“The women who broke up with you because you spent a couple of months in a homeless shelter when you were a child were ignorant.”
Donovan arched a brow at his friend’s harsh judgment. “It was more than a couple of months.”
Xavier lowered his right foot onto the floor and leaned forward. “Those women don’t define you, Van. You do. And with all you’ve accomplished, you’ve defined yourself very well.”
Donovan stared blindly at the papers strewn across his desk. Xavier’s words were powerful, but then so was Donovan’s reluctance. “If my past doesn’t define me, why do I need to tell Rose?”
“We can’t forget the past. It’s a part of who we are.” Xavier spread his hands. As always, he had an answer for everything. “We can’t rewrite it, and we shouldn’t forget it.”
Donovan wanted to take his friend’s counsel, but there was a lot at stake—perhaps too much. His body tightened as he remembered the way Rose had felt in his arms. Her scent. Her taste. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs to ease his tension. The scent of fresh coffee teased him even as he tried to hold on to the memory of Rose’s fragrance, vanilla and spice.
“I don’t know how far this thing with Rose will go.” Donovan ran his right hand over his clean-shaven head. “I don’t even know what to call it.”
“Then don’t call it anything.” Xavier shrugged.
“You’re full of answers today.”
“It’s not hard when the answers are obvious.”
“I wish they were to me.” Donovan snorted. “I’m still not ready to risk what might happen if Rose finds out about my past.”
“I understand, but I don’t think Rose will walk out on you. She needs you for the reunion.”
Why did it bother him to have Xavier remind him of his bargain with Rose? He and Rose referred to their “relationship” as fake all the time. It shouldn’t disturb him to have other people make the same observation.
But it did.
Donovan crossed his arms over his chest. “We only have another six weeks with each other. That’s another reason not to bring up the past.”
&nbs
p; “You’re right. But there’s a really good reason to stop avoiding it.”
“What?”
“If you don’t define yourself to Rose, someone else will.”
That realization didn’t sit well with Donovan. He didn’t want to risk some stranger telling Rose who he was. Whether they remained friends or became something more, he wanted to be the one who explained his past to her.
* * *
Donovan grabbed his project folder and started toward his office door late on Tuesday morning. His first stop would be Tyler’s office for a product update before he continued on to his 11:00 a.m. meeting with his sales team. But before he got to his door, his cell phone buzzed. His caller identification recognized Medgar Lawrence’s number. The longtime board member never contacted him during the day.
He accepted the call with an uneasy feeling. “Medgar, hi. How can I help you?”
“You can stop Boy Wonder from taking your job.” Medgar’s rough voice was thick with disgust.
“Cecil?” With his foot, Donovan nudged the stopper out from under his office door. He shut the door, then dropped onto one of the chairs at his small circular conversation table. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll give you the short version.” Medgar blew an exasperated breath. “Last night, you sent the entire board an email update, explaining that the city council didn’t have an update for your young lady.”
“That’s right.” Although he hadn’t referred to Rose as his “young lady.”
“Boy Wonder copied your email and forwarded it to the board—minus you—claiming that, if he were in charge, we’d have a response by now. He also said some disparaging things about your lady’s legal experience. Here, I’m forwarding the email to you now.” Medgar sounded distracted as he went through the process of sending the email.
“I can’t believe this.” Donovan’s temper sparked at the knowledge that Cecil had disparaged Rose. “What’s the reaction been?”
“Mixed.” Medgar snorted. “Our subcommittee knows he’s a young upstart—that he’s all fire and flash, no substance. But he’s managed to snow the rest of the board.” He snorted again. “I’ve often wondered about the IQ of some of our members.”