LITMIR.BIZ

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she traveled.

      “Damn you.” Stressed and out of sorts, she chucked the final pair of socks at the steer horns mounted above the queen-size bed in her suite.

      Was she cursing herself? Marcus? Her fiancé, who hadn’t answered the last three messages she’d left for him? She didn’t even know. But it bothered her that Marcus’s words resonated so deeply inside her, even hours after their talk at the river’s edge.

      She needed to get away from him and all the feelings he stirred. That had been half the reason she’d started packing. But would that even do any good?

      Truth be told, Marcus Salazar didn’t know much about her or her life outside work. He certainly didn’t know anything about her romantic relationship. So she needed to take some ownership of the fact that she’d interpreted his words today as some kind of judgment about her engagement. She’d pulled the meaning out of that conversation.

      Which meant…

      She was the one with doubts.

      Her knees folded, and she dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed.

      Staring down at Eliot’s ring on her finger, Lily wondered how long she’d been questioning her decision to marry a man who’d always been more of a friend to her than a romantic partner. Maybe that’s why neither of them had been able to commit to a date. Why it had always been easy to extend their time apart from each other, the way Eliot had done the day before. Perhaps her initial acceptance of four more months apart was another important clue that he was not the right man for her. And that was something he needed to know sooner rather than later. No delays.

      She needed to call Eliot again. And keep calling until she got through. Because the engagement had gone on long enough. It was time for them both to move forward with their lives and give up the pretense that a marriage was ever going to happen. She hoped he would see that, too, because she truly didn’t want to hurt him. They’d been friends for a long time before the engagement, and she hated the idea of causing a friend pain. But she knew this was the right thing to do. She slid the heirloom diamond off her finger and placed it on the nightstand, at peace with her decision.

      Picking up her phone, she hit the button to contact him through the video call app.

      He answered on the first ring, his dark blond hair and gray eyes flickering to life on the screen. “Just the woman I wanted to speak to. Hello, Lily.”

      He wore a tuxedo shirt and black bowtie, though he looked thoroughly rumpled as he sat in an unfamiliar setting. A hotel lobby, perhaps? She saw a few other people in the background, but no one else was dressed like him. His eyes were sleepy and a little unfocused, reminding her it was roughly five in the morning on his end of the world. Was he just returning to his hotel? The dark shadow of bristle on his jawline suggested as much.

      Nerves surged as she paced a circle around her suite.

      “Hi,” she managed after an awkward pause, surprised to have him suddenly on the line. “I really need to talk to you.”

      “Are you upset that I had to extend my stay here?” he asked wearily. “You know I can’t ignore my dad’s wishes when it comes to this stuff.” He plucked at his bowtie, loosening the knot that had already been crooked.

      “I’m not upset, Eliot,” she assured him, pausing her pacing to ensure her video image was still and focused on his end. “But I’ve been thinking about our engagement. About our mutual willingness to delay it inevitably. And I really think it’s a sign that we need to call it off.”

      He seemed to shake off the weariness, his gray eyes widening as he leaned forward in the seat and shoved a hand through his hair.

      “End the engagement?” he asked, a new urgency in his voice, still wrestling with the knot in his tie.

      “Yes.” She knew it was the right thing to do, but her stomach tensed anyway. “I’m so sorry to do this long-distance but—”

      “What about the merger?” he blurted, forgetting all about the bowtie as he gestured with his hand. Then, as if hearing the way that sounded, he shook his head. “I mean, as much as it hurts to think about ending the engagement, we have more at stake here than just our personal happiness.”

      Frustration mingled with wariness and a touch of wounded pride. But, in all that tangle of emotions, she felt relief that “heartbreak” didn’t seem to be an issue for either of them.

      “I realize that.” Releasing a pent-up breath, she sank into the window seat, careful not to crush the drawn damask curtains. “But marriage is too big of a commitment for us to make it just for business reasons.”

      “We make a great team, though, Lily.” His gaze shifted to something beyond his phone. Or someone. Because he held up a finger as if to say one more minute to a person she couldn’t see. His gaze flicked back to her. “We should at least consider other options before we walk away from the engagement.”

      A hurt deeper than wounded pride surprised her. Perhaps it was because Eliot didn’t seem remotely concerned about the loss of love or companionship in his life—just the merger. Maybe he’d never felt anything deeper for her than friendship and fondness.

      It didn’t help matters that her intuition told her he was gesturing to a female companion. Not that it mattered now.

      “Either we want a real marriage or we don’t.” Lily articulated the argument she’d been having with herself—quietly—for months. “After this conversation I feel certain that you’re not any more ready for that step than I am.”

      In the background, she heard a woman’s tinkling laughter. Eliot glanced up in the direction of the sound—aggravated—before refocusing on Lily.

      “Lily, please—”

      “Rest assured, I’ll return the ring next week. And I’d like to wait until then to break the news to our families.” She wouldn’t keep a priceless family heirloom. Especially from a man whose interest in her seemed more mercenary by the moment.

      “They’re not going to be happy with this decision,” Eliot warned her. “Not your family or mine.”

      “Which is why I’m going to wait to discuss it with my grandparents until I’m back home next week.” Swallowing hard, she didn’t want to think about that talk yet. “Thank you for understanding.”

      “I’m not sure I do.” His eyes went back to whomever he was with. “I’ve got to go, though, Lily. We can talk about this later.”

      “That won’t be necessary,” she assured him, grateful to have the conversation over. “Goodbye, Eliot.”

      She felt no guilt about punching the disconnect button. If he was actually with a woman, Lily was a little surprised he’d taken the call at all. But she was relieved, more than anything, to have ended things with him.

      As Lily felt the weight of the engagement fall away, a new burden settled on her shoulders. Eliot was right that her grandparents were going to be upset with her. Disappointing them was something she’d avoided her whole life, and she knew without question that they would disapprove of the broken engagement. Furthermore, a little voice in the back of her head reminded her, they definitely wouldn’t be happy about how this might endanger the merger of the family businesses.

      As she shut off her phone for the night, she began unpacking her suitcase. Maybe staying in Montana a little longer wasn’t such a bad idea. Just until she figured out how to handle things on the home front.

      It wasn’t that she was hiding from them. Just…weighing her options for the future. Besides, she had a job to do at Mesa Falls Ranch. If things really fell apart with her family and the worst happened—if they disowned and disinherited her the way they did her mother—then Lily would need her job more than ever to pay her bills and secure her future. So right now, keeping Salazar Media intact seemed like the best use of her time.

      Even if it meant facing Marcus again.

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