Love Me Last Read online

  I pushed those thoughts from my head as I walked out of the office at the end of the day, after just a little bit of overtime work. I had long since realized that the only way I could be successful in running this business was if I left everything behind at the door. At least as much as I could. There were always those 3 a.m. brainstorms, and a couple of evenings when I ended up working at home on something last-minute and urgent. But for the most part, I was happy with the balance I maintained between my work and home life.

  And tonight, I was headed to get drinks with my best friend, Leslie.

  “You’re late,” Leslie said, smirking at me when I finally showed up at the bar.

  I laughed and gave her a hug before sinking down onto a barstool across the table from her. “I know, I know,” I said, glancing at my watch. “Only ten minutes this time, though.”

  “Has to be some kind of record,” Leslie said. “You working on something fun at the moment?”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I wish,” I said. I thought about telling her what I’d really been doing—starting to go back over the books on my own. But I didn’t want to worry her, and I knew that she would spend the next month worrying like a mother hen if I told her about the IRS audit and the problem with the books. Hell, even after everything was solved and the IRS cleared us, she would continue to worry. Probably for the rest of her life. That was just the kind of person that Leslie was.

  It was part of what made her such a great friend: she always had my back, and she always knew just what I needed. But at the same time, it meant that I had to watch how much I told her about the business. I just didn’t want her to get worried. I had everything under control.

  For now, I redirected her attention. “So how was your work?” I asked her.

  Leslie rolled her eyes. “Ugh,” she said. “That’s all that I can say.”

  I winced in sympathy. “That bad, huh? I thought things were calming down now that we were through the holidays.” Leslie worked as a hairdresser, and she really loved her job, but I knew that during the busy season around major holidays, being on her feet all day every day could be really exhausting, especially when the customers weren’t always the friendliest.

  “No, this is exactly the problem,” Leslie said, shaking her head. “Everyone and their mother got their hair cut about a month ago, right before the holidays, so now everyone and their mother is coming in to get a trim. Plus, Maggie went back to college and you know how Foster is when she’s the one at the front desk. I think we only had three double-bookings today, but that was way too many for comfort. I feel like I’ve been running around all day.”

  “Well, drink up. Next round’s on me,” I said, gesturing towards Leslie’s drink while simultaneously flagging down the bartender.

  “You’re my hero,” Leslie said gratefully. “So anyway, I thought you were going to get out of work early today so we could go to the gym.”

  “I know, I know,” I said, shrugging. “I had a weird pocket of time in my schedule yesterday, though, so I ended up going without you. And today, I’m sore. My new trainer put me through the wringer.”

  Leslie laughed. “Well, is he easy on the eyes, at least?” she asked, clearly not upset about missing out on a session. I think she only went to the gym to keep me company anyhow. On her own, it just wasn’t her thing.

  “Oh, very,” I said, grinning at her. “Just wait until you see him.” I frowned, though. “Trouble is, he’s clearly not interested in me.”

  “Don’t be like that,” Leslie chided. “You’ve got great curves and you know it. So what if you’re not the rail-thin gym bimbo that he normally gets stuck with. Probably makes you even more attractive to him.”

  I laughed. “I’m not being hard on myself,” I promised Leslie. I wasn’t totally comfortable with my weight, but then again, I wasn’t trying to land someone like my personal trainer either. He probably ate, like, kale chips and lived on protein shakes. I could never be with a guy who couldn’t appreciate the finer things in life, like beer and good food.

  “So, how do you know that he isn’t interested in you?” Leslie asked suspiciously. “What did he say to you?”

  I laughed again. “Well, you’re not going to believe this, but he’s trying to set me up on a date with someone for tomorrow night,” I admitted.

  “What?” Leslie asked, sounding shocked. “Who is he? Did you say yes?”

  “I don’t have any idea who this guy is,” I admitted, shaking my head. “We just got talking about our lives, and I can’t even remember how it came up that I didn’t have a boyfriend. But he said he knew someone that I might be interested in meeting. That was all that he would tell me.”

  Leslie frowned. “Hmm,” she said. “And you don’t think that it’s, like, that he was actually interested in you and was just too chickenshit to tell you? Maybe you’ll show up tomorrow and it’ll be your trainer.”

  “Nah, he made it pretty clear it was someone else,” I said. “But he wouldn’t tell me any details. He was pretty mysterious about it.”

  Leslie groaned. “Well, don’t tell me that you agreed to it just because he was mysterious about it. What if this guy is, like, a serial killer or something?”

  I giggled. “I don’t think it’s anything like that,” I said, shaking my head. “The trainer is nice. And anyway, the only reason I agreed was because he promised me a month’s worth of free training if I would go.”

  Leslie frowned and then shrugged. “I mean, I guess that’s as good a reason to do it as any. But remember, you can always call me if things don’t go well.” A slow grin broke across her face. “And I get to help you get ready, right? This could be kind of fun. Maybe you should take off work tomorrow and we could have a spa day!”

  I snorted. How quickly she went from being appalled at the very idea to excited about the prospect. Of course, I knew that both of those emotions stemmed from her desire to look out for me. She didn’t want some strange guy to hurt me, but at the same time, she didn’t want me to end up alone.

  Still, I wanted to make sure she wasn’t getting the wrong idea about things. “You can help me get ready, but I’m not taking off work,” I told her. “I don’t want to make too much of this. I doubt anything will come of it anyway.”

  Leslie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so close-minded,” she said. “I doubt the trainer would have been so excited to set you up with this guy if he didn’t think that you guys would be a good fit. At least just try to have a little fun. It’s been a while since you went on a date.”

  “I guess so,” I sighed. “But I’m not taking off work. I have things to do.”

  Leslie looked disappointed at that, but she let the matter drop.

  Chapter 3

  Hayden

  Wednesday was my favorite day for running all my errands. Most people were at work all day, so that meant I had places like the grocery store all to myself. Of course, Booker had long-since gotten past the age when he caused trouble when we went shopping together, but it was still nice to know he was in school for the day and at his afterschool hockey club afterward, meaning I had plenty of time to get done whatever I needed to.

  My final task for the day was to swing by Daniel’s office and collect my payment from the most recent account I had worked on. The check shouldn’t have been as delayed as it was, but for some reason, there had been a problem with the initial delivery, and the check had been rerouted back to the office. When they had called to confirm my address, I had opted to just drive over and pick up the thing in person. It wasn’t too far out of my way, and it was easy enough to tack on to the end of my day of chores.

  Besides, I was meeting Ace for dinner and since his house was closer to the ice rink, he had promised to pick Booker up on the way, meaning that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

  I knocked on Daniel’s door and poked my head in when I heard him answer. “Hey,” he said, looking happy to see me. So happy, in fact, that I wondered if he already had another problem he need
ed me to deal with. But for now, he just pulled out my check, handing it over to me himself. “How have you been?” he asked.

  “Great,” I said, shrugging easily.

  “You working for anyone else yet?” Daniel asked, making my hackles rise again.

  “Why, do you have something else for me to look into?” I asked him. I would have to think of a tactful way to tell Daniel that I liked being freelance and wasn’t interested in picking up another project so soon.

  But Daniel laughed. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Thankfully. I was just curious. You know, I was really pleased with the work that you did here. You’re the only person who could have pulled off what you did.”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t really pull anything off,” I said, trying not to sound too frosty in my response. To be honest, part of the reason I was so worried that Daniel had another project that he wanted me to look into was that I hadn’t really liked the guy in any of our interactions. I knew that he wasn’t at the root of the problems in his company, but at the same time, there was just something about him that I had never liked.

  But the pay had been damned good. I just didn’t like his insinuations that anything I was doing was at all under the table.

  And there was something about coming here to pick up my check in person that made it all seem even more under the table, honestly. I pushed those thoughts out of my head, though. I had been the one to suggest that I come in person to pick up my check. Daniel hadn’t had anything to do with it.

  “Anyway, it’s good to see you again,” Daniel said. “Hope things are going well, and that we don’t need you again in the future.”

  I chuckled half-heartedly. “We’ll see,” I said lamely, not sure what else I could say. I pointedly glanced at my watch. “Anyway, I need to get going. I’m meeting my brother for dinner. But have a good one.”

  “You too,” Daniel said, nodding at me.

  I hurriedly made my escape and drove to where I was meant to be meeting Ace. He had chosen the restaurant, and I wasn’t sure how thrilled I was to bring Booker there. It was a little more upscale than the places I usually went to. Not to the point where I would feel awkward wearing my jeans and flannel in there, but I wasn’t sure how much kid-friendly food would be on the menu. Booker was a burgers and finger food kind of boy, just like me, and Italian food places were hit-or-miss sometimes.

  Still, I walked inside and scanned the restaurant for Ace. It had been his turn to choose, and I couldn’t complain if he wanted to try somewhere new. If worse came to worst, I was sure that Booker would agree to some buttered noodles or something easy like that.

  I didn’t see Ace yet, so I got a table and drummed my fingers against the tablecloth as I waited. But ten minutes passed, then fifteen, and I frowned, wondering. I glanced at my watch. It wasn’t like Ace to be late. And I couldn’t help but worry about Booker. Had something happened at the rink? But no, Ace would have called me immediately if anything had happened. Unless they had gotten into a car accident or something.

  I pushed those thoughts out of my head. No point in worrying like that, or letting my imagination run wild. I pulled out my phone and dialed Ace’s number. I was sure there was some logical explanation for their tardiness.

  Sure enough, Ace was smirking when he answered the phone. I could hear it in his voice. “Booger and I have decided to have dinner at Skippy’s,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’ve arranged some company for you. She said she’ll be in a red dress.”

  I groaned, about to argue with him. Classic Ace. One of these days, I was going to learn all the signs and anticipate when Ace was just trying to set me up with someone. I should never have fallen for this one; in retrospect, it was pretty obvious. He had offered to go out of his way to pick up Booker from the ice rink, plus chosen a fancier restaurant than we normally would have gone to.

  I should have seen the signs. But it was too late now. “You son of a bitch,” I sighed. Ace hung up before I could continue cussing him out, though.

  The trouble with these surprise blind dates was that I could never just walk out of there. Even when Ace picked women who were definitely not my type, I still felt guilty about the fact that they had shown up. And usually, they had gone to the effort of dressing up and looking nice.

  I grimaced down at the flannel and jeans I was wearing. So, she’d be in a red dress, and I’d be dressed super casually. Great way to make a first impression. Not that I should really care; it wasn’t like this date was going to go anywhere. Better just get it over with.

  Scanning the restaurant for anyone in a red dress, I finally managed to find the woman on the opposite end of the room. I got up and worked my way over to her, dodging a couple of waiters on the way. The place was busy. That meant that I couldn’t just tell her that this was a mistake and walk out of there; I didn’t want to make a scene.

  So I slid into the table across from her, trying not to feel self-conscious. “Uh, I think you’re waiting for me?” I said. These things never got easier. “Ace set us up.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow at me, giving me an obvious once-over, and I couldn’t help doing the same to her. Gosh, she was pretty. I had to admit, Ace had hit it out of the ballpark with this one. She had the most amazing green eyes and her soft brown hair was piled into a braided bun on the top of her head. Her lips were nearly as red as her dress, which was classy but showed just a hint of her ample cleavage. She definitely had great curves, and I immediately thought about stripping her down and running my hands all down her body.

  For a moment, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. How to explain to a beautiful woman like this that the only reason I was here was that my meddling brother had tricked me into a date with her? That would sound terrible.

  But she beat me to the punch. “You’re late,” she said it simply, with a no-nonsense attitude that instantly made my blood stir.

  Fuck, I thought. What the hell had Ace gotten me into?

  Chapter 4

  Mallory

  When Hayden sat down across from me, I immediately knew exactly why he couldn’t get dates on his own. Oh, he was a good-looking man, make no mistake about that. He wasn’t quite as muscular as Ace, but he definitely looked like he could hold his own. There was something about those dark-rimmed glasses that made his hazel eyes sparkle.

  But his dark hair was messy, hanging almost in his eyes. And he was dressed in jeans and a rumpled flannel shirt. Not exactly first date attire, even though this restaurant wasn’t too fancy.

  There were two ways that I could handle this. The first was to admit defeat. Hayden clearly didn’t want to be here, and I wasn’t about to force him to stay. I was embarrassed that I had even let myself come on this silly date in the first place. I should have known that someone as sexy as Ace wasn’t about to set me up with one of his hot friends. He probably just thought I was a loser who would go out with anyone willing to go out with me or something like that.

  But that thought irked me. I wasn’t desperate. I wasn’t the one who had set this whole thing up. Hell, if I remembered correctly, I wasn’t even the one who had led the conversation around to the fact that I was single. So really, this was all Ace’s doing. And damned if I was going to let him get away with winning.

  So even though this guy, Hayden, wasn’t dressed particularly well, and even though he had the gall to be late to the date, I forced a smile onto my face. “Should we order drinks?”

  Hayden looked taken aback and then sheepish. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. “There was a— miscommunication.” There was the slightest pause before the final word, and it piqued my curiosity. What exactly had Ace told him to get him to agree to this? Was this some kind of social experiment?

  Maybe this was one of Ace’s games as a personal trainer. Set me up with someone, make me realize how out of my league this guy was, and get me to work twice as hard in the gym in the hopes that I could one day be hot enough to go out with this cutie? What an underhanded tactic.

>   And it wasn’t going to work on me. I didn’t give a damn what this guy was doing here. I just wanted to get the night over with. But damned if I was going to be the first person to leave. If he didn’t want to be here, he could say so.

  “Uh yeah,” Hayden said, grabbing the menu in front of him. He cleared his throat. “It is Italian, but I have to admit, I’m not much of a wine drinker.”

  I fought the urge to say something smart like, ‘what a shock’ or something. He struck me as a beer drinker. A watered-down beer drinker, even. With maybe some cheap whiskey thrown in just to make him feel manly in that flannel of his.

  To his credit, he seemed a little nervous. But suddenly, I decided that I didn’t feel like playing games. You know what? Let Ace think that he had won. I had way more important things to do with my life than this. Anyway, I didn’t think that Ace was going to be my personal trainer for much longer after this anyway. I’d talk to management at the gym and find someone else.

  But there was a part of me that didn’t want to call it quits so soon. What if this really wasn’t a joke? What if Ace really had thought we would hit it off?

  But that was ridiculous. What could this guy and I possibly have in common with one another? And besides, it wasn’t like I had a ton of time. With the pending IRS audit on top of everything else that I normally handled for the business, my schedule was packed solid for the next month at least. And after that, who knew what could happen, especially if we didn’t get things straightened out. There were going to be plenty of long evenings at the office, with the way that things were shaping up.

  Although at least Charlie had mentioned that he’d found someone to look over the books with me. This guy was apparently a miracle worker of sorts when it came to sorting out problem books. But we’d see how that went.