The Proposal, page 32
“Is that Leo Wilder?” someone in the crowd called out as I jumped from the stage with my gaze locked onto the woman who’d haunted every dream I’d had since she’d walked away from me.
Zara’s face cycled through at least five emotions. Surprise, embarrassment, sadness, and maybe wishful thinking on my part, but a hint of longing, before settling on unbridled anger. She jolted when I hit the floor, setting the glasses on her tray wobbling.
My forward movement was impeded by the partygoers, but I dug deep into my defender skills to dodge, duck, and weave my way through them without ever losing sight of her.
Three steps from the swinging doors all the other servers kept disappearing into, I reached her. My fingers slipped around her elbow, stopping her escape.
“Zara—”
“I’m working,” she called out over her shoulder, snatching her arm from my grasp.
“Three minutes. That’s all I need.”
“I have a fifteen-minute break in three hours.” Her eyes blazed with fiery fury but beneath it, the hurt radiated like a throbbing tooth.
“You can take a few minutes to talk to a guest. It’s a wedding, isn’t it?” I plucked a glass from her tray and motioned to the his-and-hers monogram on nearly every surface.
“No, we’re specifically told not to speak to any of the guests and to be as invisible as possible throughout the evening.
“Did you know, none of the other companies in the city will touch me. I’ve sent out over fifty applications in the past two weeks. I’ve showed up at companies trying to get three minutes with someone who might take a look at my portfolio.” Her gaze dropped and her hand fisted at her side. “I don’t have many employment options right now. Please don’t get me fired from another job.”
“If I were trying to do that, I could think of a much more creative way.”
“You could have come to my apartment.”
“Been there, done that, gotten a warning from your building security. If you hadn’t dodged my calls, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this. This is for you.” I pulled the envelope out of my inside jacket pocket.
“Keep it. I don’t need your peace offering, and I don’t need to assuage your guilt.” She shoved through the double doors leading to the kitchen.
“And that’s what it’s always about. Leo getting his way. Not this time.” She spun quickly, storming off into the kitchen, the doors silently swinging behind her.
“I take it that didn’t go too well?” August popped up at my side.
I downed the champagne, needing the final bit of fortification before laying everything on the line with her. “No, but it’s not over yet.”
And I charged ahead after her. Where Zara’s concerned, nothing is ever easy, but that didn’t mean I’d give up without a fight.
47
Zara
Halfway through the kitchen filled with trays upon trays of hors d’oeuvres, kitchen staff and servers, I could feel his presence behind me. The startled looks from everyone I passed confirmed it.
“Why won’t you leave me alone?” My voice came out like a hiss above the chopping, searing, and frying going on at the stations in full force to feed the stadium full of people out there.
“I couldn’t leave you alone any more than I could stop breathing, Zara. At least, not without giving you this. Will you take it?” He took the tray from my hand and set it on the counter.
I backed up trying to find my escape route. Hard to do in a room crowded with other people all staring at you. I was so getting fired.
He slipped a thick envelope out of his jacket pocket and took my hand, curling my fingers around it.
“I’m not taking your money. Once I figure out what I’m doing with the apartment I’ll get you your furniture back.”
“This isn’t my money. Would you just stop being so frustrating for five damn seconds and look at the envelope?” He jabbed his finger toward the ticking time bomb he’d handed over.
Seeing him in the flesh was nothing like seeing him through my peephole. Leo Wilder in a tux was a crime. Women’s heads continued to turn, as they always did whenever he entered a room.
I swallowed hard before venturing a peek. Waverly Hotel Group was embossed on the front of the envelope. I ran my fingers along the heavy, raised lettering, tracing the classic font.
My clammy hands fumbled the envelope, nearly dropping it. With trembling fingers, I unfolded it and read the lines. Each word blurring as tears welled in my eyes. A Waverly Hotels Group internship. A six-month paid international internship. “You want me gone.”
“Not one bit. It kills me to know you’d be gone for six months. And if they take you on full-time you’d be away from here for months, if not years at a time.” Anguish leached from his words.
My head snapped up. “Then why?”
“You deserve this.”
“Before…why did you call me out on stage? Why show up here?”
He stepped in closer, invading my space. “I can’t exactly have a grand gesture without an audience. Plus, it’s our way, isn’t it? I ruffle your feathers and piss you off. You don’t let me get away with it and fire back at me.”
“Thank you, Leo. But I can’t take it.” I stuffed the letter back into the envelope before I changed my mind, and handed it back to him.
“Of course, because that would be too easy.” He finished his glass of champagne in one gulp, but otherwise didn’t move to take the envelope I shoved against his chest.
“It’s not me trying to be difficult. I can’t go to Europe and leave Tyler here. He’s going to have trouble readjusting to home, so I need to—”
Leo held up a finger in my face and took out his phone. “Yes, I have her here.”
I batted it away. “What the hell?”
“It’s your brother.” He slipped the phone into my hand.
I looked from the glowing screen with my brother’s name on it back to Leo.
A tinny voice came from the phone. “Zara? Hello?”
If I lived a different life and had more than cobwebs in my bank account, this would be when my tearful brother provided his proof of life before the kidnapper snatched the phone away and demanded a million dollars. Instead, I had lint and a few tic tacs, and Tyler was tearful for another reason.
“Tyler what’s wrong?”
“Did you win the lottery?”
“No. What?”
“It’s a scholarship. The Logan Scholarship.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s new. Everyone here thinks I’ve been pretending not to have money all this time. So when they said I needed to call the scholarship benefactor tonight, I…I was wondering it if would be you.”
“It wasn’t me, Ty. But I think I know who it was.” I peered up at Leo. Tears brimmed in my eyes and I didn’t blink or brush them away. They crested down my cheeks, dripping off my chin.
“It’s a full ride through the school and college. It’s awarded to a new kid each year, and I’m the first recipient.”
“I’m so proud of you, Ty.” My voice cracked and the waterworks wouldn’t stop. The pressure had been like a blanket that had threatened to suffocate me. It had been lifted. Leo had lifted it. But why? Boarding school and college? That was an insane amount of money.
“This is great news, right Z? You won’t have to work so hard anymore. I know you’ve been doing so much for me, and I was going to look for a job this summer to help out too. It’s a lot of stress to pay the bills.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“It’s not silly. I know you love me no matter what. I don’t need you to pay for everything to prove that. I was thinking of leaving after this year, but now I don’t have to. I didn’t want you to have to work so hard instead of having fun for yourself. You’re the best big sister anyone could ever have.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep my choking sobs from blowing out his eardrums.
A linen towel was thrust into my hand.
I looked up at Leo. How had he done all this? “I’m so happy for you, Ty.”
The look in Leo’s eyes was part worry, and part questioning.
“It’s almost curfew. I’ll talk to you later. And thank Mr. Wilder for me. Love you.”
“I will. Love you too.”
He ended the call.
I stared down at the black screen of the phone, my reflection staring straight back.
“You did that for him.”
“He’s a great kid from everything you’ve told me, but I did it for you.”
My hands shook. This scenario had never presented itself in all my fight, flight, or freeze encounters. “Why, Leo? And how? I thought you had everything tied up and kept away from yourself. How are you going to fund him through that school and college and award this to one kid each year for the next five years?”
“There was a loophole for charitable donations and foundations as long as they were for a minimum of five years. They’ll shunt off a portion to finance the fund and invest it. It’ll grow.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“They’ll divert the money to fund it. Giving up half of what I have to give you a chance at what you need is worth it, Zara. You’re worth it.”
I flopped down onto the milk crates stacked up by the back door. The organized chaos of the kitchen flooded in, snapping me back to reality.
Everything I’d ever wanted. And Leo had made it all come true.
“Why?” I stared up at him, trying to make sense of what he’d gone through to make this happen.
He dragged a milk crate in front of me, looking hilarious and sexy in his tux perched on an orange, beat-to-hell plastic monstrosity a foot off the ground. “You can’t tell?”
“I wouldn’t have asked, if I knew. If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here thinking about pinching myself hard enough to leave a bruise to make sure this is real. But if it’s not real, I’m not sure I want to recover from this head injury.”
Leo took my hand in his, threading his fingers through mine. “Since I need to be more direct, I’ll lay it all out for you. I love you, Zara. I am madly, mind-blowingly, my-life-will-never-be-the-same-again, in love with you.”
I sputtered, snapping my head up. “Why?”
He laughed. “That.” His finger swirled around in front of my face. “That face, and your determination to protect the people around you, even if it means serving a room full of people after having a corporate job, not taking shit from an asshole who makes you spill coffee all over yourself, and never letting me get away with a hint of bullshit. It’s why I love you.”
Joy burned bright in my chest, overwhelming me and bringing the tears I’d finally stifled back to my eyes.
“Why else would I have done all this? Why would I have used my fifteen minutes with the President of Waverly telling him he’d be insane not to take you for this program?”
“You what?” I shot up from my seat. “Of all the insane things…you had a chance to get into the good graces of Clinton Waverly and you spent it talking about an interior design internship? Are you insane? That’s time you could’ve spent pitching for Simply Stark. Did you think about Sam? How did he feel about you throwing away an opportunity for his company?”
He stared up at me, grinning wide.
My heart did a backflip, filling with a feeling I couldn’t have placed before this moment.
He loved me. Everything everyone else hated—or at best tolerated—he loved. He loved me. All of me. The infuriating bits I used to keep people at arm’s length. My inability to keep my mouth shut when I should. The way I stood up to him.
“I love you.”
“How could you help yourself?” He stood and pulled me against him, running his fingers under my chin.
“This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”
“Cornering you at work where you couldn’t run away? Yes. Absolutely. Showering you in coffee and crushing your croissant? Blurting out that we’re engaged when you got Stella’s ring stuck on your finger and pretending to be your fiancé for the next month? There’s not a playbook in the world that good, but I’m certainly glad it ended up being ours.”
“Me too.”
He ducked his head, capturing my lips with his and dipping me.
A soundtrack of applause broke out around us. It was quickly broken up by the catering manager.
With his hands on his hips, he stood, tapping his toe, as everyone broke up and went back to their duties behind him. “Your break isn’t for another two hours and forty-five minutes, Ms. Logan. And what have I said about fraternizing with the guests?”
I stared up at Leo, panting, ready to peel him out of this tux and spend the rest of the night showing him how grateful I was for everything he’d done to right the wrongs in my life and take care of me. For once, someone had stood up for me. For once, I didn’t have to be the rock. He’d be my rock. I rested my head against Leo’s chest, patting my hand against the solid wall of muscle. “I quit.”
48
Leo
With a wide, probably goofy grin, I walked off the elevator with three cups of coffee. I slid one onto Phyllis’s desk and headed back to see Sam.
Zara was sleeping in. Her sleepy moans and clutching the pillow to her chest had almost diverted me from the only thing that could’ve dragged me from the bed. My plan had been to stay in the apartment with her until she got on the plane, but there was one thing I needed to decide on before then.
Her day was packed with everything that needed to be done before an international move, like getting a passport and meeting with her internship coordinator. Tomorrow I’d start our cocooning in full force.
The lights from Sam’s office were the only lights in the still office space.
I walked in and set down his coffee.
He smiled wide and popped the top off, inhaling the hazelnut scent. “What are you doing here? I thought you had plans to keep to your apartment for the next few weeks?”
“That was the plan, but I wanted to swing by.”
Sam made a noise of acknowledgment while rummaging through his drawers for extra sugar.
“What would you think about me staying on at Simply Stark?”
He looked up at me from over his glasses, tugging them off and letting them fall around his neck. “I’d think you’re crazy. I’ve had to let everyone go except Phyllis—she won’t leave, but she also hasn’t cashed a check in the past twelve years, so there’s not much I can do at this point. Why would you want to do that? I thought you had the job up in New York.”
“I know, but I want to try something new. Stick closer to my friends and see if football is all there is to me.” I rolled the glass ball from hand to hand across the top of the desk.
“Leo, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Of course there’s more to you than football.”
“It’s me I need to prove it to. Make something from nothing—not nothing.” My eyes widened and the ball slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor.
“I know what you mean.” Sam snatched the ball up and placed it in my palm. He looked out of his office door at the empty space that had once been the hub of the business. “Truth be told, I was going to close up shop. The little jobs here and there are only enough to keep me afloat. The house isn’t the same without Felix there and this business…” He waved his hand in front of the doorway. “Without him it doesn’t have the same magic it once had. If you want to take it over you can, but I have one condition.”
“Anything.”
“You can’t do things the way he did them. Change the name. Break the mold, and never feel like you have to do this for him or me or anyone else. Do this because you want to do it. Do you accept?” He held out his hand.
“That’s doable. I’ll keep you on as partner if you like.”
He scoffed. “A silent, silent partner. It’s time I went out and did a little living of my own. I’ve got a new life to figure out now, too.”
“A silent partner.”
“Are you going to do this all on your own? Where’s Zara?”
“She’s leaving for Australia in three weeks.” I tossed the ball in the air.
“And you want to start a business instead of following her? What the hell are you thinking? After everything you two—”
“I want to build something she’ll want to come back to. Start something she’d be proud of.”
“You’re planning on doing this all on your own?”
I looked at him over my shoulder. “I might ask for a little help.”
“Are you guys sure you want to do this?” I looked at them across the drafting desk that had taken over the main office area. “All I needed was some help getting set up.”
“Some help.” Hunter moved his fingers in air quotes. “How the hell was this thing limping along at all?”
Jameson looked up from the laptop. “Hunter’s being a little harsh, but, fucking hell, these books are a mess.”
The balloon was being pricked from all sides, the air leaking out. Maybe this had been a mistake. Maybe Zara would be cool with an unemployed and unemployable boyfriend.
August squeezed my shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.”
I squeezed the mini football stress ball. “It’s not your mess to figure out. It’s mine.”
“What if we wanted it to be our mess too?” August dragged his chair beside me. “We’re all here for whatever you need. Tell us and we’ll get it done.”
My eyebrows dipped and I looked at all of them. Everest stood in the corner, scanning the older invitations pinned to the wall as a showcase. “What about him? Are you in Everest?”
He didn’t look over at everyone else. He stood there with his hands in the coat he still hadn’t taken off, like he wanted to run away at a moment’s notice. “I have nothing better to do. Why not get a front row seat to watch this shit show burn?”
