Page 49
Overthinking again. My house. I was comfortable after game. I laughed nervously at myself.
I headed for the door quickly; he didn’t need to think I wanted him to freeze out there.
Damn. He looked amazing. He clearly went directly to the airport after his meetings because he was in one of his good suits. No tie but the jacket, shirt, and pants fit him just so, perfectly highlighting the geek I’d already fallen for.
More importantly, he looked exhausted and, worse, defeated. What had been going on?
“I’m glad you messaged.” He turned to look at me as I closed the door.
Should I hug him? Frustration rose in my gut—I hated all the questions.
“I’m sorry I’ve been quiet. It was a jerk move.”
“I could’ve done more than just text too. I could’ve found out from Jack where you were and came to you.”
Sad laughter followed.
He made the decision on the hug, closing the distance between us and wrapping me tight. I didn’t hold back and wrapped my arms around him. The faintest whiff of his cologne remained, probably left over from when he got dressed this morning. He relaxed as his entire body unclenched and his shoulders dropped.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just been…” If he wanted to continue, he could, and I’d hold him for as long as he wanted. “I’m just happy to see you,” he said after a moment. With that, he loosened his hug, and I did the same so it wouldn’t get awkward.
He forced a smile as he stepped back, but his eyes didn’t contain the same emotion. He was holding something back—whether it was about us or work…?
“Let’s cook.” I shifted us to something safer.
“Yes.” He followed me to the kitchen as he talked. “Have you at least eaten something? After all, I know how you get postgame.”
“I might’ve eaten some of the bacon.”
“Can’t go wrong with that.” He slipped off his suit coat and draped it over one of the chairs at the breakfast bar. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Want to scramble the eggs?
“That I can do. It’s one of the few culinary skills I have. I can also make toast. Anything else might get a little out of control.”
“Good to know.” I took stuff out of the fridge as he hovered around the edge of the counter near the stove. “I’ll get a little bit ahead on the pancakes, then you can do that.” I busied myself with a large mixing bowl, the one Mom had given me a few years back specifically for pancakes. “What sent you off to New York so quickly?”
“A lot went wrong Thursday morning. I went for some meetings, hoping to fix it.” Out of nowhere, he started a pot of coffee. It’d go great with the food, but I hadn’t expected him to just do it. My heart did a somersault. This was a flash of what life could be like, making food and talking at the end of a day. “I failed though.”
The tension returned to his shoulders.
“Is the company going to be okay?” Part of me didn’t want to know because knowing would only draw us closer together rather than separating. Still, I knew how important this was, and I couldn’t avoid the question.
He looked at me, and for a moment, I thought he might cry. “I don’t know. It’s pretty bad. Most of our clients and prospects are extremely unhappy.”
Knowing how he thought, I didn’t have to make much of a leap to know that he completely blamed himself.
“Tamara and I have an emergency meeting with the board tomorrow. The bad news will outweigh the good.”
I reached out and gave him a quick embrace. The company meant the world to him. I bit back my reflex response that everything would be okay.
I sighed, frustrated on his behalf. “What will the board do?”
I went back to getting the batter together, but I made sure to pay attention as he talked.
“The company is set up in thirds. I have a third, Tamara has a third, and the people that make up the board have the rest. This could get interesting because Tamara and I have majority when we’re agreeing with each other. It gets more interesting if we don’t because the board can sway the outcome. It’s rare that Tamara and I disagree. But with everything that’s happened, I honestly don’t know. The board could justifiably decide to oust me, and if Tamara agreed…”
