Chapter 76
Nolan Carrington was known by business competitors and his employees for being extremely intelligent, devilishly handsome and lately, unnervingly even-tempered. He couldn’t help it… Not since Candace left him.
In fact, he so rarely displayed emotion that quite a few rumors—and the occasional bet—had circulated around the office regarding his past, about which no one knew anything. Except that he came from a very rich family. He'd quit his job for a while in the past, and now he was the director of the foundation. Since Nolan had little interest in office gossip and even less in people’s opinion of him, he did nothing to encourage the rumors—but nothing to put them to rest, either.
The fact that the foundation was owned by the security firm didn't help matters. One rumor painted him as a trained assassin. Another as a Black Operative for a secret branch of the military. A third as the billionaire heir to a chain of automotive stores. None of the rumors mentioned a woman in his life. For most people, it was easier to imagine Nolan as a ruthless man than a loving partner.
Which was why, the day Candace McKenna called his secretary asking for an appointment and claiming to be his ex-girlfriend, the rumor mill went into overdrive. By the time Nolan found out about the appointment, there was nothing he could do to stifle the gossip.
By the time Wednesday morning rolled around, the situation was so desperate that before he could even sip his coffee, Derek Messina let himself into his office. Messina Diamonds, one of Carrington Security’s clients, was located in the same building just a few floors up. So while it appeared Derek hadn’t particularly gone out of his way to stop by, it didn’t bode well that he’d taken time out of a workday to do so.
Nolan scowled, trying to send subliminal get-the-hell-outta-my-office signals. Subliminal only because saying it aloud would make him seem way too preoccupied with Candace's impending visit.
Derek was not just a client. He was Nolan's close friend too, and the only person who'd gotten the entire gist of how he'd fallen in love with a woman within two to three weeks. How he'd deluded himself into thinking that she'd give up all her plans to stay in Quinley with him. As well as the embarrassing reality check that had followed. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, not willing to replay the entire thing in his head for the one millionth time. “So I take it, you heard.” He asked,
“About Candace… Is it?”
Nolan frowned. “You know damn well what name it is. And based on how quiet it gets every time I enter a room, it’s all anyone in this office is talking about. You’d think I wouldn’t have to put up with this crap from them.”
It seemed a very bad sign that Derek simply studied him for a while. “Your meeting with her is today, right?”
Since he couldn’t get Derek to take a hint, Nolan leaned back in his chair and nursed his coffee. “In just a few minutes.”
“Do you know what she wants?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“When she’s here?” Nolan asked in disbelief. Derek nodded, seriously.
“No, but I’d really appreciate it if you could pass her a note in biology. Tell her to meet me out behind the gym after band practice.”
Derek gave him a blank look and Nolan sighed. “I’m not fourteen. I don’t need you to hold my hand when I meet her. You know how I feel about the entire…thing,”
“Right,” Derek said. “You don’t want to talk about it. You don’t want to think about it. If I wasn’t such a good friend, you’d shoot me just so there’d be one less person in the world who even knew about it.”
“I believe those were my words.”
They were a little harsh but at the time he’d said them, he and Derek had been very hungover. Too much brandy the night before had been the culprit in both their confessional discussion and their hangovers the next morning. Since they were both wishing they were dead, the threat didn’t seem like such a bad one.
“Is that her out in the waiting room?” Derek now asked.
“I don’t know.” He’d arrived at six this morning. Though he hated the notion that he’d been hiding inside his office ever since, he couldn’t overlook that possibility.
The truth was, he didn’t know how to feel about Candace popping back into his life after almost three months since she ripped his heart out. Hell, he wasn't completely over her yet… Still completely hung up on her so much that he got so angry whenever he thought about her. On one hand, it might be gratifying to have her see exactly how well he’d done for himself since she turned him and his job down and ran off to Rosehill. On the other, every cell in his body recoiled at the thought of her. Of the reminder of what an idiot he’d been.
He’d loved her. Been completely, stupidly devoted to her, and so fast… in the way only the young and naive could be. He would have done anything for her, a woman he'd not known for up to a month. And yet left him…. Broken his heart.
“It might be good to see her,” Derek pointed out. “It might be cathartic.”
What could he say? That he’d rather crawl naked through a pit of scorpions? That he’d rather go through therapy on live TV? That he’d rather parachute into hostile territory? Hell, forget the parachute. He’d just jump out of the plane.
His expression must have spoken volumes because, finally, Derek said, “You know, you could cancel the meeting. You could refuse to see her.”
“No. I can’t. If I did that, everyone in this office would wonder why I canceled. Then there’d be more rumors and speculation. Or, worse, sympathy.”
He could just imagine it now. Some “helpful” person would decide he’d canceled because it had been too hard on him to see his ex. Then he’d have to put up with the cloying compassion. People being nice to him.
He was the boss here, for God’s sake. He stood, tugging at the hem of his suit jacket. “No, the only thing I can do now is just get this over with.”
“What are you going to say to her?”
“Whatever the hell I need to say to get her out of my office and my life as quickly as possible.”