Chapter 11
The three months since returning home had settled into a comfortable rhythm of simplicity and contentment, made even better by working alongside my high school best friend.
Life had a way of feeling complete when you had someone to share every moment with.
A week before Christmas, Sarah slid into the chair beside my desk with that look that meant office gossip was coming. “You know this holiday party they’re calling a ‘team building event“?” she whispered.
“It’s really a welcome party for some hotshot investor from Manhattan who just bought into the
company.”
Manhattan.
The word alone sent a shiver down my spine, though I tried to reason with myself – in a city of millions, of countless business moguls and wealthy investors, what were the odds?
While we nestled into our corner table at the party, I found myself spilling the whole Manhattan saga to Sarah, who listened with increasing amazement.
“This doesn’t sound like dating,” she laughed, swirling her wine. “This sounds like being a super–fan who hit the jackpot.”
“With one crucial difference,” I mused, thinking back.
“Unlike fans, I got to do more than just admire from afar.”
She leaned forward eagerly, “You must have some pictures of these supposedly irresistible brothers?”
“All deleted the day I left,” I replied, remembering how the brothers‘ carefully maintained privacy had made Matthew’s ‘struggling musician‘ act so convincing.
No social media presence, no digital footprint – they’d been ghosts in the digital age.
Sarah watched me with knowing eyes. “Someday you’ll have to get over this thing for pretty faces.”
“Oh, I’m completely cured,” I declared with mock solemnity.
“Beautiful men are officially off my menu!”
“Really?” Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Then that gorgeous man in the suit at ten o’clock shouldn’t interest you at all…”
6.6%
Chapter 11
“Where?!” I spun around before I could stop myself.
My heart plummeted to my stomach.
There, standing across the room in all his pristine glory, was Nathan.
Nathan Rivera.
His rimless glasses and impeccably styled hair created the perfect image of Manhattan power and privilege – no longer playing a role, just being himself: the kind of executive who commanded attention simply by existing.
As my mind raced to understand his presence here, he turned.
Our eyes
met across the crowded room.
