“That’s what you tell business colleagues. Tell me why I should trust you.” Her gaze pleaded with him.
“I...” In the corner of his peripheral vision, Irene emerged from the conference room and tapped her watch in his direction. “We’ll straighten this out after Nestor leaves. We need to get back to the meeting.”
It was the wrong thing to say. He knew it even as the words left his mouth and hung in the air between them.
This should have been a day of triumph. He’d ensured the future growth of Ruby Hawk. His employees would be financially rewarded for all their hard work. But Danica’s stunned expression, her eyes wide and suspiciously bright, told him he’d just lost more than he could imagine.
“There’s nothing I can say to stop you from this, is there?” She played with her hands. It took him a moment to realize what she was doing. By then, her wedding rings were off her finger and lying on her outstretched right palm. “Here. At least they won’t be able to use me against you.”
No. This wasn’t what he wanted. A bone-chilling freeze rooted him in place.
“Take them. Once the acquisition is done and our marriage is over, they’d be returned to you anyway,” she continued. When he didn’t move, couldn’t move, she picked up his right hand. Her touch burned as they placed the rings in his grasp and closed his nerveless fingers around them.
He got his lips to function. “Danica...don’t... I need...”
“No. You don’t need me. Turns out you never needed me.” She looked over his shoulder, and her gaze sharpened. “Irene is heading our way.”
He couldn’t get a grip on his panicked thoughts. They bounced and tangled around his skull, refusing to be sorted. “This isn’t—”
“Congratulations on the deal. I mean that. Goodbye, Luke.” She kissed his cheek, her lips hot against his chilled skin, and turned on her heels. She was through the nearest exit before he could get his feet to move.
Irene put her hand on his forearm, pulling him back when he would follow Danica. Irene’s touch reminded him he still stood in the middle of the engineering bullpen. It was more crowded than normal. He recognized people from sales, accounting and marketing, attempting to appear as if they were busy and not eavesdropping.
“Can we sign now?” Irene asked.
He didn’t answer, his gaze locked on the rings in his hand, his brain trying to process the image. Every atom in his being urged him to go after Danica. His employees’ sideways glances reminded him he was minutes away from securing their futures. A headache gathered behind his eyes. The pain dulled his senses while sharpening his regret.
Irene glanced down at the jewelry. “Too bad. I was honest when I said I liked her.”
Her words cut through the aching fog shutting him down. “What else did you say to her?”
She scoffed. “Don’t blame your inability to maintain a relationship on me.”
“What did you say?” He enunciated each word.
Her gaze widened, and for a second something like hurt entered her gaze. Then she blinked, and her smooth mask of amused indifference was back in place. “Such emotion in your voice,” she said lightly. “One might think you have a heart after all.”
He didn’t react, his gaze continuing to pin her in place.
“We had a discussion about your ability to stay unaffected when it came to affairs of the bed,” she said, with an airy gesture of her hand. “Girl talk.”
“Danica agreed?” That sliced through the numbness, a full body slam of hurt.
Irene rolled her eyes. “She defended you. Which is why it’s for the best she left. If she stayed, she’d be devoured and spit out in less than a year.”
Luke stopped listening after the first three words. Danica defended him. She must care. But if she did, why did she leave? Why wouldn’t she trust—
When there’s no caring, there can’t be trust. Her words rang in his head.
He put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Of course. That was the piece he was missing, the clue he couldn’t see. She couldn’t trust him because he hadn’t shown her he could be trusted with her heart. She didn’t know how much—