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Of course she was proud of how well things had gone. But the truth was that Dane Harrington had already planned to donate to the foundation. All she and Cal had needed to do was pass his honesty test. So it hadn’t been much of a challenge.
Which was why, although a big part of her wanted to put her hand in Cal’s to shake on the deal he was offering, she didn’t. Instead, she laid her palm on her chest and said, “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You can’t know how much your faith in my abilities means to me. One day, hopefully soon, I will happily accept your offer to be partners. But I’m not quite ready for that yet. I want to be the best I can be, and to get there, I need to learn so much more from you.”
Though he looked surprised by her response, she could see respect in his eyes too. “Okay, I’ll accept your no for now. But I won’t wait too long for you to feel that you’re ready. Especially when I think you’re far closer than you know.”
Yet again, his words filled her with a glow. She adored her brothers and parents. But Cal was the first person who believed she’d already accomplished huge things, rather than seeing her as someone who needed taking care of. Her brothers never disrespected her, and she knew they loved her unconditionally. But the Mavericks had never truly seen her as a capable woman.
“Tell me the truth.” After a deep breath, she asked the question that had been hanging over her for weeks. “Did my brothers put pressure on you to give me this job?”
She could see the answer on Cal’s face even before he replied. “It was more of a heavy-duty suggestion, rather than pressure.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, clearly uncomfortable with what he’d told her. “They’re just concerned about you. They want you to be happy. I hope you won’t be angry with them for that.”
“No, I’m not angry.” Disappointed, but not angry. “You must have worried you’d been saddled with a slacker.”
He laughed. A genuine laugh, thankfully, that lifted the mood again. “The foundation needed an accountant. You wanted to leave Chicago. I hoped it would be a good fit, which it clearly is.” He gave her a sideways look. “But if you didn’t work out, I was willing to give you the boot.”
She laughed too. “I’m so glad you didn’t.”
“I am too, Lyssa.” The smile in his eyes warmed her from the inside out. “Really glad.”
* * *
When Lyssa looked at him that way, her eyes so bright and intelligent and sweet all at the same time, his brain turned to mush. Which was why, instead of hurrying off to bury himself in work and keep his distance, he found himself saying, “Whenever I have a massive victory at one of my companies, I like to make a point of celebrating. What do you say to the rest of the day off to enjoy London?” He had meetings planned for his own business, but suddenly none of them seemed particularly important.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Now that Dane is on board and has given us a list of wealthy associates to contact, there’s even more work we can dig into.”
“I’m sure,” he said. Even though he wasn’t the slightest bit sure how to stop wanting to be near the loveliest woman he’d ever known. “Now we just need to figure out what we want to do. A museum, maybe? Or we could hunt down a tearoom and get the full works?”
“Actually,” she said, “there’s something I found online when I was getting ready for the trip that looks like it could be a lot of fun. Only I didn’t think we’d have time…and even if we did, I wasn’t sure you’d be interested.”
“Try me.”
“It’s a London street art tour.”
“You mean like graffiti?” He frowned, feeling like the fuddy-duddy she probably thought he was.
“It’s art,” she told him. “And it’s all over the city, but particularly in the East End. Evidently, some of it is really famous, and huge careers have come from the walls of London.”
Before last night, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something just for fun, apart from attending Maverick barbecues when he was in the Bay Area. If he went to a function, there was always business—a customer, a donor, a potential investment.
It occurred to him how boring his life had become.
“I’m in.”
The way her eyes lit up made him more ecstatic than when Dane had darn near begged to join forces with the foundation.
* * *
An hour later, dressed in jeans, T-shirts, sneakers, and light jackets, they took the Tube to meet up with a free guided tour. It was an eclectic group, with an older couple from Scotland, a couple of Scandinavians, and two middle-aged women who hadn’t seen each other since high school and were clearly thrilled to be together again. Their tour guide had turned his body into an art form. Every square inch of visible skin, except his face, was covered with tattoos, from mythical creatures to skulls to jungle animals.
