Page 6 of Payback
Chapter Two
Loran walked Bella to the table and said goodnight to Ethan and Grace. The rest of their party had either left or were dancing, so they waved to those remaining before making their way to the door.
He raised a hand to get their driver’s attention and put his arm around Bella’s waist while the limo pulled up to the curb. He opened the door for her before the driver could jump out and watch her climb in. She was wearing a short black dress and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he took full advantage, letting his eyes trail all over her body while her back was turned.
Once she’d given the driver her address, Loran raised the privacy glass and said, “Back to what I was saying inside—”
“Uh huh?” She crossed and uncrossed her legs, clearly trying not to fidget. “What about it?”
“I’ve gotten to know myself better since what happened between us.”
“Okay. What does that mean?”
“I never gave much thought to relationships until I met you. I was happy just letting life happen. Outside of my career I never made any plans or worked hard at anything.” It wasn’t easy to admit he was a bit of a slacker, but he hoped it would help her understand him better.
“Sorry, I can’t relate,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’ve busted my ass to build my business and get where I am.”
“Yet you walked away from it all because being close to your family meant more to you than financial security.” And he admired her even more because of that. Her family was tight, so tight that her parents spent eight months of the year in Kansas City too, so they could be close to their grandchildren and help Grace when Ethan wasn’t around.
“I had financial security,” she corrected. “That gave me the freedom to try something new.” She was looking out the window as she said, “I take my reputation with me wherever I go and in my business that’s the only thing that really matters. I travel to work with most of my clients so they don’t care where my home base is.”
He was used to dating women with jobs, not careers, who were hoping to bag a ballplayer so they’d never have to worry about money again. Hearing Bella talk about how much she loved her career was one of the things that had drawn him to her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, curling her hands around the outside of her thighs.
“I respect and admire you. All that you’ve accomplished is impressive.”
“Thanks.”
He took a risk, reaching for her hand. “I’ll admit I never spent a lot of time thinking about the kind of woman who’d make me happy. But then I met you and it all became clear to me. That’s what I meant when I said I got to know myself better… because of you. Now I know what I want. I didn’t before.”
“Okay, I’ll bite,” she said, looking wary. “What do you want?”
“A family.” He let that sink in before he added, “I want what Ethan and Grace have. To be married to my best friend, to have kids and—”
“Whoa!” She inched back on the leather seat and threw her hand up. “Where the hell is all this coming from? I’ve never heard you talk about marriage or kids or commitment or—”
“You’re hearing it now.” His voice softened when he said, “I’d have told you months ago if you’d given me the chance.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “No, you’re saying what you think I want to hear. But you’re wrong. I don’t.”
He ignored her claim, determined to share his heart with her. Even if it meant he would be rejected. “When you and I were first getting to know each other I didn’t talk to you about stuff like that because, honestly, I wasn’t ready for it. It’s only been the past year, watching what Ethan and Grace have, while missing you that I finally figured it out.”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this right now. You know your timing really sucks, don’t you?”
“Because of yourfriend?” He refused to call the engineer Bella’s boyfriend. He didn’t believe for a second he was.
“He’s a good guy, Loran. I know you don’t want to hear that, but he is.”
He shrugged, letting her know the other man was of little consequence to him. It would take a hell of a lot more than that to get in his way, especially now that Bella was willing to give him the one thing most precious to him: her time.
“He may be. But I’m sure you’ve met plenty of nice guys who did nothing for you.” He pressed when she refused to respond. “Am I right?”
“Well, yeah. But I’m older, more mature now. I can’t keep discounting the nice guys just because they don’t…”
Their eyes met and Loran smiled. “Go on, say it.”
She cleared her throat and looked away. “Just because they don’t…” She groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. “I don’t know!”
