“I was meeting with Cooper Grant,” I say and hold my arm out to stop the elevator doors from closing and leaving me in this awkward place. “My car is waiting,” I lie through my teeth, and I can swear his eyes narrow a bit, calling me out on the lie. “Matthew, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with me.”
“Thank you, Becca, for everything,” he says, and I smile at them both and walk into the elevator.
“See you soon, Becca,” Nico says, and I’m not sure if he’s asking me or telling me. His eyes stare straight into mine as the elevator doors close.
Chapter 12
Nico
“See you soon, Becca.” I watch the elevator doors close, and everything in me screams to go after her. Instead, I go with my gut and let her get away. For now.
I’ve been trying to get in touch with her all fucking day. I’ve called, and it’s gone to voice mail. I’ve sent texts, and it’s been radio fucking silence. When I went to find her after the game, the box was dark and empty. I stood there in the exact place where I kissed her for the first time. Anyone could have seen us, but I didn’t give a shit, which is very unlike me. I don’t give anyone anything when it comes to my private life because it’s the only thing that’s mine, and no one has a say in it. “Matthew,” I say, turning to him. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“Of course,” he says, turning around, going toward the conference room. “This is different, isn’t it?”
I laugh. “Well, neither of us wants anything from the other person, so I guess it is very different.” I’ve been in the game long enough to know that you always want Matthew Grant on your side and you don’t fuck with him. Matthew was the one who alerted me about Ralph. For that, I will always owe him.
The meeting lasts a whole two hours. Only when I’m in the elevator and pressing the lobby button do I take out my phone and see that she still hasn’t called or texted me. The doors open, and I walk across the lobby, calling Lizzie.
“Well, look who it is.” She answers the phone, and I stop walking when I hear her giggle. “Were your ears ringing?”
“No, why?” I ask.
“I’m having lunch with Laurene, and she was telling me how she’s been texting you, and you haven’t replied.” She’s texted me four times, the last text letting me know she was coming back home from Europe.
“Shit,” I say, stepping out into the cold New York afternoon. It’s almost five, and the streetlights are already on. “Tell her I’m going to have to take a rain check for dinner.” We were planning on meeting for dinner tonight, but then I saw Becca, and all plans were cancelled.
“She says that you better have a good ass reason for blowing her off, and it better not be for another debutant.” I laugh because she knows full well that I never dated a debutant. They were interested in one thing and one thing only. Marriage.
“She knows full fucking well I don’t date those women,” I tell Lizzie, and I hear her moving, so I know she is walking away from the table.
“Are you having dinner with Matthew?” she asks, and I can hear the smile in her voice. The voices and glasses from the restaurant are quiet, so I know she stepped away.
“No. Actually …” I say, and then she shocks me.
“Would you be having dinner with Becca?” she asks. I see the town car drive up to the curb. The driver gets out of the car and comes over, but I open the door myself.
“How do you know Becca is in town?” I ask, closing the door. “The hotel,” I say to the driver.
“Well, I saw her coming out of the building when I dropped you off,” she says. “So we shared a ride over to her hotel.”
“Where is she staying?” I ask, and Lizzie laughs.
“I knew that is why you were canceling with Laurene,” she hisses out. “I knew something more was going on there. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I should be a private investigator.”
“I had no idea she was in town,” I answer honestly. “Not for a minute,” I tell her.
“Yeah, right.” I can see her rolling her eyes.
“I swear to you, Lizzie. I was shocked when I saw her with Matthew. I had no clue.” I wait for her to listen to me. “So where is she staying?”
“Are you going to show up at her place like a freaking creepy stalker?” Lizzie says. “Listen, I don’t date often, but if someone just showed up at my door, it would send out alarm bells.”