Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“What about my ego?” he challenges, ironically still proving my point as he’s clearly determined to make everything about him.
“It’s obvious you’re king,” I say, “since you assumed that conversation was about you.”
He arches one of his brows. It’s an arrogant act and oh-so fitting of this man in this moment. “Wasn’t it?”
I roll my eyes. “If your head grows any larger, it might burst. In general, we were talking about Dash.”
“Until you weren’t,” he supplies dryly.
“You just can’t stop,” I say. “Allie’s going to go talk to Dash about the true crime show this morning. I’ll meet them for lunch.
“Good thing,” he says, “because the studio wants to do a Zoom with Dash and us at five, our time.”
“Today? That’s lightning fast.”
“Now that they’ve decided they want him, they really want him. The same way I feel about you, Bella.”
My cheeks heat, fingers curling into my palms as I bite out a soft warning, “Stop.”
“I don’t want to stop.”
One of the employees sets his cup next to him and hurries away, eager to please him but equally as eager to avoid him. God, how I know that feeling. Somehow though, I have the mental fortitude to seize the opening I’ve been given. I pick up my coffee and stand up as if all either of us was waiting on was his order. He follows me to my feet, and before he can speak, I say, “I’ll call you after I talk to Dash and let you know what’s going on. But I can’t rush this. I need to let Allie talk to him first.”
“And what is Allie going to say to him?”
“Good deals die untouched. The offer of an extended contract only drives commitment and that commitment is what we need.”
“Good deals should never die untouched,” he replies.
Suddenly—or okay, actually not suddenly at all—we’re no longer talking about Dash anymore, and I end up right in the heat of the flames he’s throwing. “Everything isn’t a deal.”
“Marriage is a contract.”
“Gone into with love,” I counter before I can stop myself.
He goes still, his shoulders sharpening, his mood instantly darker. “Is that what you want, Bella? Love?”
My belly knots. Why is he doing this? And why is he doing it here, in public? “What do you want from me, Tyler?”
“I want you to answer the question.”
“I want a lot of things that my boss will not, and should not, ever understand.” I step around him and start walking, imagining the entire café watching me when I doubt anyone notices me at all. This is not the first time I’ve sat at a café table and talked over a deal with Tyler, and it won’t be the last. But the difference now is that if anyone found out about me and Tyler, no one would believe any of those meetings were professional. No one would believe I’d earned my office any way but against that door with him between my legs.
That’s not the legacy my mother left behind that I’ve tried to honor.
And part of her legacy is her love for my father and his for her.
I will never settle for less. I’d rather be alone.
Chapter Fourteen
Bella
I don’t allow myself time to analyze what just happened with Tyler. Okay, I allow myself a few moments and no more. Once I’m in my office, I deep breathe, replay the entire interaction with Tyler, and realize my mind is going in a direction that simply isn’t safe for my heart. I’m not going to stand here and lick my contract-induced wounds.
Therefore, I march to my desk, sit my butt in my chair, and proceed to lose myself in my work. I start checking in with my clients and following up on their pending deals. With each conversation I dive into with my clients, I’m reminded of how vested I am in each career, and how much I enjoy helping them rule their version of the world. I love what I do, and I’m reassured that my clients and track record tell a story beyond me and Tyler ever being exposed. But I know how people would talk, and how easily gossip affects the caliber of clients I work with. Many of them can’t risk being connected to a scandal.
A scandal that would produce a headline that would read something like a Country Music Agent Who Reps Some of the Biggest Names in the Business Muddled with a Romantic Scandal that Hits Close to Home. Included in the article would be a laundry list of my clients. Maybe it wouldn’t matter to most of them, but maybe it would, especially to those clients who battle their own scandals. How hypocritical of me, considering my lectures about avoiding such a thing. It’s stressful to think about, and when my phone pings with a text, I expect the worst. I find adorable puppy photos from the puppy nanny, and I can feel just a little edge to my mood fade away.