Winner Takes All (27 page)

“All right.” Mark offered his hand. “We’ll take the house. Thank you.”

Ruth hugged him again. “You’re very kind to two people you barely know.”

Cole shrugged. “I’ve been reading and coveting Mark’s work for so many years, I feel like I know him. And, besides, from what Eva tells me, I had an unwitting hand in bringing you two together.”

Ruth laughed. “Yes, it was your towel-clad body that set this whole thing in motion.”

As soon as Mark and Ruth disappeared, Eva turned to Cole and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “That was very nice. Thank you.”

Cole looked at her, but the pleasant expression that had been on his face for the past several minutes had been replaced by stormy eyebrows and tight lips. Surprised, Eva cocked her head and stared at him. “You’re annoyed,” she said, knowing him well enough by now to pinpoint the emotion exactly.

“Yes,” he said, his voice abrupt.

“Why?”

“Because I had to find out about this party from the guy who sits next to you at Wyndham’s,” he explained in clipped tones.

“David told you about the party?” she asked, wondering how he could have possibly known about the reception in Soho. When she’d left work all she’d said was that her friends were getting married downtown. “How’d he know about it?”

“Actually, he didn’t. The temp Ruth’s office hired to field calls told me about the party,” he explained pedantically. “But that’s not the point.”

Eva had never seen Cole like this. He was more than annoyed. He was angry. “That’s not the point?”

“No, that’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” she asked.

“You didn’t invite me,” he stated. They were standing near the entrance to the restaurant and guests were still arriving, so he moved them over to the side.

Eva leaned against the brick wall and considered him carefully for several moments. “I didn’t invite you?”

“You didn’t invite me.”

“Why would I invite you?” She sounded completely mystified by the idea, and Cole growled angrily. “It’s just some college friends of mine getting hitched. It has nothing to do with you. You didn’t factor into the equation at all.”

“Factor me in,” he said.

“What?”

“Everything that has to do with you has to do with me. Get used to it, Eva.”

Although the words sounded nice, Eva took exception to his tone. What right did he have to come to her friends’ wedding and pick an argument with her? And then to start telling her what to do! It wasn’t his place. Get used to it, Eva!
Well, we’ll see about that.
“Excuse me, I have to look in on the kitchen.” She turned and walked away from him. Cole followed her. Even without looking she knew he was right behind her.

The incident in the kitchen had to do with a spilled pot of hollandaise sauce. The mess had been cleaned up, but there was lingering tension over who had caused the spill. Eva, who knew nothing about mediating kitchen disputes, didn’t care which chef tipped over the saucepan and just wanted everyone to go back to work. Nobody in the kitchen responded to her straightforward tactic and she watched in amazement as Cole stepped in and mediated a solution.

But that’s what he does, she thought, watching him. He greases wheels and makes sure the machinery runs smoothly. And he’s so darn good at it.

When he was done making peace, he turned to Eva. “I don’t believe we were finished talking,” he said, his voice still stiff but he no longer seemed angry. Having settled one dispute made him eager to settle another.

Eva agreed. She knew how persistent he could be, and there was little chance of enjoying the rest of the party until they had it out. “Fine, let’s get some fresh air.” Once they’d stepped out onto the busy sidewalk, she turned to him. “You’re angry with me. I get that. But I don’t understand why, and I don’t understand where you get the right to come here on this very special day and start throwing around orders.”

Cole clasped his hands behind his back. “So you admit this is a very special day.”

“Yes.”

“And that Mark and Ruth are very important people in your life?” He sounded suddenly like a prosecutor cross-examining a witness.

Eva couldn’t imagine where he was going with this. “Yes.”

“And it never occurred to you to invite me to share this very special day with these very important people?”

Suddenly it struck her: He felt left out. Somehow, this imperious billionaire who owned houses in the Bahamas and God knows where else felt left out because she hadn’t invited him to her friends’ informal wedding party. It seemed highly implausible and sent her mind reeling, but it was the only explanation that made sense. She’d hurt his feelings by not inviting him. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I should have called you. I didn’t think of it. But if it makes you feel better, I didn’t think of anything when I got off the phone with Ruth except getting to the Municipal Building as quickly as possible. I didn’t even tell my boss.”

He laughed; he was still annoyed with her but there was genuine amusement in the sound. “I have never met anyone who is so capable at skewering my ego as you,” he observed. “No, you little monster, I do not take consolation in the fact that you find me as forgettable as your boss.”

“Oh,” she said, wondering if that was what she’d really just said.

“Oh indeed,” he repeated mockingly. Then he sighed deeply and stared at her for several long seconds. “Eva, this isn’t easy for me either.”

She wasn’t sure what he was talking about, so she uttered a vague yes and hoped he’d elaborate.

He did. “All of it’s different, none of it’s familiar, and it would be extremely helpful if you could give me some indication that I’m not wasting my time.”

“Wasting your time?” she asked, still not following.

“With you.”

His words sunk in slowly as did the meaning, and she could only gawk and sputter, “With me?”

“Damn it, Eva,” he said impatiently, “we agreed no games and I haven’t played a single one. I’ve been honest and forthright and completely upfront during this entire relationship and I think I deserve equal treatment. If you don’t feel the same—if your not inviting me today is an indication of your indifference—then I’d wish you’d just say so.”

“My indifference?” she repeated before she could help herself. That her heart wasn’t in her eyes or on her sleeve was a fantastic revelation to her. But Cole was unamused by her continued parroting of his words and gave her a speaking look. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. I just didn’t—well, even if I had, I wouldn’t have invited you. You just got back from two weeks in Asia on Wednesday and you have a ton of work to do and oh, that’s right, you run a multi-international conglomerate. It never would have occurred to me that you’d want to take time out of your schedule to come to my friends’ party. But I’m very happy that you came—ridiculously pleased, actually—and I promise to invite you to every single thing in the future. And, no, you are not wasting your time. Or rather, if you are wasting your time, then I’m wasting mine too and isn’t it wonderful that we’re wasting it together.”

Cole listened to this rambling speech with a bemused look in his eyes. “Right, that’s all I wanted to know. I suppose we can return to the party—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Eva launched herself into his arms and kissed him passionately. It was a completely spontaneous act and something she thought she’d never do—attack a man on bustling Spring Street in broad daylight—but she was so moved by him that she couldn’t resist. She didn’t deserve to be this happy. Nobody did.

Although he was surprised by Eva’s action, he quickly fell in line with it and wrapped his arms tightly around her. After a while he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers. “Now you’ve gone and made a liar out of me,” he said softly.

“Have I?” she said, her heart pounding. It was a constant surprise how much he could make her feel. “How so?”

“Suddenly I don’t want to go to the party at all. I’d much rather go back to your apartment.” He kissed her again and groaned as he felt himself pulsing with desire. “Forget that. Your apartment is too far away. We should just check into a hotel. The Soho Grand is around the block.”

Eva’s brain was muddled with passion, but she had enough sense to realize she couldn’t leave the party, no matter how much she wanted him. “I can’t—”

He pressed a hand against her lips and halted her apology before it could be uttered. “I was just kidding, Eva. I don’t want to leave either. This is a very special day for two very important people. I understand that. Now, shall we go back inside and mingle?”

Eva hugged him. “You have no idea how much I want to get that hotel room,” she said, pressing against him. “Or maybe you do. But, yes, let’s go inside and mingle.” She linked her elbow with his and pulled him toward the door. “Mark’s boss is here and he’s terrified you’re going to hire Mark away from him. Maybe should play it up and see if we can freak him out enough to get him to give Mark a huge raise.”

Cole held the door open for her and followed her into the restaurant. People were taking their places at the table, and Eva spotted two empty seats next to Ruth.

“Actually, that’s not such a bad idea,” said Cole as he considered the newlyweds.

“Giving Mark a raise? Of course not, he works hard and does a fabulous job.”

“No, me hiring him away,” he said, “I wonder what his plans are now that he’s married. Perhaps he might be interested in a bureau chief position.”

“Why? Do you have one open?”

Cole smiled at her. “I might.”

Eva hugged him quickly before they sat down. “You are too good to be true.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Three weeks later,
Eva was trying to concentrate on insurance estimates for touring the Hammond collection. She had another six companies to call, but rather than pull up their contact information, she was daydreaming about Cole. The night before they had been taken out to dinner by Ruth and Mark, who were still tanned and glowing from their two-week honeymoon. The four of them had had a long leisurely dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant in Tribeca and oohed and ahhed over photos of the vacationing couple that had yet to be posted on Facebook. The evening had been fun, and it warmed Eva’s heart to see Cole laughing with her dearest friends from college.

In fact, it had warmed her so much that she was unable to adjust to the cold reality of life, which was that she needed to gather estimates from half a dozen insurance companies. Now.

“Something’s going down,” a voice said behind her.

Eva lifted her head and swiveled her chair. Her cube neighbor David was looking at her expectantly from his side of the thin wall. “Excuse me?”

“Something’s going down,” he repeated. “I can feel it in my bones.”

Eva had no idea what he was talking about and wondered if she’d missed some part of the conversation. “You can feel it in your bones?”

He folded his hands on the top of the thin wall that separated their spaces and nodded with relish. “My bones never lie.”

Although she liked David well enough, she wasn’t interested in his honest bones. She had too much work to do. It was one thing for her to lose time daydreaming about Cole; it was quite another to lose it listening to Dave babble. “All right.” She swiveled her chair back in the direction of her computer and typed Charter Insurance into her contacts list. The number immediately popped up.

But David wasn’t finished and he came into her cube and sat down on her desk, right on top of Loretta’s marked-up copy. “Don’t you feel it?” he asked. “Aren’t your bones telling you anything?”

Eva closed her eyes and tried to be patient. “No, David, I don’t feel it. I’m not used to getting messages from my bones.”

He smiled, not at all put off by her mockery. “Don’t worry. Mine are reliable. I’m telling you, something big is going down right now. There were some men in the elevator.”

This development was hardly newsworthy. Wydham’s was housed in an office tower with several other businesses. There were always men in the elevator. “Wow. That is shocking. Maybe you should call the
Times
and tell them about it.”

“No, you don’t get it: They were suspicious looking.”

“Suspicious looking?”

David looked around to make sure nobody was watching. Then he answered, lowering his voice several decibels. “They had on mirrored sunglasses,” he said, as if passing on a closely guarded secret. He stood back and waited for Eva’s reaction.

Alas, this info did not have the desired effect. Eva didn’t gasp in surprise. She only shrugged. “Lots of people wear sunglasses, David.”

“Not when it’s raining.” He pointed to the window, which was several yards away from them. Eva couldn’t see raindrops, but the sky was indeed dark.

Eva turned from her computer and looked at him. Sometimes the only way to get rid of David was to let him say what he had to say with as much drama as he needed. As soon as he was done telling her, he’d go tell someone else. “What are you trying to say?”

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “They’re secret agents.”

“Secret agents?” she asked, smiling despite herself. This certainly wasn’t what she’d expected.

David nodded abruptly. “NSA, DEA, CIA, FBI, maybe even KGB.”

She laughed
;
she couldn’t help herself. “KGB?”

“KGB,” he repeated solemnly.

Although she’d heard few things more ridiculous, she let him say his peace. “And why are the KGB here?”

“That is the question, isn’t it? They’ve been closeted in Wyndham’s office for almost three hours now. What could they be talking about? Oh, to be a fly on
that
wall,” he said with a thoughtful look on his face.

“They’re probably just rich collectors who like their privacy,” she said.

He considered her reasonable suggestion for a moment and then dismissed it. “No, there’s more to it than that. Trust me, something big is going down. You can feel it in the air. The sense of expectation in this room is almost unbearable.”

Eva looked around the office. Colleagues were working diligently, and peacefully, at their desks. There wasn’t a speck of expectation in the atmosphere. In fact, the entire floor was expectationless. “David, you’re insane,” she said gently.