Seven Night Stand (14 page)

“I don’t want this to end, Vivvy.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissed her temple. “Not even a little bit. We should be together.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes and held onto him, but she still couldn’t work out the right response. Couldn’t work through how this was supposed to go.

“Just say something. Something. Let me know where you stand.”

But she didn’t know what or how, so she kissed him and led him to bed.

…

“I hate this fucking thing.” Nate punched the touch screen of his new phone. How he’d let the saleslady talk him into some sleek smartphone was beyond him. These things had to be made for women’s hands because every time he tried to type something on the screen’s keyboard, two letters popped up at the same time.

“That’s what love does to you, bro. Makes you do stupid shit like buy a phone you can’t figure out how to use or go to California for an afternoon.”

“Love?” Nate snorted, ignored the clutching feeling in his chest. “Who said anything about love?”

“You didn’t have to say anything. A man acting like a moron is a clear indication of love.”

“Ha.” Nate jabbed his finger onto the phone’s screen again. Love? That was just stupid and one hundred percent scary as shit. But hard to argue with when he’d flown halfway across the country just for a couple hours of Vivvy’s company.

When his phone began beeping, he frowned down at it.

“That means someone is calling you, jackass.” Ryan stood in disgust. “And since no one ever calls you on your cell, I’m going to give you some space to talk to your beloved.”

“Screw off.” Nate tried to figure out how to answer the phone. He went through the steps the saleslady had explained to him, held up the phone to his ear tentatively. “Hello?”

“Hi, um, it’s Vivvy.”

He didn’t need her to tell him that, but it was kind of cute. He glanced to make sure Ryan had left the room before he let himself smile. “I wasn’t expecting you to call me so soon.”

“I guess I wasn’t expecting it, either.”

She didn’t sound happy about it. “So, what’s up?” When she was silent in response, his stomach started a slow sink. “Bad news, I take it?”

“I...” More silence. “I need to talk to you about the show.”

It was stupid to feel relieved that whatever was wrong was about the show. As long as something wasn’t wrong between them. They hadn’t exactly left things on sure footing, but he thought they’d made some kind of progress. She’d been happy he’d shown up, she’d made love to him with all the emotion she couldn’t seem to vocalize. That had to mean something.

Since she wasn’t talking, he offered her a prompt. “How was the meeting? Go well?”

“No, it didn’t.” She paused for a long time, the silence in his ear taking on a life of its own. “They want to stick with the family idea,” she said, softly enough that it took a few seconds to process the words.

Too bad. He’d kind of looked forward to working with Ryan and having him around more. Nate plopped onto the couch. “I’m sorry, Viv. I know this was a big deal for you.”

“Yeah.” He could hear her exhale loudly. “Nate, I need you to consider doing the show with your family.”

He’d heard her wrong. Had to have. The sinking feeling over her long silences turned sharp, a hard jagged edge scraping down his gut. “Excuse me?”

“I know you’re against it. I know it’s not what you want, but...I need this. Maybe there’s a way to make it not so bad.” Desperation tinged her words, but it didn’t dissolve the anger simmering in his gut. “It wouldn’t hurt you. I know your family might not come off that great—”

“That great? Are you serious?” She still wanted him to do the show with his family. After everything she’d seen. After every conversation they’d had. After flying to goddamn California she wanted him to forget everything and do the show.

After everything he thought they’d been together. Something hot and constricting banded around his chest. Anger and frustration bubbling.

“I know it’s frustrating. But this is what my bosses want.”

Her calm, rational explanation scraped at his nerves. “Yeah, what about what I want?”

“Nate...”

Nate shook his head. “I can’t do it, Vivvy. I’m sorry. I can’t be some clown so you can do your job. This is my family, my reputation. You get that, right?” Her silence prompted the simmering anger into something darker, less reasonable.

“It’s my reputation, too.” Her voice wasn’t steady or sure.

“It’s a job, Vivvy. And I know you love it, but it’s not you. It’s not a dream your grandfather built from the ground up. It’s not the same. Find someone else. Something else.”

“But, you’re my last shot, okay? You’re my last shot. You have to agree. You have to.”

He was too pissed off to accept the panic in her voice. Too far away to find some rationale in all this. “No one signed any contracts. I don’t have to do anything.”

“Nate—”

“I’m sorry. Really, but you knew. How can you ask me this, Vivvy? You knew I wouldn’t agree.”

Silence greeted him. Nate took a deep breath, let it out. “Honey, surely there’s another decent idea out there.”

“You don’t get it. I don’t have time for another idea. Can’t you do this for me, Nate? Please.”

Nate felt like he’d been sucker punched. He’d been so sure they were on the same page. Even if she hadn’t said it. Even if she hadn’t put words to what she was feeling, he’d been so sure she was feeling the same things he was. Now? Not so much. “So, it’s my pride or yours? My reputation or yours?” He laughed bitterly. “I can’t do it.”

“Neither can I,” she replied softly.

“I guess that’s it, then.”

“I guess so.”

Hurt and anger and a vicious need to pound something to dust throbbed through his body. “Good-bye.” He didn’t wait for her to return it before hanging up.

He barely resisted hurling the phone across the room, but he gripped the phone so tightly in his hands it was a wonder he didn’t crush the plastic.

That’s what he got for believing in things that seemed too good to be true. They always were.

Chapter Fifteen

Guilt wasn’t a new emotion for Vivvy. In fact, when it came to relationships, guilt was usually the front-runner feeling. Guilt for not being the girlfriend her significant other wanted her to be.

Nate wanted her to sacrifice something for him, and while she understood he had more connection to Harrington than she had to her job, it didn’t mean her job wasn’t important to her. Her job was everything. It was the only constant in her adult life.

Without her job...

She’d be just as miserable as she was right now. So what did it matter?

Vivvy pushed that thought away. There weren’t any other options here. She loved her job. Loved scouting TV shows, and she was good at it. It used her skill set, and didn’t ask her to care, to get attached to something and then have it ripped away.

She’d spent the past two days thinking up ways for Nate to see the light, but she’d spent too much time with him and Jed and Millard to really want to see them exploited. If she convinced him, she’d never be able to live with herself. If she didn’t convince him, what did she have?

In order to save herself she had to find a way to screw them over.

“You look like a girl in need of a drink.”

She looked up at Ellen and attempted a friendly smile. “I’m sorry, I don’t really feel like going out tonight. I promise, some other night.”

“We’ll stay in. My apartment isn’t much, but there’s a lot of booze in it.”

Vivvy almost managed a laugh. She looked at Ellen, tried to make this woman out. Places reversed, if she put herself out there and someone kept keeping her at arm’s length, she certainly wouldn’t keep trying.

Too tired to weigh the question, she blurted it out. “Why are you always so nice to me?”

“Honestly?” Ellen plopped her hip down on the corner of Vivvy’s desk. “You remind me of my sister. She’s so uptight and serious all the time. Focused. She needs someone to lighten her up from time to time, and that someone was me till she married the prick of a husband she loves so much.” Ellen rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’m out an uptight friend to goad and you look like you need a friend to goad you. So...here I am. Ready to be your friend. If you’re interested. I’d befriend Deanna but if I had to listen to that voice any more than I already do, I’d jump out a window.”

Vivvy could only stare. It was really rather ridiculous, which was...kind of refreshing. “In all that booze you have, is there wine?”

“At least five bottles.”

Vivvy stood, nodded. “Let’s go.”

Ellen clapped her hands together. “Yay!”

About five hours later, more than a little tipsy, Vivvy sat on the couch of a woman she barely knew, drinking wine from a box, and waxing poetic about a man who probably never wanted to see her again.

“I admire him, you know? He runs his own business. Doesn’t have to kneel down to Lee or Gerry for their approval and not get it. Actually, this is all Lee and Gerry’s fault. Yes. They’re so blind. My idea is great. Better than the original. But heaven forbid a woman have an idea around there.”

“They’re so gross. I’m pretty sure Lee has never looked me in the eye once. Always too busy staring at my rack. Pig.” Ellen sprawled out on her raggedy teal couch, nursing some pink drink she’d mixed herself.

Her apartment had style. It felt like home. Like Ellen. Nate would just love it, wouldn’t he?

“You know what you should do?” Ellen propped herself up on her elbow. “You should tell someone else your idea. Like, an enemy company or something. That’d show ’em.”

“Trade one group of assholes for another. I should just make the damn show myself is what I should do.”

Ellen sat straight up. “Could you?”

Vivvy laughed. She started to say no, but... Well...could she? Starting her own business had always seemed like such a pipe dream, and maybe in LA it was, but Nate did it. He ran Harrington. She’d watched him. She knew what a good boss looked like.

“I think we’re about to have a breakthough here,” Ellen said, taking Vivvy’s glass away. “We need clear heads.” She grabbed all the alcohol and dumped it into her kitchen sink, then returned with a notebook.

“Okay. What would it take? To do it yourself?”

Vivvy swallowed. “I...I don’t know.” She tried to fight the fuzziness in her brain. “I’d have to read my contract with Tyson, make sure it’s not stealing intellectual property or whatever.”

Ellen scribbled something down. “Need to talk to a lawyer.”

“Yes, and, well, I’d have to get Nate and Ryan to agree.” The excitement ended abruptly. “I don’t see that happening.”

“He came to LA to visit you, Vivvy. For an afternoon. That’s, like, a big deal.”

“But...I hurt him when I asked if he’d do the show with his family. He’s angry with me and—”

“Flew to LA for an afternoon.”

“Is this what I’ve been missing out on with the whole friendship thing?”

“Booze, guy talk, building a business, all that’s left is hating our bodies and we’re like every women’s magazine wants us to be.”

Vivvy swallowed down the fear, the uncertainty, the insecurity that had kept her from going after the things she wanted. If it had kept her away from a friendship with Ellen, a relationship with Nate, a business of her own...it wasn’t worth validating for another second.

“All right, put ‘quit Tyson’ on the list. Then ‘go to Demo’ right under it.”

Ellen let out a little victory cry. Yup. Victory. That’s exactly what Vivvy was going for.

…

“Nate, I don’t like it any more than you do, but Mom’s right.”

Nate stared out the window of his grandparents’ house. The fact Mom and Dad had moved in after Grandma had died didn’t make it any less his grandparents’ house.

Mom took a long drag of a cigarette. “I can’t do it anymore. And I tried. Don’t try to tell me I didn’t. I’ve been following him around like a damned bodyguard. I just can’t do it anymore.”

Nate wanted this to be her fault, but no emotion could cloud the fact that she’d been a godsend when it came to Grandpa. He wasn’t even her father.

“All right.” What else was there to say? What else was there to do? Maybe if he, Mom, and Ryan tag-teamed Grandpa they could keep him under control, but for how long? And what happened when Grandpa fell again? What happened if he disappeared at night? The only answer was to put Grandpa in a nursing home.

“Just so you know, your dad and I can’t afford it.”

Nate laughed bitterly. Yeah, no shit. “I’ll handle it.” He handled everything else, didn’t he? “Ry will help you out for a few days. I’ll get something lined up as soon as possible.”

Nate didn’t miss Ry open his mouth to argue, but he didn’t have the strength to listen to it right now. So he walked out.

Unfortunately, Ryan followed. “Hey, listen, I’ve got some money. And maybe if the show thing works out—”

“There’s no show,” Nate retorted. He should have told Ry sooner, but he’d wanted to keep Ry on at Harrington. Until he admitted it’s where he wanted to be.

“What do you mean, no show?”

Nate kept walking to his truck. “I mean, I told Vivvy we’re not doing it.”

“But—”

He stopped and turned to face his brother. “Look, in the end they wanted the family angle. Everything else was BS. So it’s over.”

Ryan studied him for a minute. “And you don’t just mean the show.”

“No, I don’t.” Nate wrenched his driver’s side door open.

“Sorry, man.”

“Yeah, well.” He didn’t know what to do with Ryan’s sympathy, so he hefted himself into the driver’s seat. “Stay here. Help Mom. I’ll do the rest.”

“Maybe I should head back to Kansas City. Get out of your hair.”

Nate shrugged. “Do whatever.” It wouldn’t surprise him.

“Nate, I’m just trying to help. If you want me to stay—”

Nate couldn’t stand to listen to it. He was screwed. Well and truly. Alone. Well and truly.

Thank you, Vivvy Marsh.

Chapter Sixteen

Nate slogged through another day at work and tried not to think about Grandpa’s slightly confused expression when he and Ryan had dropped him off at the nursing home for good.

Dad had disappeared again—no surprise there—so it had been up to Nate and Ryan to get everything situated. Nate swallowed a mixture of nausea, hurt, and anger. All three had been bubbling in his stomach for three days, and they only got worse when his heart continued to ignore his brain and wish for Vivvy.

There should be no part of him left that wanted her, but there was. He wanted comfort. Her straightforward way about things. But she wanted something he couldn’t give her. He wouldn’t put his family, his name, his reputation on the line for a TV show. And that TV show meant everything to her.

That was it. End of story. No other endings possible.

Nate shoved his arms into the sleeves of his coat. He had to get away from Harrington. Too much reminded him of Grandpa and Vivvy. He didn’t want to think about either of them.

Nate stomped out of the office into the cold evening. Rain possibly turning into ice had been predicted. So far everything was cold, dark, but thankfully dry. Hunching under his coat, he stopped short on the porch when he noticed a strange car parked on the lot and a figure standing next to it.

He recognized straight dark hair on pale skin and the shape of a body he’d had his hands on many times.

Shock slammed hard against his ribs. “Vivvy.”

There was no way she could have heard him with the distance between them. Nate shook off the heavy feeling in his chest, steeled his mouth into a scowl, and didn’t move from the porch.

Maybe his hands itched to touch, maybe his feet were dying to move, but he’d be damned if he was going to fall for this again. If she thought a personal appeal was going to get him to agree to his family being on this show after he’d had to put Grandpa into the nursing home, she was going to get one hell of a surprise.

“Hey, you leaving?” Ryan pushed open the door and stepped out onto the porch. “Next time, tell a guy.”

Nate didn’t tear his gaze from Vivvy’s approaching form, but he assumed Ryan stopped because he saw her, too.

She was all dolled up to the business nines. Black suit, hair straight as an arrow, big bag secured on her shoulder. When she finally approached the porch, she squared her shoulders and smiled.

“Evening. I apologize for showing up without notice.” Her eyes flicked from Nate to Ryan then back to Nate. “I was hoping you’d both have a few minutes to discuss business.”

“We couldn’t do that over the phone?”

Nate was glad his brother was speaking because he didn’t trust his own voice to have the same disdain.

This time, Vivvy’s eyes didn’t leave Nate’s. “I’m afraid not. All I ask is a few minutes of your time, gentlemen. I’d like to propose something to you both. If you’re not interested, I’ll leave.”

Business. She was standing in front of him yapping about business after everything. Business? What was wrong with her? What the hell was wrong with him for wanting to scoop her up into a hug? To hold on to her and feel some kind of peace.

Ryan was faltering. Nate didn’t need to look at him to know his brother’s silence meant he was thinking. Though Nate was determined to wash his hands of TV and California and stupid ideas, Ryan was still holding onto some hope they could make this work.

“I’m going home,” Nate muttered. As he passed Vivvy, he was careful not to make any physical contact.

“Nate.” Her voice was quiet and pleading, not the strong businesswoman who had approached them.

Nate stopped, clenching his fists. Damn it. He did not want to be drawn back into this. He just needed to keep walking. Go home. Maybe drink himself into oblivion. He was not going to turn around and listen to what Vivvy had to say. He had enough people in his life who couldn’t stick around; he wasn’t going to let one more worm her way in just because she begged.

“I realize I’ve made some mistakes in how I handled this.” Her voice was back to strong, but her words pulled at him. He couldn’t just walk away. No matter how much anger and bitterness had built up over the past week.

“I want to make it up to you,” she continued. “Both of you. I just need a few minutes and if you don’t like what you hear, I promise I’ll go away for good.”

“Nate, come on. Let’s just listen to what she has to say.”

When Nate finally turned around, Ryan was holding the door open for Vivvy, but she was waiting.

She cleared her throat, looked straight at him. “Please.”

Damn it. Nate didn’t say anything, but he stepped inside the office. He didn’t want to talk business. He didn’t want another plea to put his crazy family on TV. She’d made her choice and he’d made his. End of story. Dragging it out was a recipe for disaster. They couldn’t do this. She didn’t belong here and they wanted different things.

What could she possibly have to say that would change any of it?

“Can we go into the meeting room?” Vivvy asked behind him.

Jaw tight, Nate walked into the back of the office and the meeting room.

When they arranged themselves around the table, it was the Harrington twins versus Vivvy. She sat where his father had sat not very long ago. Vivvy had been on the same team then. Things had certainly changed.

Vivvy placed her bag on the table and began to pull folders out of it. Though her face remained businesslike and unreadable, Nate noticed there was a slight tremor in her hands as she pushed identical folders toward him and Ry.

Nate looked down at the folder. A bright white label read
Vivvy Marsh Productions
in big, bold print.

“What is this?” he demanded, not even bothering to open to the papers inside.

Vivvy folded her hands together, looked down at the folder rather than meeting his gaze. “It’s a business plan. A proposal. It’s a lot of things.”

Nate could hear Ryan flipping through the pages, but Nate still couldn’t get his hands to do the same. “What happened between you and Tyson?”

Vivvy’s gaze moved from the folders to Nate’s face. He did everything he could to keep his expression hard, unfeeling.

“We no longer saw eye to eye. I still believe in the project the three of us came up with, and I know you two aren’t interested in the family angle Tyson wanted to pursue.” She blinked, and looked down at her hands. “Unless you’ve changed your minds.”

“I never wanted this damn show. Not once, ever. I agreed to the stupid me and Ry thing for you.”

Her brows drew together and then her mouth flattened into a scowl. “Right. Because you had nothing to gain from it.”

“I—” He tried to formulate an argument, but she was right. Damn it. He’d agreed to the second show because of her, yes, but because it would give him something too. Publicity and opportunity. He’d agreed because it was a good business decision as long as Mom, Dad, and Grandpa were out of the way.

“I realize you’ll need time to think about it. I can only stay in Demo until Wednesday, but I want you to take your time. Look over this. Talk to each other about it. It’s still not a guarantee. By going with a start-up, there will be more risks, including Tyson getting a little prickly about competition from a former employee. I can’t make any promises, but it’s something.”

Something. “Until you go back to LA and change your mind again?”

Her head snapped back, and she frowned. “I tried, Nate. I quit my job over the family angle. You don’t have to agree to this idea. You don’t have to believe me. I just had to try.” After a long pause, she pointed back to the folders in front of them. “If you have any questions, you still have my cell and my e-mail. I can come out and meet with you both any time before noon on Wednesday.”

Ryan stood and nodded. “We’ll take a look, Vivvy.” He held out his hand and she smiled as she shook it. “Where are you staying?”

Her hands dropped to her sides. “Oh, well…” Her eyes darted back and forth. “Um.”

Her evasion was an uncomfortable reminder that he still cared, that she could still worry him. That he wanted her to be safe and sound and with him. “Where, Vivvy?”

“I’m, um, staying at Ivy Vines, but—”

The anger was starting to win against control. He stood, gripped the table in an effort to let some of the pressure go that way. “Are you nuts?”

“No.”

She offered nothing more, and Nate was sure he was about to grind his teeth into dust. “Why the hell are you staying at Ivy Vines when you know what it’s like?”

“It’s all I can afford,” she snapped. Shoulders back, chin up, defiance waved off of her. “Deciding to go into business for myself was quite a financial undertaking. At this point, I don’t have investors. I was hoping to have a show to shop before I looked for more backing. Travel is out of pocket, so I’ve had to cut some corners.”

“Christ. You are nuts. You know what would have cut some damn corners? A phone call. You can’t stay at Ivy Vines.”

Vivvy pulled her bag onto her shoulder, walked around the table so they were face-to-face with no barrier between them. “You don’t have any say in the matter.”

“The hell I don’t. I don’t know what kind of crazy pills you’ve been taking the past week, but there’s no way in hell you’re staying in Ivy Vines. Unless being raped and murdered is appealing to you.” The words flew out of his mouth, angry and stupid. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t get a handle on it, couldn’t let the anger fade or die. He wanted to hold her too badly, and anger was a much better option than getting his heart stomped on again.

“I can take care of myself,” she returned, drilling him in the chest with her index finger. “I survived twenty-seven years without you in my life, Nate Harrington. So shove it.”

Nate knew they weren’t just talking about Ivy Vines anymore, or the TV show. They were both overreacting. She was so focused on the show, and he wanted her to be focused on anything but the damn thing that had screwed everything up between them.

“Fine, but don’t come crying to me when your precious laptop gets stolen or some creep breaks into your hotel room.”

“Ha!” She turned on a heel and stormed out.

Ryan patted Nate’s shoulder. “You guys are made for each other, bro.”

“Fuck off.” Nate shrugged Ry’s hand off, stomped out of the room. Made for each other? Nothing said made for each other like an inability to communicate. Nothing said made for each other like a woman who cared more about her job than the people in her life and a man who couldn’t keep his emotions under control.

Made for each other? Not by a long shot. They were on opposite sides of the spectrum in every way.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean Nate had gotten over her. No, he still wanted her. All of her.

…

Vivvy stood in the slushy rain outside Nate’s house. The heat of embarrassment fought off the cold of the ice falling around her. She couldn’t possibly go knock on the door. She couldn’t do this after the stand she’d taken a few hours before.

But there’d been a rat. In. Her. Bed. A rat. Vivvy shuddered at the memory of the creature brushing against her leg. Nausea rolled in her stomach. She couldn’t go back to Ivy Vines and her credit card didn’t have enough left on it to go stay in Addington for even one night. Not if she wanted to have enough gas to get back to Wichita on Wednesday. Hiring a lawyer to look at her Tyson contract had depleted her meager savings.

So, what were her choices? Find somewhere to sleep in her car? It was cold, and she was afraid she’d be iced in by the end of the night. She certainly didn’t have the funds to leave the car running for eight straight hours of going nowhere. She had rationed gas and food down to the last cent and things were already going wrong.

How could she go crawling to Nate after the things he’d said? She was not crazy. She was a smart, capable woman. She’d come here to find a way they could both get what they want, but he’d thrown it in her face.

Maybe that was partially her fault. She’d focused on business, and she hadn’t once given him even a hint that she was here for him.

Tears had been threatening for the last hour and Vivvy finally indulged. After all, icy rain poured down her face, why not mix it up with a few tears?

When Vivvy started to shake from the cold, she knew she had to make a decision once and for all. Why not go for it? Why not put it all out on the table? She was already a mess. What would be the harm in letting Nate know that? It wasn’t like he was her biggest fan right now anyway.

What the hell did dignity matter?

Vivvy’s shoulder slumped as she trudged over the icy ground toward Nate’s house. Lights shone inside and she had to swallow down the urge to flee in the opposite direction.

She knocked on the door, not giving herself time to retreat. Best to do it before she could second-guess herself any further.

Nate opened the door looking all big, handsome, dry, and warm.

His mouth dropped open as he took in her appearance. She winced, sure she looked like some kind of bedraggled orphan with runny eye makeup.

“V-Vivvy.” He stared for another long minute before he got it together. “Come inside.” He pulled her in, rushed over to the couch, and grabbed a worn-looking blanket off the back. Though Vivvy opened her mouth to protest, he wrapped the blanket around her quickly.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I know I shouldn’t have come.”

His hands gripped her shoulders, hard. “Did something happen at Ivy Vines?”

It shouldn’t, it really shouldn’t, but the concern in his voice warmed off some of the icy cold. “Well, kind of, but—”

“What happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“It was a rat,” she blurted, wishing he would let her shoulders go, wishing he would pull her close.

“A rat?” His grip loosened, though he didn’t let go.

“In my bed,” she added, wishing he wouldn’t loosen his grip. Wishing he’d hold on tighter and tell her everything would be fine.

“There was a rat in your bed?”

She looked up, nodded. His mouth almost quirked upward and with just that little tic she had a surge of hope. Maybe he didn’t hate her. Maybe if she laid it all out, they could figure something out. That was probably crazy, but after sharing a bed with a rat and standing for at least ten minutes in an icy downpour, she was pretty convinced she’d lost her mind anyway.