“I need to talk to him.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. Scrolling through her contacts, she found Jared’s cell and clicked on the message icon. Then she started to type.
I still owe you a juice. Meet me for a picnic on the beach? If you bring the tacos, I’ll bring the drinks. 8pm at the rocks by the Worth Avenue entrance. We can watch the sunset. Your not-so-naïve Handcuff Virgin.
“Do you think he’ll show up?” Emma asked.
Lucy hit send. “If he walks away now, I’ll know it was all just a game.”
“We have a problem.” Finn strode into Jared’s office with his expression set to doomsday grim. “A big fucking problem.”
Jared glanced at his cell, scanning Lucy’s text for a third time. When he first saw the signature, he’d flown into fight mode. He wanted to go to her now. He needed to explain. Instead, he’d paced his office. He couldn’t rush over to the princess lair without a plan.
He should be relieved. Lucy knew the truth, and she hadn’t told him to go to hell. But relief hadn’t burst into his office—Finn had. If she’d gone to her brother first . . .
“Damn right we have a problem,” Jared confirmed.
“You heard?” Finn stopped in the center of his office and folded his arms in front of his chest.
Jared nodded. The muscles in his jaw tightened, and his teeth ground against each other. “I did.”
“Do you have a plan?” his friend demanded.
“Pick up some tacos and meet her on the beach,” Jared said flatly. “Hell, at least she is willing to talk to me. That’s a good sign.”
Finn’s brows knit together. “What are you talking about?”
“Lucy. Your sister knows I’m Philip Ryder.”
“I can’t fucking believe it.” Finn let out a burst of laughter. “The deal you’ve been after for fourteen months is about to implode, and you’re pacing your office because my sister learned about your fake online dating profile.”
“What happened to the sugar deal?” Jared shot back. “You said it was handled.”
“Turns out we’re not the only ones interested. Peak Investments out of Colorado approached the chief financial officer yesterday. They’re going to make an offer.”
“You’re sure?”
His partner nodded. “I had lunch with the CFO’s team. One guy came clean, admitting he’d pulled together materials for Peak.”
“Devilla is going to want more money.” Jared shook his head. “Are they worth it?”
“No,” Finn said flatly. “We should walk away.”
“We could try to fix the deal,” Jared said. “Offer them new terms or different incentives. It’s a good company.”
“They’re trying to drive the price up.”
“I’ll meet with them.” Jared added a hint of finality to his tone. “Tomorrow.”
“You should to go back to Manhattan and focus on the companies that are making us money. Coulter can book your tickets. You don’t need to hang out in this heat and try to hammer out a dead deal. Let it go, Jared.”
“I’m not leaving. I’m meeting Lucy tonight for tacos and juice.”
“She wants to meet you?” His business partner cocked his head. “What makes you think that she knows?”
“The way she signed her text,” Jared said with a sigh.
“You’re paranoid,” Finn declared. “Online dating has messed with your head.”
Jared held out his phone. “When she messages you, does she refer to herself as the ‘handcuff virgin’?”