eyes as she hurried toward the car. Just as she was about to get inside, she felt a hand on her arm.
“I need to talk to you,” Rick said, steering her toward a private area by the beach. “This is a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” She shook her head sadly. “You warned me, didn’t you?” It had been a brilliant yet simple plan. A trap that she had walked right into. Did she really think Rick would ever agree to be partners, especially with someone he held in such low esteem? Their affair had been nothing but a distraction for him, an opportunity that she herself had offered. She didn’t blame him so much as herself. She had been a fool.
“When I bought that stock we were not involved,” he said.
“But after we were involved you didn’t tell me, did you?”
“I didn’t see any point until I could prove to you otherwise.”
“You planned everything, right down to your own firing. You pushed me into firing you just so you could buy stock. And then when I asked you back, you knew that you’d be able to get rid of me.”
“And I planned on firing you just as soon as I got my company back. That’s all true.”
“Revenge,” she said softly. She had fired him and he’d planned on doing the same thing to her.
“But that was before I got to know you. Before I began to care about you.”
She desperately wanted to believe him. But how could she? It might be another lie. The more she thought about Rick and Sabrina, the more she felt they deserved each other. Sitting there in that office, the two of them had been wily and frightening, firing each other, sleeping with each other, making deals behind each other’s backs. It made her sick. Maybe she didn’t have the stomach for this business after all. She needed a little time to digest all that had happened to her and consider her next move.
“When people care about each other, they help each other,” she said. “They look out for each other.”
“I’m giving you back your stock,” he said, as if that made everything all right.
“I don’t want it back.”
“I’ll pay you for it. I’ll pay a premium. Whatever you want.”
She looked into his eyes, desperately searching for some sign of the man she had grown to care about. She wanted to believe him, believe that this had all been a colossal misunderstanding, but how could she?
“You don’t get it, do you? It’s not about money. It never was.”
Thirteen
It was official. She was lost.
Lessa scooted forward in her seat as she drove slowly down the two-lane dirt road in Connecticut, hurrying toward a board meeting in the middle of nowhere. On either side of the road was a landscape more appropriate for Halloween than Christmas: deserted farmlands, their brown, dried-out grasses blowing in the wind. Every now and then she would see a lone abandoned house or barn with the roof caved in. Lessa followed the winding road down a hill and found herself enveloped in fog. She turned on her fog lights and continued, slowly making her way through the thick, cotton clouds. She had agreed to have the meeting at this out-of-the-way location because it was Christmas Eve and many board members were already at their vacation homes throughout New England. This just happened to be the halfway point. But the last thing she felt like doing on Christmas Eve was driving around dirt country roads in search of an ornery board and their deceitful, if charming, president.
At the thought of Rick, her stomach turned over. This would be the first time she had seen him since they had returned from the Bahamas. Despite his repeated phone calls over the past two days, she had not spoken with him. What was the point? He had her shares. Although she had been a fool, he had played by her rules. And she had lost.
And now she had no choice but to resign her position on the board. It was ridiculous to think that she could stay on. After all, she had never fit in with the stuffy and shortsighted people she was surrounded by, the same people who had fired her father. And now that she had lost her stake in the company, why would they keep her on? They would not. It was time to bow out gracefully.
Unfortunately, it was proving easier to walk away from the company she had thought she loved than it was to walk away from Rick. She had barely slept all night, filled with dread at the thought of seeing him again. Instead she had walked the floor, analyzing and reanalyzing the situation. She didn’t need Psych 101 to figure out what had happened. It boiled down to one issue: honesty. This whole thing could have been avoided if she had just been honest with herself. After all, did she really think that Rick would agree to be her partner? Did she really think that just because he had made love to her he would fall in love? Rick had remained honest to himself and his business. It was she who was the traitor.
She had underestimated his immense attraction. With one kiss, Rick could make a woman forget who she was and where she was going. It was the way he listened, the way he looked at her when she spoke. He made her feel as if she were the most interesting person in the world.
Time, she thought. She just needed some time to clear her head before seeing him again. She needed some time to think before even mentioning his name. But she didn’t have any time. In fact, according to her watch, the board meeting had already started.
She thought of the scene that awaited her. Were the board members eager to give her the evil eye? Would they jump with glee when she informed them she was resigning? Or did they already know? Some, she suspected, had been aware of Rick’s plan from the beginning. She was on her way out, Rick was back in power and the stock was already going back up.
She checked her watch once again and pulled out her cell. Still no reception. A psychologist would have a field day with this one. She, who was never late, was going to be late for her own resignation. Was her tardiness intentional? And why wasn’t she more upset about leaving Lawrence?
True, her time there had not been happy. She had been fighting an uphill battle, one that had been doomed from the beginning. The only reason she’d had even attempted it was because of her promise to her father. She had never asked herself whether being a part of Lawrence Enterprises again was something she really wanted, because it did not matter. It was an obligation, something she had to do.
But she’d always known her aunt was right; if Lessa had succeeded at Lawrence, she would have paid a steep price. Lawrence Enterprises was a public company and she knew from her father’s experience just how taxing and emotionally exhausting it was to run. There would always be someone looking over her shoulder, someone trying to take her place.
Perhaps she should think optimistically. It was very possible that this was a blessing in disguise. She did not want to work for someone else. She wanted her own company run by her own rules. Unfortunately, the whole experience made her wonder whether had she chosen the right business. Was she destined for a career in the resort industry? She had always thought that if she worked hard enough, like she had in tennis, she would succeed. But she had had talent on the tennis court. Was it possible she had no talent for this business?
One thing was obvious-hard work alone was not enough. Perhaps, she thought optimistically, all she needed was a little luck.
As if the forces were listening, her car suddenly began to shimmy. She fought for control of the car, yanking the throbbing steering wheel and pulling over to the side of the road. With a groan of despair, she hurried outside to inspect the damage. So much for luck. The right wheel looked like a deflated inner tube.
Lessa glanced around the desolate area as she tied her scarf more securely around her neck. Although the fog had cleared somewhat, a cold and bitter rain still fell. She headed around the side of the car toward the trunk. Her only hope now was that she would find a spare. And figure out how to use it.
Rick had been looking forward to this meeting. Since their return from the Bahamas, he had struggled to focus at work. He was like a man possessed. Lessa haunted his thoughts and dreams. The board meeting at least would provide another chance to explain himself to her, another opportunity to prove himself. He would succeed, he had no other choice. He did not want their relationship to end, not like this.
What had gotten into him? After all, wasn’t the inevitability of the relationship’s demise what he’d found so attractive in the first place? Wasn’t this his pattern? Hadn’t his sister accused him of only getting involved with women who were “safe”? Women who, for obvious reasons, he could never love? He had done this ever since Karen
