Page 138 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“Sorry about that,” I mutter.
She shrugs. “That thing has been through worse, trust me.”
I allow her to tip the tiniest amount of whiskey into my mug, and then she sits back down opposite me.
“What are you confused about?” I ask, worrying my lip as I wait for her answer.
“Well, for one, it’s obvious that man is head over heels for you and has been since he first met you.”
Part of me wants to argue that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but I know it’s the truth. My heart seized in my chest the first time I laid eyes on him at the nanny event, and in my soul, I know he feels the same.
“Then how do you explain everything else that he’s done, Row?”
“Well, he sat here, with you, doing everything he could to help you fight off these guys and your dad, and from where I was sitting, it didn’t seem as though he asked for much in return.” She gasps in sudden alarm. “Do you think he hacked into your company to sabotage you from the inside so he could get his hands on it that way?”
“No.” It slips from my lips even as my mind works through the details that could make it a true statement.
He’s been honest with me from the start that he saw potential. Potential I couldn’t even imagine at the time, and that he wanted to help people with it. But Rowan’s right. He doesn’t care about actually owning it, as long as what I’ve created is used to its fullest extent.
My brain hurts as information floods through my head faster than white rapids.
The security breaches in my company just stopped overnight, and no one in my IT department could tell me what had changed, only that everything was more secure than it had ever been. It’s always had Thane written all over it, but I was too blinded by my love for him to question it.
I groan. What kind of businesswoman am I if my own IT department is this inept?
“Okay,” Rowan says, gently placing a hand on my forearm. “If you don’t believe he would betray you by sabotage, explain to me why you ran, and why you’re here in the middle of the night instead of at home, putting him in his place for being an asshole but working through it together. Not that I don’t want you here, but running away is not the Charlotte Sinclair I know.”
“I…” What? I panicked? Yes, one hundred percent. He lied to me, but LotiTech is the only one who pulled back well before my father’s lawsuit. Then there’s his speech at the event, and the way he was with that little boy. That was a side of him I’d never seen before, and it made me want things I never imagined wanting, like a little boy who looked just like Thane, or a little girl with green eyes and sassitude like Kara.
Those are not things I’ve ever desired before Thane.
“I’m scared.” Those two words feel like bombs exploding in the quiet room.
“Love is scary, Lottie. But what scares you more, loving Thane or losing him?”
Oh my God. What am I doing?
“Losing him, obviously.”
I stand abruptly and almost face-plant on the table when my feet get tangled in the blue baby blanket.
“You’re furious, but you love him.”
“Yes,” I say distractedly. This freaking blanket is like handcuffs around my legs.How long will it take me to drive home from here?“Those two things can be true at the same time.” I stare down at my friend. “Right?”
“Very much so. Remember when you found Sebastian and me in the infirmary?”
The memory heats my cheeks. I’d accidentally walked in on Sebastian removing pricker bushes from her ass.
“You can’t really forget finding your best friend ass up in an infirmary with her childhood crush holding the tweezers.”
“Shh, will you? Seb is probably listening in the kitchen to make sure he doesn’t have to call your brother and tattle on Thane.”
“I heard that,” he calls. There’s laughter in his tone. He’s freaking laughing.
“Oh my God. He’s really eavesdropping?”
Rowan grins. “I told you—you’ve never shown up upset before. We weren’t sure what we were dealing with. Anyway, the answer to your question is yes, you can love someone and be so pissed off at them that you don’t even want to look at them.”
