[manhatten men 2] A Marrying Man (12 page)

I’d spent Christmas Day along with the two days after that with Blaine’s parents as well as my own. Valerie was in heaven up until I had to take her back to her grandparents. I pulled up in the driveway and groaned. Vanessa was tapping her foot with a look I’d come to know well.

Fury.
Valerie jumped out of the car and ran for her mother. I took my time.
“Mommy!” Valerie squealed.
“Hello, darling.” Vanessa hugged Valerie and

Valerie turned to me and extended her arms. “I’ll miss you, Daddy. Can I stay with you for the summer?”
I looked up at Vanessa at those words. There was about to be a huge argument.
“We’ll see sweetie, okay?” I kissed her cheek and watched her run off. A throat clearing had me glancing at my ex-wife. “Yes?” I asked.
“You had no right!”
“I had
every
right!” I bellowed. “I haven’t had my daughter for Christmas in
years
, Vanessa! You didn’t even plan on spending it with her! This was all about punishing me!”
“Oh? What about you punishing me?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I get home to find the New York Times and my exhusband plastered on the cover with
his boyfriend
. Really, Spencer? You’re gay now?”
“What I do, or don’t do, and who I do it with is none of your concern,” I seethed.
“It is when my daughter keeps company with you and said boyfriend.”
I stepped back. “Excuse me? Don’t even try to use my relationship with Blaine to take me back to court, Vanessa. This is New York and gay marriage is legal.”
“It sure is.” Vanessa grinned maliciously. “But inappropriate touching of a child is not.”
My mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
“End it with Blaine McKlintock, Spencer. Or I swear to God I’ll accuse him of molesting our daughter.”
“Valerie will deny it!”
“Doesn’t matter, once that goes public, Blaine McKlintock will be known as the man who was accused of molesting an eight-year-old. Even if he is innocent, that will hang over his head for the rest of his life.” Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “From now on, we do things my way. Don’t push me, Spencer. I will do it.”
Vanessa turned on her heel and walked back towards the house. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.
“Oh and by the way, I’ll be asking for more money. You’ll give it to me.”
I slumped against my car and ran a hand through my hair. End it with Blaine? How the hell was I supposed to do that? I couldn’t. How would I explain myself? Blaine would be heartbroken. I swore to him I wouldn’t hurt him.
Shit.

I took my time driving to Blaine’s office. I had no idea how I was going to tell him about Vanessa’s ultimatum. I knew Vanessa could be a vengeful, spiteful bitch, but this? I shook my head as I hit Broadway traffic. God I was dreading this.

Casper was at his desk and smiled at me as I approached. I could see why Slater was smitten, well, horny, for the guy. His wavy brown hair along with wide and innocent forest green eyes was arresting.

“Mr. Cassidy,” Casper grinned.
“Yes, the normal one.” I tried to smile.
“He’s expecting you.”
I knocked once and got the ‘come in’ from behind

the oak door. Blaine sat at his desk. Pictures of cars littered the wall and floor.
“Hi,” I said.
Blaine stood up immediately and came around his desk. Strong arms encircled my neck and soft, pouty lips touched mine. God, I loved Blaine’s lips.
“Hi.”
Blaine breathed across my mouth.
“I have to talk to you.” I began. God, I still didn’t know what to say. Blaine’s face went pale.
“Not the ‘I have to talk to you’ speech,” Blaine whispered.
I motioned to the chair and Blaine sat down. I took the seat next to him and took his hands.
“I don’t even know how to say this.”
“Please don’t do this, Spencer,” Blaine whispered. “Whatever it is, I’ll fix it. I’ve never felt like this before.”
I ran my hand through my hair and sighed in exasperation.
“I don’t want to do this. I have no choice.” I met Blaine’s eyes and saw the total devastation on his face. My heart ached and I felt the urge to vomit rising.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked.
“You didn’t do anything,” I assured him. “This is Vanessa plain and simple. I talked to her this morning. She told me if I didn’t end things with you, she’d accuse you of molesting Valerie.”
“I would never do that!” Blaine stood up.
“I know you wouldn’t,” I stood up and pulled him into my arms. “But she can say you did, and by the time everything got cleared up, this would hang over your head. You know how that works, Blaine.”
“So that’s it? You just do what she says without asking me first?”
“What do you want me to do?! I can’t ruin your life, Blaine!”
“We can find a way out of this. I don’t want to lose you, Spencer.”
“You think I want to lose you? Hell, I haven’t felt like this for anyone! I will not screw up your life for my own selfish reasons.”
“Don’t I have a say in this at all then?”
I framed Blaine’s face in my hands and memorized every curve, every line, the colors in his eyes.
“I won’t let her hurt you, not because of me.” I pressed my lips to Blaine’s and kissed him slowly, savoring his taste.
Blaine whimpered and grabbed my hips, pulling me closer to him.
“Please don’t leave me, Spencer.”
I rested my forehead against his.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.
I walked out of Blaine’s office knowing I’d just lost the only man I’d ever fallen in love with.

Two days. Forty-eight hours without Spencer and I swore I was going to drown in the amount of tears I had shed. Spencer had been true to his word. He hadn’t called, he hadn’t texted and I hadn’t seen him. Right then I hated Vanessa Cassidy. I tried to stay at work all the time and come up with something for the stupid car ad that I was now a week late on.

I didn’t know who to talk to. Kent was my best friend and Terry had become a friend to me, too. They were blissfully in Paris though and I didn’t want to ruin their honeymoon. The thought of not being with Spencer for New Year’s sucked. I was finally going to spend it with someone I cared about. I was finally going to
kiss
someone I cared about.

Who was I kidding?
I was in love with Spencer.
I looked at my computer. I had pulled up a picture of

My phone beeped at me and I absentmindedly hit the button.
“Yes?”
Casper’s voice filled the room.
“Mr. Hawke wants to see you.”
Fuck.
“Thanks, tell him I’ll be right up.”
Shit, shit,
shit
!
I grabbed my folder with all the car info I had. I knew what this was about. I’d never been this late with a proposal. It wasn’t like me not to have the ad ironed out within days. I took the elevator up and tapped my foot. I hoped I wouldn’t get fired. Shit, Kent had done worse and gotten time off for it. I knocked on the door and heard my boss’ loud voice.
“Come in.”
I stepped in and shut the door behind me. Matthew Hawke sat behind his desk with a pair of reading glasses on. I stepped up to his desk and sat down. Matthew looked up and blue-grey eyes met mine. A brow lifted in question.
“What demanded. the hell happened to you?” Matthew

“Don’t call me sir, makes me feel old. I’m thirtyeight. Now, tell me what’s got you looking like someone dragged you through the mud.”

I told my boss everything that had happened. I couldn’t believe how fast it poured out of me. I had so much frustration built up, I felt like a huge weight was being lifted as I kept talking.

“So that’s all of it,” I said with a sigh.
Matthew sat forward and clasped his hands together. “Look, Blaine. Life goes from zero to sixty in flash,

so if you love this man, you need to find a way to be with him.”
I started in the chair.
“Oh my God, that’s it!”
Matthew sat back and tilted his head. “What’s it?”
“Life goes from zero to sixty in a flash. So do we. Drive.” I beamed.
Matthew chuckled.
“I’m taking some credit for that,” he said.
He sobered and looked at me seriously.
“I’ll help any way I can.”
“You will?” I asked in astonishment.
“Well, of course. I want everyone who works for me to be happy. You and Kent have become kind of friends to me at this point. I want you to be able to unload.”
“You’re not a normal boss, are you?” I smiled.
“Hell, no.”
“You’ve got no problem with gay men, do you?”
Matthew chuckled.
“Gay, straight, bi, doesn’t mean shit to me, Blaine. You love who you love. I was raised to believe that everyone deserves love. So, no. I don’t have any issues with two of my best guys being gay. In fact, I kind of envy you both.”
My eyes widened. “Us? Why?”
“Look at Kent. He’d dated women his whole life, Terry came along and he stepped out in the spotlight with him. Even though it was a bet, Kent fell for Terry and never looked back. You, well you just do what you want and fuck anyone who doesn’t like it.”
I chuckled and sat back in the chair. It dawned on me and I looked up at Matthew.
“You’re curious.”
“Just like George.” Matthew nodded. “I just don’t have the guts to do anything about it.” Matthew lifted his hand when my mouth opened. “I’m not worried about my position in society; I’ve made a name for myself. My problem is finding a man I could see myself with.”
“I think once you see him, you’ll know.” I smiled. “I could fix you up?”
Matthew grinned. “I wouldn’t even know what my type is. Now, go get Spencer Cassidy.”

I took the elevator back down to my floor a lot lighter than when I had gone up. I had hope and I was going to hang onto it. I walked up to Casper’s desk and found him staring straight ahead.

“Casper? Everything okay?”
“There’s a woman in your office.”
“There is?”
Casper nodded. “Yes. She said she was Porsche

Montclair, but I don’t know.”
“Okayyy,” I said. “Why don’t you know if it’s her?” “Just…just go in there.” Casper motioned to my

I shook my head and entered my office. A woman with black hair was standing at my picture window. She wore a black pin-stripe pantsuit and held a briefcase.

The woman turned to face me and my jaw dropped. It
was
Porsche, but not the one I was used to. This one was dressed professionally.

“Hello, Blaine.” Porsche smiled and crossed the room to me.
Her voice wasn’t the same either. It was…well, normal.
“Porsche?” I stammered.
“Yes, it’s me.” Porsche smiled and kissed my cheek. “How are you, Blaine?”
“What happened to you?” I was still in shock. This version of Porsche was something I’d never seen — or even guessed existed.
“This is me.” Porsche sat down and crossed her legs. “You can stop staring now.”
I blinked.
“Sorry.” I went around to my chair and sat down. “What brings you by? And why do you look like that?”
Porsche chuckled.
“You don’t think I know what people said about me? Empty-headed blonde? Hell, I have a Masters in organic chemistry, Blaine, but in this life people pay more attention to the blonde bimbo. I used that gimmick to my advantage, but now I’m tired of it.”
I smiled. I liked this Porsche. She was feisty and I could actually handle her voice.
“It suits you,” I smiled.
“Thank you. So, now to why I’m here. I want you to invest in me.”
I raised my brows. “In what?”
“I’m coming out with a new perfume. One I created. I want you to invest in it and come up with an ad.”
“Why me?”
“Because I trust you, Blaine. That day I came to you in the park, you said we could still be friends. No man wants to be just my friend.” Porsche sighed. “I can’t get into everything with you, it’s personal, but I’m running out of money and I really need this to work.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
Porsche looked stunned. I smiled and took her hand.
“Yes, okay. I’ll help and come up with an ad.”
Porsche let out a deep breath and smiled at me. “Thank you so much, Blaine. You won’t be sorry.”
Her eyes drifted to my computer screen and narrowed.
“I know her.” Porsche pointed at the picture of Vanessa with Spencer.
“Yeah, I think a lot of people do,” I said wryly.
“No, I mean I
know
her. I saw her in the Bahamas at her wedding. I think it was maybe four years ago?”
“
She
was getting married?” I think my jaw hit the floor.
“Yes. I remember sitting with her at the bar in the hotel and she invited me to the wedding. Some guy named Edmund was her husband. Rich asshole. He hit on me that night.”
I stood up and ran around my desk plastering a kiss on Porsche’s lips.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I shouted.
Porsche’s startled face met mine.
“What is going on Blaine?” she asked.
“I can’t get into it now, but just know that you helped me out tremendously. I’ll help you however I can!”
“Okay.” Porsche walked to the door. “I’ll speak to you soon then. Good luck on whatever I just helped you out with.”
I nodded, already picking up the phone to call my mother. The door shut behind Porsche just as my mom answered the phone.
“Blaine?”
“Mom!” I shouted.
“What?! Is everything okay?”
“I need to ask you something!”
I felt like I was going to hyperventilate.
“Jesus, Blaine! You’re scaring me! Tell me what’s going on.”
I told her what had happened between Spencer and me, and then I told her the bombshell that Porsche had just dropped on me.
“So, can you help, Mom?”
“They don’t call me a shark for nothing, darling.”
My mother chuckled.
Vanessa was going down.

I took a cab home. I was going to Spencer’s as soon as I changed and tell him the good news. I got out across the street from my apartment and was shocked to see Valerie on my building’s steps.

A smile lit up Valerie’s face and she ran for me. In my peripheral vision, I caught the two cabs coming down the street. Neither cabbie was watching the road. I knew my legs were in motion and I had no way of stopping myself. I pushed Valerie out of the line of the cabs and the first one hit my thigh, knocking me into the windshield. I rolled off when the cabbie hit the brakes and hit the asphalt with a bone shattering crunch.

My eyes closed as the pain came down on my chest like a crushing weight.
“Valerie?”
“Don’t die, Blaine! Please don’t die! I’m sorry!”
“Didn’t do anything wrong,” I rasped. Blackness was coming and God help me, I welcomed it.
* * * *