Page 51 of Icing on Top
Nova opens her mouth to say something, but Grant cuts her off before she can. “No,” he said sharply. “We let you talk the other day. Now it’s our turn.”
“We aren’t letting you go, Nova,” Lincoln began as we rehearsed. “We started making plans for the company the morning of the competition. Because not having you in our life wasn’t an option.”
“Unfortunately,” I continued, “we had a crisis with the launch. We didn’t have a choice but to handle it. And honestly, we can’t promise that emergencies like that won’t crop up occasionally. Fires that we have to put out ourselves.”
“What we can promise,” Grant said, “is that due to the restructuring of the company, we will have people to take on a large part of the burden and handle the smaller issues that don’t need us to solve.”
Nova’s face was guarded, but if I had to guess, she looked skeptical. “She doesn’t believe us,” I sighed.
“She will,” Lincoln replied, smirking at her. “We love you and can’t imagine our lives without you.”
Joel came up the stairs behind Nova. “Everyone is here,” he announced.
“Thanks, Joel,” I replied as we returned to the railing.
Grant looks back at Nova. “Make sure you pay attention, Little Star.”
Tempted Hearts
Nova
Conflicting feelings battled within me. I wanted to believe them, but I didn’t see how they could make such promises. Triple Tech was their baby. I’m still unsure what to think when Linc holds up his hands and a hush falls over the crowd below.
“Good evening, everyone! Happy New Year! We’re closing the books on another great year for Triple Tech, and we couldn’t do that without all of you. I know the last couple of months have been hectic with the new tracker coming out later this week, so thank you for getting it done. We’re looking forward to another successful launch!”
Lincoln paused as the employees clapped and cheered before settling them down again. “Some of you may know that recently, a very important woman has come into our lives.” I felt my cheeks heating as Linc paused again to turn to me with his hand held out. I shook my head, but he just silently waited. With a sigh, I took his hand and joined them, Linc positioning me between him and the railing with Grant and Ben on either side.
“We’ve always preached to you the importance of having a healthy work/life balance. As you know, we never followed our rules, mainly because work was our life.” Linc placed his hands on my shoulders as Ben and Grant covered my hands on their railing with theirs. “That is no longer the case. As such, we will restructure the company to allow us to spend more time with Nova and focus a little more on that life everyone’s been telling us to get.”
The crowd tittered quietly with laughter. Some of the faces below were familiar as they frequented the shop. Others I had never met before. All of them stared at me curiously, wondering who exactly the girl was who got the three eligible bachelors to step back from work. One face in particular stood out among the crowd. Paul.
Paul glared at us with vehement hatred. Brandy stood beside him, staring at him with confusion before raising her eyes to me. I could see the acceptance of the truth in her eyes. Whatever thread of hope she had been holding on to that I had been lying to her was cut. She nodded at me and left without Paul’s notice. I hoped that I would see her again.
My focus is brought back to the guys as they take turns announcing all the promotions they made to make stepping back possible. They really mean it, I thought with astonishment. Can I let them do this?
I turn from the railing and push past them as I run to the back of the loft, out of sight of their employees. I stare blindly into the night as I hear them finish their speeches, wish the employees a Happy New Year, and enjoy the party. The music is turned up, and I know that it is loud enough that our conversation won’t be overheard from below. I turn around to face them, still not sure what to say.
“Nobody comes up here,” Grant says into his phone before tossing it on the sofa as he passes by. They surround me, crowding me against the window, but they don’t touch me.
“Tell us what you’re thinking,” Ben says softly.
“I can’t let you do this for me,” I finally say. “I don’t want you to resent me.”
“We could never resent you, Nova,” Lincoln replies. “We love you.”
I shook my head, pushing past them to avoid feeling trapped. “But when we made the contract, it clearly stated that you didn’t want anything long-term. Your feelings couldn’t have changed that drastically in a month.”
“Fuck the contract,” Grant explodes.
“We didn’t want anything long-term until you, Nova,” Ben replied.
“You are the first woman to come into our lives and make us think about our future and not just the future of our company,” Linc added. I shook my head as tears filled my eyes. Part of me was still in disbelief.
“Dammit, Nova!” Grant growled. “Don’t you get it? We would sell the fucking company tomorrow if that were the only way to keep you! All the money in the world means nothing without you by our side.”
The tears fell as I reached for them and quickly found myself back in their arms. “But I already called the realtor to sell the shop and my house.”
Linc trailed desperate kisses down the side of my neck. “Then we will call them and cancel it.”
