Chapter 212

Hoping for an answer, I backed away from Victor, went to the window, and looked out over the city. I never should have said yes to William’s prom invitation after asking Victor first.

Now I had to pick one of them to be my escort. Having two Alpha males show up at my door on prom night would be a disaster.

Clearing my mind, I recalled the hopelessness and fear of the moments when I laid alongside the road, too weak and dizzy to get up. Then the memory of strong arms picking me up from the gravel alongside the road flashed through my mind.

The Goddess was reminding me of how good and caring William is and that he was her choice for my mate. To choose Victor as my prom date was unthinkable.

William saved my life, and he was the Goddess’s choice. He must also be mine.

“Victor, there is something you need to know,” I said, thinking it would be best to get it over with quickly. But the words didn’t want to come from my mouth.

“Um, William in …invited me to the …the prom today and …and I accepted.”

Victor put the cake down. “He is your choice?”

I nodded.

Victor struggled with his emotions as an expression I’d never seen flashed across his handsome face. He was hurt. But he maintained his composure.

“I know this has been a difficult decision for you, Daisy,” he said. “I wish you all the happiness in the world and the best of luck to you and William.”

Then he stood and walked out of my office.

I watched him get on an elevator and the door closed behind him. He was gone.

“I had to tell do it,” I reminded myself as tears filled my eyes. “And maybe Victor and I can still be friends.”

An empty feeling spread through me. I put my arms on the desk and laid my head on top of them. “I’ll see him again. Victor will be here tomorrow to talk business and tease me about stepping on William’s feet at the prom.”

But the memory of the hurt expression that flashed across Victor’s face when I chose William told me that may never happen again.

“What did I do?” I moaned.

“You did what you had to do,” I told myself.

Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was wrong to choose William. I ached to call Victor to tell him I changed my mind, and I wanted to be with him.

Why couldn’t I go to the prom with Victor and decide who I wanted for my mate afterward. One had nothing to do with the other, and I asked Victor first.

I would do it! William would have to understand.

My hand was reaching for the desk phone to call him when it buzzed. I answered the receptionist’s summons, and she told me the architect for the new project was on line two.

I thanked her and took a few moments to clear my mind before taking the call.

There wasn’t another chance for me to think about or call Victor for over an hour. When I hung up with the architect, I started to bask in the success of the start of the hospital project. It would help everyone in the Beta community.

But without Victor to share it with, I still felt empty. My business successes meant so much more when I shared them with him. He was always proud of me when I did well.

Regret wormed its way through my soul. I had to call Victor right away and tell him I changed my mind. After we made our plans for the prom, we could discuss the architect’s fantastic plans for the hospital.

Maybe we could go somewhere to celebrate the beginning of the project. Victor and I hadn’t had a night out in a long time. I had the perfect dress that I was dying to wear for him.

I took out my cell and called his number, but he didn’t answer. Leaving a message wouldn’t do. I wanted to hear his voice. No, I needed to hear his voice.

Disappointed he wasn’t available to talk, I got up and paced the room. The thought that he was avoiding talking to me crossed my mind, but I pushed it aside.

Victor wasn’t a vindictive guy. He was probably in a meeting or something equally important and couldn’t take my call.

I'd wait an hour and call him again. If he didn’t answer, I would leave a message that I had to talk to him this evening. We could still go somewhere for dinner.

I was happy again. Knowing I would soon patch things up with Victor, I began going through the files of potential properties suitable for affordable housing. It was the second project of the new business plan.

Yet, as I worked, the image of Victor’s face before he left my office kept flashing through my head, and I couldn’t stop feeling guilty for choosing William even if I now changed my mind. I couldn’t wait to talk to him and remove that look from his handsome face.

My cell vibrated and my heart leaped. Maybe it was Victor calling me back. I couldn’t wait to tell him I wanted to go to the prom with him and beg him to forgive me.

But my caller ID told me it was William instead.

“Oh, not now,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to talk to him while I was waiting to talk to Victor, but it would be rude to not answer.

“Hi, William,” I said after accepting the call.

“Daisy, I need to speak to you right away,” William said. His tone told me he thought it was urgent.

“What about?” I asked. “I have a lot of work to do here. Things piled up while I was gone.”

“I don’t mean to add to your burden, but you will want to know about something I discovered, and it would be better to explain it to you in person,” he insisted. Trust me. You’ll want to go to Alex right away with what I have to tell you.”

Go to Alex? Was this another major problem to be solved? I wasn’t up to dealing with another crisis. I wanted to talk to Victor. I had to repair things between us.

“Daisy, it’s important,” William repeated. “Alex needs to hear about what I found. I'd rather not go to him by myself.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said, struggling to keep my irritation from my voice. My situation wasn’t William’s fault. “Do you want to come here to talk?”

“I would rather pick you up, and we’ll go someplace where we can talk alone,” he replied. “Will you meet me in the parking garage in ten minutes? I’ll drive us to the park. It won’t be dark for another two hours.”

I sighed, hoping William’s news was worth blowing off an hour of work.

Yet, this could be a great opportunity. While walking alone in the park with William, I will tell him I changed my mind about going to the prom with him.

I’ll tell him I thought about it and realized I couldn't accept his invitation when I invited Victor first. Canceling on him to accept another invitation was a horrible thing to do.

But that’s exactly what I had done. Why didn’t I think of it before hurting Victor?

I was determined to fix my mistake. The first thing I had to do was explain it to William in a way that wouldn’t crush his feelings. He had to understand. Then I would apologize to Victor if I had to have Joe drive me to his apartment.

“Sure,” I agreed, eager to remedy the situation. “I’ll be in the parking garage in ten minutes.”