I took a key out of my pocket.
Laila watched me suspiciously. “What are you up to?”
With a grin, I twisted the handle and pushed the door open.
CHAPTER 36
LAILA
The small storage room had been completely transformed.
What might have once been a small room with concrete walls used for storing brooms or cleaning supplies was now a tiny personal restaurant with one small table covered in a white tablecloth. A single-stemmed rose sat in a vase and a dozen candles burned on the shelves and on the table. Silver platters with lids sat waiting to be lifted.
Storm guided me into the room and closed the door behind us. He moved to the table, leading me by the hand, and lifted the lid of the first platter, revealing cheeseburgers and fries underneath.
I started laughing. “What is all this?”
“I’ve been wanting to feed you all week.”
Bless his heart. I knew my cleanse and runway prep had been killing him. This had to be the nicest thing someone had ever done for me. My stomach grumbled, and Storm lifted the other lids, revealing all kinds of food. Spaghetti with meatballs, steak, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, Caesar salad, flatbread, chicken strips—it was all there.
“How did you know food would be a sure-fire way to my heart?” I asked as he pulled out my chair. I sat down, fixing my dress beneath me. “You’ve outdone yourself.”
“I wanted quality time with you and I couldn’t let you go another minute without food.”
Truth be told, I didn’t want to go another minute without food, either. The cheeseburger called my name, so I reached for one, lifted it from the plate still wrapped in foil to keep it hot, unwrapped it, and took a bite. My tastebuds sang with relief.
“So good,” I groaned.
Storm dug in with me, not letting me eat alone. Barbeque sauce dripped out of the foil, and he caught it with his thumb, which he popped in his mouth. My lady bits squirmed as I watched him suck the sauce off his thumb.
While we ate, I fought the urge to ask about Jennika. She was the elephant in the room and I didn’t want to be the one to bring her up. I wanted to see if he would do it. If not? I’d bring it up later when we weren’t at the Valentine’s event and we could talk it through properly. Eventually we’d have to air it out, and eventually I’d have to confront whatever choice he’d made.
Me or her.
Although this spread and the flowers and his cheering when I was on the runway gave me hope that he’d already made his choice, and it wasn’t Jennika.
I decided to start the conversation with something sincere. “Thank you for bringing my family tonight. It was so amazing to see them in the audience. I think it meant a lot to them, too.”
“It was my pleasure. I was a bit scared sitting beside your sister though, I won’t lie to you.”
“What? Why? Casey’s harmless. She’s all talk.”
“I don’t know,” he said, feigning fear. “She seemed pretty serious when she threatened to bust my balls if I hurt you.”
I blinked. “She did not.”
“Oh, she did. And I must say, it was kind of terrifying. Like looking into the soul of the devil and realizing he’s marked your testicles for castration if you put a toe out of line.”
I laughed. “I’ll talk to her. She can’t say things like that to you.”
“Don’t. We made peace.”
“Peace? With Casey? Yeah right.”
“I mean it,” he insisted. “She and I are cool. She just wanted to look out for you. She was like a protective mother hen.”
I pondered this. Had Casey really gone to bat for me like that? It seemed out of character for her, but then again, Storm would never lie about this. In a weird way, it felt kind of good that she’d tried to intimidate him.
Storm finished his burger and washed it down with a sip of water. He dabbed his lips with his napkin and watched me crush my French fries. “I didn’t bring you here to talk about your sister. I wanted to talk about what Jennika posted on her Instagram last night.”
I froze with a fry halfway to my mouth. “Oh.”
I hadn’t expected him to bring it up like this, so forward and concise. I thought maybe he’d beat around the bush or make excuses.
“I understand that you probably felt betrayed when you saw the picture.” Storm nodded his head, as if sympathizing with me and rationalizing all the emotions I’d gone through. He was right. I had felt betrayed. “That picture created the exact chaos my board of directors and I were trying to avoid. It was the exact opposite of what I told you last night when I said I wanted to lay low.”
I let the fry fall to my plate. “I won’t lie… it hurt. And it made me feel confused and kind of embarrassed.”
He grimaced. “I know.”
“What happened?”
Storm sighed and shook his head. “It was stupid. Jennika caught me off guard, snapped the picture, and told me it was one for her memories. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. But as soon as she posted it, I realized what had happened. To be honest I’m still not sure what her intentions were, but I don’t want to indulge her by asking. Or thanking her.”
I sputtered on my water. “Thanking her? What on earth for?”
Storm smiled. “Jennika actually did me a favor. I know it sounds twisted, but bear with me. When she posted that picture, my worst fear came true. The board lost their shit. Garrett was furious with me. Hell, I was furious with myself for letting such a careless mistake take the legs out from under me. I felt as though yet again, I’d failed my father.” He laughed, but it was more a sound of disbelief. “Or rather, I failed to be the son I thought I had to be in order to make a dead man proud, which is pretty messed up when I really think about it.”
Where was this going?
Storm dragged his chair around the side of the table to sit beside me. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “When all was said and done, I realized none of that shit mattered to me. What actually matters to me is having good people in my life. What matters to me is you, Laila.”
It was a good thing there wasn’t any food in my mouth because the way my mouth fell open at his words, my lap would have been full of half-chewed burger, and that wasn’t a cute look.
His smile made my heart sing. “Say something.”
“I… I… you matter to me, too,” I said.
And I meant it. For the last two weeks he’d been the one to keep me going and keep me smiling. He’d been there every step of the way making my days better. My nights, too. Oh God how he’d made the nights better.
He was the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I thought of when I went to sleep. Even when I lay in his arms, I still didn’t feel like I was close enough. The threat of losing him had been there the whole time, just out of sight, but never out of mind.
What did this mean?
Storm put his hand on my thigh. “I want to walk into that after party with you on my arm. I don’t want to hide that we’re together.”
“Together?”
He nodded. “Will you join me?”