art world. The Levitt marriage played well in the press. Any woman who came after her was unlikely to fit the job description, since Edward’s tastes ran toward “models” who’d never held modeling jobs and were young enough to be his granddaughters. Not that Nina had any standing to complain. There’d been a first Mrs. Levitt at the time Nina and Edward met, who’d received a lavish settlement, happily remarried, and eventually died of cancer. Nina’s guilt made her tolerant of Edward’s transgressions. She knew what she was getting into and accepted it as just deserts.
The point was, Nina had misunderstood the nature of Hank’s attentions. She thought he was looking out for the company, when actually he’d had feelings for her all along. She’d encouraged him more than she’d intended, just by leaning on him for support in her misery. She’d never dreamed he was seriously interested in her. Why would he be? Hank was married to Lauren Berman, the head of PR, who was not only a player in the company, but sultry and gorgeous—all dark hair, pouty lips, and curves.
After Edward died, Hank waited three months, then invited Nina to dinner. He told her that he was unhappy in his marriage and had loved her for years. She didn’t want to hurt him. Not only was he a good friend, but they worked together regularly. So, she told him it was too soon. That was a mistake. Hank responded by arranging for them to be thrown together in ever more intimate settings, with work as a pretext. Six months ago, they’d been at a conference in Aspen together. And she slipped. She was feeling so low—old and alone, sad that she’d never had children. They got drunk and ended up spending the night together. Nina had been backpedaling from it ever since. She simply didn’t have those feelings for him. After what Edward had done to her, she also felt legitimately guilty about sleeping with someone who was married, and leaned on that as her excuse. Hank took her at her word. Lauren and Hank were now in the middle of a bitter divorce battle, because Hank had left Lauren. For Nina. Without discussing it with Nina first. Which had made things extremely awkward at the office. Nina was now viewed as the other woman, a designation she loathed, and which was untrue. They had no ongoing romantic relationship. But nobody believed that—especially not Hank.
“Hank, I’m sorry. But I never asked you to leave Lauren. Never. You misunderstood me.”
“You said we couldn’t be together as long as I was married.”
She took his hands and looked into his eyes and was gutted to see the pain there.
“I said I wouldn’t get involved with a married man. I never said that I was ready for a relationship, or that I had those feelings for you.”
Anger flashed across his face. “I divorced my wife for you.”
He’d raised his voice. People were turning to look.
“You shouldn’t’ve done that without talking to me first.”
“You refused to talk about it while I was married.”
“Can we discuss this another time, when we have more privacy?” Nina said.
“When? I never see you except at board meetings.”
The fact was, Nina had been avoiding him.
“We’ll find a time. Next week. Dinner in the city.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
She scanned the terrace, looking for any excuse to get away from Hank. A man stood by the stairs to the beach, talking to her personal assistant. Nina took him in in a dazzling flash. The way the breeze lifted the crisp waves of his hair. The perfect features, athletic frame, the ease of his gestures. He wore a blazer and jeans that would’ve seemed dull on another man, but on him, looked like he’d stepped off the deck of a yacht. He must have felt her gaze, because he turned and looked right at her. But his gaze traveled on, as if it had only rested on her unintentionally.
“Who is that with Juliet?”
Hank turned.
“Don’t look,” she said, too late. Now he’d know she’d been talking about him.
“That’s Connor Ford. He works for Lauren in PR. I think they have a thing going, actually.”
“Lauren—and him?”
He shrugged. “He’s too young for her, right? I don’t mind, if it gets her off my back, so I can focus on you.”
Hank was simply a friend. She wanted to confront him, tell him off, for putting her in the middle of his divorce, but that would only lead him to declare his feelings yet again. She cared