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Twenty
It was like ripping off a Band-Aid. That was the comparison Luke made last night.
He’d suggested she text Flynn, but there was no way Sabrina could break the news via a text. She and Flynn were too good of friends to have an important conversation via text message. Besides, she knew him. He would’ve shown up at her apartment and demanded she explain herself.
She entered the executive conference room with her fresh cup of coffee to meet with Flynn, Reid and Gage. As much as she wanted to tell Flynn her decision sooner than later, now wasn’t the time for a private conversation.
“Thanks for joining us,” Reid said with a smile.
“I was stuck on a conference call the three of you insisted I make.” She narrowed her eyes at them in reprimand, but when her gaze hit Flynn’s, she rerouted. She couldn’t look him in the eyes with a whopper of an announcement sitting on the tip of her tongue.
“Gage, you called this meeting. We’re here.” Flynn set aside his iPad, thereby giving Gage the floor.
“Now that Mac and company have retracted their threats to leave Monarch and take their friends with them,” Gage started, “we need to massively increase sales. A huge boom in profits means bonuses all around, which makes Flynn look good, my sales department look good and Monarch look good. If we’re growing and Mac threatens to leave again, chances are he won’t have many followers. If any.”
“I’m all for growth.” Flynn’s eyes narrowed. “I feel like there’s more.”
“There is. I’m bringing in an expert. Someone who can aid me with coaching my team. I don’t love the idea of handing this to someone else, but I can’t handle my workload and training and expect to do both efficiently. I found a guy who comes highly recommended. I read about him in Forbes and then stumbled across his website. He’s incredibly selective about the jobs he takes, but several profitable Fortune 500 companies are on his client list.”
“Who is this wizard?” Reid asked.
“His name’s Andy Payne. He’s made of smoke, and somewhat of a legend. He’s also virtually unreachable. I couldn’t get him on the phone so I settled for a discussion with his secretary.”
“Sounds mysterious,” Reid said. “If he’d be open to sharing that he’s working for us, we could use the media curiosity. Flynn?”
To Sabrina’s surprise, Flynn turned to her. “You’ve been quiet.”
“I’ve heard of Andy Payne. His website isn’t much more than a black screen with his name on it. If we share that we’re working with him across our social media channels, it might not even matter how much we improve sales. His involvement alone would be enough to gain stockholders’ support.” She looked at Gage. “It’s smart.”
“Thanks.” Gage smiled.
“Okay then.” Flynn nodded. “How much is this guy going to cost us?”
Sabrina shut down her laptop for the day and glanced at the clock. The digital read was 5:05, which meant the lower floors had already packed up to enjoy a rare day of sunshine.
Flynn’s assistant, Yasmine, had already left, Gage and Reid were at their desks, and who knew how long they’d be here. They usually didn’t stick around as long as Flynn, but if she waited for them to leave she might be sitting here another hour-plus.
She was tempted to chicken out and leave without talking to him at all until he looked up from his computer as if he’d felt her eyes on him. Once his mouth slid into a wolfish smile, she knew she didn’t have a choice.
“Now or never,” she whispered to herself as she strode across the office. His door was open but she rapped on the door frame anyway.
“Sabrina.” The way he said her name sent a warm thrill through her. One that harkened back to long kisses and their bodies pressed together as they explored and learned new things about each other. She had the willpower of a monk and the hardheadedness of a Douglas. She could do this.
She had to.
“Do you have a minute?” she asked, pleased when her voice came out steady. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Of course.” He didn’t look the slightest bit worried. Not even when she shut the door behind her and sat across from him in a chair on the opposite side of the desk.
“It’s about the pact.”
“The pact?”
“Yes. The pact you reinstated with Gage and Reid about never getting married.”
“I know what the pact is, Sab.” He didn’t look worried but he definitely looked unhappy. Maybe she was on the right track here. Maybe Flynn was worrying about the future as much as she was and didn’t want to ruin their friendship with more complications.
“In college I thought the pact was a stupid excuse for your horndog behavior.”
