Page 80 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

The wedding is tomorrow.

I don’t have time to run now.

Chapter 31

Caleb

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I left the Goldfinch. Even though I’ve had fourteen mornings to wake up in my bed, I still can’t get used to the wakeup alarm. I haven’t been sleeping well, and for the first time in my life, I wish my penthouse apartment had fresh air instead of the air-conditioning that now feels so stagnant and dry.

Regardless, I bring my tired self to work and intend to stay there until my eyes are crossing from fatigue. That’s not in the cards for today. We just had scheduled maintenance on the network, but that routine service found some unexpected issues. I err on the side of being better safe than sorry, so I told the IT team to address it as soon as possible.

Which is this morning. Their estimate of having no connection surpassed the morning and fell past noon. All the way until evening. I did as much as I could, but with emails down, even phone calls out of the question, I felt like I was idle and twiddling my thumbs.

Dalton pops in just when I wonder what takeout I should order for dinner. Nothing tastes as good as Marian’s chicken, and I wonder if I should stop in to see her soon. I’ve already looked at her website. She’s booked, but not completely sold out of vacancies, and I bet I could wing it.

“Hey, man. Want to get some Thai and a couple of drinks?”

I shrug. “Sure.”

“You’re knocking me down with that enthusiasm.”

Rolling my eyes, I get up and leave with him.

“I tried texting. And emailing.”

I shake my head. “Wi-Fi has been out all day. More maintenance.” I gave up after an hour of using my phone as a hot spot to work. The battery got too hot and I was sick of finagling with the device so I set it aside and didn’t mess with it. Sometimes disengaging from technology helps.

“That’s why I’m grumpy,” I explain.

He laughs on the elevator. “Oh, sure. That’s why you’re pissed off.”

I shoot him a dirty look. “Just wait.”

“For what?”

“Just wait. It’ll happen to you one day.”

“What?”

I shake my head as we go to the closest Thai restaurant with a mediocre bar. “When chasing women and partying gets old.”

“I’m not sure that’s what happened to you.”

I furrow my brow. But I have changed. I don’t want random flings. I haven’t considered a party.

“You just got picky. You want to chase one woman. And have a party with her.”

“Guilty.”

We get a table and I consider what he’s said. “But I don’t want to chase her, Dalt.”

“You want her to come to you?” he asks.

That would be a miracle, but I’m not even hoping that far. I only want Lauren to admit that she wants me. That alone would make my day and we would figure out the rest. That’s a tall order, though. In order for her to confess that she feels the same for me, she has to face her fear of escaping the control Jeremy and her parents hold over her. That’s not a matter of love, but fighting for herself, which is a battle she wants to handle on her own.

“I want her to tell me to chase after her.”

Dalton narrows his eyes, pensive. “Like…permission?”

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