Chase drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Where does that leave us now?”
“The same place we’ve always been. Friends first.” Travis leaned close to Chase and held out his hand. “How would you feel about a sports commentary position?”
Chase gripped Travis’s hand, grateful for his friendship and his guidance. “You’re serious.”
“Camera loves you,” Travis said. “And you love the game.”
Chase nodded. “But teleprompters aren’t my friend.”
“That can all be worked out. It’s a job, and it keeps you connected to football.” Travis stood and touched the silver-streaked kitten. A smile drifted across his face. “But Nichole and Wesley—it’s the ones you love that keep you connected to life. They’re the ones that remind you to keep on living life.”
“A sports agent and a psychologist.” Chase frowned at Travis. “You couldn’t have shared your insight earlier.”
“You wouldn’t have heard me.” Travis smiled warmly and waved at the room. “You only recently started to listen to yourself.”
Chase picked up the kittens and set them on the couch. He stood and hugged Travis. No more apologies were needed.
“Do you have a plan?” Travis asked.
“Not quite.” Chase rubbed his chin and grinned. “But I have a family, a rather large extended one, and I think it’s past time I show them what they mean to me.” And what Nichole meant to him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“GENTLEMEN, THIS CONCLUDES our business relationship.” Nichole stood inside the private dining room of Sapphire Cellar and addressed the two partners of Fund Infusion and her former business associates. “In A Pinch is no longer available for sale.”
“We had an agreement.” Vick Ingram dropped his cocktail glass onto the table and rose from his chair. A bottle of champagne sat in an ice bucket and appetizers waited to be sampled, as if Vick and Glenn had already begun the celebration. Before Nichole’s arrival.
“We had signed NDAs.” Nichole remained steady and tall. “We never had a binding sale contract.” For that, she was thankful for her impromptu ski-moon in Tahoe and the interference of her make-believe marriage.
“Was this another fake invention like your pretend marriage?” Glenn asked. A twisted frown emerged from beneath his thick mustache. “After all, we never were allowed to validate your code. I suppose it doesn’t actually exist and you’ve wasted our time.”
“The code exists. The app is built and functioning.” Nichole lifted her chin, drawing on even more confidence. Her inner strength she fully embraced. And besides, the only time being wasted was hers.
“Then you should want to sell.” Glenn stabbed his fork into a shrimp. “It would seem without Chase Jacobs to depend on, you’d be in need of the money.”
She had her own money and knew could depend on herself. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t have liked Chase beside her though. “I want my app to launch nationwide. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? At least, for you and your main client and In A Pinch’s only active competitor in the market.”
“Excuse me,” Glenn sputtered, and wiped his napkin across his mouth.
“How do you know about our clients?” Vick smoothed his hand over his wrinkled tie.
“I have people like Chase Jacobs in my corner.” And family and friends who had her back. Always. Just as she had theirs.
“Chase Jacobs is nothing but a fraud,” Glenn claimed.
“Is that because he exposed your true intentions for my program?” Nichole took aim, hit her target. Controlled the meeting. Maybe it was the dress. Or the power color: red. Or perhaps it was simply Nichole. She’d found her own inner power and a confidence she didn’t expect to ever give up again.
“We fully intend to acquire your app,” Glenn stuttered.
“It’s not available,” Nichole said. “I won’t allow you to pay me off and kill my creation.”
Vick shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his face pinched into an unflattering shade of pink. “I’m sure we could come to some kind of agreement.”
“There is no agreement if it includes shutting down In A Pinch.” Nichole straightened, every part of her steady from her heels to her chin. Even inside, nothing swayed. Nothing faltered. “You can let your client know I will take In A Pinch to market and it will hold up against anything they develop.”
Vick and Glenn exchanged an uncomfortable look.
“But they better hurry. In A Pinch has technology and offerings your client hasn’t even come up with yet. And they’ve been in the market for several years.” Nichole smiled and waved to the table of now-cold appetizers. “Enjoy your dinner, gentlemen.”
Head high, shoulders straight, Nichole exited the private dining room. Never wobbled on her heels. Never looked back. Welcome to the game, Nichole.
She allowed her smile to extend across her face. Allowed herself to relish the moment. Allowed herself to own her victory.
She walked into the bar of the Glasshouse Inn, chose a stool in the very center and greeted the bartender. She had one more item on her to-do list. The most important task on her list.
She pulled out her cell phone, opened her text message app and typed:
Meet me for drinks at Glasshouse Inn. I’ll wait as long as I need to.
Nichole put her phone to sleep and turned it over on the bar top. Now she waited. And for the first time all evening, she wavered. Worry clipped along her spine. But she refused to bend. Refused to give up now. She intended to fight, and she intended to win.
“Nichole.”
She closed her eyes, soaked in her name coming from the one person she’d have waited all night for: Chase. And suddenly a calm assurance replaced the worry coursing inside her. She spun around. “Chase. You’re here. That was really quick.”
He tugged on his suit jacket and motioned toward the exit. “I was outside with the valet.”
“You were here.” He’d already been in the parking area. Already been on his way. Nichole
