I take the compliment and let it fill me up. It isn’t something I hear often. “Well, I can say the same about you.”
“Thank you. But to answer your question, no, it’s not always this easy.” The smile that lit up her face dims. “In fact, three years ago, when Kaylee and I started the company, we were building a steady clientele until a man named Gregory Atwater hired us to do a holiday party for his investment firm. Kaylee was already working on another company’s event, so I took lead on his.” Rainey lets out a heavy sigh, and I can tell it’s not a good story.
I wish I could reach out and pull her into my arms, but that would be beyond inappropriate, so I just listen.
“Everything he agreed to, he had an issue with the night of the party. The details aren’t important but the gist of it is. He bad-mouthed not just me but our company to everyone who would listen. He even made use of online reviews to trash us there, too, always making sure to use my name.” She dips her head and her eyes shimmer, showing me how badly the incident affected her.
The need to comfort her is strong. Reaching out, I place my hand over hers and we sit in silence for a few long seconds.
“It gets worse,” she finally says. “Long-standing bookings canceled on us. Our phones grew silent. The business we’d been building with such high hopes and hard work came to a standstill. And I can’t help but feel like it was all my fault.”
If Gregory were standing before me now, it would be my pleasure to take a swing. It’s one thing to be unhappy with someone you hire, another to deliberately destroy their business. My gut tells me Rainey worked hard on the event and even if some things went wrong, the unexpected always happens. But I’m sure she did a stellar job and didn’t deserve the backlash she received.
“You can’t blame yourself because someone else doesn’t deal with disappointment in a professional way. Or because that person is an ass.”
She bursts out laughing.
Goal accomplished.
“I needed that,” she says, still grinning.
“I’m glad.” I lean in and brush her hair off her shoulder. “I hate to see you sad,” I say, realizing at that moment our lips are inches apart and this time, I’m not going to be able to stop myself from kissing her.
Her lips part, my mouth touches hers, and fucking fireworks go off in my brain. She tastes sweet, better than I’ve imagined, and I’ve done plenty of fantasizing about this very moment. I slide my hand around her neck, pulling her close as our tongues meet. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted and if this is all I get, I’ll die a happy man.
A soft moan escapes her throat, and I’m about to pull her into my lap when glass shatters as a loud crash sounds and something comes flying through the window. I dive, pushing Rainey off the chair and onto the floor, waiting to see if anything else happens before I finally roll off her and let her sit up.
She’s shaking and I wrap an arm around her, pulling her into me. “Are you hurt?” I ask.
“No. It just scared the shit out of me.”
What the hell just happened? I try to stand but she grabs onto me, and I hold her for a while longer, breathing in her familiar scent, waiting until she stops shaking to release her. “Okay?” I ask.
She nods, so I stand, pull my phone from my pocket, and call 911, reporting the incident. Then, I look toward the destroyed window. I don’t see anything or anyone outside. Stepping on the glass would be stupid, so I’ll wait until the police show up.
I help Rainey to her feet as something dawns on me. “Why is the glass fragile enough to break? We live in a hurricane zone. You should have high-impact resistant glass.” I know because we redid the windows on the building when we designed and built the club.
She winces. “The landlord is a cheap bastard on most things, and to be honest? I didn’t know. Now I do.”
I make a mental note to make sure that’s handled soon.
The police arrive and while one officer checks the area outside, his partner questions Rainey and me. As she answers, I learn there are only cameras inside, not out, so there’s no capturing the person’s face. Strike one.
“Can you think of anyone who has problems with you?” the young officer, who can’t be more than twenty-two or -three, asks.
She shakes her head. “I really can’t.”
“What about the story you just told me?” Gregory Atwood sounded like a vengeful man.
“Miss?” the officer prods.
Rainey draws a deep breath. “I had issues with a client three years ago, but I haven’t heard from him since. He’s probably forgotten all about me.”
The cop frowns. “I can take the name, but I agree with you. It’s doubtful the person’s held a grudge this long. Anyone else?”
“Pete,” his partner says as he joins us. Wearing thick gloves, he’s holding a brick which has heavy-duty paper wrapped around it. “Check this out. It was thrown through the window.” He pulls off a large, thick band and removes the piece of paper from around the brick.
In red marker, is a note. The officer holding the paper reads it aloud, then turns it around for us to see.
