“Nathan.” She bit her lip and finally looked at him. Her brown eyes were filled with regret. “I?—"
But Nathan wasn’t ready to hear whatever she wanted to say. He’d staked his reputation, his career, and the future of his clinic on Zoe being an experienced professional who could help him. Worse, if she was lying about her qualifications, what else was she lying about? Had she been manipulating him?
Had what happened between them even been real, or was that just another tactic to ensure he would remain her client?
Nathan turned on his heel and stormed away. It was the wrong thing to do, and he knew it. He should have waved off the misunderstanding, continued with his small talk, and confronted Zoe later. But he couldn’t. Even though he’d ended things with Zoe, she was the first person in years, maybe in his whole life, who he’d felt this close to. He’d respected her. He’d admired her. He’dtrustedher. And she’d lied to him.
“Nathan!” Zoe hurried after him, though she was slower in her heels. Nathan didn’t slow or look back. He headed straight for the main doors, brushing past the staff who were still letting guests in, and hurried onto the street. Right away, a cab flew by just inches away from him, and he took a step back, his heart pounding. He would never get used to the traffic here.
“Are you okay?” Zoe asked. She took his arm and pulled him back from the street.
Nathan jerked his arm free from her grasp and turned to her. He was fuming. “No, I’m not okay,” he said. “You told me that you’d worked with doctors like Doc Tory, and you lied. You manipulated me. You pretended we were friends, more than friends, and all the while, you were lying.”
“Nathan, please.” Tears formed in Zoe’s big brown eyes. “Give me a chance to explain.”
“No.” Nathan turned back to the street and lifted a hand to hail a cab. “You lied to me, Zoe. After all that, you lied to me. You had so many chances to come clean, but you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” Zoe’s voice broke. “I thought?—”
“Please.” Nathan cut her off. “I can’t hear this. Not right now. I have a lot to think about, and I need space.”
“It was—” Zoe tried again, but a cab had arrived. Nathan jerked the door open a little too forcefully and got inside. He gave the name of his hotel to the driver as he closed the door behind him, leaving Zoe standing out on the street.
As the cab pulled away, he looked back at her. Her arms were clasped across her stomach, tears sparkled in her soft browneyes, and she looked both beautiful and sad in the lovely dark blue dress she’d chosen for the event.
She looked as beautiful and sad as she had when she’d told him about her mother’s death. Had that been a lie, too? Had she sensed that Nathan was about to fire her and concocted a story to make him feel sorry for her? Nathan knew that wasn’t true, but he was so hurt that he almost believed it.
He faced forward again as the cab merged into traffic and headed towards his hotel. He didn’t want to imagine that Zoe had been manipulating him the whole time, but how was he supposed to know? She was a smooth-talking, charming, big-city professional, and he was a small-town doctor who trusted people and wanted to see the best in everyone.
No,Nathan told himself.She cared about you. Not everything was a lie.But as much as he wanted to believe that, he wasn’t sure if it was true. What he’d told Zoe was right: he needed space. He needed time. Now that they had an offer on the way for the show, there was no reason to stay in New York. He’d go back to the hotel, get his things, and take the first flight back to Vermont.
It was the only way forward.
CHAPTER 20
ZOE
Zoe stood on the sidewalk for what felt like a long time, though it could have been just minutes. Her heart ached and her chest was tight. She rubbed it with one hand as she fought to keep her tears at bay. Finally, with great effort, she managed to walk to the subway and head home.
Back in her small apartment, where, just a few hours ago, Nathan had held her in his arms and kissed her gently and whispered her name, she kicked off her heels, pulled off her dress, and went to shower. She’d made a mistake. She knew it. At the time, she’d thought that lying was the only way to save her career — and she hadn’t lied about her skills or her experience, just about who her clients had been.
No. I can’t justify this.She had messed up. She needed to give Nathan the space he’d asked for and hope that he would continue working with her. It was going to be hard, but she had to do it. She’d already planned to stop seeing Nathan after the show was over. Now, she just had to see if their professional relationship would survive.
For the first few days after the event, Zoe grabbed her phone every time it buzzed, hoping against hope that it was Nathan. It never was. After two days, though, she received the package from the network. Her heart lifted, then sank. She was thrilled that the show had been picked up, but it was hard to be excited without Nathan to celebrate with her.
After a moment’s hesitation, she forwarded the information to Nathan’s receptionist, Maya. Hopefully, the colorful-haired young woman would pass it on. Sure enough, after a few hours, she got a message back from Maya saying that Nathan was ready to accept the offer and move forward with it.
That was when Zoe’s life became incredibly busy. She had a lot to do, preparing to film the first season, working with the network, and booking shooting time with Maya. As more people started to hear about the show, she got more requests from new clients, including Gapcha, the internet singer who’d turned her down just before she’d met Nathan. Zoe started taking meetings and putting together a small but exciting portfolio of new talent (Gapcha not included).
As she ran from pitches to meetings with the production team, to long hours of work late into the night, to lunches with Katherine, Zoe’s mind was still on Nathan. She checked her phone all the time, hoping for a message or an email, but nothing came. Her only communication with him was through Maya to schedule filming for the pilot.
Then, the time came to return to Islingburn for the shoot. As Zoe packed her bag, checked in online for her flight, and confirmed her reservation at the same B&B where she’d stayed before, her nerves spiked. She was going to see Nathan again, after nearly a month of not talking to him at all. What was she going to say? What washegoing to say?
Zoe wanted to apologize. After everything, Nathan deserved an explanation of why she’d lied and an apology. Zoe deserved the chance to come clean, too. Though she understood Nathan’s anger with her, it also seemed over-the-top not to contact her at all for nearly a month after the closeness they’d shared. He hadn’t even wanted to hear her reasoning.
Zoe’s chest felt increasingly tight on the taxi ride out to the airport. She went through security, picked up a coffee and pastry on the way to her gate, and boarded. No sooner had thefasten seatbeltsign turned off, though, than she ran to the bathroom to be sick.
Great.Zoe washed her face in the tiny bathroom’s even tinier sink, her stomach still aching.I’m so nervous, I’m throwing up.So much for the coffee and pastry, which had been meant to make her feel better. She went back to her seat and tried to be interested in the in-flight magazine, but the descriptions of beautiful destinations around the world just weren’t captivating. She kept remembering the rolling hills, cute downtown, and clear, cold streams of Islingburn. And she kept remembering Nathan. The month of distance, and the fact that he’d ended things with her before that, hadn’t diminished how she felt about him. She still remembered the brush of his hand against hers and the way he laughed and those silly voices he did. She still hoped she could make things right.
