She couldn’t breathe.
“Come with me to the wedding next weekend.” He held up a hand, as if preempting her refusal. “You were already supposed to accompany me, so I know you don’t have other plans.”
The … wedding?
Oh. Oh, right. His ex’s ceremony amongst the redwoods.
Stacia said it was the only setting that could possibly dwarf my towering self-regard, he’d told Lauren weeks ago, rolling his eyes fondly. And when she’d frowned at the injustice of that insult, he’d only waved away her concern. She was just teasing me. We’ve been friends for a long time.
Lauren understood the wedding part now. But without an assigned minder, he could attend the event with anyone he wanted. Why bring her, of all people?
Alex was still speaking, even as she attempted to puzzle out his intentions. “—never let me hear the end of it if I arrived alone, and you were already supposed to be my plus-one. Since we both have time right now, and you hate flying, I thought we could do a road trip up the coast. Together.”
His words were tumbling over one another, uncharacteristically breathless, and he rubbed his palms along his hard thighs. “Which would be perfect, since I do my best thinking as I drive, and I have decisions to make about my career. Also, my virtual PA needs a couple weeks off, and travel arrangements aren’t exactly my strong suit, so …”
Okay, that made sense. Kind of.
After a steadying breath, she looked up at him. “You want me to accompany you as your PA on a trip up the coast? I mean, I’m happy to help with the arrangements, but wouldn’t you rather bring someone—”
“Not as my PA.” His stare pinned her in place. “Not as my paid companion either. I’d cover your travel expenses, because I need your organizational help, but that’s all. This wouldn’t have anything to do with business.”
Her throat prickled anew at the evidence that he truly did value her company. He truly did want to spend time with her, with or without a mandate from Ron.
Still … she’d need to start work again soon. Once she did, they might go weeks without seeing one another, or months, or—
She swallowed over a thick throat.
Their lives might never intersect again.
Did she really want such an extended, potent reminder of what she’d soon miss so terribly?
She glanced down at her lap. “I don’t know.”
“About my paying for the trip?” His hand covered hers, and her bones turned liquid. “We both know I can afford it.”
That wasn’t her main concern. But still … “For now. Maybe not for long.”
He didn’t argue. No, he did something infinitely worse.
“I need you.” Suddenly, their fingers were interlaced on her thigh, and his voice was low and hushed and much too close to her ear. “Wren, please.”
They both knew he didn’t actually need her. But she couldn’t turn him away, not when he spoke to her with such pleading, such … intimacy.
Her scattered thoughts buzzed through her head, fuzzy and contradictory, and she tried to gather them into an orderly row.
Under these circumstances, what was the right thing to do?
Because of his loyalty to her, his professional life had just fallen to pieces around him. He could use a friend, and he could use help planning his trip. Spending this time with him might hurt her more in the end, but if he wanted her by his side, she needed to do better than she’d done in that convention hotel.
She owed him.
More than that, she … cared about him. Very much. Even though he was a major pain in the ass and a total brat and the sexiest, most bighearted man she’d ever met.
For him, she’d do the right thing. Which, in this case, wasn’t the wise thing, but fine. Earlier that night, she’d reminded herself that pain was inevitable no matter what she did. She’d survive.
He lifted their joined hands and rested them against his bristly cheek, and people on other continents must have been able to feel the thud of her rocketing pulse.
“Please,” he repeated, and it was a raw whisper, his breath warm against her wrist.
She sucked in a deep breath, but there wasn’t enough air. “You’re not paying.”
It wasn’t merely a cease-fire. It was full-on surrender. They both knew it.
“I am.” Oh, crap, he was rubbing their hands against his jaw now, and the prickle of it was delicious. “I defended your honor, Lauren. You owe me, and an honorable woman pays her debts.”
When she chanced an outraged glance upward, his eyes were alight. Dancing.