she hadn’t shown. It was a pretty fair bet that anyone here was making the climb, but she wouldn’t be one of them. At least, he hoped not.
He stopped at the observation deck, by the materials he’d left a moment ago, and gazed into the shallow fire pit. He knelt, arranged the kindling and firewood he’d gathered. This might be a dumb idea, but he didn’t care. If an offering was required to get Delaney back, he’d do it. A thousand times over, he’d do it.
The kindling lit, flames licking up its sides and through the stack to the firewood arranged on top. He took a deep breath, faced Chinaman Hat, and spoke. “Yang-Sing. Legend has it you will grant what’s in a man’s innermost heart.” He reached for Delaney’s pantsuit in a heap beside him, and ignored the part of his brain that told him it was stupid. Instead, Aidan clutched the outfit and continued. “I’m looking for someone. A young lady.” He searched his memory. What would she be wearing? He didn’t have a clue. Did it matter? “She has the most gorgeous red hair, with a personality to match. She can’t seem to sit still and probably has a bag of corn chips with her. Or cookies. Double chocolate chip. Her favorite.”
Behind him someone giggled. “Mommy, why’s that man talking to himself?”
“Never mind,” a woman’s voice said.
Aidan took another breath. “She loves Gatorade and lost dogs and fun. And I’m hoping to God she’ll have me back.” He closed his eyes, willed every ounce of feeling into his next words. “She means everything to me. I need her back.”
“Gatorade?”
He turned. Another young kid stood behind him, his eyes wide.
“Did you say Gatorade?” the kid asked.
“Gatorade. Did you see a lady with red hair and Gatorade?” As he waited for an answer, he heard his heart pound, felt the thumping like it’d spring out of his chest. The way hope now did.
The kid smiled, a row of upper teeth missing. “Nope,” he said. “I just like Gatorade.”
Aidan’s smile faded as dejection stabbed him long and slow and deep. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she wasn’t here, maybe his gut was way off base on this one.
“Sorry, mister.”
Aidan stood as the kid skipped away. So much for that. He turned so that he faced Chinaman Hat again. “Please,” he whispered, dropping the pantsuit into the flames. “Let me find her. Let me make it right.”
The wind whipped up again, but he barely heard it, barely felt it. Instead, he closed his eyes and willed every ounce of his being into Delaney, into finding where she might be at this very—
“Aidan?”
He froze, sure he heard her voice carried on the breeze. He forced himself to relax, forced himself to stand still and listen for the voice again.
“Aidan! What the hell are you doing?”
He opened his eyes and spun around.
Delaney raced forward, her green eyes wide and a look of disbelief on her face.
He blinked.
Holy shit.
It worked. It really worked.
“Aidan!” She stopped next to him and stared at the fire. “Why the hell did you do that? I needed that suit!”
“It was an offering,” he sputtered.
She stared at him. “An offering? An offering?” Her eyes widened. “I needed that suit,” she repeated. “And now it’s ruined.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “Unbelievable,” she muttered.
He glanced at the fire, at the flames that now engulfed the gray fabric. Yep, it was pretty much a goner. And it was worth it to have her standing here next to him.
He faced her fully. “Wait. You care about clothes when we’ve got bigger issues to get through? Why?”
She stared at him as he gently reached out and pried the bag of potato chips out of her hands. “Aunt Molly’s.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a couple, then shoved them in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the crunchy, salty barbecue taste while saying good-bye to the past.
Her face crumpled. “You just burned my suit and all you care about are the damned chips? Did you forget what you spent on it?”
“Nope.” He kept grinning. Couldn’t stop it if he tried. “I’ll buy you a closet full of suits.”
“I don’t need a closet full of suits.” She blew out a deep breath. “I needed that suit. It’s my lucky suit.”
She brushed her hands on her yoga pants. “How’d you get here so fast, anyway? The conference isn’t over until later tonight. Although I suppose you could always turn around and go back.”
He shook his head. “I’m not headed back.”
“But what about the presentation materials? The easels, the poster boards? There’s no way you could’ve loaded all that stuff up so fast.”
“It’s all still there. I’ve arranged for the hotel to pack it up and mail it to the office. Should be there by Monday.”
He saw the moment the words sank in, saw the way her frown lifted into understanding. “You did that? It’ll cost you a fortune in shipping fees alone. Not to mention the arm and leg the hotel will charge you to tear down the booth.”
“I know.” He grinned. “Money well spent.”
“Are you crazy?” She propped a hand on her hip in an adorable stance as she leaned toward him, looking from side to side. “Have you forgotten the price on the condom?” she whispered.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?” Was her voice softer or had he imagined it?
“No, it doesn’t,” he said, taking a step toward her. “There’s more to life than taking the careful route through it, more to living than calculating, analyzing, and never getting too invested.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms underneath her breasts. “Go on.”
He took a deep breath. It was time he followed his gut in this, too, time to take the chance he knew he had to take—or spend the rest of his life in regret. “Life is about opening up your heart, letting all the parts of it in and really experiencing it. Not planning every second so the joy of living gets lost in all the minutiae.”
“Oh.”
He knew he’d quoted her almost word for word. That had to mean something to her, right? He plunged ahead. “I’m so sorry about the whole suit thing. You were right. I had looked at it as a strategic move. I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. I didn’t take you into consideration. You deserve better than that. Please forgive me?”
Without hesitation, she smiled. “Of course. And I’m sorry I called you an unfeeling bastard, then walked away from you. That was wrong.”
He frowned. “You didn’t call me that.”
“No, but I was thinking it.”
“The thing is,” he started, “I know there’s still lots more for me to learn. Except, I don’t have a teacher.”
Her face fell, and she hung her head and shook it gently from side to side.
Uh-oh. That clearly wasn’t the right thing to say.
When she raised her head and met his gaze again, there was no way he could miss the sadness stamped there. “Is that what you’re proposing?” Her voice was soft, with the kind of hitch that tugged at his heart. “Private lessons or something? You’re nuts.”
“Yes, I’m nuts,” he agreed, his voice low. “I’m nuts about you. About us. Together.”
Something sparked in her eyes that reached out to him, tugged him even closer.
“That was the perfect thing to say.” This time her smile bloomed. She reached into the bag he held and pulled out a chip. “Because if you really mean that, then I still quit.” She popped a chip in her mouth and chewed, her gaze still pinned to his.
“What?” Alarm shot through him, ricocheted off the walls of his heart. “Why?”
“Because I’m starting my own company.” She placed a finger over his mouth when he started to say something. “Let me finish. You were onto something the other day, when I showed you the program I’d written for Ross and Associates. So I’m taking your advice. I’m starting a computer software company that specializes in building construction-engineering models. And I plan to sign Ross and Associates up as my first client.” She moved her finger aside. “Thoughts?”
“That means we won’t be working together.” He grinned slowly as realization smacked him upside the head.
“Which means we can actually be together. Maybe see where this thing with us might go.” Her face fell as she switched her gaze to the fire. “Only now I don’t have a pantsuit.”
Yeah… Okay…
“I’ll bite,” he said. “What does any of this have to do with the pantsuit?”
“That was more than a power suit. You were there, Aidan. Not just when I tried it on, but when I gave my presentation, too. With that suit I figured it was like you’d be with me when I meet potential clients, show them what I can do to help their businesses be successful. Only now—”
“I’ll buy you another one.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll buy myself one.”
“Are you kidding me? It worked, didn’t it?”
“What worked?”
“The offering. All I wanted was to find you again, and I was willing to do anything to bring you back to me.”
She shook her head, brushed her bangs back, a slight smile on her face. “By-the-book Aidan Ross burned a very expensive suit. I have to admit, it wasn’t what I expected.”
“I wanted you back,” he said simply. He hesitated. Should he tell her more? So far, all his explanations had backfired. What if this one did, too? But if he didn’t tell her, he ran the risk of losing out on one of the best things that’d ever happened to him.
