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HE STOOD STIFFLY WITH his chauffeur image firmly in place. “Miss Swan,” he greeted me.
“Hey, Gregory.” I tried to swipe a stray tear away and had to shift my case.
He stepped forward and took my bag. “Allow me to walk you down.”
Biting my lip, I nodded.
He tapped the elevator button and motioned me in with a flourish.
My mind whirled with all I’d just heard. It was too much to take in. The man had been drinking all this time? He was more than sorry for what happened.
“Miss Swan?”
I looked up at Gregory. “Yes?”
“Is there something wrong?”
I shook my head and laughed without humor. “I’m not sure. I mean...” I knew Gregory knew what had happened, or at least some of it. “Did you know that Mr. Tessaro has been missing all week?” I asked to gauge his response.
He let out a breath. “Yes, I’m his driver. I take him wherever he wishes to go.”
I rolled my eyes. “What kind of answer is that?”
He shrugged with a slight knowing smile.
“I-is he okay?”
Gregory swung his gaze to me and stared hard at me. “Do you care?”
Pulling my head back, my lips parted in surprise. I hadn’t expected that answer. “Well, of course. I mean he is my...”
He stared right at me. “Your boss?”
Looking away, I swallowed heavily. “Yeah, and that doesn’t look good, does it? Sleeping with the boss.”
He reached forward and punched the stop button.
I held onto the gold rail as the elevator suddenly jerked. I stared at him.
“I never get involved personally, but...” He seemed to lose his words. “I feel that you’re different.”
“Different than...?” No, I didn’t intend to make this easy, as two could play this vague answer game.
He sighed. “Men can be dumb, even the smartest of men, especially when they realize they love a woman and the shock of it hits them.”
My eyes rounded as I stared up at him. Well, he sure shut me up, didn’t he? He just came right out with it. “So, then a woman who is also scared needs to... To what?” This ought to be a good one, I thought.
“Give him another chance?” he almost pleaded.
I could barely speak. “I-I. It hurt so bad, and I...” What, Emilie? You cared more about your career than you did about losing him. You were like this greedy bitch who thought he’d done it all on purpose. Took you for a ride then dumped you. When in reality, he... “I’m not sure I’m worthy of him anyway.”
Gregory finally lost his cold, professional posture and narrowed his eyes at me. “What?”
“You heard me. All I cared about was getting my line out. Hitting it big. I didn’t see that he... felt more for me than just sex. I misjudged him. Blamed it all on him.”
Gregory stood stiffly again. “So, what are you going to do about that?”
I started to tremble. “I honestly don’t know. But all of the sudden, I feel horrible. When I should feel happy.”
“Because you love him?”
I turned to look at him. His face was an open book. I’d never seen him look so concerned. “I-I have to think about this. I have to handle it right. I now feel that... I was selfish and believed the worst, just so I could come out on top. So, I do not agree with any of you who say I am this sweet girl who is innocent. I feel like shit, to tell you the truth.”
“You saw him, didn’t you?”
I nodded and then grabbed his arm. “Please, please do not ever tell him that I saw him like that?” My eyes filled with tears. “To think I thought he had used me, and that he would throw my career away. When he never meant to do that. I am a horrible person, and if I were you, I would not even give me the time of day.” Tears rolled down my cheeks and I was full-out crying now. I swiped at them with the back of my hand.
Gregory looked stricken. He pulled me to him in a friendly, comforting hug. “None of that is true. If it were, you wouldn’t have said it. You got scared, too, and came up with the only plan you could.”
I sobbed into his lapel. “He looked so... So worn out and sad.”
“I know, and I was about to step over my line.” He patted my back.
I pulled back and swiped at my tears. “Yes, I heard. That was totally un-Gregory like, I must say.”
He chuckled and hit the lobby button. “Well, often my duties call for some extra effort.”
I laughed through my tears.
The elevator opened and we stepped out.
“I will walk you to your cab.”
I rolled my eyes. “Geez, Gregory, I take the subway, and I am almost too late now.”
He stopped in his tracks. “You what?”
I nodded and took my case back. “I have been doing that for years. I’d better hurry.”
He looked stunned. “Those things aren’t safe to ride on. A young woman alone?” He looked stricken and grabbed my case back. “I am driving you home.”
I tugged on my case in his large hand, trying to wrestle it back. “No, you aren’t.”
He looked resolute, determined. “Remember, I will put in extra effort in my duties and carry you to the limo if I have to.”
I stopped tugging and looked up into his eyes. “Oh, crap. You would, wouldn’t you?”
He nodded and motioned for me to start walking.
With a heavy sigh, I walked forward. Then when we got to the car, I stopped at the door. Yes, I was trained well. He would take it as an insult if I did not let him open the door. Then, of course, he did so and bowed his head.
Suddenly, there was a beeping sound.
Gregory raised his head and looked at his phone. “It’s Nick.”
My eyes rounded. “He cannot know I was here when he was!”
Gregory tapped his Bluetooth. “Yes, Nick?” He nodded. “Um, yes. I will be late, though. I have to...” He stared at me. “I am taking Miss Swan home.”
With a defeated sigh, I lowered my head.
“Yes, I was out front. Apparently, she had been waiting quite some time for her cab that never showed.” He paused, then winked at me. “Yes, she had been down here for at least an hour. She said she was going to... Take the subway.” Gregory winced at the loud tone in his ear. “Yes, sir. That is what I told her. Yes, sir, she takes it every day.” He again, grimaced.
I would have laughed at his expressions if I wasn’t so upset or confused, or happy or depressed all at the same time.
“Yes, Nick.” He tapped the device off. “Let’s get you home.”
I slid into the seat as Gregory handed my case to me.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded and shut the door.
I looked around, remembering the utter luxury. Then I remembered riding in it on my dream date night. How did I get from there to here? Or, if I thought about it, I had gone full circle, really. I laughed and shook my head.
“As you could tell, Nick was rather upset about you being on the subway. As was I,” Gregory’s voice came over the speaker.
I looked around and spotted the button. I pressed it. “I have to get to work somehow, Gregory.”
“Well, apparently that is solved now,” he replied.
I jabbed the button again. “What do you mean?”
“Nick said as long as you’re working for him, you will be taken in this car and brought home the same way.” Then Gregory actually chuckled.
“Is that a laugh I hear?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
I shook my head and had to smile. He did have a clever sense of humor when he let it show.
After a few minutes, I sat back and closed my eyes and let out a heavy sigh. How could I have been like that? Blaming him? Expecting him to come after me? Thinking he had used me, when all along, it was that he’d gotten jealous and... I blew out a breath. It’s a big mess.
I must have dozed off because I startled awake. Looking up, I saw Gregory standing above me with the limo door open.
“It seems that perhaps one of you drank his way through this, and the other worked yourself into exhaustion,” he stated plainly.
I heard him, but really—what excuse did I have? Maybe it was true. I groggily looked around for my case.
“I have it,” he said and held his hand out to me.
I gave him my hand and he helped me out. Then, of course, he walked me up the steps, then the inside stairs, and all the way to my apartment door.
“Thank you again, Gregory,” I said as I opened my door.
“You are welcome, Miss Swan.” He turned and strode down the hallway, then he stopped and turned back. “Eight a.m., Monday morning.” He said it like a warning rather than a reminder.
I saluted him. “Yes, sir.”
He frowned and narrowed his eyes at me. “That is not funny.”
Crap! My eyes widened in horror.
He chuckled.
“Oh, you made a joke?” I asked skeptically.
He stopped smiling. “No, ma’am.” Then he turned and went down the stairs.
I shook my head as I laughed. I went into my apartment and then seemed to wander around. The words I’d heard Nick speak rolled around in my head. That Chaz and Gregory believed that he loved me. But he never said that himself. He did react badly to losing me, though. Never had a man gone on a drinking binge when I stopped dating him. Unless they had celebrated? But I needed to remember something here. I could cry, throw a fit, but I had my friends. They bolstered me up. What did he have? A man like him wouldn’t cry. So, he drank it away. Remembering the way he had looked—so sad and defeated—had the tears rolling again.
Finally, I found myself standing over my bed. I simply dropped into it, clothes and all, and cried myself to sleep.