The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,260

Noah. We need that account. Bad. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“If you get into any trouble, you’ll let me know?”

“Sure,” he said, still distracted by Libby and her engagement.

That night he went out with a couple of friends and met Donna at a bar. She was with several friends who joined his group. While it wasn’t exactly unusual that he went home with her, he surprised himself by asking for her number and telling her he wanted to see her again.

In a way, Josh was right. Libby’s impending marriage had made him realize how empty his life was. Now that she was preparing for her wedding—or more likely because of their disagreement—she no longer called him as frequently, which made him acutely aware that once she was married, he would hear from her even less. Her absence left an ache in his soul, and his typical one-night stands weren’t going to fill it. Donna was conventionally pretty and model-thin—the polar opposite of Libby’s exotic beauty and hourglass figure. And while Donna was a little clueless about some things, she was actually a nice woman he could take home to meet his mother.

Everyone who knew him was shocked that he’d kept a woman in his life for more than a few weeks, and while he wasn’t as over-the-moon happy as Josh, he was trying to be content. For the first time in a long while, he felt like maybe he could stop blustering and be happy. But that wasn’t entirely true. Libby was the one who’d made him feel that way, not Donna.

Maybe it just took time.

As Libby’s wedding drew closer, Noah became more and more anxious, and Donna became more and more of a bitch over his friendship with Libby.

Noah was supposed to fly out two days before the wedding, but Scott Abrahams was a hard man to pin down. He’d postponed their meeting until Friday afternoon, forcing Noah to move his flight to the day of the wedding. But five minutes before they were supposed to meet, Abrahams called to cancel.

“Noah, you know I like your plans, but I’m meeting with someone else next week. I’ll be honest—I’ll probably sign with them.”

Noah’s stomach dropped. “Scott, I’d be more than happy to go over the schematics with you over drinks.”

“I trust your schematics, and I know we go way back, but I think I can get a better deal. No hard feelings. It’s just business.”

He hung up before Noah could press him for more details.

Noah felt like he was going to be sick. How was he going to explain this to Josh? His brother was definitely going to blame him for losing the job. He considered waiting until after the wedding to tell him, but that’s what the old Noah would do. The new Noah was taking charge. He called his brother before he could change his mind.

“That was fast,” Josh said.

“There’s a reason.”

“He didn’t sign.” Josh’s voice was flat.

“He canceled the meeting.”

“What happened?”

The accusation in Josh’s voice stiffened Noah’s back. “Why does it sound like you think I fucked this up?”

“Well, did you?”

“What the hell, Josh? You know I’ve been busting my ass to get this deal.” Still, some inner voice taunted him. You must have fucked it up. You know Josh would have closed the deal without a problem.

That voice only pissed him off more.

Josh groaned in frustration. “I knew I should have sat in on some of the meetings.”

Noah’s irritation only grew. “You don’t think I can handle a meeting?”

“I’m sure you can when drinks are involved.”

“So now you’re accusing me of being a drunk and a slacker.”

“You have to admit, you’ve fit both descriptions in the past.”

“If that’s really what you think of me, why the hell am I even working there?”

“Because your name’s on the damn building!”

And that was the crux of it. Noah had never wanted to take the helm of the engineering firm, but after their father’s death, it was just expected of him. He’d barely managed to hold it together until Josh took over, even if he’d fooled everyone else into thinking management was easy for him. Of course, he could have left then, but instead he’d coasted along, reasoning that the business owed him for single-handedly running things for a while. But then again, he had no idea what else to do.

Maybe this was the push he needed.

“Then take my damn name off, because I quit!”

Before Josh could say something else in that condescending tone, Noah hung up.

Now what the hell