“I like to say that there is a time for both work and play. Now is the time for work.”
“When do you play?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed with my presence. I wasn’t going anywhere. It didn’t matter how much she hated me. Most people usually softened to me once I was in their space. It seemed to be a natural reaction.
Faith seemed even harder than she’d been in our initial encounter. I didn’t like that. Obviously, seeing me hadn’t brought back the warm memories that running into her had given me.
“Not while I’m working,” she stated flatly.
“Good. I didn’t want to bring up work outside of work.”
That got her full attention. She blessed me with her gaze while she waited for me to expound. When I didn’t, she pressed.
“What does that mean?” she asked with lifted brows and a deadpan expression.
My heart raced as I signed up for the challenge of making her smile. My sweet girl was still mean as fuck. I loved it.
“I have a proposal, well, more of an opportunity,” I finally stated.
She pursed her lips as she answered. “An opportunity for you or an opportunity for me?”
“Well, aren’t we blunt?” I chuckled as I stepped forward, closing the space.
There was too much air between us. There was too much time between us. There was too much everything. I wanted it all back—her time, her attention, her love. It was time to take it back.
“Is there any other way to be? I don’t believe in wasting time. You know that.”
“I’m not here to waste your time. I promise. I would say it’s an opportunity for both of us. If you think there’s something nefarious going on behind the scenes at Cashville, you’re not gonna be able to prove it from the outside speculating and making accusations.”
“What exactly are you offering?”
“Access.”
“To what exactly?”she asked.
The question felt loaded, but coming from Miss All Work and No Play, I knew better than to get my hopes up. At the same time, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t shoot.
“To anything you want, no limits.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, but she swallowed the words before she could spit them out. A beat later, she found the right words.
“Why?”
Because I wanted to see her again. Because I was determined to wear her down. Because I never should have let her go in the first damn place.
Faith might have been doing her job, but my job was to reclaim what was mine. My paying job just so happened toinclude protecting the integrity of the business. Faith could help me with that.She had questions. I could answer them all. There was nothing wrong with wanting the real answers. A ton of answers to her question were at the back of my mind, but only one of them seemed likely to get her to bite.
“Because if there’s something there, I want it to be found just as much as you do.”
She rolled her eyes, scoffing as she straightened her posture. “So, I’m supposed to believe you’re just opening the doors for me to snoop around, and I’m expected to trust the information that you spoon feed me?”
“Wow, people don’t usually question my integrity during the first meeting.”
“Technically, this isn’t a meeting. Plus, I already know how you get down,” she countered. I couldn’t lie. That last bit almost got a reaction out of me, but I didn’t let it show.
“To answer your question, you are expected to do what you feel you should with the information that you find. I’m not going to try to lead you one way or another.”
“OK, so why would you invite me to investigate in the first place?”
