He took it, their fingers brushing. Touching her was the final blow—he was going to need some alone time after this. “Just stay close to me.”
Once outside, they stopped at the curb, both of them eyeing the street for a cab.
“I really do love your plan.” He didn’t want their talk to end. He was already disappointed she was leaving.
“Call my cell if you need to reach me.” She cleared her throat and looked off in the distance down the street, avoiding eye contact. “You still have my number? From the wedding?”
He’d wondered when this would come up. “I do.” A moment of choking silence played out.
“So you chose not to call me,” she said matter-of-factly.
He didn’t enjoy being the way he was with women, unable to take things beyond the very beginning; he’d merely learned to accept this as one of his shortcomings. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t call any women.”
“Ever?”
“No. Sorry.”
“Then why ask for her number at all? That’s just classic jerky guy behavior. I would expect better of you.”
Sawyer wasn’t a big fan of her characterization, but he’d had a few drinks thrown in his face. Kendall wasn’t the only woman with this opinion. “I suppose it is. But it’s not like you called me either.”
“Call me old-fashioned, but I wait for a man to call.”
Yeah, Sawyer wasn’t buying that. Kendall was too strong, too independent, too bullheaded. “And call me old-fashioned, but you’re engaged now, so you must be happy I didn’t call you.” That ring on her finger was the real reason she hadn’t called him. And she had no right to get angry with him for something that had worked out in her favor. “Your fiancé is probably happy about it, too.”
Kendall didn’t say a thing. She didn’t even look at him.
“Lucky guy.” Sawyer wanted to punch himself for his inability to let this go, but there was this curiosity building up inside him that refused to go away. Call it competitiveness—he had to know what the guy who landed Kendall was like. What made him so special?
“Hmm?” She cast her sights back at him for only an instant.
“Your fiancé. He’s a lucky guy.”
“Unless you’re guessing someone’s phone number, it doesn’t take luck to make a call.”
Ouch. “There’s a cab coming.” He stepped into the street and raised his hand. She was only a few feet away, not looking at him, her shoulders tense. He’d upset her. Her hair fell across her cheek, and she quickly tucked it back behind her ear. He didn’t want to stare, but it was impossible to tear his vision away—she was too beautiful. Too gorgeous. Too frustrating.
The taxi stopped. He opened the door and watched as she climbed in, catching a glimpse of her long and shapely leg as her skirt hitched up. He would’ve done anything to climb into the backseat with her and take her to his place—make up for being the guy who hadn’t called. For the first time in a really long time, he was second-guessing his well-honed talent for avoiding romance. He hadn’t always been that guy. Only hurt had made him into that, hurt that could never be undone.
“Thanks for the tour.” She peered up at him with her deep blue eyes.
“Thank you for your amazing ideas. I can’t wait to get started. I can’t wait to tell my brother.”
She smiled, her face lighting up as it should have. She’d done an incredible job. “I’m glad our professional relationship works so well. Since the other never would have.”
Well then. “Right. Me, too.” Sawyer reluctantly said goodbye and closed the car door, wandering back to the curb, trying to shake the effects of Kendall’s words—all of them. Only work would get him back on track. He dialed Noah’s number.
“How’d it go with the tour?” his brother asked.
Sawyer watched as the cab turned and drove out of sight. “I think the woman might be a genius. And that means we’re changing everything. We’re turning the whole thing upside down.”
“What time is Locke coming in?” Kendall’s work nemesis, Wes, sauntered into the conference room and snatched a cookie from the tray she’d set out for Sawyer.
Kendall smacked his hand. “It’s Mr. Locke. And those cookies aren’t for you.”
Wes shrugged and plopped down in one of the conference room chairs. Everything about him screamed arrogance—his unmoving hair, the shine of his shoes, even the way he rocked in the chair. “I still don’t understand why Jillian gave you first shot at this account. She’s going to end up regretting it.”
Kendall fought the urge to scream at him to leave her alone. Some day he would be her subordinate. Then she could yell if she wanted to. For now, best behavior. “I’m standing right here.”
“And your point would be what?”
“I swear to God, you are the only person on the planet who bad-mouths someone to their face. Can’t you be civilized and go gossip about me in the break room like a normal person?”
He wagged a finger at her. “I do not sugarcoat. You should know that by now.”
“We’re in PR. The whole job is sugarcoating and creating illusions.”
“Is that what you’re doing with that ring? Creating illusions?”
When Wes had first asked about the ring, she’d simply told him to butt out of her personal life. The next twenty times he’d asked, she’d ignored him. Apparently that wasn’t a strong enough signal. “I told you before. It’s none of your business.”
“You’re only saying that because you don’t want to tell the truth. You aren’t engaged. You’re only letting people think that you are. I can’t decide if it’s smart or incredibly sad. Care to weigh in on it?”
The blood drained from Kendall’s face, but she did her best to overlook her body’s traitorous response. She wasn’t going to dignify his question with an answer.
“Look. I get it,” he continued. “We work for a woman who is very clear about where the lines are. I’ve seen clients flirt with you. So you want to send everyone a polite warning to stay away. With the VP job in play, it might be genius. If it helps you stay out of trouble and get the job.”
It was one thing to have her close friends at work know the truth. She couldn’t lie to them. Wes? His personality, and his agenda, made it easy to keep everything from him. “It’s a lovely theory, Wes. Truly lovely. Now please leave. I have to finish preparing. You’re distracting me.”
“Let me stay for a few minutes. I think you should introduce me to Locke. He’s our newest and biggest client. I should at least be up to speed on this project. You’re not the only one with a shot at VP.”
“No. You are not meeting Sawyer Locke.”
“Why not?”
Kendall had had enough. “Because you’re annoying the hell out of me and I have work to do.” She marched over to Wes’s chair and began pushing him out of the conference room, but he was much heavier than she’d guessed. She only got a few inches before he stopped her by digging his heels into the carpet.
He stood and turned, jabbing a finger at her face. “You are ridiculously territorial, Ross. I won’t forget this.”
Kendall