Chapter 25
Jared took a sip of his coffee and forced himself to swallow. The dark liquid tasted as if it had been brewed a week ago, and it was lukewarm. “You were right to skip the cup of Joe,” he said. “I can’t believe I paid for this.”
“Princesses don’t drink coffee.” Lucy spoke through her smile. She glanced at him every so often, but mostly she smiled and waved at the people walking through the hospital lobby. She’d jumped up three times since they sat. Each time, she tossed her long blond braid carefully over one shoulder.
“Remind me who you are again,” he said.
“I’m Princess Elsa.” She stood and offered him a curtsey. Glancing up from under her lashes, she added, “Not what you had in mind for our coffee date?”
“I wanted to kiss you,” he said. “And I would have chosen a different location. I hate hospital lobbies. Spent too much time here waiting for my mom.”
“Has your mom been ill?” She reclaimed her seat, maintaining her perfect princess smile and posture.
“Overdose,” he murmured. “Twice. First when I was in college. And the second a few years ago.”
“I knew she drank, when we were growing up.”
“Her booze habit led to pills,” he said flatly.
Her smile faltered. “I’m sorry, Jared. I didn’t know.”
“We kept it quiet,” he said with a sigh as he glanced around the lobby. Florescent lights glowed overhead, and the place smelled sterile. Yeah, this was definitely not the romantic coffee date he’d envisioned in the middle of the night—or the conversation. “She’s back in rehab now. We’re trying a different place, out in California. And a much longer stay.”
“I hope it works this time,” she said softly.
“If it doesn’t, we’ll try a different program,” he said firmly. “I have the resources to fight her disease. That’s more than we had before.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” she said softly.
“Miss?” A woman in a pink scrubs appeared at their table. “Um, Ms. Elsa? Cara will be ready for you in a few minutes. They are just bringing her back to her room.”
“Great!” Lucy beamed up at the nurse. “I’ll give her a few minutes to settle in, and then I’ll head back. I remember the way to her room.”
The nurse nodded. Then she glanced at him. Her brow furrowed as if she thought she recognized him, but then she gave her head a little shake and walked away.
Jared set the coffee aside and focused on his date. “A mom hired you to visit her kid in the hospital?”
“Shh.” Princess Elsa pressed her index finger to her lips. “No one pays a princess, and never in hospitals. I met Cara on a pro bono trip a few weeks ago. She’s no longer responding to treatments. Her parents asked if I could stop by to cheer her up. They want to see her smile.”
Jared nodded slowly. “Go. Deliver a piece of magic to Cara. I’ll wait right here.”
She stood and smoothed her gown. “I won’t be long. Her mother said she’s very tired. I don’t want to wear her out.”
He watched her smile and wave as if she were walking in a one-woman parade. Blowing kisses to the children in the lobby, Elsa the Ice Princess slipped through the double doors. He stared down at his paper to-go cup. The lobby felt sad and sterile, like a rehab waiting room.
A place where hope goes to die, he thought.
But not when Lucy filled the lobby with her smile. It was as if she changed the air around him. She made him believe in the impossible—unicorns, fairies, and storybook endings. She left him wanting things that didn’t make sense. His life was built on success. One smart acquisition led to another. Bank accounts grew. Then investors knocked at his door. More money flowed in, and everyone walked away rich. The pattern worked—except when a curveball like a sex tape blew up a deal. And his life was ingrained in that pattern.
But Lucy’s world was a puzzle of hope. The pieces didn’t fit, but she refused to give up.
I don’t know why she tried to find magic in a relationship. She is magical.
He wanted that opened-hearted, caring princess in his life. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he could offer fireworks beyond the bedroom, but he was willing to give it a shot.
“All set,” she announced.
Lucy’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he glanced up. “How is Cara?”
Her smile never faltered, but sadness shimmered in her blue eyes. “Weak, but there is still hope. The doctors are going to try a new drug. And you should have seen her smile when I walked in . . . ” Lucy shook her head. “There is a warrior princess in that little girl just waiting for another chance to fight her disease.”
She closed her eyes for a second as if sending off her wish to the land of fairy tales and happy endings. Then she opened them and looked at him. “But I’m sorry we had to spend our coffee date in a hospital.”
“I’m not.” He stood and held out his arm. “The limo is waiting outside. May I escort you princess?”
She nodded and placed a blue-gloved hand on his forearm. He led her through the lobby, pausing every now and then for her to wave at her admirers. Minutes later, they settled into the back of his limo. “I need to head to the airport, but after that my driver will take you to your next event. How many parties do you have this afternoon?”
“Just one, but it’s a deluxe party with all the extras—crafts, a visit from a fairy.”
“Should I be worried about drunk dad hands?”
She smiled. “Not at this event. The event is for Delaney’s daughter. Probably her last princess party, so we’re going a little overboard, but I doubt there will be a keg. That’s not Delaney’s style. She’ll serve mimosas or a fancy cocktail for her guests.”
He reached across the limo’s rear seat and took her hand. “I look forward to hearing all about it. We’re going to launch this product on Wednesday, and then I’ll fly back.” He reached into his pocket with his free hand and withdrew his cell. Glancing at his calendar, he added, “I need to be in Austin for a meeting on Thursday night, but I could do a lunch on Friday.”
Lucy shook her head. “Jared, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I can’t—”
“Another big weekend of parties?” he asked, still scanning his cell.
“No.”
He lowered his phone and looked at Lucy.
“I couldn’t tell you in the lobby,” she continued. “Not before I saw Cara, but . . . I can’t do this anymore. When I started online dating, I was looking for a relationship.”
Jared turned toward her. He knew what was coming next. . He’d walked into meetings and felt the deal slipping away. He understood hesitation. He could smell fear of the unknown—what would happen if the person on the other side of the negotiation took the leap and sold their business? Should they hold out for a better offer? He knew the ins and outs of this conversation.
“Lucy, I don’t have much experience, but I’m pretty damn sure this is a relationship,” he said firmly. “We can make this work. After Tico launches this product—”
“There will be another company that needs you, and then another acquisition.” She squeezed his hand. “I know how your business works.”
“It’s my fund, I can step back,” he argued.
“Can you?” She cocked her head as the limo merged onto the four-lane road and headed for the airport. “Could you let someone else handle this product launch?”
“Not this one.” The words came out almost like a reflex. “But I built Tico up. It’s the foundation of the fund—”
“The cornerstone of your success,” she said with a soft smile. “You know sometimes I look at you, and I can’t believe that the kid who came to dinner every night because he had next to nothing at home now buys and sells companies. You wield fortunes. I can’t ask you to walk away from all that. It doesn’t make sense.”
He stared at her. The limo verged right, barreling toward the airport’s private jet section. A surge of panic rose up. He wanted to crush it, beat it back with . . . with . . . logic dammit. But she was right. Strip away the success and who was he?
A man who is falling in love with Lucy Linden.
“I can make this work,” he said, clinging to the only argument he had.
The limo pulled to a stop beside his plane. “Maybe you can. Maybe you and Finn can put your heads together and come up with some elaborate plan—”
“Lucy, this is between us. This has nothing to do with your brother.”
She closed her eyes. “You’re right. But you entered the online dating world on a whim.”
“I did it for you,” he growled.
“Which makes this so much harder,” she cried. “How can I walk away from the super-successful man who’s falling for me? You’re everything I want. But I’ve had the full picture before.”
“Lucy—”
“Or at least I thought I did,” she admitted. “I believed in my future, but the entire time it was slipping away from me.”
“I’m not your ex,” he said quietly. And damn if she couldn’t see that by now, they didn’t have a future. “You can trust me.”
“How?” she asked, looking so goddamn mystified. “Trust needs to be reinforced. I want a relationship that is a part of my life every day. I can’t do coffee dates once a week, or sex on the stairs when you have an hour in town. I’m not waiting on the sidelines while slowly, bit by bit, you forget about me. And then one day, it will become easy to walk away, or maybe find someone else.”
He clenched his jaw. The picture she’d painted made sense. He fucking hated the smooth logic.
But that’s not me. I wouldn’t follow that path. I wouldn’t leave Lucy because . . . because I love her.
“You’re wrong,” he said flatly.
“I can’t wait and see.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry, Jared.”
Then she drew back, her sorrowful blue eyes meeting his gaze. He could see past the make-up and the wig. He saw a beautiful, smart, and caring woman.
“I wouldn’t forget about you,” he added. “I love—”
A knock sounded on his window. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Finn through the dark glass.
“Your chariot is waiting for you.” She gave his hand another squeeze. “You belong on that plane, out their conquering the world. And I—” She let out a soft laugh. “I need to play the princess for a little girl’s birthday right now.”
“Lucy,” he growled.
“Go.” She withdrew her hand and waved to the door. “Go back to your world.”
“You are my world.” His tone was deep, low, and solid. And for a second, he saw a question in her eyes. But then it slipped away, replaced by sorrow.
“My world is fairy tales and magic, remember? Impossible things that don’t exist.”
Yes, they do!
He wanted to shout at her. He’d felt the magic when he was with her. He’d watched her transform a hospital lobby—a place linked to sadness, death, and hell, overdoses—into a room filled with possibility. Her world was magical, and he wanted to be a part of it. He needed a little more time to figure out how.
“I hate to interrupt,” Finn called through the tinted glass. “But your pilot is threatening to take off without us.”
“I’ll call you tonight.” Jared reached for the car door.
“You can’t fix this,” she said firmly. “Go. I should have known better than to trust my heart to fairy tales. I recreate them every day, but they aren’t real.”
He climbed out of the limo. She was wrong. He could find a solution to damn near any problem. That’s how he’d come this far. He’d scraped by, discovering the loopholes that no one else spotted.
But that’s business, he thought. This is love.
Rules, logic—none of it applied. Not when it came to winning his princess. What if this time, she was right?
He glanced at the limo speeding away from the runway. He turned and headed for his plane. Finn walked by his side but didn’t say a word.
“Something you want to talk about?” Finn asked once they were on board the plane and buckled into their seats.
“Yeah.” Jared glowered at him. “Your sister just broke my heart.”
Finn glanced out the window. “Did you break hers?” he asked quietly. “Because if she’s crying in your limo right now, you need to fix—”
“I can’t,” Jared snapped. “I listened to her, and I think she’s right. It will never work.”
“You’re giving up on her because she told you to?” Finn glared at him.
“Right now, I need to focus on Tico.” Jared pulled his laptop out of his bag. “I know how to save this launch. But Lucy? I don’t have a clue.”
“Figure it out.” Finn leaned back in his seat. “Before we reach New York.”
“That’s your advice?” Jared glanced out the plane window. The limo sped away from the runway. Out the rear window, he saw a single gloved hand waving to him.
There goes my last hope of kissing Lucy again.
In a few hours, he would land in a world where he couldn’t hold Lucy close, or save her from every other man who wanted a piece of the princess.
“I’m not giving you advice. You’re on your own,” Finn said calmly. “I think you know what Lucy wants a helluva lot better than I do. I wish to see her happy, not crying in a limo.” He raised his hand and signaled to the flight attendant. “Could I have a beer?”
“It’s not even noon yet,” Jared said. “We have work to do.”
“You’re the one who needs to make plans. I want to see Lucy happy,” he repeated. “But I can’t make that happen. Only you can do that.”
Finn accepted a bottle of local Florida lager and offered his thanks to the flight attendant. She turned to Jared. “May I get you anything, Mr. Mitchell?”
Jared shook his head and turned his attention to his computer screen. He logged onto the plane’s Wifi and opened his email. The first message caught his attention. The subject line held a single word: resignation. He double-checked the sender’s email address. He didn’t need to read the rest of the email. The Tico CEO had followed through on his threat to leave the company. The man slated to introduce the new software to the world would not be a part of the company come Wednesday.
I’ll make the presentation, he thought. I’ll launch the product myself.
But the harsh reality felt like a rock pinning him against a wall. How the hell had he come this far only to feel trapped by his own success?
He stared out the window. He knew how he reached this place. One sound choice had led to another. But no matter how many companies he bought or how much he added to The Mitchell Fund’s bottom line, he had never escaped the feeling that the ground might slip out from under him if he didn’t fix every problem that came his way.
Until Lucy.
He wanted to spend forever with her. He wasn’t looking beyond Date One to a full battle plan. He’d already launched the campaign and won the girl. Now he was ready to live in her magical world and love her.
But she’d kicked him out.
I need to go back and fight for her.
“We are next in line for take off,” the captain announced. “Please take your seats.”
No!
His gut clenched as the plane picked up speed. He glanced out the window as they lifted off the ground. For the first time in years, he’d made the wrong choice.
But if he turned the flight around, would she listen?
She will if I deliver magic, fireworks, and happy ever after.
“Put down the beer,” Jared ordered without looking up at his business partner.
“I’m sending you all the information for the launch.”
“I already have most of the materials.” Finn raised his beer to his lips.
“You’ll need everything.” Jared sent the email and looked up at his friend. “You’re going to lead the presentation.”
“What?” Finn bellowed.
“Our CEO resigned,” Jared explained.
“Then you do it,” Finn said. “Tico is your baby.”
“I can’t. I won’t be there. I’m requesting an unplanned stop on the way to New York.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “You’re going back for her.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Jared said softly. “She’s more important than a new software, a new company, and the fund.”
Finn slowly set aside his bottle. “I won’t mess up this launch.”
“There’s very little chance a sex tape will ruin this product,” Jared said dryly. “Hell, it might draw more attention than our marketing group has managed to set up. They’re still convinced the software team won’t be ready by Wednesday.”
“Will they?” Finn asked.
“It’s now your job to make sure they are.”
Finn nodded. “While you’re . . . ?”
“I’m going to prove to Lucy that love doesn’t make sense. It’s magic, fireworks, and passion. Love . . . ” Jared shrugged. “Love defies logic.”
A smug smile spread across Finn’s face. “You have a plan for your magic show?”
“I do.” Jared turned back to his computer screen. He had the beginnings of a plan. But with his resources, and a little help, he could make it work. “But,” he added to Finn, “It’s none of your business.”