: Chapter 8

“I JUST NEED TO remember what the business was called. Ah-ha!” I bring up the website and clap my hands together. “I found it.”

“And you really think this is a good idea?” Suze leans over my shoulder, reading the screen.

“Yes. It’s an amazing idea.” I look at Maria for support, but she furrows her brow as she carries over three steaming mugs and sets them down on her and Griffin’s dining table, where I’ve set up camp with my laptop.

“Trust me.” I look between the two of them, then turn back to the screen. “She was so lovely at that dinner we went to, and she was there alone. And she loves dogs. I mean, she could not be more perfect.” I grin as I scroll down the page, searching for her contact details.

“You like dogs,” Suze says to me before glancing at Maria.

I ignore the looks they’re both giving me. “Natalia’s incredible. She built up her pet walking business from scratch, and now it’s the most successful one in the city. She has over one hundred staff. There’s a waiting list and everything.”

“Sounds like a prep school.” Suze snorts and then closes her mouth when I fix her with a look.

“I know you think it sounds silly. But, girls, you weren’t there. You didn’t see the hurt in his eyes. You didn’t hear what he said.” I turn back to the screen and sigh. “Bea broke Reed’s heart years ago, and it’s never healed.”

“And you think Natalia can heal it?” Maria perches on the edge of the table and eyes me over the rim of her mug, which is cradled between her hands.

“She has to,” I whisper, looking at Natalia’s smiling face on her website photograph. “Besides, she’s blonde,” I say, as though that proves everything.

“He does seem to have a thing for blondes,” Suze muses as she glances at Maria.

“Exactly. You said every woman you saw leave his apartment was blonde.” I pick up my mug and take a sip as I look at Maria.

“That is true.” She nods.

I swallow down the latte, but it burns my tongue, and its usual sweetness is tainted with thoughts of Reed spending night after night buried inside different women searching for a cure for his pain.

“I want to do this for him. The campaign won’t last forever. Once our arrangement is over and I move out, he’ll be back to where he started again. If I can set the ball rolling now, then maybe he won’t be miserable for long.”

“I can’t say he’s ever looked miserable when I’ve seen him,” Suze says. “I’d actually say he looks even happier recently.”

“He is smiling more,” Maria agrees.

“It’s all for show.” I dismiss their comments with a wave of my hand as I reach for my cell phone and add Natalia’s number to my contacts. “He’s got to look happy for the campaign. Gain the voters’ trust and all that. His campaign manager, Stu, told me as much. Perception is everything.” I save her number and then close my laptop.

“What are you going to do? Set them up on a blind date?”

“Of course not.” I look at Suze. “Reed would never go for that. I’m not exactly sure yet, but I’ll think of something. They got on well enough at the dinner. I’m sure a few little carefully orchestrated meetings here and there will sow the seed. Then once the votes are in, Reed and I can amicably part ways, let the press know he was the perfect boyfriend and I love him like a brother. Something that still paints him in a good light for when he’s mayor.”

“When, not if? You’re sure he’s going to win?” Suze questions.

“He’s going to win. There’s no one better for that job than him.” I take a sip of my drink and smile as I recall the way he looked this morning in his dark blue suit, his hair still damp from the shower. And he still had his glasses on as he called out his usual ‘Goodbye Mrs. Walker’ and headed out the door. He looked strong and invincible, ready to take on anything.

Suze gives Maria another of the same looks the two of them keep exchanging.

“What?” I huff.

“Harley. How long have we known each other now?” Suze asks.

“Two years, one month, eight days, and probably around fifteen hours.” I sigh. I know what’s coming. Suze always refers to how well we’ve grown to know one another in what could be deemed a relatively short amount of time for a friendship as close as ours. We didn’t go to school like Reed and Griffin did. We didn’t grow up together and go through teenage hormones, first crushes, and first jobs together. But I did catch her cheating husband for her. And ever since then, our friendship has morphed into something next level. Nights spent laughing and crying together while her divorce was finalized, kids’ parties, and school plays when her ex, Curt, let them all down again.

I’ve been there for her through it all. And she has done the same back with me. And then Maria came and made our duo a trio. And it’s just gotten better and better. I may not have known these two women for decades, but I love them like sisters, and they know me better than anyone else.

“I know you don’t think this is a good idea. But I’m telling you. Reed won’t totally get over his past until someone comes along and shows him a brighter future. He’s capable and intelligent, and a downright pain in the ass most days with his ridiculous jokes. But living with him, I’m seeing this whole other side to him. He’s caring and thoughtful. He buys dream houses as birthday gifts and then gets his balls bruised.” I laugh and shake my head at the questioning looks I’m getting. I wish I could show the girls that video of Reed and Freddy the goat, but I promised it would be for my eyes only.

“It sounds as though he’s grown on you. I remember when you used to complain about him visiting Griffin at work all the time and trying to lure you into conversation.”

I roll my eyes at Maria. “He still does that.”

“Yet you don’t complain about it anymore.” She arches a perfect brow as she brushes her long, dark hair over her shoulder.

“I…” She’s right. I haven’t complained about it. Not in weeks. “That’s because he does useful things now, like bring me Griffin’s coffee if I’m late. We’re sort of friends, I guess. He helps me. I help him.”

“By setting him up with a woman you’ve met once?” Suze crosses her arms as she frowns.

“She. Was. Lovely.” I glare back. “She’s perfect for him.”

Why don’t they get it?

“You’re perfect for each other,” Suze fires back.

“Exactly, perfect for each other—Hang on, what?” I stare at her, my mouth dropping open. I look at Maria for support, but she’s nodding in agreement.

They’re in on it together.

“What planet did you both wake up on this morning?” My voice rises in exasperation. “He’s Reed.”

“We can see who he is, can’t we, Maria?” Suze says, her eyes never leaving mine. “The question is, can you?”

“What are you talking about?” My eyes dart between them. This isn’t some cryptic crossword in the back of the paper, but they might as well be speaking a foreign language for all the sense they’re making.

“We think you would be good together,” Maria says. I snap my eyes to hers. “Great, actually. We’ve seen the way you are with each other. I saw you both coming back from dinner.”

“We were pretending,” I groan, wanting to laugh at the absurdity of what she’s suggesting. “Maria, it’s got to look real. For as long as Reed is preparing for this election, it has to look real. We’re just good actors.” My shoulders relax. She’s just reading into things from seeing us out in public together. If even her and Suze are convinced there’s something real there, then I must be delivering an Oscar-worthy performance. Because as much as I don’t like to think about Reed naked with other women, the idea of me and him is just… It’s just weird. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to be happy after all this faking it ends. He deserves that.

“There’s deceiving the outside world, and then there’s deceiving yourself,” Suze says.

I shake my head. “Stop. Both of you. I’m flattered you both think there’s something real there. It means other people will see that, too. And that will help Reed. But honestly, you’re barking up the wrong tree. In fact, it’s not even a tree you’re barking up, it’s a…” I scan Maria and Griffin’s large kitchen. “… It’s an incredibly shiny new gadget.” I jump up from my seat and rush over to the kitchen side. “Maria? What is this?” I squint at the contraption.

“Um, an egg incubator.”

I turn back to her, my eyes bugging out.

“It only arrived this morning. Griffin hasn’t seen it yet,” she adds quickly.

I rarely see Maria flustered. She is the queen of elegant calm. But now she’s biting her bottom lip and fiddling with her giant blue diamond engagement ring that sits like a boulder on her finger.

I turn back to the machine. “There’s an egg in it!”

She walks over to join me and smiles as she gazes through the clear viewing panel on the lid. “I know. Earl found it this morning when he visited. It fell from the bird box down the side alleyway.”

Earl was The Songbird’s doorman. He was here for years and is loved by all the staff. He knows everyone and would keep an eye on Griffin and his brothers when they were kids playing in the hotel while Griffin’s dad was working. Even though he’s retired, he can’t keep himself from visiting. And we all love seeing him when he does.

“You’re lucky it didn’t smash.” Suze comes to join us, and we all peer at the small, white, delicate shell.

“I know. I think it would have if Earl hadn’t insisted the door staff put some old matting down beneath the box just in case something like this happened. I love that we have the pigeon roosting box down the side alley, and it does help to keep the birds from soiling the hotel’s sidewalk carpet if we encourage them to roost there instead of on the window ledges above the front entryway.”

“But?” I look at Maria’s pinched brow.

“But I couldn’t just leave it there when Earl called me.”

“So you brought it up here and got it an incubator?”

“I did.” Maria’s smile is maternal as she gazes at the little egg.

“You and Griffin are having a baby.” I giggle. “Can I please be here when you tell him?”

“What? No.” Maria laughs.

“Party pooper.”

I grin as I look at the egg. Griffin’s going to hit the roof. I’ve worked for him for years. He always has to be in control, and I know the pigeons living around the hotel wind him up like nothing else. He used to go mental over the amount of shit they left on the sidewalk by The Songbird’s main entrance. Then when Maria came along, he relaxed a little. I don’t know what she did to him, but he’s a lot less uptight. But still, the idea of him coming in after work later and finding an egg incubating in his kitchen. Classic. I hope Maria records his reaction. That would be something to play at the next staff party.

“Okay, I have to get back downstairs. Lunch break is almost over. Thank you for feeding us, Maria.” I give them both a hug and retrieve my laptop.

“Are you going to call Natalia?” Suze asks as I reach the front door.

“Did we not just spend half of our lunch deciding that I would? You can both help me if you like? Engineer some kind of accidental meeting?” I look back before I close the door. “Fine,” I huff when neither of them answer. “I’ll do it myself. Love you both!”

And with that, I head back to work, my mind whirling with possibilities of how I can get Reed and Natalia in the same place at the same time. It’s going to be amazing. They’ll be great together. And Reed’s heart will be healed.

I’m a genius.

“The Cavapoo is a toy breed, so great for the city because they don’t need as many long walks as a larger dog. You could just take them on a couple of shorter walks a day and they would be happy. They don’t shed, either.”

“Really?” I rest my elbows on my knees and lean toward Natalia. “Do you know any breeders, or any shelters that might have that breed for re-homing? It’s a bit hectic here with the election coming up, but if I talk to Reed, he can find the time to come and visit some with us. I’m sure it’s about finding the right fit with a dog, for both sides. A bit like when you’re dating.” I laugh lightly as Natalia carefully places her coffee mug down on the low table, her blonde hair falling forward over her high cheekbones.

“Has Reed changed his mind, then? At the dinner, I remember him saying he was happy with no pets for the time being.”

“Oh.” I wave my hand in the air. “Reed loves animals. Loves them. We went to a friend’s daughter’s birthday party recently and there was a petting zoo. I had to practically drag Reed away.”

“Really?” Natalia’s brows shoot up.

“Yeah. He was totally head over heels, especially for this little pygmy goat, Freddy. He just loved that little guy.”

I grin as an impressed smile passes over Natalia’s beautiful features. It’s not strictly a lie. Reed was head over heels, sort of. Okay, he was on his ass after Freddy headbutted him. But there was love there. I could see it in Freddy’s little bulgy eyes. And Reed does love animals. He looked like he was living his best life the night we stayed up watching the movie together. Every time I looked over, he had this contented smile on his face.

Reed Walker, total animal lover.

“Well, you’re very fortunate. My ex didn’t care much for animals. He didn’t care much for me, either.” Natalia laughs without humor. “But that’s what gave me the determination to start up the business, and I’ve never looked back. Fuck him, I say.”

“Yes, fuck him!” I cheer enthusiastically.

“Fuck who?” A deep voice cuts in as Reed walks into the room from the hallway. He’s loosening his tie with one hand, his brow furrowed as he reads the front of the envelopes held in the other. He looks like sex in a suit, all big, broad shoulders, the mouth-watering scent that accompanies him only adding to his presence.

I sneak a sideways look out of the corner of my eye at Natalia. She’s watching him, her lips slightly parted. I knew it. She finds him attractive. This is going to be easier than I thought.

Reed looks up and smiles at me before he notices Natalia sitting on the opposite couch.

“Natalia? How lovely to see you. I’m sorry. I thought Harley was talking to someone on the phone.” He dips his lips to my ear and says, “Hi, Beautiful,” before kissing me on the cheek. He’s smooth, I’ll give him that. He slips into fake couple mode so easily when we have an audience. No wonder the whole of the city’s press thinks we are on the verge of getting engaged.

“Hi,” I reply, my eyes glued to the two of them as Reed steps toward Natalia and she stands to shake his hand and kiss him politely on both cheeks. I’m grinning like the Cheshire cat as Reed steps back and then sits next to me, where I’m patting the sofa.

“Good day at work?”

“It was productive.” His voice is so dreamy, it can vibrate to places in your body that you don’t even know exist. I glance at Natalia to make sure she’s experiencing the full Reed Walker effect.

“I bet you’re tired. You know what would be perfect to help you unwind? A short walk and some fresh air, with someone who’s missed you all day and been dying to see you when you get home.”

He looks at me, his eyes flashing with puzzlement beneath his brows.

“A canine companion.” I beam at him, then look to Natalia.

“I don’t follow.”

“Babe.” I roll my eyes and place my hand on his knee. “We’ve spoken about this. How much you’d love to get a dog as soon as the election is over? Natalia has been so helpful giving me information about breeds. She’s been amazing.” Reed looks at me like I have a screw loose, his brows jerking up. I want to elbow him in the ribs and tell him to catch up. I’m creating his perfect future right here. Marital bliss with a lovely, beautiful woman who has her own business. For someone ridiculously intelligent, he can be stupidly slow.

I incline my head toward Natalia, widening and blinking my eyes subtly. “Natalia has some suggestions on where we can look for a dog. In fact, maybe the two of you could start the hunt this Saturday? I have this thing with Suze, so I can’t make it.” I feign disappointment in my voice. “But that doesn’t mean the two of you can’t go together.”

“I think you’d both need to meet any dogs to make sure,” Natalia says.

“Oh, we will. But you two could get started without me.” My eyes are still on Reed’s as he frowns at me.

“Do you have something in your eye? You keep blinking.” He cups my chin with strong, warm fingers and studies my right eye.

“No.” I shrug out of his grasp and his lips straighten into a firm line before he turns to Natalia and gives her his practiced, polite smile.

“Thank you, Natalia. It’s very kind of you to offer your help. But I agree, Harley and I should wait for a date when we are both available before we take the next step.”

I groan inwardly at how dense he’s being. It’s the perfect opportunity for them to get to know one another better. Can he not see that? He’s going to be pining over his bitch of an ex, Bea, forever at this rate.

“It’s no problem. Let me know if you have any more questions, Harley. We can have coffee again and go through anything you think of.”

“Thank you,” I say to Natalia as she stands and Reed says goodbye.

I chat a little longer with her as I walk her out. Then I stomp back down the hallway into the living area.

“What was that?” I huff as I throw my ass down onto the sofa.

Reed keeps his head tilted down to the paper he’s holding and looks at me from under his brows, over the top of his glasses.

Damn it. Why does he have to wear them around the house?

I scowl at him as I struggle to concentrate. I have images of him ripping his shirt open and there being a giant ‘S’ there, before he flies out of the window to save a cat from a burning building.

He looks at me for a few seconds before calmly folding the newspaper and placing it down on top of the coffee table. Then he leans back into the sofa.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” I stick my bottom lip out and fold my arms across my chest.

“We are not getting a dog. But I think you already know that. What do you want me to say?” He looks at me, waiting.

“Why didn’t you want to spend Saturday with Natalia? She’s clever, driven… and blonde,” I add, arching a brow at him.

“You want to know why I don’t want to spend Saturday with a woman I barely know, looking at dogs I am not getting?”

I have his complete attention as I sulk like a child. “Exactly. She’s perfect. You could get to know her more in a friendly capacity now, and then the foundations are laid for once the election is over.”

“The foundations are laid for what? We’re not getting a dog, even after the elections, Harls.”

He takes off his glasses and drops them on top of the newspaper, pressing his thumb and finger into his eyes. He looks tired again. He’s working so hard that guilt gnaws at my stomach for a second that I’m pressuring him. But I force it away. I’m doing him a favor. This is his long-term happiness. He needs this, and he will thank me one day for being persistent. And frankly, the idea that Bea was the last person to hold even a tiny piece of his heart has me ready to do anything to make that not the case. To find someone new, erase her and the hurt she caused him.

“Forget about the dog,” I almost shout in frustration. “I mean you and her. The two of you. Dating in the future.”

Reed halts his assault on his eyes, and he drops his hand to stare at me. “I’m dating you.”

“Fake dating.” I sigh. “What about after, when this is all over? Then what will you do?”

His eyes darken. “You’re trying to set me up?”

The power behind his words steals the air from my lungs, and I stare at him open-mouthed.

“I-I’m trying to help you.” I spring to my feet and glare at him.

“By setting me up with another woman when you’re supposed to be my girlfriend?” He jabs his finger against his chest as he says ‘my’, rising to his feet and facing me head-on. His eyes are trained on mine and the pulse in his thick neck is going crazy, pumping out like the bass in an illegal rave.

I can’t believe he’s being such a jerk about this. Surely, he should be pleased that I care enough about him to actually consider his happiness and want to do something to help. But the way he’s glaring at me, his smoky quartz eyes almost black, he looks anything but pleased. He looks angry.

Really fucking angry.

I step toward him so we are toe to toe. I don’t care that he’s miles taller than me. I glower up at him with as much energy as I can muster, matching what he’s sending back down to me as he sucks in deep breaths through his nose. This is the last time I do something for him if he’s going to hit the roof like this. I can feel the heat spilling from his body in waves, flooding the air around us as he leans toward me, filling my space with his scent.

“I hate knowing Bea hurt you. I hate it. You need to move on and meet someone else. Stop fucking around with one-night flings and find something meaningful. Then maybe you’ll be happy.”

“You think I’m messed up over Bea?” he grits out. “A woman I dated for a few months years ago?”

I take a deep breath, my nipples grazing the front of his shirt through my blouse as my chest puffs out. “You told me that night after Paige’s party you’d been hurt. That you still think about it sometimes.”

He screws his face up. “Not about Bea. Fuck, Harley. I never think about Bea. She was the same self-obsessed social climber then that she is now. I just couldn’t see it until later. Agreeing to marry her was a mistake.”

“Wait… you didn’t propose?” My voice falters.

“Fuck no,” Reed fires out, glancing to the ceiling before he runs a hand over the five o’clock shadow on his jaw as he shakes his head.

“Then how—?”

“It was her idea. We just sort of fell into it. We hadn’t even announced it properly or gotten a ring. I wasn’t in a great place when my relationship with her started. At first, it was a distraction. A way of not thinking about what was going on in my life. Then she asked to move in with me, saying it would save money. It wasn’t a healthy relationship. I couldn’t speak to her about what was going on in my head.”

“Oh.”

The tension between us is thick and stifling as silence stretches out. A million possibilities run through my mind. If not Bea, then what? What was that flash of hurt I saw in Reed’s eyes? Because I sure as hell didn’t imagine it. I’ve known him long enough to recognize an emotion I’ve never seen in him before. I’ve known him long enough to feel my heart tear when he sits with me on our sofa and tells me there’s a specific date he sometimes thinks about that hurts him, just like there is one for me, too.

I’ve known Reed Walker long enough to care.

I look up into his eyes. They’re full of fire and anger, and I swear I could wither. Curl up and hide in the dark from the way he’s looking at me. I got it wrong. Painfully wrong.

Someone like Bea couldn’t cause the hurt hidden in that beautiful face.

It was something, or someone else.

Something much bigger.

Reed moves suddenly and wraps both hands around the sides of my face. His fingers cradle the back of my skull, and I freeze, completely at his mercy as I gaze up at him, my body on fire from the intensity with which he’s looking at me. My heart pounds so hard against my ribs that he must be able to feel it against his chest. He has complete power over me. His hands are practically as large as my head, and he’s almost twice my width. But I know he’s not trying to scare me. It’s something else. His eyes may be full of anger, but his hands are gentle. Tender.

He dips his head so his mouth hovers a fraction away from my own. I swallow hard and dart my tongue out to wet my lips. His eyes follow my every move.

“Don’t try to control me.” His voice is low and has a razor-sharp edge to it. “I won’t have it. Not even from you.”

I part my lips and search his eyes. “I wasn’t, I—”

He brushes his thumb down my cheek and over my mouth, pulling my bottom lip down and letting it pop back up; his pupils dilating as he watches.

“You’re fucking infuriating. I told you. I’m done ‘fucking around’, as you so tastefully put it. The next woman who gets my lips gets my heart.”

His hands leave my face so fast I gasp as though I’ve had a blanket whipped away in the middle of a snowstorm and been left standing naked, exposed to the biting cold.

“Reed?” I spin just in time to catch a glimpse of his back as he storms off to the front door, slamming it as he leaves.