wanted to say something to make this better, but there was nothing she could say.
I’d made my bed. Now I had to lie in it.
She got inside.
I got into the other side.
The car took off, the driver already knowing to take Renee to her penthouse.
I looked out the window, my arm on the armrest.
“You seem okay with it.”
“She said we can be friends.”
“Then it sounds like the conversation ended well.”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
She watched me from her seat, having that same sad look in her eyes the way Mom used to. “You’ll find the right person, Dax. She’s out there…and she’s amazing.”
I didn’t want to go back to my old lifestyle, but I didn’t want to date either. Both seemed like a lot of work for very little reward. The positive relationships in my life gave me more happiness than the cash in my bank account, so I would just focus on that. In time, the right person would come along, when I was ready and she was ready, so there was no rush. It would happen when it was supposed to happen. “So, still seeing your mystery man, William?”
“Yes.” Her mood improved, a slight smile coming into her features. “He seems like the real deal.”
“You won’t know until I check him out.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ll just scare him off.”
“No, but I’ll try. If he sticks around, then he’s solid.”
“How about you just be pleasant company instead?”
I turned to her. “Does this mean this dinner is happening?”
“Maybe…”
“Good. Let me know when and where.”
“He’s actually the one who’s interested in this dinner. I’d avoid it forever if I could.”
“Really?” With my elbow on the armrest, I turned my head toward her, my interest piqued. “He’s the one who wants to meet me?”
“I couldn’t believe it either. I warned him about your obnoxiousness, but he still wants to do it.”
“Sounds like he’s serious if he’s willing to go to toe-to-toe with me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why does this have to be a hostile meeting?”
I chuckled. “Renee, I’m kidding. Everything will be fine…unless I don’t like him.”
“You will like him. And honestly, I don’t care if you don’t like him.”
I grinned. “Yes, you do.”
She looked out the window and shook her head.
“Come on, admit it.”
“I don’t,” she repeated.
“Whatever you say, sis.”
She kept her eyes out the window, playing with her earring. We spent the rest of the drive in silence until we pulled up to her building. She opened the door but turned to me before she got out. “Alright, I do care.”
“Knew it.”
“So, it would mean the world to me if you would try as hard as he’s going to try.”
I watched her leave the car and shut the door behind her. “Always.”
Nathan and I met up after a day at the office. We got a couple beers and sat in the booth, waiting for Jeremy to join us whenever he got his ass over here.
“How are things with Kat?”
He drank from his beer and looked at the TV behind me. “She’s pretty cool. She’s laid-back, easy to talk to, got great style…I like her.”
“See it going anywhere?”
He shrugged. “You know me, I like to take things slow.”
“You mean, never commit until you’re coerced,” I teased.
“Yeah, same thing. What about you? That whole thing with Carson is really done?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
He shook his head. “What kind of chick gets pissed when she finds out her man is a secret billionaire? No offense, man, but I think you dodged a bullet.”
The contrary, actually. The fact that she didn’t want me even though she knew my status made it harder to let her go. She was the real deal, and I’d screwed it up so badly, beyond repair. When she’d told me how she felt, it gave me the closure to move on, because it really was never going to work. Friendship was all we would ever have. “Didn’t dodge a bullet. I like that she doesn’t care about my money.”
He shrugged. “The fact that she won’t look past it makes her seem dramatic.”
She was just my friend now and I didn’t have to defend her, but I felt obligated. “She’s not dramatic. I understand her perspective, and it’s fine.” I wouldn’t share the intimate details about her marriage and her heartbreak. It was no one’s business.
“I guess I’ll always dislike her for hurting you.”
“Well, don’t. Because I’m fine with it.”
He watched me for a while, pity in his eyes. “She’s the first woman you felt anything for since Rose. And now you’re