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“You remembered,” I said.
“That you like Orange Crush? How could I forget? You lived off the stuff in college,” Brett said.
“I thought this was a business meeting?” I asked.
“Can you not have your favorite foods at a business meeting?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a business meeting with an ex before.”
Brett nodded. “Well, then let me guide you through how it works. The two of us sit down, and I update you on why I canceled your required reading. Then, the two of us use the rest of the lunch to catch up on what’s been going on.”
“The first sounds like a professor, the second sounds like a friend. None of which seems professional in the slightest,” I said.
“There you are,” he said, grinning.
“There who is?”
“That feisty woman I remember from college. We’re going to need that woman when we expand internationally.”
“When we what?”
“Sit down and let me fill you in,” he said.
He held out his hand, ushering for me to sit down. And when I did, he sat a little too close for my liking. His knee brushed against mine as my pencil skirt rode up my thighs, exposing way too much skin for a boss-employee meeting. I sat back into the couch with the plate of food in my lap, trying to use it to cover up the part of my thighs that didn’t want to stay hidden in his presence.
“So. International expansion, huh?” I asked.
“That’s where I’ve been the past two weeks. In New York City having meeting after meeting with investors,” Brett said.
“I take it they’re on board with it, then.”
“Took some convincing, but I finally got them all on board. The next step is finding two more investors for the journey so we can raise the capital needed to take Greyson Consulting abroad, but as of right now it’s all things go for moving forward,” he said.
“So, what’s the endgame?”
“The endgame is the company slogan, of course. All money, no boundaries. There are twenty million Americans that live abroad with no access to our services simply because they aren’t in the States. I don’t like that.”
“You don’t what now?” I asked.
“I don’t like the fact that they can’t use my services. We were rated last year the number one financial consult—”
“I know all of that, Brett. I’ve read up on the company. Kind of. But it sounds like you want to help these people.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You just…”
I tried to find the right words to use since this man was technically my boss.
“You’re just not used to me caring about anyone but myself,” he said.
“It’s not quite in your character,” I said.
“People change. You’ve changed quite a bit.”
“As have you.”
“But as far as forward projection for the company goes, there’s no reason why everyone can’t benefit. My investors become richer. I become richer. People abroad get access to the best services I provide in the States. And if I’m successful, I can expand my financial consulting services to other countries. Help those in failing economies like Italy and Greece make the most of their money.”
“Help?” I asked.
Our eyes connected and I could have sworn I saw something akin to sympathy run behind the icy eyes of the money-hungry man I’d fallen in love with.
“Yes. Help,” Brett said plainly.
“So, it’s not just for the money. Like you always talked about in college,” I said.
“Oh, no. There’s a great deal of money to be had. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be other perks to the job as well.”
“Sorry, it’s just that I’m so used to hearing you talk about outdoing your father’s legacy that it’s odd to hear you talk about anything else.”
“Well, I met my fair share of interesting people in college. Maybe they rubbed off on me a bit.”
My eyes danced around his face as he plucked a piece of steak off his fork with his teeth. Was he talking about me?
“So, what is my role in all this?” I asked.
“Well, you’re the consultant manager. You’ll be my right-hand woman in this. The biggest thing will be employing individuals here in the States that can keep up with international hours. You’ll be in charge of hiring on consultants that can handle those responsibilities. You’ll be responsible for updating and talking with the consultants I already have on staff and relaying our conversations to them.”
“Right-hand woman,” I said.
“Mhm. We’ll be working closely during this international launch. I drew up a plan this morning and submitted it to my investors. If they approve it, we have until the end of the year to pull this off,” he said.
My eyes widened. “You want to take your entire company international in a little over two months.”
Brett grinned. “I’ve done worse and come out on top.”
For some reason, that statement made me lock up in all the best ways. Even though we were talking about business, I was enjoying it a little too much. The way his knee rested against mine. The way he ate his food but never once pulled his eyes away from me. The way his cold, hard gaze softened ever so slightly with his smile as he graced me with it. Electricity rushed through my muscles. It took all I had to drop my gaze to my plate so I could continue eating my food.
