Waiting for Your Love (Echoes of the Heart) (8 page)

“Can I buy a
beautiful woman a drink?” asked the tall, dark, and handsome man who approached Clair at the hotel’s bar.

Several stunned seconds later, she picked her jaw up off the floor so she could speak.

“Conrad?”

She watched him smooth a hand down his tie and impeccably tailored gray sport coat. Pressed navy pants molded lovingly to his athletic thighs. The clock behind the bar said it was just before seven o’clock in the evening.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Right where she’d been dreaming of him being. “Where’s Harper?”

“I’m not on at the hospital again until three tomorrow. And Harper has an experienced grandmother watching over him tonight.” Conny slipped into the high-backed stool beside Clair and kissed her check. And then her ear. And then her neck.

She swatted him away. “Stop that. I’m waiting for PetClub’s CFO and Customer Service VP. We’re doing drinks and dinner, so they can schmooze me before we get down and dirty tomorrow, negotiating contract terms. And now everyone you and I know in Chandlerville who
wasn’t
at yesterday’s barbecue is going to think we’re—”

“Getting down and dirty tonight?” He pecked another kiss on the tip of her nose.

She automatically kissed him back. She couldn’t help herself. She wanted to kiss him again, over and over again.

She pushed him away. “I thought Julianna was out of town. I can’t believe you asked your mother to babysit for this. We said we’d talk when I got back.”

He inched his bar stool closer. “That was before I had to spend another night without you. And it was
your
mother, not mine, who enabled me to get the heck out of Dodge at the last minute.”

“Babs?”

“She researched the flights, told me I could use her miles if that made the difference, and she’d already lined up Rachael to bring her kids over to keep Harper company until I get back.”

“She did not.”

“She’d make a good covert operative.”

“I talked to her this morning. We fought actually. Sort of. It was good, I thought. She was trying to see things my way for a change. Now she’s throwing you in my face again, as soon as she knew I was good and gone.”

“It’s such a nice face. I don’t mind.”

“
I
told her I needed time.”

“Time to worry alone?” he asked. “‘If you love my daughter, go be a part of this crazy decision she’s making,’ Barbara said. ‘Don’t let her run away from you, just because she’s afraid.
’
”

“I’m not afraid.” At least Clair didn’t want to be. Not anymore, not where Conrad was concerned.

He grabbed peanuts from the bowl at his elbow and popped them into his mouth.

“Then I’ll hang out here at the hotel,” he said around chewing, “until you’re done with your meet-and-greet with those PetClub top dogs. Tonight is about you, Clair. We don’t have to do anything but talk when you get back. I’ve registered for my own room. I don’t want to pressure you.”

“Pressuring me is sure as heck what my mother had in mind.”

“I just…” He smoothed a wisp of hair behind Clair’s ear.

“What?”

“Miss you. Already.”

“So you hopped on a plane to wait for hours while I’m taking care of business”—she shivered at the too-good-to-be-true prospect—“just so we can sit and talk again before you head back home in the morning. Nothing more?”

“It’s worth it.” He smiled as if he knew how crazy it sounded, and he didn’t care. “
You’re
worth it. I’ll take whatever time you can give me, and then I’ll get out of your way. Then day after tomorrow, once you’re done kicking negotiating butt at PetClub headquarters, you’ll come back to Chandlerville, and we’ll talk some more. No strings. No pressure.”

“No pressure?” If only it could be that simple, while confusion and second-guessing and,
yes
, worry swirled through her.

“Let me be here for you. The merger sounds like the best thing for you and ALL PAWS, but I know you’re rattled. Let me help. Let me be next to you, even if it’s only until your dinner companions arrive. Even if us staying up all night talking makes it easier for you sign the dotted line on their contract, so you can move away from me and Chandlerville.”

Let me be next to you…

And just like that, the ball of anxiety that had been building within Clair—since last night when they’d said goodbye—dissolved. Conrad brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek, and it felt like coming home. As if home had come to her.

Or maybe he was the only home she’d ever need, wherever they were, as long as they somehow found a way to stay just like this.

Maybe…

“If I’m really too much of a distraction,” he added, “I can head back to the airport now.”

She shook her head.

Wondering what it would be like to have him with her, sharing tonight and her plans for tomorrow, had been all she could think about since she’d arrived.

“What if talking isn’t all I want later tonight?” she asked.

She scooted to the edge of her stool, closer to him but not close enough. She took his mouth in a rushed, soul-hungry kiss. The way she hadn’t dared last night on his couch, with Harper just down the hall. Conny returned her need with his own desperation. She squeezed her eyes shut, savoring every second of it.

“Making sure you get exactly what you want”—he pressed his forehead to hers—“sounds like the perfect way to spend the night. It’s only been a day, and I miss you, Clair. I’m happy to be as close as you’ll let me, for as long as you want me here. But I’m not your mother. I would never do anything to make this trip harder for you.”

“You’re not.”

For the first time that day it felt as if she could breathe.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Ms. Summerville?” a man said from behind them. “Are we catching you at a bad time?”

Turning away from Conrad, she stood on wobbly legs, leaning into his support when he rose, too.

“Mr. Waterston,” she said to PetClub’s CFO. She reached out a hand to shake with him, and then with the corporation’s Customer Service VP. “Mr. Russell. This is perfect timing.”

Conrad waited quietly. And it was right—the two of them being together on the eve of her potentially solidifying the deal that would catapult her life in a new direction. Standing next to him, the last thing she could ever feel was lonely.

“I’d like you to meet Conrad Livingston, my…boyfriend from Chandlerville.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Mr. Waterson said. He and Conrad shook.

Mr. Russell followed suit. “We’d told Ms. Summerville that it was perfectly fine to bring a significant other to dinner. I’m glad she changed her mind and asked you to join us.”

“No, I…” Conrad shook the other man’s hand. “I don’t mean to barge in, or—”

“Nonsense,” Waterson said. “These dinners are about getting to know folks outside the work environment.”

“If Clair’s excited about you joining us”—Russell’s gaze pivoted back to her—“We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

All three men were looking at her expectantly.

No pressure, Conrad had insisted.

No strings…

And what was it her mother had said about Clair not making a decision until she was sure?

The only thing she
was
sure of at the moment, was how good it felt to have Conrad’s solid warmth beside her. And how valuable his take would be later, on all that transpired at dinner.
Later
, when they’d finally have their chance to be together, the way she’d been dreaming of for so long.

Shivering, excited about the night of possibilities ahead of her instead of worrying about Conrad and them and dinner and business, she smiled and retrieved her purse from the bar.

“Shall we head out then, gentlemen?” she said, leading the way with Conrad beside her.

Tonight at least, everything was going to be fine.

Conrad exited their cab
first. “You were amazing back there.”

He offered Clair a hand, helping her to the curb outside her hotel. They’d begged off their dinner companions’ offers of a return ride. Now he buried his face in her soft hair.

He kissed behind her ear, raising goose bumps that he then soothed away, running his hands along her arms. It was torture standing there waiting for the cabdriver to make change. As excruciating as it had been for Conrad to sit through their three-hour dinner, while imagining what it would be like to have Clair all to himself once they returned. Assuming that was what she still wanted tonight.

Though it should have been physically impossible, he separated their bodies and finished with the driver. He and Clair stepped closer to the building. But with a touch at her elbow, he stalled her from heading inside.

He had to tell her—she had to know—just how magnificent he thought she was. All of her, especially the savvy, supremely confident entrepreneur who’d impressed and entertained and blown away the executives who’d done their best to smooth the way for tomorrow’s high stakes meeting.

“I mean it,” he said. “You had Waterston and Russell eating out of your hands, talking about your passion for what you do, and putting the customer first, and how that philosophy was the driving force behind your success with PAWSMatch. That you see the animals you care for as your clients as much as their owners. How you and your staff treat each of them as individuals, with personalities and minds of their own. Which ensures that each client experience with you and your crew is unique and positive, and creates a guaranteed return customer. Contract negotiations are
so
going your way.”

“Not that you’re biased or anything.”

“If those men could clone you, they’d manufacture themselves a couple dozen Clair Summervilles to implement PAWSMatch faster in their PetClub markets.”

But where did her impending success leave them?
, he could sense her still wondering.

They both were.

“You’re going places, Clair Bear,” he assured her. “Take my word for it.”

“That’s nice of you to say.” She gifted him with a lingering kiss.

“Except I’m not feeling particularly
nice
at the moment.” He took his time kissing her back, fighting the urge to jump her right there on the sidewalk.

She broke away with a gasp. “Why don’t we head up to my room, and see what we can do about helping your relax?”

Conrad gazed down at her in wonder. What a woman. “I thought you’d never ask.”

He winked, determined to keep things light. She was trying so hard to trust the bond growing between them, no matter how many obstacles remained in their path. He meant what he’d said earlier. He’d come to be near her, not to rush her into wanting more than she was ready to handle.

“You should have everything you want, Clair. From life, from love. I’d never ask you to sacrifice a single dream.”

“I know that.” Trust shone like a benediction in her gaze. The same as it had earlier, when she’d welcomed him along for dinner.

“I just want to be a part of those dreams somehow.”

“You already are, Conrad. Having you with me tonight is amazing.”

“If we take this any farther, things are going to get more complicated.”

“Because of Harper?”

“Because of Harper and the distance between Charlotte and Chandlerville and my work and the new home I’ve finally gotten my son settled into.”

“A home you couldn’t move him away from now,” she conceded.

“We’ll have to take it slow and get a lot of complicated things right, if we want this to work.”

Evening traffic rolled by, the world around them rushing on its way to wherever. But all of it felt in slow motion to Conrad, while Clair drank him in as if he were the only thing she could see.

“Then I guess we better start figuring some of those complicated things out.” She took his hand, leading him toward the revolving doors to the hotel’s foyer.

Thank God.

She went through first, Conrad following, his body hardening in a split-second’s rush. Silently, reverently, he led her toward the central elevator bank. To keep from racing, he counted in his head the number of hours, minutes, and seconds they had until his zero-dawn-thirty flight home.

He hugged her to his side as they waited for the elevator to arrive. His hand discreetly roamed the curve of her waist and hip and bottom, his body shielding hers and his impatience from anyone who might be looking. The elevator arrived, just as another couple joined them. The four of them entered together. Clair pressed the button for the fourth floor. The others were heading for the sixth.

The car seemed to be taking forever. When they arrived, Conrad managed not to throw Clair over his shoulder like a caveman and cart her off to her room. Barely. They strolled together instead, hand in hand, the hallway quite possibly growing longer with each step, until they finally reached her door.

His heart had lodged in his throat. His pulse was throbbing as if he’d been shot with adrenaline—or he was an eager kid again, and this was his first time. She reached into her bag for her card key. They were almost inside. And then his phone blasted to life, startling them both.

He sighed. Silently cursing, he fished his phone from his pocket to scan the display.

“It’s your mom’s number,” he said. “Harper should be in bed by now. I need to take this in case there’s a problem.”

Clair swiped her card and held the door open so he could enter first. “Of course you do.”

Conrad punched his smartphone’s
display to end the call. “I have to take a red-eye back tonight.”

Which Clair had already figured out, listening to his end of the call and watching disappointment consume his features.

“It’s Harper’s first time having me be farther away than a shift at the hospital.” Conrad pulled her close. “It sounds like your mom and Rachael are doing everything they can to settle him in at her place. But he wouldn’t stop crying until I promised to be there when he wakes up in the morning.”

Clair nodded. Conrad was an all-in father whose son needed him. Just as he’d always been an all-in friend to her and an all-in husband to Amanda.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “This sucks.”

She made herself smile. Like he’d said, things were only going to get more complicated.

“Harper needs you tonight more than I do,” she said.

Conny looked anything but convinced. “You’re going to knock them dead at PetClub headquarters.”

She nodded, when every needy thing inside her wanted to beg him to stay.

He took her hand in his, and damn it if the confusion, exhilaration, and worry careening through her didn’t trickle from the corners of her eyes. He squeezed her fingers and waited patiently for the kaleidoscope of emotion to subside. She swiped furiously at her eyes.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she told him.

“Absolutely nothing’s wrong with you. And tomorrow, you’re going to rock your new business partners’ world.”

“They’re not my partners yet.”

“I was at dinner tonight.” Some of his easygoing charm slipped away. “I saw the excitement in your eyes while you talked customer service and market strategy until Waterston and Russell thought you hung the moon. You’re home, Clair.” The truth they’d been dancing around for two days suddenly owned the air between them. “Moving to Charlotte is going to make you so happy.”

“
You
make me happy, too. And your life’s in Chandlerville.”

Clair could for the first time empathize with her mother doing whatever she had to, to hold onto the man she wanted to build her life around. Barbara had been right—there were no easy answers once you’d found your one and only. And Conrad was Clair’s.

But what if having him in her life meant giving up ALL PAWS’s future?

She sank to the edge of the bed. She wasn’t her mother. Clair wanted marriage and a family. She was more certain than ever that she wanted them with Conrad. But she couldn’t turn her back on the rest of who she was, to make that one dream come true.

Conrad joined her. “Things just got real, huh?”

“How are we supposed to do this?”

She could feel it all slipping away, feel herself letting go of the exhilaration of finally having true love within her grasp. And she hated not knowing how to hold on. She couldn’t even say the words to him. She’d been trying to find a way all night.

I love you.

How hard was that?

But she couldn’t get it out.

He kissed her gently. “Make your deal. They’ll give you whatever you want, mark my words. It’s a no-brainer.”

“Is it? And when the merger’s done, and I sign the contract, then what?”

“Then you remember this moment, and me telling you that I love you, and that I feel like the luckiest bastard in the world to be here next to you, cheering you on.”

“You… What?”

“I love you, Clair Summerville. Not just as a friend, or as the guy whose life you saved, because you were there for me every day I’ve needed you the last three years. But as the man who wants to spend the rest of my life with you, whatever it takes to figure us out. I don’t have all the answers. I wish to God I did. And you don’t have to say anything back. I’m not trying to crowd you. But before I leave, I want you to know how I feel.”

“Oh, Conrad.”

She launched herself into his arms, treasuring hearing him say those three words for the first time as a would-be lover, as her soul mate.

So
why
could she still not own up to feeling the same way?

“I love everything about you,” she told him instead. “I have for so long. I always will. But…”

“But what?” he lifted her hand to his mouth for a kiss. “Everything’s going to be fine, remember? We’ve had our whole lives to get ready for this. You’ve let me in this far. We’ll work the rest out. Because I know you, Clair Bear. I believe in you and the life we can make together. You’re not going to quit now. Not on your business deal, and not on us.”