I’ll be fucking damned if I let him see me cry. Hell no.

I simply fold my arms over my chest and wait. And after what feels like forever, Declan simply shakes his head and walks away.

Chapter Seventeen

~Declan~

“So what’s your news?” I ask Beth. She’s sitting across from me at Café Amalie, decked out in a red dress that shows off her curves and her long blond hair. She smiles slyly and leans an elbow on the table.

“We’ll get to that. First, how are you?”

“Great.” I’m short with her on purpose. I don’t want to be here. I want to be with Callie. I haven’t seen her in days.

“Okay, I see how this is going to go,” she says with a sigh. “Look, Dec, I know you weren’t thrilled to be stuck with me when Laura retired and left the firm.”

“I’ve never made that a secret,” I reply, agreeing whole-heartedly.

“I’m a good agent,” she stresses.

“You’re a decent agent, and if I hadn’t been under contract to stay with the firm, I would have left immediately. That contract is up in six months.”

“I know.” She nods and sips her drink. “But I’ve managed to keep you busy with work—”

“I’ve kept me busy with work,” I reply coldly. “You’re too busy trying to get in my pants.”

She blushes and looks at the candle flickering on the table. “Okay, let’s talk about that. Why not me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, Declan, we all know your reputation.” She reaches out to touch me, but I catch her wrist in my fist.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I’ve made it clear that I’d like to sleep with you, and you never once took the bait. Why?”

“Two reasons. Because I’m not stupid enough to mix business with pleasure, Beth, and I’m not attracted to you.”

Shock, dismay, then indignation cross her face, but before she can speak, I continue.

“If you think I’m stupid enough to have a very brief affair with someone I do business with, you don’t know me very well. I am an artist, but I also come from an influential business family, and I’m a smart man, Beth. It’s your job to get me work, not get me off.”

She clears her throat. “I see.”

“Finally.”

“What in the bloody hell?” I glance up and see Kate stomping to our table, her furious face firmly in place.

“Oh, is this the flavor of the week?” Beth asks.

“Shut up,” Kate snaps at her. “I want to speak to you without the bimbo listening in.”

“Hey, who are you calling a bimbo, sister?” Beth demands, ready to go to war.

“Stop.” My voice is firm and clipped. “I’ll be back.”

I stand and escort Kate out of the restaurant and to the sidewalk outside. “What the hell, Kate?”

“Oh no, you don’t get to be mad at me,” she says, shaking her finger at me. “What are you doing out on a date with someone other than Callie?”

“I’m not on a date. Beth is my agent.”

Kate frowns, and then her shoulders deflate as she lets out a sigh. “Oh.”

“It’s okay. Say you’re sorry for biting my head off. Where’s Eli?”

“Eli isn’t here,” she says, worry suddenly settling over her. “I was here with Callie.”

And now dread settles over me. “Oh, God.”

“Yeah, I asked her out to dinner because Eli’s out of town tonight, and we were in the middle of talking about you being an idiot when she glanced over and saw you getting all cozy with Beth the agent.” She props her hands on her hips.

“This is a business meeting, Kate.”

“I know that now, but it didn’t look like that. Let me put it this way: remember when you picked me up to take me to the airport when it was time for me to return to Denver last year?”

“Yeah.”

“And we saw Cindy leaving Eli’s house, and I was devastated because I thought he’d spent the night with her?”

“I hate Cindy,” I mutter.

“Yeah, well, that’s what it looked like to Callie.”

I rub my hand over my mouth, dread settling in my belly. “Look, I have to finish this dinner, but I’ll talk to Callie tonight and clear it up.”

“You’d better,” she says. “And you’d also better explain to her why you’ve been a douche bag lately.”

“I’ve been a douche?” I ask, completely thrown. “I haven’t even seen her in days.”

“Exactly,” she says. “Fix it.” And with that she turns on her heel and walks away. Jesus, what a shit show. Women confuse the hell out of me. How could I have screwed up? I’ve barely spoken to Callie.

I walk back to the table and find a pouting Beth when I get there.

“Jealous?” she asks.

“Cut the bullshit, Beth, and tell me what you need to tell me. I don’t want to be here all night.”

“I’m leaving the firm,” she says, and my heart bursts with joy, but I keep my face and voice passive.

“Good luck to you, but you could have told me this via email. There was no reason to blow my phone up and demand a meeting.”

“Well, I was hoping that once I told you, you’d want to go home with me.”

She leans on the table, showing off her cleavage, and I just stare at her face. “If you don’t have any other business to talk about this evening, I’m leaving. Right now. I’ve told you I’m not interested. I can’t make that any more clear.”