Tate let out a sad sigh. “Okay.” He patted Doug’s arm. “Friends with bennies then, for now?”
Doug kissed the back of his neck. “Okay.”
Tate had suspected this was coming. If it hadn’t been for Doug’s family’s problems, he knew it would have gone differently. Tate couldn’t blame him. Put in the same position, he might have made the same choice.
He couldn’t fault Doug for wanting to help them, even if it broke his heart in the process.
They made love again before falling asleep. The next morning, after their shower and breakfast, Tate helped Doug pack and load his car. Before Doug left, they hugged.
“I’m always going to love you,” Tate softly said. “And if there’s ever a chance, I want it.”
He heard the sorrow in Doug’s voice. “Me too, babe.”
They kissed one last time before Doug finally climbed into his car and left. Tate watched him until he pulled out of their apartment complex.
One day, he thought. One day, I’m going to come after you.
He just hoped that day would be sooner rather than later.
Chapter Eleven
Three weeks into Doug’s employment, Harper had an assignment for him. She called him into her office on a Monday morning. “You’re going to a conference in Miami with me this week. We’ll leave late Wednesday afternoon, and stay over Wednesday and Thursday nights. Make sure to pack business casual for the meetings, and a swim suit for the hotel, if you want.”
He was ready to go Wednesday afternoon, on time as usual. She’d brought her travel bag with her, and hid a soft cooler in her suitcase with ice packs in it for her medication. Her room would have a fridge in it, and since they weren’t sharing a room, she didn’t need to worry about him discovering her secret.
He put his bags in the trunk of her Mustang, and she climbed behind the wheel. “I hope you don’t mind my driving music.” She thumbed through her iPod and found her playlist, a mix of everything from Warren Zevon to Aerosmith, Seether to Adele.
She couldn’t read his expression through his dark sunglasses. “I like a lot of different kinds of music.”
“Good. Then we’ll get along just fine.” She took the Crosstown Expressway east to I-75, then headed south. She would take Alligator Alley and then hop onto the Florida Turnpike. They’d reach Miami in a little under four hours, in time to grab dinner there.
She hadn’t had too many opportunities to just sit and chat with Doug. She wanted to learn more about him, become genuine friends with him, and not just have a working relationship. “Were you raised here in Tampa?”
He nodded as he stared ahead at the road. “Born and raised here. You?”
“Close enough. Born and raised in Tarpon Springs and in Tampa.” She didn’t want to force the issue, but she was finding herself quickly running out of small talk. Of course, she knew she was no master of that skill in the first place, unless it had to do with business. “So, what are your hobbies, what do you like to do in your spare time?”
Is she kidding? Spare time? What the hell is that? He hadn’t had much resembling spare time. He’d been too busy taking stuff home to work on, information about the company Gorden gave him to study. He shrugged. “I like to read. I used to play amateur hockey, but I had to sell my equipment. I didn’t have time or money to do it anymore while I was in school.”
“I love hockey. Go Bolts!” She laughed. “I have season tickets. On the glass. My dad really isn’t into it, so I’m usually trying to give away the extra or I end up going alone.”
“I’d like to go.” Sports, good, a safe topic. He prayed she didn’t ask him about relationships. He didn’t want to tell any more lies than the ones he already had.
Well, not lies, exactly. One lie, and a whole lot of omissions.
Who am I kidding? She finds out, she’ll can me.
They discussed music and reading and movies. The longer they talked, the easier it was for him to settle in and see her as a person, not as his rich boss who wanted him to play her boyfriend. By the time they stopped for gas in Ft. Myers, she had him laughing at her dry humor.
He realized he was having fun.
As they rolled across the desolate expanse of Alligator Alley, he studied her profile as she drove. He’d asked her a work-related question, and couldn’t help but notice the instant change in her demeanor. She was all business, knew her stuff.
It wasn’t hard to see why she’d managed to secure herself the top position in the company. It wasn’t because her father’s name was on the letterhead. She’d definitely earned it.
And anyone who forgot that would most likely get their head handed back to them.
In his short time at the company, the people he’d interacted with besides Gorden loved working for Harper. They all agreed she could be one tough bitch, but that she treated her employees and customers fairly.
He also suspected that, with the exception of Gorden and her father, she had no one she let her guard down around.
He felt sorry for her. He had a loving family he could turn to. Harper had walled herself off, perhaps in some ways justifiably considering her business dynamics, and didn’t seem to know how to let anyone in. When he’d asked Gorden about screening her calls, if there were any friends or family who took priority other than her father, he’d shaken his head and told Doug there wasn’t anyone.
If nothing else, he decided he would be that person for her. He wouldn’t let her down. He would show her she could trust him.
Maybe that would, in some small way, atone for how shitty he felt about himself and what he’d done to Tate.
She liked talking with Doug. He was a good listener, but he could also hold up his end of a conversation without “yes, ma’aming” her repeatedly. He wasn’t afraid to disagree with her.
He was funny and smart and personable, and she was glad to find that she liked him.
She only hoped he liked her as much. For her, and not for the security this job afforded him and his family.
Only time would tell.
She knew she’d have to tell him her secret eventually. Intellectually, she knew most people wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about her diabetes. Still, she’d grown up learning that in business, you don’t let people see your weakness. It was bad enough being teased about it in high school.
She swore she’d never let that happen again.
As a young woman not even thirty, she was already swimming upstream against their biggest competitors who would seize any advantage, real or imagined, to leverage against her. As her father had drilled into her at a young age when it came to business, show no weakness.
They had dinner at a small Cuban restaurant across the street from the hotel. By the time they returned to their rooms for the evening, Harper was convinced she’d made the right choice hiring Doug. If nothing else, the time they’d spent together that day showed her they could at least become good friends.
The next morning, he accompanied her to their meetings, paid attention, and asked intelligent questions of her during the breaks that showed her he was not only paying attention, but that he’d been doing his homework about their company. Gorden was a good teacher, but Doug was proving to be an even better student. By the time they headed out for dinner that night at a restaurant over on Miami Beach, Harper felt at ease with Doug.
The restaurant had a live band playing on the patio, and several couples were dancing to the sultry Latin beat.
Doug looked at her after they’d placed their orders. “Want to dance?”
She did, but his question almost spooked her. She’d been watching the couples with longing, wishing she could be out there, carefree and enjoying herself. “Really?”