I frown. Elizabeth has the financial backing from her father. “You should know expanding Cupid is new territory for me.” A contract with the town will keep Quadpoint in my corner but I’m not going to begin on a lie.
“But you’ve aligned yourself with someone who knows how to make money.” She patted my hand. “With your natural talent you're well on your way Miss Waters.”
“You’re referring to Nathan.” I shake my head. “He isn’t my business partner.”
She smiled with the patience of a principal. “With the way you two keep stealing glances at each other I would want my professional relationship kept away from town gossip too but it’s my job to know who I’m handing out contracts to.” She leans closer. “Background checks are done on everyone we associate with. It’s not personal, Miss Waters, I simply must protect my husband’s reputation.”
“I have nothing to hide.”
“Not just background checks on you, dear.” She smiles. “Your partners as well.”
I frown. “I don’t understand.”
“The committee knows Nathan owns Quadpoint.”
I stare at her, then toward the spot I last saw Nathan. Her words repeat in my head but grasping their meaning is like holding smoke.No.He knows how important standing on my own two feet is. Proving to myself and the town that I belonged and I wasn’t a shadow behind my mother’s choices or my Grams…
I blink, tearing my gaze away from the room of party goers preparing to ring in Christmas to focus on the woman before me.Nathan is my Angel investor.
“You managed to do what I couldn’t for years, bring Nathan back home since his wife’s passing. Perhaps he’d be open to financing other startups… we have so many young entrepreneurs in need of his charity.”
Charity.
More Pity.
I don’t hear anything else the woman has to say. “Excuse me please.”
Praying I won’t draw attention to myself or eyes filled with pity that says,‘there goes Esther’s granddaughter, she lost her mother, her grandmother and now she’s losing her business to a man that only sees her as a project… a money making project.’ I hurry across the room, making a b-line for the exit. Nausea barrels along my throat but I clamp it down until I’m outside.
I’m such a fool to thrust him with my heart. My business. I’m just an extension of Nathan Dawson, the town’s billionaire. Would the Mayor’s wife give me the contract without Nathan’s backing?Now I’d never know.
I inhale, filling my lungs with fresh air as tears sting my eyes.
As the song changes to, ‘It’s now Christmas’ a jazz number, I slip off my heels and walk along the beach. My toes sink into the cool sand, disappearing for seconds along with everything I believed these past two weeks.
What’s real and fake blends into lies. Jumbled into a ball of pain in my chest.
Scream.That’s what I want to do. Scream loud enough to be heard in the North Pole. But I know I just want to beheard.Seenfor who I am. No one will hear my pain amidst the Christmas carols and celebration. No one will see me amidst the darkness on a deserted beach.
Instead, I fall to my knees and sob.
Merry Christmas, Naomi. Happy Goddamn Holiday.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NATHAN
Two days of torture. That’s how long I haven’t seen Naomi and it’s pure hell. I roughly comb my hands through my hair. I’m used to controlling every aspect of my life. My business.
This helpless not knowing is foreign. Maddening.
I spent the last two days in New York trying to right my mistakes. Mistakes that could cost me everything. My lawyers have reverted complete ownership of Cupid to Naomi, with no obligation for her to repay the investment. With Mason’s help, and endless negotiating, I purchased the storefront and the land it sits on, guaranteeing Naomi never has to ask anyone for anything ever again.
I don’t expect Mr. Cooper to have a job as bank manager much longer — I made sure his days of taking advantage of his position are over. And with the Mayor’s help and the private investigator I hired, I expect Travis and the developer to be held responsible.
Closing my eyes, I fight fatigue and jet lag from pulling me under. It takes all my restraint to not drive to Naomi’s place just to lay eyes on her. Smell her perfume or the herbal shampoo she uses to wash her hair. But seeing her wouldn’t be enough and I won’t pretend I’m the type of man to give into patiently waiting once I cross her threshold.
My instincts are to bury myself at work. Retreat to New York, until Naomi forgives me for strong-arming my way into her life. Except that man who buries himself in work is long gone.
