Page 12 of For Your Consideration

5

Sutton

It had been a quiet day, which was unusual around here. My phone hadn’t rung in two hours, which had thrown me off so much I decided to call my extension myself to make sure it worked. It did. It was just one of those days. I’d gotten a lot of catch-up done and managed to clean my desk and create a new filing system for Quinn.

I walked into Quinn’s office to get her signature on a few statements I needed to send off. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore a deep frown as she looked at her computer. She was focused on what she was doing but did glance up at me. “Thanks, Sutton. Can we aim to leave in half an hour?”

“Leave?” I had no idea what she was talking about.

“I need you to come to Knight Enterprises with me this afternoon.”

I knew she had a quarterly foundation meeting with them; it had been in her calendar for weeks. Plus, I had created her slide deck that I knew she updated this morning with some figures and finishing touches. But I had no idea I was joining her.

“You need me at the meeting?” My stomach dipped at the thought of seeing Asher again. I didn’t know what about him had me excited and nervous.

“Yes, because I need someone there to remind the guys that we are at a business meeting and not hanging out.” She rolled her eyes. “They all told me not to bring a slide deck, but I know for a fact that when they used to get updates from Edward before I started, he presented one.” Edward was the CEO of the Maria Knight Memorial Fund. I’d met him once but he lived in London.

“Doesn’t Edward attend these meetings?” He was included in the calendar invite.

Quinn shook her head. “I asked him to because I said it was a conflict of interest. But he said no because last time I did well and the men behaved themselves. So he said it was fine. And he told me that since Knight Enterprises ‘technically’”—she used air quotes—“doesn’t own the foundation, the reporting is more a favor to keep our primary sponsor in the loop.”

“I don’t know what good I’ll be, but I’m happy to come.” I smiled, trying not to look nervous.

“You’ve been such a help, Sutton, and you created over half the presentation so I know you’ll be able to answer any questions they have.” My nerves kicked up at the idea of speaking around them about things I did not feel qualified to discuss. “But you’re also a perfect buffer.”

“Do you want me to drive us?” I knew Knight, having returned from London, had driven her in this morning. My car was clean, well, at least in the front seat. I didn’t even want to think about what mess Sophie had left in the back. It was on my ever-growing list of things to deal with.

“That would be great. Theo said his driver could come get me but then we would need to get you back here and that just seems like way too much work.” I nodded. “Bring all your stuff, then you can head home straight from there.”

“But it’ll only be three when we finish.” I frowned as she shook her head.

“You work way too hard.”

I waved her off as I walked out of the room, trying to steel myself for the meeting.

As we walked into the industrial offices of Knight Enterprises, I couldn’t stop looking around while Quinn stopped to chat with two women at the reception desk. We were almost half an hour early, so I wasn’t sure what we were going to do before our meeting.

The space was impressive. There was tons of natural light coming from windows on both sides. Black light fixtures went perfectly with the exposed wood beams and pipes. There was a warmth and softness to the furniture, and people were milling around, chatting at each other’s desks or going into what looked like boardrooms around the perimeter.

“Oh, sorry.” I looked back at Quinn, having missed some of what she had said.

“I forgot to introduce you. Shelly here is Theo’s assistant.” She smiled as she pointed at the older woman standing in front of the desk. She had her gray hair in a neat bun at the back of her head and wore a dark green sweater with her glasses hanging on a necklace. “And this is Nadine.” She pointed at the woman sitting behind the desk. She was maybe in her late forties, with dark hair and smile lines on her face. “She runs the general office.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I looked at both of them with a smile.

“You too.” Shelly smiled back. “Quinn has said great things about you.”

I blushed and shook my head. “I’m sure I could learn a thing or two from you.”

Shelly just waved me off and said, “You’re sweet, dear. Quinn said you have a daughter?”

“I hope that’s okay,” Quinn said quickly.

“No, it’s okay.” I smiled reassuringly at Quinn. I still wasn’t used to people being interested in her. “I do. She’s almost ten months old and very sweet even though she’s teething right now.”

“Oh, poor sweets.” Shelly shook her head. “My friend Dorren was telling me that her granddaughter is teething and it’s a rough time for everyone. She made these fruit soothers, and I’m not sure what’s in ’em but she said they worked wonders. I could get the recipe if you’d like.”

She seemed so eager to help that I didn’t want to turn her down, even though I had frozen foods in mesh feeders in both mine and Iris’s freezer. “That would be great.”