Summer Singles: A collection of bite-sized, Kindle-melting stories by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Lainey

An hour later, back in my office, I collapsed on my seat in frustration. Damn temperamental chefs—competing over truffle sauce!

If they didn’t come so highly recommended from top hotels in Europe, I’d fire them both. Well, Roodt would.

My thoughts rushed straight back to Tanner. Was he back?

Not interested in more window-watching, my gaze settled on my desk phone. I could call his suite—no!

I swiped my cell off my desk, shut my office door, and hurried for the elevator, so damn grateful I didn’t have to report to anyone. On the luxurious ninth floor, I headed for the Dolphin Suite. My heart in my mouth, I knocked.

Please, please, please be here.

Each second of silence felt like an hour.

At last, the door opened. Tanner filled the doorway, minus tie and coat. His shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows, revealing corded forearms. He stilled when he saw me, his expression unreadable. Lines of exhaustion bracketed his mouth, his usually striking Caribbean-blue eyes lackluster.

He looked as bad as I felt, maybe worse.

I swallowed. “Can…can I come in?”

He stepped aside. My heart pounded in my head, worsening my headache as I walked past him. I stopped in the middle of the living room, noting the coffee table spread with documents, along with an open laptop.

He’d been working.

The door shut behind me. Inhaling deeply, I faced him.

Time to be brave, take a leap of fate.

Tanner leaned against the wood, watching. Silent.

Fighting the urge to press a hand to my roiling stomach, I stared into his unforgettable face. He might be older now, and his features like granite, but beneath it all, he was still the same man I’d fell for five years ago.

“I’m sorry about the other night, and f-for not giving you an answer.”

A tick started on his set jaw. Still, he didn’t speak.

With a trembling hand, I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I needed time, so much had happened. I…I never thought I’d see you again.”

He strode to the drinks cabinet and poured a shot of Grey Goose in a crystal glass. Then he leaned against the desk near the window, its surface also covered with spreadsheets and files, and took a sip of his vodka. “You’ve made it extremely clear where I stand with you, Lainey. So why are you here?”

He wasn’t going to make this easy. My apprehension hiked.

“I deeply regret that things fell apart the way they did with us, and that I wasn’t there for you. I was only twenty, Tanner. Yes, we had chemistry—we literally tore each other’s clothes off every time we were together. We never really talked, and you hadn’t said anything about how you felt. You should have told me what had happened, trusted me to be there for you,” I whispered. “I’m not so unfeeling as to not understand the pain you were in. When you said what you did, I was heartbroken. I thought all these feelings were only on my side…” His gaze lowered to his glass. “I’ve settled into a life here.

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