And then I see her coming around the corner and my heart stops. “I’ll call you back.”
I run down the block, my gut in knots.
Jesus, the hair that had been pinned into a perfect twist when I kissed her goodbye this morning hangs around her shoulders. Her eyes are red… and she’s fighting to get what looks like a phone out of some plastic clamshell.
“Harlow,” I pant, stopping in front of her. Ready to drop to my knees and beg her to believe that what’s been circulating isn’t the truth. To give me the chance to explain.
Her eyes meet mine and she drops everything and throws her arms around me. “Are you okay?” she gasps, clinging to me. “They took my phone and I—I didn’t remember your number to call.”
I pull her back, a new panic surging through me. “Who took your phone?”
Was she mugged? I’m checking her hands, her arms, her face—
“It was a company phone and when I left… Wade, your contract?”
My contract? That’s what she’s worried about?
“Harlow, why did you leave?”
Tears spill over her lids. “I quit. And thirty seconds later my father had security take my phone and walk me out. What happened—” She shakes her head and waves her hands around. “Wade, what happened today?”
“It’s a mistake. A misunderstanding. Damn it, honestly, I have no idea what happened or how this thing got out. But the arrest was a mistake. That thing with Collin from high school I should have told you about. The drugs were his and they threw out the charges when he came forward. I’ll explain, I-I will, but… You quit? Because of this?” The idea that I might have cost her the career she loves, something she’s worked so hard for, makes me sick. She told me her father wouldn’t approve. We talked about waiting to meet him. Letting her settle into her job first. Having a chance to prove herself. Christ.
And then her tyrant father finds out about her relationship from the news, and his first introduction to the guy she’s dating is a damn mugshot.
This is all my fault.
“Wade, I quit because I finally had to accept some hard truths about my father and the impact I’ve been allowing—no, inviting him to have on my life.”
“Harlow. I’m so sorry.”
Her hand comes up to my face. “I’m not. The things he said to me today… I always thought he didn’t see me. That he didn’t realize who he had right there in front of his face. But he did. He knew exactly how hard I’d been trying to get his attention… and he just didn’t want to give it to me.” She sniffs, sucking a quick breath. “I finally realized his attention isn’t worth having.”
“But the bank.” I know how she felt about that place.
Another shake of her head. “Before I met you, it felt like the bank was my whole life. I was afraid to lose it, but I don’t think it was because I loved it. It was all I had. It was the one thing that connected me to my father, and without it… I thought I would have had nothing.”
Christ, it kills me to think about how alone she’s been and for how long.
“The thing is, I’m the reason my world was so small. I was so focused on this singular unattainable goal, I shut out everything else, telling myself I didn’t have time, I didn’t have room, I didn’t need a life. And then I met you. And you showed me what I was missing. And I want it. I want a life. I want love. And most of all, I want you.”
I brush a bit of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “You have me. Harlow, I love you.”
She blinks as more tears fill her eyes, only this time her beautiful smile accompanies them. “I love you too.”
“Let’s go inside. We can talk and—”
“Someone’s seriously blowing up your phone.”
She’s right. It hasn’t stopped going off since I hung up on Pete. “My agent. He wants me to come in, try to get ahead of this thing. But I—I need to know you’re okay. We’re okay.”
Her brows shoot up and she wipes at her cheeks with the back of her wrist. “Wade, is this about your contract?”
And the endorsement. “Probably. Yes.”
“Wade! Get on your phone and order a Lyft. You need to get over there.”
Harlow
Wade doesn’t want to leave me, so I go along to the meeting. They set me up in a comfortable conference room that feels more like a living room with its pro-athlete-sized leather couch and enormous coffee table. I set up the prepaid phone I bought at 7-Eleven with a list of numbers Wade wrote down for me. It’s not a forever phone, but it’s enough for me to call Grace.
She answers on the first ring. “I’ve been calling and calling. What’s happening?”
“He’s okay. He’s been in meetings with his agent and they’ve got the lawyers involved. But mostly they’re working on damage control with the Slayers.”
I can hear Bill shouting at someone in the background, issuing threats I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.
And then from closer, Kelsey. “Is it Wade? Tell him I can come to Chicago and help. Stay as long as he needs. Anything.”
I try not to bristle. We have bigger problems. So I ask, “Grace, I don’t know how long it will be before Wade can talk, but does anyone have an idea how this got out?”
So far, the answer is no. But the Gradys’ family and friends are making calls, checking to see if anyone’s seen or heard anything.
Within an hour, the lawyers are getting results from their end. The news and gossip sites begin updating their stories, posting apologies, and removing the mugshot that never should have been taken, let alone released.
Wade comes to check on me between meetings and calls.
He’s exhausted, but it’s me he keeps worrying about, pulling me onto his lap and holding me quietly before going back for more. It pays off, and the Slayers contract comes through. Pete thinks the endorsement will too, but eventually he sends us home for the night.
It’s not the celebration we’d planned, but it’s been such a trying day and there’s still so much up in the air, we order DoorDash and eat dinner on the couch and then crawl into bed together.
The next morning, Tommy’s talked to Collin and swears the guy had nothing to do with the arrest getting out. It’s a period of his life he’s tried to put behind him, and even Wade doesn’t think he’s got anything to do with it.
But there’s something in his eyes that has me sitting down beside him and taking his big hand in mine. “Wade. What’s going on? Did you hear back from Pete?”
He shakes his head and holds up his phone for me to see.
Kelsey: Can we talk?
The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “You don’t think…”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he hits Call.
“She’s still there?” comes Kelsey’s flat voice through the line.
“Yes.” Wade’s head drops forward.
She sighs, and the answer no one wanted to consider is there in that hopeless sound. It was her. “I thought she would leave when she saw it. I thought she’d leave and you’d see that she wasn’t the one for you. And then when the truth came out, you’d already know that she wasn’t the woman who would stick by your side and love you through everything.”