Page 106 of Until You

Chapter Twenty-Eight

As Tyler drove to Union Station where he and Lanie would meet the wedding party for their final photo shoot, he couldn’t help but see the worry coming off of Lanie in waves. She was convinced Britt would finally figure out they were a couple.

They’d been together for several weeks, and Tyler had expected his feelings for Lanie to have cooled off by now, but they’d only heated up even more. He and Lanie had used their erratic schedules to take turns begging off wedding activities so that Britt wouldn’t see them together, but there was no way either one of them could get out of this one.

“You have to promise to try to keep your hands off me as much as possible,” she said. “Otherwise Britt is sure to figure it out.”

“So let her.”

“Tyler. We’ve discussed this.”

“No,” he muttered in frustration. “You’ve talked about this. I’ve been ready to tell her for over a week. She’s an intelligent woman, and she realizes that we’ve been taking turns skipping her forced wedding fun. She’s bound to have figured out something is up.”

“You had a legitimate excuse last time,” Lanie said. “Even Randy backed you up at the wine-tasting party. He said you were working on your big case. And besides, I had lunch with her a couple of days ago, and she never mentioned you at all.”

“Nevertheless,” he said, “this is your last week at your current position. Have you heard anything more about your promotion?”

“You know I won’t know until after the wedding.”

He turned to look at her. “I’ve never heard of a corporation holding off a promotion until after an employee quits.” His brow furrowed. “You have a contract, right? Why don’t you let me look at it?”

“What?” she asked. “Why?”

Why was her reaction so strong? “I specialize in contract law, Lanie. I can see if what they’re doing is covered in your contract.”

“No. That’s okay…”

He gave her a sly grin. “Besides, if I’m your attorney, you can break your NDA with my client privilege.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. My only excuse is that you’ve driven me to temporary insanity.”

She turned to look out the window. “No. I think it’s better this way.”

His smile fell. “Are you serious?”

“Tyler.”

He turned into the Union Station parking lot. “Why won’t you let me review it? Don’t you trust me?”

She turned to him with a pleading look. “Of course I do.”

“Then why won’t you let me see it?”

“I just can’t.”

Her refusal hurt more than he’d expected. “What are you hiding from me?”

“You know I have an NDA. I’ve never made that a secret.”

He pulled into a parking spot and threw the car into park. “I’m giving you an opportunity to get rid of that secret. Why won’t you take it?”

Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t.”

Disappointment made his shoulders sag. “You mean you won’t. There’s a difference.” He gripped the steering wheel and shook his head. “Are you even planning on staying? Because I have to tell you that this promotion story is beginning to sound dubious.”

“I want to stay,” she said, her voice quavering. “But I won’t know until next week.”

He took a breath, asking himself if he was being fair to her. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t show him her contract, but he needed to respect her boundaries. “Okay, if there’s a chance you’re staying, then let’s start making plans with that in mind. You don’t even know where you’re going to be living in two weeks. You mentioned looking for an apartment. Why don’t you just move in with me?”

She shook her head, staring at the dashboard. “No. We’ll discuss this once I know I have the promotion.”

---