Page 33 of The Art of Loving Lacy
“You know what I mean. I wouldn’t give up. Lacy’s not a shark. She’s a woman. A bright, warm, charming, gorgeous, sexy woman who’s not here and won’t take the chum,” Dane said. He pulled the car back onto the road.
“Sounds simple to me,” Hugh said. “Didn’t she say she worked at World Geographic? As a marketing rep or something?”
“Account manager,” Dane corrected him.
“You own a foundation. Don’t you need some sort of marketing program?” Hugh asked.
“No.”Marketing program?
“You sure? I think you might,” Hugh said with a coy smile.
“Marketing—” Dane smiled, then frowned. “Hire her? She’d never take the job.”
“No. Hire the company. You’re Dane Braden. You’ve got a reputation in oceanic research and a valuable company. Hire the company and stipulate that she takes the account. Seems simple to me,” Hugh said.
“Simple? Then what? I go to her office and stare at the walls?” Dane asked.
“You’re not this simple, Dane. Think.”
Dane let out a loud breath.Hire her company. Then what?
“Dane, come on. She’s afraid of sharks. You can help her with that. She can help you with marketing. Maybe your new account executive needs to come on a tagging mission with you for a week. Maybe she needs to immerse herself in your work to understand the project.”
Dane pulled into Treat’s driveway, shaking his head. “Far-fetched.”
“When has that ever stopped you from doing anything in your life?” Hugh asked. “Come in, shower, clean up, and then decide.”
“It’s insane,” Dane said.
“So is diving with sharks.”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Dane called and arranged an extension to the tagging mission. He’d need more time if he was going to follow through with his intentions. Then he called Rob and left a message. “Rob, take the next two days off. Rest up, and we’ll pick this up on Wednesday. I have to head out of town for a day. If you want to talk about Sheila, call me. I’ll keep my phone on and, buddy, after what you did today, I’m a little worried.”
Dane called Danica and asked her to guide him through how to help Lacy with her phobia. He didn’t tell her what he had planned, and it took some finagling, a good amount of begging, and assurances about his intentions toward Lacy, but forty minutes later he was armed with information on desensitization techniques and in vivo exposure for galeophobia. Dane was ready to help Lacy through her fear of sharks. He had one more phone call to make, and as he called 411, he knew he had made the right decision.
“The offices of World Geographic, please, just outside of Boston.”
Chapter Eleven
LACY PUSHED THROUGH the glass doors of World Geographic Monday morning with a heavy heart. She hadn’t returned Dane’s calls, or his texts, and she’d purposely not checked her emails. The last thing she wanted to do was hear his voice or read a message that would soften her resolve. She knew it would send her heart into a tailspin. She hadn’t realized how hurt she really was that he hadn’t come to see her for all those months, and when he’d looked her in the eye and confirmed he’d been with other women, it had thrown her for a loop. Even so, she’d already rationalized that worry away—they hadn’t committed to a monogamous relationship. She had no right to hold him to one, even if it hurt to accept. She held on to that rationalization and let out a loud breath. The whole mess had become too confusing, and Lacy felt like her head was spinning.Being apart is for the best. No matter how much I ache to see him. Touch him. Kiss him. Oh, shut up!She couldn’t be a burden on his career.A setback.He deserved to have a relationship with someone who loved the sea and everything associated with his job as much as he did.
The previous evening had passed as if in slow motion. Everything reminded her of Dane. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face, his dark eyes pleading with her to stop being angry and talk to him. She’d surfed the Internet for a while, looking at People.com and then CNN, and she’d read an article about a great white sighting off Cape Cod. There was a reference to the Brave Foundation being summoned to tag and track the sharks, and no matter how hard she tried not to click that link, she couldn’t stop herself. She’d spent hours watching shark videos and reading about the different shark species. The more she’d read, the more interested she’d become. With her head swirling with facts about sharks, she’d finally turned off her computer and collapsed into a fitful night’s sleep.
At least here at the office she’d have projects to work on and clients to call. Her brain would be occupied.Too occupied to think of Dane.
She turned on her computer, and their internal message system dinged. She had a message from Fred, her boss.New client meeting. Nonprofit, your bailiwick. Nine a.m., my office.Great. Something to look forward to.
The second message was from Danica.Ugh.She’d dodged Danica’s calls last night, too. She hadn’t wanted to be consoled, and now guilt pressed in on her. She picked up her cell and called her sister.
“Lacy, are you okay?” Danica asked.
“I’m fine. I just needed to be alone.”
“You’re sure you’re okay? What happened? I looked for you Sunday morning, but you had already checked out. Savannah said she heard there was trouble between you and Dane.”
Lacy rolled her eyes in an effort to keep her tears at bay. “Is nothing sacred?” she managed.
“Savannah cares.”
