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16. Cole

I walkedoff the stage having just received the highest non-monetary honor of my career. In fucking misery.

Nora jumped out of her seat as I stalked toward the Benton Worldwide table, completely contradicting the lie I"d told Sunny to get her to agree to my new plan.

"Coley, congratulations! And the last part of the speech! I nearly wept, I tell you. You"re clearly infatuated with Sunny, just like I knew you"d?—"

"Where did Sunny go?" I demanded before my grandmother could finish gushing over the part of the acceptance speech I"d only improvised to further dupe her into actually believing I was going along with her scheme.

This was all a show to ensure that Nora had no reason to suspect my true intention of surprising her with a resolution to vote her out at the next Board of Directors meeting.

At least that was what I told myself, but I gripped the base of the statue tight, wishing it was Sunny"s hand.

"Why did she run off like that? Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes," Nora answered after a careful beat. "But I don"t think Sunny was quite prepared for the spotlight of true love. It can be quite overwhelming, you know. Why, when your grandfather?—"

I stalked toward the lobby before Nora could launch into yet another story about how she had my otherwise-sane grandfather completely wrapped around her finger.

I didn't like this situation. I didn't like it at all.

If there was one thing I hated, it was feeling out of control. You didn't make it to CEO of the Year with only a half-decade on the job by not having control over yourself.

This thing with Sunny was supposed to be a future-forward tactic to prevent Nora from giving my good-for-nothing brother real power in my company.

So why, then, was I giving more mental energy to Sunny—thinking about having her again and again until I got my fill—than I was to my business? And why couldn't I stop myself from behaving like a lunatic when it came to her?

I meant to release her hand as soon as we got to the event. My plan had been to let Sunny distract my grandmother during the business dinner while I talked shop with the real movers and shakers of Vegas.

But when I walked in with Sunny, I saw the surprise on my fellow businessmen's faces. The surprise, I didn't mind. I knew we were an unconventional couple—even by Vegas standards.

What bothered me were the heated glances that followed the surprise—glances that let me know I wasn't the only one affected by Sunny's combination of curves and sweetheart-next-door looks. I wasn't the only one who'd be more than willing to ravage her behind closed doors.

Suddenly, I found myself unwilling to let go of her hand, to the point that I barely let other men talk to her beyond a short introduction. I managed to keep my voice level from there, but my eyes conveyed a "don't touch, she's mine" message loud and clear.

I'd even hesitated to let go of her hand before my acceptance speech. I"d actually considered bringing her up on stage with me so everyone in the room would know who she'd come here with and who would be taking her home tonight.

And that last part of my speech? Tacked on at the end, meant to sell the story I was peddling to Nora. But like an actor who took his craft too seriously, I'd found myself actually believing the lies I was spewing.

For a brief moment, the insignificant award, which had only felt like an obligation pulling me away from my work, actually meant something. Because Sunny was out there in the audience, her pretty face lit up with pride. In me.

You"re clearly infatuated with Sunny.

Nora"s words echoed ominously through my head as I stalked toward the lobby to find her.

"Cole! A word?" a voice called out behind me.

I looked up to see the smiling brown face of Rich Harrison, the former chairman of the Clark County Board of Commissioners.

Dammit, he was my top candidate to replace my grandmother on the board of directors.

1) After sixteen years on the most powerful board in Nevada, we could use his local connections.

2) My grandfather considered diversity allowing his Jewish lawyer to join the Board of Directors after he retired. Optics-wise, we could also use the color.

3) Nora hated him to the point that she"d shut down my proposal to consider him for a BoD position with a "Nope, nope, nope. We will vote that man onto the board over my dead body."

Clearly, I had every reason to network with Rich Harrison tonight, yet I found myself holding up a finger and calling out, "I"ll be right back" before pushing out the doors to the lobby.

Damn this woman. And how crazy she was making?—

My mind shut down when I found her out in the lobby.

With Max.

My half brother was smiling down at her. His head tilted in a way I recognized as full-on flirting.

Meanwhile, Sunny pulled out some kind of cloth and wiped the front of his shirt. Touching him.

She is touching him.

My blood ran cold as I closed the distance between us—only to stop short again directly behind Sunny when she asked, "What do you mean, Cole beat you to the punch?"

Max furrowed his forehead. Glanced at me over Sunny"s shoulder. "Wait, Cole didn't tell you about Nora?"

Sunny, who still hadn"t seen me, answered, "Yes, of course, he told me Nora is sick. But what does that have to do with him beating you to the punch?"

Max paused, the gleam in his eyes going from wicked to shrewd as he opened his mouth to say something else.

"There you are, Sunny!" I switched the award to my right hand and once again took hold of the hand she"d used to wipe his shirtbefore my half brother could ruin everything. "Max, you're just now getting here? You missed my speech."

Max let his own green gaze linger way too long on Sunny before finally raising his eyes to meet mine.

"Missed the speech, but it looks like I got here right on time for the show. You two are putting on quite an act for poor, sick Nora."

This fucking asshole.Just like his mother. He thought everything—everyone in life—was fun and games, put there for his amusement.

I fisted my award, the old anger threatening to consume me if Max killed my plan by telling Sunny the truth about Nora"s condition.

"Welp, better go say hi to Nan before she cuts me out of her will for showing up late to this thing."

He winked at Sunny. "But if you're ever interested in having some real fun while I"m here, call me."

Even if Sunny had been thinking of reaching for the card, she wouldn't have had the chance.

I gripped her hand tighter and stepped forward, blocking Max and his business card from her view.

"Why do you have a business card, Max?It's not like you do any real work." I eyed him up and down with cold disdain. "Also, you"re aware Sunny's here with me."

"But is she having a good time?" Max"s expression filled with faux concern. "That's all I was trying to find out, bro."

The muscles in my upper torso flexed in an old-but-still-familiar way, and for a few seconds, the odds of me punching my brother out at my own award ceremony increased exponentially.

But I wasn"t that guy—that boy—anymore.

Gritting my teeth, I stepped back and pulled Sunny away from Max without another word.

"What was that all about?" she asked, jogging in her heels to keep up with me.

I pretended I couldn"t hear her as I steered her back into the awards dinner space, leaving my brother and his asinine business card behind.

I reminded myself this was about business—just business—as a flood of well-wishers met our re-entry into the ballroom.

I couldn"t help but notice how well she played the part of adoring fiancée, squeezing my bicep and sounding genuinely excited for me when anyone bothered to include her in our conversations. She also somehow managed to not look bored when others droned on about business matters she couldn"t possibly understand.

I almost felt guilty when the general manager of the Tourmaline came over to slap me on the shoulder.

"I can see why you called in that favor," he leaned in to say quietly before standing back to ask me if I was planning on running the Las Vegas Marathon in November.

"Dunno. I"m still getting over Rock "n" Roll Las Vegas last week, and this morning, I took one of Sunny"s dance classes. Not sure if I"ll be good for another endurance challenge by November."

Sunny gasped, her eyes filling with surprise. Was it because I made a joke or because I confessed to another adult male that her little girls" dance class was one of the toughest challenges I"d ever undergone? I couldn"t be sure, but her delighted laughter made something warm explode in my chest. For once, small talk didn"t feel like an excruciating undertaking.

Nora was wrong to have blackmailed me, and I was going to make her pay for that. But maybe she hadn"t been wrong about Sunny being the perfect wife—at least for someone who was ready to settle down. Someone who wasn"t me.

The red-hot jealousy that thought roused inside of me further proved the urgency of getting Sunny to sign that contract. I had never needed to fuck somebody out of my system the way I did her.

"Cole Benton! You"re a hard man to get a word with tonight."

I inwardly smiled when Rich Harrison"s voice boomed behind me.

"Rich..." I gladly turned around with Sunny to shake his hand and tell him, "I was hoping we"d get a chance to set up a game of golf at my club before I left tonight."

To my surprise, Rich didn"t answer with the usual booming assurance that he always had time for a round at the best golf club on the Strip (take that, Wynn!).

He was too busy staring at Sunny. Who stared back at him like she"d seen a ghost.

"There you are, Rich! You got away from me." Rich"s wife Aretha, a light-brown Georgia Congressman"s daughter—who still spoke like a Southern debutante, despite living in Las Vegas for decades—joined her husband, wrapping both hands around his arm. "Congratulations, Cole. The award couldn"t have gone to a better candidate."

"No, it could not have," Rich agreed, hastily shifting his gaze away from Sunny and back to me. "I"d be overjoyed to do a round at the best golf club on the Strip. Just give me a date."

This time, I was too busy staring at Sunny to answer. Watching her watch Rich.

Sunny hadn"t protested my firm clasp all night, but suddenly, she took her hand back, forcibly tugging it out of mine. "Um, I...need to go to the restroom. Excuse me."

Without waiting for my answer, Sunny—who"d been acting the part of the perfect fiancée all night—rudely rushed away.

"Oh, that"s too bad," Aretha said. "I wanted you to introduce me to your young lady, Cole."

Finally, getting back on script, I assured her I"d make introductions as soon as Sunny returned from the restroom.

However, I wasn"t able to keep that promise.

Sunny took forever in the restroom, and this time, it wasn"t because of Max, who I could clearly see flirting with one of Lacey Hollander"s granddaughters on the other side of the ballroom.

I was just about to go out to the lobby to check on her when my phone dinged with a message from Agnes.

Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Benton, but Sunny texted to tell me she wasn"t feeling too well. She doesn"t have your number, so she wanted me to let you know that she"s already caught a bus and is returning to the hotel. Would you like me to send her a return message for you?

I narrowed my eyes at the phone screen.

Sunny had left—just left, without any warning. After her run-in with the only man at the dinner who appeared to make her uncomfortable. Part of me wanted to believe she really wasn"t feeling well.

The other much larger part of me was a cynical bastard who knew better.

Did I want to send her a message?

Yes. Yes, I did.

I"d had the strangest melting sensation all night. As if just being in Sunny"s presence was eroding the triple serving of ice I"d become known for throughout Las Vegas. But those layers of ice refroze around my heart as I typed out a message to Agnes. With explicit instructions.

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