Then Derek had bent his dark head. “Hey. You’re not scared of me, are you?”
Mara still remembered her shock, her certainty he was mocking her. She’d glanced across at him, expecting a vacant bully, and the whole world had shifted around her.
She felt it, and she’d known he felt it too—a bright and mutual attraction.
“How have I not seen you before?” he muttered, almost angrily.
“I don’t know,” she’d whispered. Although maybe she’d imagined saying something. Her insides had gathered up, squeezing so tight she could barely breathe.
I’m in love.
She’d known it as well as she knew her name. He’d seen her. And even though they were kids, and even though he was the most popular boy in school, and even though they had nothing in common, they were in love.
Mara moved closer to the glass, her breath fogging the pane. They had been in love, her and Derek. Desperately and deeply in love. When she was eighteen she’d thought maybe relationships were the same for everyone. Now she knew better.
“We’re the polar opposite of landlords,” Chase said. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand the subtleties, but we’re not selling you the house.”
“Because you’re gonna tear it up and turn it into apartments?”
It was bizarre he was here. Like Dorothy sitting in the conference room, demanding to buy the house that killed the wicked witch of the west. She tracked the details of his hands and face. He looked good with a moustache. Like a man who stole kisses from helpless virgins tied to train tracks.
Derek Hardiman had kissed her like no one had kissed her. Touched her in ways that made her shake. He’d held her and talked to her. He’d loved her in a way that ruined her for anyone else. And there he was. Her big, brutal ex-boyfriend.
She never thought she’d see him again, but she didn’t want him to see her. She didn’t want to talk to him. The realisation surprised her with how true it was. All she wanted was to nourish herself on the sight of him. Which meant it really was over. She was going to be single for the rest of her life.
Derek pushed back his chair. “What are you using the land for?”
“That’s private.”
Her ex-lover’s lip curled the way it had whenever someone corrected his grammar. “We could make a deal? I could give you the money for the house. Help you find somewhere else?”
Chase stared at him so long Mara cringed on Derek’s behalf.
“HFA is not-for-profit. What kind of precedent would we be setting if we allowed ourselves to be bought out by a celebrity?”
Derek stared back at Chase. That was another thing she’d forgotten. The way he stared. Whenever teachers threatened him with the principal’s office, he’d stare and stare until they changed the subject.
Chase checked his watch, his go-to ‘we’re done here’ move. “If that’s all, Mr Hardiman, I’ll escort you out.”
“Hang on a second. So, you’re out there buying up all these properties and selling them back for cheap. Who’s paying for everything?”
Mara shrank back into the fern.
“I don’t see how that’s relevant.” Anger vibrated under his cool tone.
“It’s relevant because I’d like to have a meeting with your boss. The big boss.”
Chase stood. “Let’s go.”
Derek got to his feet slowly. “I want to meet your boss.”
“Well, that’s bad luck. Mara doesn’t take meetings.”
Mara closed her eyes, willing herself to stay upright.
“Mara?” Derek’s voice was sharp. “Mara who?”
“Did I say Mara?” Chase said carelessly. “Never mind. It’s time for you to go.”
Mara forced her eyes open, squinting through the fronds. Derek was still squaring off against Chase. “Mara. Your boss’s name is Mara?”
He said her name as he always had, Mah-rahh, his lips parting twice to make the sounds. She remembered kissing him, feeling the stubble along his jaw. He’d kissed her all the time, all night if she let him. He was ravenous, more obsessed with touching her than any man she’d been with since.
“Goodbye,” Chase said. “I assume you can find your own way out?”
For a second, Derek stood there, and Mara was sure he knew. He was going to refuse to leave. Turn the whole office upside down looking for her. Then Derek turned on his heel and left. She shrank into the plant and a few seconds later, the front door slammed. She stayed still, her playsuit damp under her arms.
“Mara?”
She jolted, whacking her head on a frond. “Ow!”
Chase examined her like a scientist through a microscope. “Should I ask why you’re hiding in the plant, or is it better to ignore it?”
“I was watching you talk to… him.”
“Yes, I got that. Why?”
Mara had no idea what to say.
“Is he gone?” Himeko called from the hallway. “Can we come out, Daddy?”
“Fuck off,” Chase shouted over his shoulder.
“But I want to know what happened!”
“I sucked his cock on the conference table, Himeko. We’re getting married next week.”
There was a scream of laughter. Mara smiled. “I don’t believe you.”
“I might have exaggerated slightly.” Chase’s blue eyes were fixed on her. “How do you know Derek Hardiman?”
“I don’t.”
“You absolutely do.”
“I suppose this is what I get for hiring someone as smart as you.”
“It is.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you. Just let me get out.”
Chase did the gentlemanly thing and looked away as Mara crawled out from under the macho fern. As she rose, he offered her a hand. “If he hurt you or did something horrible, we can call the police.”
He reminded Mara of Mrs Woodley. As she and Derek talked in low, dazed voices that first English class, Mrs Woodley had taken her aside and asked if she wanted to be moved somewhere else. The quiet girl was supposed to be a roadblock for the loudmouth jock. They weren’t supposed to like each other.
“It’s fine,” she told Chase, brushing herself down. “I mean it’s not fine. But it’s fine. I’ll make us a coffee?”
“Sure.”
Chase sat at the conference table as she went through the ritual of pouring milk and pressing buttons. When she turned, holding his black coffee, she felt almost ready to confess. “So, about Derek…”
“You fucked each other?”
Mara almost dropped the mug. “Chase!”
“Did you?”
“No! Well, not really.”
He raised a brow. “How does that work?”
Mara opened her mouth then closed it. She couldn’t possibly explain her and Derek’s teenage sex life. “We went out.”
“But you don’t date!”
“It was back in high school. He was my first boyfriend.” She handed Chase his coffee. “It was a lifetime ago.”
“Wow. You went out with Mr Football?”
His skeptical tone stung. It had been ten years, but apparently her inadequacy had gone nowhere. “Yeah. Our last year at school.”