Chapter 83

“Home,” he said simply, sweeping his jacket up and draping it over his arm. “I suddenly feel like I need a hot shower.”

Watching him leave, her mind reeled. Perversely, only one coherent thought emerged from the chaos of her mind. “What about the money?” she asked.

He turned back, almost to the door. “That’s right. This was supposed to be about money, wasn’t it?” He looked her coolly up and down. “You haven’t earned it.”

Candace recoiled as if slapped, but she snapped back quickly. “No. You’re the one walking out. That means you’re breaking our bargain. Not me.”

He heard distress in her voice. Any savvy businessman knew to take advantage of that kind of desperation. Maybe she hoped he was too dense to hear it. Dense seemed to be his specialty these days.

Lucky for her, he wasn’t in the mood to take advantage of her right now. He was far too disconcerted by his own display of weakness for that. Truth was, he had to get out of here before he did something really stupid, like beg her for forgiveness. It was one thing to admit to himself that he was acting like a total ass. Another thing entirely to admit it to anyone else. Let alone Candace.

She grabbed his arm just as he reached for the door. “There’s got to be another way. You promised.” Her tone was pleading, but it was her eyes— large and luminous—that really got to him.

What about the promises you made to me? he wanted to ask. She'd told him that she loved him. Yeah. That’d make him seem tough.

Instead, he looked her up and down. “That was when I thought you might be worthy fifty thousand dollars. I’ve changed my mind.”

The image of her shocked face, of the tears pooling in her eyes, stayed with him all the way back to his home. He feared it would be with him far longer. Because back at home, stretched out on his sleek leather sofa, staring mindlessly at whatever was playing, all he could think about was Candace.

He was haunted by what it had been like to kiss her again. In his arms, she hadn’t felt like a conniving little tramp. She’d felt like the woman he loved. What if he was wrong about her?

Ever since she’d walked back into his life, he’d been doing his damnedest to push her out again. He’d been insulting and rude and she just kept coming back for more. This had to stop. Frankly, he couldn’t take much more of this. He was entirely too vulnerable to her. It would be bad enough if all he wanted was to sleep with her. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. He wanted to protect her. To sweep her away from the tawdriness of her everyday life. To whisk her away to some pristine suburban tract house… So that she could be with him. Together. This was bad.

He had to get her out of his life for good. And if that meant writing her a check for fifty grand, then so be it. He couldn’t risk the possibility that she would come ask him for the money again. God only knew what he’d do the next time.

—------------

“So how did it go with Nolan yesterday?” Michelle asked the next day after Candace could finally bring herself to come out of her room after her talk with Nolan the previous day.

“Not good I'm afraid,” Candace replied. She looked at Andrew, who couldn't help the disappointment that showed on his face, although he tried to cover it up almost immediately, “But don't worry,” she told him, “We'll figure something out,”

Andrew squeezed her hand affectionately, “It's alright,” he said. “You have done more than enough for me and I'm truly grateful. We will keep trying,”

“Still a good thing that you are going to the party tonight so you can have another opportunity to talk to him,” Michelle cut in.

“About that…” Candace hesitated, “After we talked yesterday, I decided going to the fundraiser was a bad idea.”

Michelle’s head spun around and she gave her a piercing look.

“I know Nolan. After yesterday, I don't think it will help,”

“We agreed you’d go to the fundraiser.” said Andrew. There was a hard note to his voice that Candace had never heard before. It was unlike her brother to be so firm about anything.

“I know that’s what we talked about. But I don't think it will work in our favor at any rate. He was…” she searched her mind for the right word to describe his response “…difficult enough as it was.”

“What do you mean ‘difficult’?” asked Michelle.

“He said no.” Then she rushed to reassure Andrew, leaving out all the more unpleasant aspects of that “no.” “But we’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to…Someone else,”

She let her words trail off. And was that relief she saw in his eyes? Was he just glad she was willing to do so much on his behalf, or was there something else going on here?

“No, you still have to go tonight. Just talk to him again,” Michelle said.

“I’m not going to do that.”

“You have to.”

“Michelle, you’re not listening. He was quite insistent. He’s not going to give us the money.”

But Michelle ignored her protestations. “After all the effort I put into getting you in there, there's no way you're backing out of this. Nolan would be very mad if he found out I was only asking those questions just to get you in. I risked my already fragile friendship with him… Thanks to you… to get you in, so saying no is not allowed. Just wait until you see what I bought for you.” She jumped up from her seat.

Curious about her burst of energy and attitude, Candace and Andrew followed. They found her in her bedroom, pulling a full-length evening gown from her closet.

“I bought this for you to wear to the party.” Michelle pulled off the plastic store bag and spread the gown on her bed.

The dress was a brilliant teal silk, shot through with silver threads so it shimmered as it moved. The bodice was an off-center halter that managed to look both elegant and unexpected. The dress flared out at the hips. The bottom third of the dress was etched with a scrawled batik pattern, giving the overall dress a hint of the exotic. She’d never seen—let alone worn— anything like it.