She smiled. “Not at this event. The event is for Delaney’s daughter. Probably her last princess party, so we’re going a little overboard, but I doubt there will be a keg. That’s not Delaney’s style. She’ll serve mimosas or a fancy cocktail for her guests.”
He reached across the limo’s rear seat and took her hand. “I look forward to hearing all about it. We’re going to launch this product on Wednesday, and then I’ll fly back.” He reached into his pocket with his free hand and withdrew his cell. Glancing at his calendar, he added, “I need to be in Austin for a meeting on Thursday night, but I could do a lunch on Friday.”
Lucy shook her head. “Jared, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I can’t—”
“Another big weekend of parties?” he asked, still scanning his cell.
“No.”
He lowered his phone and looked at Lucy.
“I couldn’t tell you in the lobby,” she continued. “Not before I saw Cara, but . . . I can’t do this anymore. When I started online dating, I was looking for a relationship.”
Jared turned toward her. He knew what was coming next. . He’d walked into meetings and felt the deal slipping away. He understood hesitation. He could smell fear of the unknown—what would happen if the person on the other side of the negotiation took the leap and sold their business? Should they hold out for a better offer? He knew the ins and outs of this conversation.
“Lucy, I don’t have much experience, but I’m pretty damn sure this is a relationship,” he said firmly. “We can make this work. After Tico launches this product—”
“There will be another company that needs you, and then another acquisition.” She squeezed his hand. “I know how your business works.”
“It’s my fund, I can step back,” he argued.
“Can you?” She cocked her head as the limo merged onto the four-lane road and headed for the airport. “Could you let someone else handle this product launch?”
“Not this one.” The words came out almost like a reflex. “But I built Tico up. It’s the foundation of the fund—”
“The cornerstone of your success,” she said with a soft smile. “You know sometimes I look at you, and I can’t believe that the kid who came to dinner every night because he had next to nothing at home now buys and sells companies. You wield fortunes. I can’t ask you to walk away from all that. It doesn’t make sense.”
He stared at her. The limo verged right, barreling toward the airport’s private jet section. A surge of panic rose up. He wanted to crush it, beat it back with . . . with . . . logic dammit. But she was right. Strip away the success and who was he?
A man who is falling in love with Lucy Linden.
“I can make this work,” he said, clinging to the only argument he had.
The limo pulled to a stop beside his plane. “Maybe you can. Maybe you and Finn can put your heads together and come up with some elaborate plan—”
“Lucy, this is between us. This has nothing to do with your brother.”
She closed her eyes. “You’re right. But you entered the online dating world on a whim.”
“I did it for you,” he growled.
“Which makes this so much harder,” she cried. “How can I walk away from the super-successful man who’s falling for me? You’re everything I want. But I’ve had the full picture before.”
“Lucy—”
“Or at least I thought I did,” she admitted. “I believed in my future, but the entire time it was slipping away from me.”
“I’m not your ex,” he said quietly. And damn if she couldn’t see that by now, they didn’t have a future. “You can trust me.”
“How?” she asked, looking so goddamn mystified. “Trust needs to be reinforced. I want a relationship that is a part of my life every day. I can’t do coffee dates once a week, or sex on the stairs when you have an hour in town. I’m not waiting on the sidelines while slowly, bit by bit, you forget about me. And then one day, it will become easy to walk away, or maybe find someone else.”
He clenched his jaw. The picture she’d painted made sense. He fucking hated the smooth logic.
But that’s not me. I wouldn’t follow that path. I wouldn’t leave Lucy because . . . because I love her.
“You’re wrong,” he said flatly.
“I can’t wait and see.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry, Jared.”