Page 88 of Cruel Offer
“All these years I thought she cheated on you, that she forced you to stay in this miserable marriage. Why didn’t you ever tell me the truth? Do you understand what knowing this when I was younger might have done for me? Instead, you showed me that marriage means misery. And now you’re looking me in the eye and telling me thatyouwere the reason Mom was so miserable that she nearly left you for another man?” The words come out of me in a rush, and by the time I’m done, I’m out of breath.
He looks speechless. "I'm sorry, Nate. I know I wasn’t a good father to you that way. In a lot of ways. I didn’t realize it affected you so much.”
I could give him platitudes and say it’s okay. Even though it’s not. But I’ll forgive him, of course. And I’ll figure out how to fix this thing with Piper in my own way.
“I’m glad that you worked hard to fix your marriage, but I have to say, Mom doesn’t always appear overjoyed to be in it with you.”
He grins as he takes a drink of his wine. “Sure. She likes to make me pay for what I did. I won’t sugarcoat that. We have our good days and bad days, Nate. But we have more good ones than bad, and the rough patches are a small price to pay when I know I get to spend the rest of my life with her.”
He sounds serious. I can’t help but believe him.
Maybe this means I’m not emotionally broken, just oblivious. I knew Piper was developing feelings for me, but I shut her down out of fear. Despite how hard I pushed her away, she loved me anyway.
It might be too late. Completely, utterly too late. But…maybe it’s not.
Maybe there is a chance that I can fix this.
37
PIPER-LILY
The dance studioarranged an amazing fundraiser, and I’m ecstatic at the number of people who showed up for it.
The historic Sutter House ballroom is beautifully decorated and filled with guests who were eager to pay a hundred dollars per plate to support the studio and help offset the cost of the building’s much-overdue maintenance. The students are putting on a recital before dinner is served, and I'm very excited for my class to show off their skills. A lot is riding on the success of this evening and I’m grateful to be a part of it.
I don't know what I would do without the studio right now. Cleo is so busy with her classes and her social life and her internship at the magazine, and her new boytoy Mark has been taking up all of her limited free time. I don't mind being alone, but her mom’s place is so vast and so frequently empty that it only amplifies my loneliness. I've been spending more time than usual at the studio, often doing menial things like cleaning and rearranging furniture in the offices just to have something to do.
Surprisingly, I didn't hear another word about Archibald Montgomery or the auction. If he was upset that I didn't go through with the engagement, he never reached out to me directly to say so. I guess it’s something that The Quattuor Group handles. For a long time, I fully expected the billionaire to show up on the doorstep of the studio, irate that I backed out. But I'm sure that women willing to take the Montgomery surname are a dime a dozen and he happily found a match elsewhere.
Gripping the clipboard in my hands tightly, I reference it for the millionth time. I know the schedule front to back, but my nerves are through the roof. Cleo will be here any minute with Mark and his business associate Andrew. They’re setting Andrew and me up. I know very little about him, but honestly, a relationship is the last thing I’m interested in right now.
How can my heart possibly be in it when it’s still shattered?
Taking a breath, I look around with pride at how well the night has come together. I don't need to worry about the schedule or the dancers or the costumes or the food. Everything will fall into place. It's nice to feel like I have some control over something, though. Organizing this evening gave me a sense of purpose and allowed me to clock more paid hours at the studio. For so long now, I've felt helpless and not in control of anything. I'm done with that feeling and I'll never go back.
After checking the time, I search the crowd for my mother. She said she would be here at seven and she's never late. I wanted to personally escort her to her reserved seat at the front of the stage. I'm going to bedancing with my group later, and I have a feeling it will make her smile.
Strangely, I don't spot her. But then I recognize a dark head above the crowd. My stomach drops.
People move out of the way and there he is, Nate Windemere, holding a bouquet of red and white striped roses with his eyes trained on me. Fuck.
His expression is unreadable, but I swear his eyes light up when he sees me. All my nerves go haywire, and I don't have time to consider pulling myself together. He moves much too quickly, and the scents of roses and his masculine cologne assault my senses.
"What are you doing here?" I blurt.
It's all I can think of to say. God, he looks good. His dark suit hugging that hard, muscular body. Those deep brown eyes, focused on nothing else but me. His hands, I've always loved those hands, so well formed and strong as they hold the roses.
"I—" he starts.
"Piper?"I spin to the sound of my name. Cleo is coming toward me with two men in tow. One I recognize as Mark, and the other must be Andrew. A tall, Scandinavian looking blond with a chiseled jaw and icy blue eyes. Double fuck.
Cleo whips Nate a distasteful look. I may have spilled the truth to her about everything. It only took one glass of wine to loosen my tongue, and I was so desperate to talk to somebody about it after all those months that everything just spilled out all at once. She's always been protective of me and the look on her face right now is frankly murderous.
"What are you doing here?" she sneers at him.
Nate, to his credit, doesn't falter. He nods cordially at her, says, “Cleo. Good to see you, too,” and then turns back to me. "May I have a minute of your time?"
I hesitate. It's taken me weeks to stop thinking about him so much. It's been a lot of work to get through my days all in one piece. One minute might be all it takes to undo the progress that I've made. What does he think he could possibly say to me that would fix what he did?
