“I’m not really, but you are,” she said, neither of us releasing the other as we stood there, once again seemingly unable to break out of our own fucking bubble. “Let’s go get that drink, huh? You can tell me all about it over lunch.”
Although I wasn’t usually the type who wanted to talk about anything, I found her offer surprisingly appealing. Because for some fucked-up reason or another, it was starting to feel like my former best friend’s baby sister was the one person in the world I could say anything to.
Chapter 13
LEAH
After the interview was over, I realized that maybe things would actually be okay. Dane clearly believed I could do this. Shit. What if he’s right?
The reporters had come at me with all sorts of questions, and I hadn’t stuttered or stumbled over my words once. Being in front of the cameras hadn’t been nearly as bad as I’d thought it might be, and at the end of the day, it had been more about the company and its plans than it had been about me.
It had served as a great reminder that I was really only the face of one more product made by a company that had thousands. A company that was already well respected and that people already knew. They were excited that a new perfume line was being launched, and all I really had to do was talk about the perfume and sell it as one every woman would want to use.
All of which I could absolutely do. No one was more surprised by that than I was, though.
Now that the interview was over, however, it was easy to see the strain Dane was under. He was still gorgeous, obviously, but he also looked worn out.
A part of me felt guilty for dragging him out to lunch when he looked the way he did, but I wanted to be there for him. I’d also offered him an out after we’d climbed into his car, but he’d turned it down firmly.
As he navigated us through the traffic to wherever he’d decided we should go to eat, I studied his profile while pretending to scroll on my phone. Behind the large black sunglasses that covered my eyes, I was pretty sure I was safe to study away without him ever suspecting a thing.
He was facing straight ahead, a faraway look in his eyes as his jaw tightened and released, then tightened and released again. Over and over.
His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and every now and then, he’d sigh softly before letting his lids flutter closed for a second at every intersection. I left him to his thoughts while we drove, but as soon as we were seated in a trendy bistro with a bottle of sparkling water on the table and a plate of appetizers between us, I circled back to Jefferson.
“So, how is he really?” I asked, my fingers aching to reach for Dane’s. “What happened? Is he sick?”
His hand was open on the table, his index finger tapping at the base of the wine glass that he’d poured some of the water into. The usual electric fire in his eyes seemed to have been replaced with ice, the blue almost seeming jagged when he looked up at me.
“None of what I’m about to tell you is public knowledge yet,” he said, holding my gaze as he turned the glass between his fingers. “Can I trust you?”
“I’m a vault,” I said, miming zipping and then locking my lips. “Whatever you tell me will stay between us. You have my word.”
His eyes stayed on mine for another minute. Then he nodded and took a swig of his water before letting out yet another sigh. Even though no one around us would know who we were talking about, he kept his voice low anyway.
“He has angina,” he said, and I could hear the pain mingling with grief in his tone. “Do you know what that is?”
I frowned, trying to comb through my limited knowledge of medical conditions. “It’s something with your heart, right?”
“Right,” he said. “More particularly, it’s a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart.”
“Shit.” I felt some of the blood draining from my cheeks. “That sounds serious.”
“It can be,” he said. “It’s a symptom of coronary artery disease. It can feel like pressure, heaviness, or tightness in the chest. There are a few different kinds of pain it can feel like really. It’s definitely what