What did it matter?
She knew he’d kept something huge from her, so why wouldn’t she think he was cheating? The kicker was that he’d closed the deal. Scott jumped on board as soon as he listened to Noah’s spiel. Turned out the competition had flaked out anyway. Tiffany had ordered a room service lunch for her and Scott, and to celebrate, they’d opened a bottle of champagne. And then, much to Noah’s misfortune, Libby had arrived at the exact moment Scott was in the bathroom.
Would she have been this upset if she’d seen him? Maybe not, but he’d still kept the job situation from her.
The phone in his pocket vibrated and he pulled it out, praying it was Libby calling to tell him she’d changed her mind.
It was Tiffany.
“Noah, did you get the misunderstanding resolved?”
“No,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Would it help if I called her and explained?”
Would it? He shook his head even if she couldn’t see it. “No. I think it would make things worse.”
“I’m so sorry. I should never have called your room.”
He wanted to be angry with her, but he just couldn’t find the energy.
“Let me do something, Noah. Tell me what to do.”
“There’s nothing to do.”
“She probably just needs time to calm down. Then you can work it out.”
He wasn’t so sure that was possible. That look on her face . . .
“Well, congrats on the deal.”
“Thanks.” But now it was all for nothing. He’d mostly done it for Libby . . . and now she was gone. He knew he should be happy to have helped the business, but he couldn’t muster much emotion for that either.
He considered leaving—he’d found a flight to Seattle for that night—but what if she changed her mind and came back? So he didn’t leave the room for the rest of the night. He found her wedding dress in the closet, puddled on the floor. Hope rushed through him. She loved the dress. Maybe she’d come back for it.
He ordered room service in the evening and steadily drank all the bottles in the mini bar. By three a.m., he knew it was hopeless and passed out on the bed. When he awoke, she was the first thing on his mind. The wedding dress wasn’t next to him on the bed where he’d left it.
Had she come back?
He bolted upright and looked around the room, but the only thing he saw was the room service tray and half a dozen empty mini bottles of alcohol. The dress lay on the floor. He must have kicked it off in his sleep.
Libby was really gone.
He was back in Seattle by mid-afternoon and he headed straight to the office. Josh was sitting at his desk when Noah walked in.
Josh looked up in surprise, a grin spreading across his face. “What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you for at least a few days.” His gaze took in Noah’s rumpled clothes and his smile faded. “Why do you look like death warmed over?”
Noah ignored him and tossed a file on his desk. “The Abrahams deal. Signed, sealed, and delivered.”
Josh sat upright and his eyes widened as he opened the folder. “How’d you pull this off?”
“What the hell does it matter? It’s all there. The payment schedule is worked out in there too.”
Josh started thumbing through the papers. “So do you want to handle this here or in K.C.? Megan said Libby was moving here, but I figured I’d check.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m not handling it at all.”
Josh pushed back his chair and stood. “Wait. You just got this account. Why wouldn’t you want to handle it?”
“In case you forgot, I quit last week.”
“But the deal . . . ?” Josh sounded confused.
“I got it for you. I thought I’d bring it in as a peace offering to get my job back, but now I don’t give a fuck.” He turned around. “Congrats.”
“Noah!” Josh called out after him, his voice worried now. “You look like you’ve been on a three-day bender. What happened?”
Noah spun around, furious. “As if you and Megan haven’t been laughing about it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Look, Megan and Blair made no secret of the fact they don’t approve, so I’m sure they’re happy that Libby left me.”
Josh’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock. “What? When? What happened?”
“What does it matter? She came to her senses. Everyone’s happy.”
Josh shook his head. “That’s not true, Noah. What happened?” His face went as pale as skim milk. “Oh, God. Megan. She told Libby about you quitting. She was upset you hadn’t told her.”
His chest squeezed tight with her betrayal. “Megan hates me that much?”
“No, Noah. That’s not it at all. She was just worried you two got married so quickly.” He held up his hands in defense. “And yes, I reminded her that she and I were married a hell of a lot faster.”
Noah found it difficult to breathe.
“But if Libby left you, where is she?”
The answer was obvious. She would have gone to the only place she would feel completely safe. The thought that he’d hurt her so much brought a lump to his throat he found difficult to talk past. “She went home to Tortoise.”
Josh blinked in confusion before recognition registered in his eyes. “Oh . . . her dog.”
He nodded, then turned to leave.