He laughed softly. “Jesus, you like him.”
Was it that obvious? “Well…yes. I do.”
“Bad idea. You’ll only be miserable.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
Salazar lifted his glass like he was going to make a toast. “We seek out the things most likely to destroy us. Run to ’em, with open arms.” He sighed and lowered the glass. “You hear about my divorce?”
She nodded.
“Ceinlys wouldn’t have gotten a chance to divorce me if Dane hadn’t come along when he did. I was going to divorce her all those years ago, but how could I? She was my newly wedded wife—not even a year had passed since our ceremony—and she was carrying my first child in her womb.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Sophia said, her voice tight.
“He’s been her pawn the moment he was conceived. All those things he did to make sure I’d approve of him and his mother. Do you know what being with a woman who only wants you for your money does to a man?” He paused for a moment to pour more scotch. “Of course you don’t, because you’re not a man. But that’s how it was in my family—every single one of our children was her pawn. So I did what I could to undermine their effect. I can play the game just as well as anybody.”
Sophia shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“If that’s all you were arguing about, why would Dane push me away? None of that has anything to do with me.”
Salazar merely raised his eyebrows and drained his glass.
Sophia stood up. “He can’t do this. I won’t let him.”
“You got a plan?” he asked, placing the empty glass on the stone table between them.
She raised her chin. “I’m going to fight.”
“Nice sound bite, but it’s really not worth it.”
“He can’t start something and then end it without an explanation. I’m not some toy he can just…toss aside at will.” She’d already lost so much to the whims of fate. She wasn’t going to let it happen again because of the whims of some man.
“If he won’t even let you report for work—”
She raised a finger. “You asked me to come to the wedding with you and I said I’d think about it. Well, I’ve thought about it. I’ll go.”
He blinked. “As my date?”
“If that’s how it has to be, yes.”
A reluctant laugh tore from his chest. “God. You really know how to kill a man’s ego. I’ve never had a woman tell me she wanted to be with me to get to my son.”
She flushed. “I’m not doing this to hurt you.”
“I know, I know.” He waved his hand. “I just thought it was…funny.” He sobered. “It’s going to be a fairly fancy affair despite what Hilary thinks is going to happen. Got anything you can wear?”
“Well, ah…now that you mention it…”
“Why don’t you let me outfit you, then?” Salazar smiled. “It’ll be my pleasure.”
Chapter Thirty
Dane drove to his family’s orange grove, where Mark and Hillary were having their wedding. Amazing that they wanted to get married there. It had been the scene of their first date, but that date hadn’t turned out particularly well as he remembered.
However, Mark had been able to salvage things. Dane would never fix his situation with Sophia unless someone invented a time machine.
The memory of her trembling lips and tear-filled eyes gnawed at him, and he felt like his gut was full of broken glass.
His phone buzzed. Vanessa.
“Has the wedding been cancelled?” he said into the Bluetooth headset.
“Why would it be cancelled?”
“Why else would you be calling?”
She huffed. “The wedding is not being cancelled. I just wanted to know if you’re bringing a date.”
“What if I am?”
“I just wanted to gird myself. You always have the habit of dating the most unsuitable women. Like that blonde who called Hilary fat.”
He drew a blank. “Who?”
“I don’t know her name. But remember that time when Hilary and I went over to your place, and your plastic bimbo called her fat?”
“Vaguely,” he lied. He didn’t remember anything those girls did, and it annoyed him that Vanessa would put any weight on something one of them had said. Who gave a damn about those women anyway? “But you can relax; I’m dateless today. Are you already at the grove?”
“Uh-huh. I got here last night to help out with a few things.”
“Amazing that Justin managed to find a flatbed big enough to cart you over on such short notice.” He hung up.