Page 26 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

The elevator doors opened on a chime, and Paul pushed me in. We rode up to the tenth-floor suite in silence. Once there, I took a seat on a chair closest to the door. Marking the time, I made an escape plan. In ten minutes, I would be out of here regardless, and I’d stick my finger down my throat to induce vomit if I had to. Barfing was a surefire way to get out of a situation.

Cal moved to stand at the large windows overlooking the city, his back to me, giving me the luxury of studying him without his awareness. He’d been a big guy in college, tall with broad shoulders. He’d been a swimmer. He’d liked horses, cowboy boots, and beer. But this Cal was somehow even larger. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. Carbs probably didn’t cross that unsmiling mouth. With his arms crossed, his T-shirt pulled tight, outlining the ridges and valleys of his back muscles, and dang— if he wasn’t ripped, then I wasn’t the daughter of a gambler.

Paul plopped onto the couch. “Well, having Cal use the app is out of the question now.”

“Thank fuck,” mumbled Cal.

“You two need to be seen together rekindling,” Paul continued.

“No,” Cal said.

Paul lifted an arm and stretched it across the back of the couch. “Hear me out. Sabrina still needs to come on board as our love expert, but how tacky would it be to have her try and match you after what happened today? No need to answer because it would be super tacky and a terrible idea. What we do now is have the two of you work together on the dating part of the app, as originally planned, but now we have you two test stage two of the app.”

“No,” Cal repeated.

This response was on a loop. Wind. Repeat.

“Stage two?” I asked.

“What we think is so great about the app is not only the dating-safety aspect but also how the app fits with all stages of life. Match with someone? Now you have to figure out what to do. The app looks at both your profiles and locations and generates a list of options that are ranked for personal safety, location safety, etcetera. The options allow for intimacy calibrations. But let’s say you’re married. The app can do the same for you as a couple—and, if you have kids, activities for them and school ratings. Searching for a house? We got you covered.”

I gaped. “That’s wonderful, and a lot. Alotlot. Know what I mean?”

Paul smiled. “Sure, it’s a big reach, and we weren’t looking to do it all at once. That’s why launching now is imperative. The sooner we get stage one up and running, the sooner we can move on. But now I think we need to do both simultaneously. You two have changed the narrative to our benefit, and we want to capitalize on that.”

“It’s still a no,” Cal said.

Hope flared in me. Not romantic hope. Sure, I was attracted to Cal—always had been, probably always would be—but I didn’t trust him with my heart anymore, and then there was the whole forgiveness part. To know the job was on the table still, though, that in two weeks, I could be halfway to my money goal. That made my stomach flutter with possibilities.

Cal was what was standing in my way. His tight expression and rigid shoulders expressed his resistance. Paul was going to have to be the one to change his mind. If I told Cal I wanted this job and why, he would probably give me the money and send me on my way. Which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be all that bad. It would certainly be easy for me.

But I would never be able to take it. Money needed to be earned, and any money given freely by Cal would feel like guilt money. So I played it cool. I took out my phone and started scrolling through my calendar and then my emails. Now that I was home, I had to get back on track in case this opportunity fell through again.

“Give me one good reason why this is a bad idea, Cal?” Paul said.

“I can give you a hundred, but how about this—it will make Sabrina a target. He will come after her just as hard as he is coming after me.” Cal turned slightly away from the window. “I’m going to make a wild guess about this, but I think Sabrina would not like to see her livelihood and good name trashed.” Cal then turned fully to me; his eyes met mine briefly before he searched my face, looking for only he knew what. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, keeping time with his flexing jaw. “Am I wrong?”

I shook my head. “I think an attack could be launched at me, but I don’t think it would stick. All my business comes from word of mouth. That won’t change.”

Cal looked up at the ceiling as if he was working something out. Perhaps picking his words. He pulled a hand from his pocket to wipe it down his face and rub his chin. He looked exhausted, a complete contrast to how he’d appeared in my room earlier that day. Then he returned his attention to me.

“Reenie, the sole purpose of this attack is to destroy me. In my books, I talk briefly about personal safety. On a large scale, I work toward school safety. All those people who have worked with me or have read my books are questioning the advice I’ve given them, the programs I’ve taught, compromising their decision-making and putting them in harm’s way. I want to help people get out of violent situations. Doing so, or fighting back against a stalker, takes a fortitude many people don’t have, and this ‘exposé’ will make them question my advice and maybe take poor advice from someone less ethical than I am. People could die because of this. All because one man wants to ruin me. He will not stop there. He will come after you. He won’t quit until he’s destroyed everything you love. I can’t have that on my conscious too.”

I gasped, fully understanding what Cal was feeling. “Why? I don’t understand how… I met your dad once, and I never suspected…”

I didn’t know how to finish that. I never knew he was so evil. I’d never thought that way about people. Guys like Dalton were only seen on true-crime shows. I’d spent all of five minutes in his presence and by accident. He hadn’t been very friendly. Cordial, sure, but there’d been no warmth. I’d been shocked that my sweet and loving Cal could have come from him. But I hadn’t known he was a man who wanted to annihilate his own child.

“It’s a story for another day. The longer you are here, the bigger the target on your back gets.” Cal looked anguished, as if the weight of what could happen to others because of this attack was eating him alive.

The urge to soothe him was strong, but he would never accept it. And I should never offer it. We did not have that type of relationship anymore. I wouldn’t even say we were friends. But my heart ached as I watched him hurt, to be on the sidelines of this attack.

“What can he do to me? He can’t go after my clients, because there is no way he could know who they are. So he’ll tell people I’m the daughter of a professional gambler? Big deal. I’m not ashamed of that.”

“He’ll do more than that. I can promise you that. His imagination for destruction is far more creative than mine.”

I wasn’t sure what the break between Cal and his father had been, but Cal had gone in a completely unexpected direction since college. “Is this because you didn’t join the family business?” I asked.

He crossed his arms and gave a quick, slight nod. Which showcased his hot bod. This new Cal was hot, hot, hot. He did not deserve to look so good. Now was not the time to get distracted.

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