Dane's Storm

“You didn’t tell me you were expecting her, sir. After all the calls, I assumed you’d have left word if you were expecting her. When she arrived, well frankly”—she shot me a derisive look over her shoulder—“I thought she was stalking you.”

The tic in Dane’s jaw jumped again. “You overstepped by making any assumptions at all, Tina. I don’t pay you to assume. If you do anything like it again, you’ll find yourself out of a job. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir, of course.”

He nodded and when she didn’t immediately move, he said, “You may go.”

She hesitated but turned, the look of victory wiped from her expression, her eyes downcast as she exited the room. Dane came from around his desk and again, gestured to the couches. I took a deep breath and sat across from him. “I’m sorry about that, Audra. Tina’s ah . . .”

He paused, seemingly not sure how to finish that thought. Very proprietary of you, I wanted to say but didn’t. I wondered briefly if they were in a relationship that wasn’t work related but pushed the thought aside. I didn’t care about Dane’s personal life. I was here on business. “It’s fine,” I said so he didn’t have to explain Tina’s anything to me. I was here now.

He nodded then sat back and looked at me expectantly. I swore I saw a hint of anxiety in the way he watched me so closely, and it made me wonder if he did know what his grandmother intended to do to my business. “Your grandmother is trying to take the building on Providence Parkway from me.”

He frowned again, tilting his head. “Take the . . . What? She told me you sold the building to her and were planning to move your business elsewhere.”

“No, that’s not true. She told me I have to leave.”

“I’m confused. When she and I began talking about possible locations for the park, she suggested buying the surrounding businesses and I reminded her that your business was right on the border. Later, she told me she made you a generous offer that you accepted.”

I gaped at him. “No,” I sputtered. “She’s forcing me out. She told me the building was never mine to begin with and because of the prenuptial agreement I signed, she’s simply reclaiming it. She gave me thirty days to move out with no financial compensation whatsoever.”

For a few frozen heartbeats, Dane simply stared at me. Then he swore softly under his breath, running his hand though his hair and leaving it slightly tousled in a way I remembered it looked first thing in the morning. Despite my nerves, despite my anger and what surely was an elevated blood pressure, I felt a spear of undeniable attraction for this man who, for such a short time, had been mine. But I also felt surprising shyness. Because he wasn’t mine anymore. Mostly, he was a stranger. A beautiful stranger.

I fidgeted slightly in my seat, and his eyes moved to my hands as I wrung them in my lap. His gaze stayed trained on them as I made a point to go still, and then his eyes lifted to mine. He released what sounded like an angry gust of breath.

“When did this happen?”

For a second I had to re-orient my brain back to the conversation. His grandmother. “Uh, about a week and a half ago. I spent a week trying to call you.” Despite my best efforts, there was still hurt in my voice and I cleared my throat, hoping he hadn’t detected it.

His eyes found mine again and something flashed between us, familiar, but something I didn’t want. Something that inspired a deep fear that even the thought of losing my business hadn’t brought forth in me. “I’m glad you called me, Audra,” he said gently. “And I’m sorry my grandmother lied to you.” His finger stroked along his lower lip again and my eyes followed it. But when he began speaking once again, I blinked and met his eyes once more. “She’s . . .” He frowned, then glanced away as if trying to figure out a way to explain her. As if he could. “She’s protective of her family. There are a lot of negative things I know you’ll say about Luella Townsend, but that’s what it usually comes down to. A misguided desire to protect.”

I shook my head, his words breaking whatever spell I’d just been under. Snap out of it, Audra. “It doesn’t excuse what she’s doing.”

“Of course it doesn’t.” Dane stood, causing me to startle slightly. He came around the coffee table and took a seat next to me on the couch. My breath hitched as I turned to him. My impulse was to back away, to stand, to create space between us once again. This was . . . this was . . . he was too close, and I didn’t like it. The fresh smell of his cologne, of him, enveloped me and made my brain feel foggy, my nerve endings tingly and raw. “The building is yours, Audra. I gifted it to you, and I’ll make this right. You don’t have to worry. I’ll talk to Luella and work this out.”

And as I stared at his earnest expression, I knew he was telling the truth. Dane had been many things during our brief marriage, but he’d never been a liar. He’d held things back, things he shouldn’t have, but he’d never told direct falsehoods. That had never been him, and I didn’t believe it to be now. So many emotions were swirling through me, feelings I hadn’t allowed myself to think about—much less experience—in all the time we’d been apart. I looked away, chewing on my lip. “Thank you,” I finally murmured, leaning farther back on the couch to put some more room between us. Dane’s eyes narrowed very minutely, but with what I couldn’t be sure. “Will you, ah, call her or how should this . . .”

Whether because of my body language or for his own reasons, he stood. I let out a tiny relieved breath as he walked to his desk where he turned and leaned against the edge. “No. I’m going to talk to her in person.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his shirt pulling tight at his biceps. “I have a conference call with the developers on Monday. I’ll go and meet with them face to face instead. And, I’ll see Luella first and get this straightened out.”

“Do you really think it will be that easy? The way she acted when I went to see her . . .”

“I’ll get it straightened out,” he repeated, not remarking on whether it would be easy or not. Would she fight him on it? What if she refused to budge? Would our verbal agreement stand? I took a deep breath. Dane likely couldn’t answer those questions much better than I could right now. Yet, I felt markedly better, and though being in such close proximity to Dane after all these years had me edgy and unsure, relief provided the much-needed cool stream of calm.

I nodded. “Thank you.” I gave a slight shake of my head

. “Before I came here, I wasn’t sure if you knew about this or not.”

That same muscle jumped in his jaw, but his eyes remained steady, focused on me. “You couldn’t have thought I’d look away as Luella took that building from you and tried to ruin your business.”

“It’s been a long time, Dane. We didn’t exactly . . . end on good terms. I wasn’t sure.”

“Jesus, Audra,” he said, and the hurt in his voice took me off guard. “You know me better than that.”

“I knew you, Dane. It’s been seven years. Neither of us know each other anymore.”

He was silent as he regarded me. “Are you so sure?”

“No, I . . . I’m not sure of anything. I don’t need to be sure of anything. I appreciate you helping me, and I’m sorry if my questioning of your role in this upsets you, but I’m sure you can understand after all the unanswered—”