Read Online Winner Takes All by Jacqui Moreau - Free Book Online

way she always answered the phone as if slightly unsure who it was. “Have I caught you in the middle of something?”
    “Yes, but not really. I’m just in the middle of my daily jog,” she said breathily. Lucy always ran fifteen miles a day on the treadmill at the gym, rain or shine. “You know I’m never too busy to talk to you.” Still, she didn’t stop jogging. She was breathing heavily and had to talk slowly to keep up with her legs.
    Much to his regret, Cole knew Lucy spoke the truth. Although she was a busy woman, she always took his calls. He hated that. There was something very cloying in her availability. Not that he wanted her to pretend otherwise. Cole wasn’t looking for a woman who played games. It was just that he often wished that once in a while Lucy would be genuinely too involved in an activity to take his call. She had a life, didn’t she?
    Cole knew that on paper he and Lucy made the perfect couple, but he also realized that in itself was part of his appeal to her. And he didn’t like it. He wasn’t a shiny bauble to be shown off at the country club.
    “Lucy, I’m going to have to cancel dinner for tonight,” he said easily.
    “This is awfully last-minute, darling.”
    Cole could practically hear her pout. He hated when she pouted. “Some unavoidable business has come up,” he explained.
    “That’s such a shame, darling. If you’re sure it can’t be avoided….” She let the suggestion hang in the air for a few seconds. Cole didn’t bite. “Perhaps I should come by later? For a nightcap?”
    Her tone took on a wheedling note, and Cole felt a flash of annoyance. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. In fact, I don’t think our seeing each other anymore is a good idea,” he said, suddenly finding the whole thing very easy. It couldn’t be avoided any longer. He had to do it now. “I think we’re going in different directions.” This was an inaccurate statement as far as Cole was concerned. They had never been going in the same direction. Only Lucy didn’t know that.
    “I think you’re being hasty,” she said, her voice even. “Our relationship is mutually beneficial to us both. I don’t see how that has changed.”
    “My definition of mutually beneficial has changed.”
    “Uh-oh. I believe I’m about to be on the receiving end of the it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech. How droll.”
    Cole had no intention of making any speeches, droll or otherwise. “I’ll have Rutherford send over your things.”
    “Cole darling, you’re such a bastard,” she said smoothly.
    “Good-bye, Lucy.”
    He hung up, leaned back in his black leather chair and sighed deeply. It felt good to get that over with. Lucy wasn’t the right woman for him—not that he was looking for the right woman. He wasn’t quite ready to settle down, but nor was he enjoying casual relationships as much as he used to. The things that had given him pleasure in the past were starting to wear thin. He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was his father’s death. Even though his dad had handed him the reins to the company four years before his death, it felt different without him watching over. What he had told Eva was true: He did start in the mailroom. But that was seventeen years ago. He had since proven himself a worthy and responsible heir to the Hammond fortune. Perhaps that was it: He was the Hammond heir and was tired of being liked for all the wrong reasons.
    Mrs. Hemingway knocked once and opened the door. “Your mother said yes to dinner. You have a reservation for two at eight at the Blue Water Grill.”
    “The Blue Water Grill?”
    “Yes, sir. It’s in Union Square.”
    “I know where it is. Why there? I said the Four Seasons.”
    “Your mother lunched at the Four Seasons and requested a change of venue. I thought the Blue Water Grill would be satisfactory. Shall I have the car brought around at seven-thirty?”
    Since the restaurant was thirty blocks away, it would probably take only fifteen