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“No. Hunter said he would try and find the funds to pay me but, honestly, I don’t want to workforanyone. Not even Hunter. I want to design a program for them, but I want to work for myself.”
A tension Grant hadn’t even realized he felt suddenly eased from his shoulders. Working for herself was exactly what would make Rory the happiest.
“What do you think?” She set her fork down and fidgeted with her napkin. “Like I said, uncertain and unstable.”
“And unlimited.” He put the pans in the sink and wiped off the stove. “I always knew you could do anything.”
“I’m going to apply for grants, in the hopes that I can get enough funding for at least the next six months, if not the next year. Also, I’m researching venture capitalists who arenotin the Silicon Valley, but who might have an interest in architecture and history.”
Grant tossed the dishtowel on the counter. Wariness clouded his mind, but beneath it an idea sparked, bright and hot.
“Rory.” He folded his arms, his spine tensing again. “It killed me not to do anything for you when you were in that mess. I wanted to go into battle for you.Withyou. I wanted to fight, and I really wanted to kick some ass. But I didn’t because you asked me not to.”
“I know.” Her navy-blue eyes were luminous. “I also know how hard that was for you.”
“And then…” He pushed away from the counter and paced a few steps. “You asked me to leave you alone. I fucking hated doing it but, again, I did because you asked me to. I’ll do anything for you. Anything you ask. Even if it makes me batshit crazy.”
“Grant…” She pushed off the stool and started toward him.
He held up a hand to stop her. If he touched her now, he’d be lost.
“I’m so sorry.” She shook her head, her brow furrowing with dismay. “I didn’t think…I mean, I knew you needed to do something, that you wanted to, but I felt like I had to take action on my own. At least, to try. It was so shitty, what happened at Digicore and stuff I’d gone through before…I had to prove to everyone, to myself, that I was as independent and smart as I’d always believed. I wanted to quit, Grant. You have no idea how much I wanted to just walk away and come back to you. I wanted…”
She paused and rubbed her throat. “I wanted to dive back into the life we’d had together here, to make it last forever this time. I wanted to meet you at the Mousehole every day for lunch and to welcome you home late at night. I wanted to go jogging with you at dawn and have amazing sex and eat your food. I wanted to leave everything else behind and just be with you. But I couldn’t do that becauseeverything elsewasn’t going to go away.”
She stepped cautiously toward him and rested her hand on his chest. His heartbeat quickened at the touch of her warm palm. “I needed to do something about it. The stupid game, the comments I’d tried to ignore, the dismissiveness, the propositioning… I’d gone through all of that alone for years. I told people—HR, my mother, my sisters, my friends—but ultimately I was the one who had to deal with it and then walk back into the fray because I didn’t want to be beaten or stopped from doing the work I love.”
She pulled in a breath. “So when I found that fucking scoresheet and was told to keep my mouth shutagain, I knew it was the endgame. Somehow, I was going to take those assholes down by using my skills and my brain, and without anyone else’s help.”
Grant swallowed past a tightness in his throat. “And you did.”
“Yes.” She lifted her gaze to his, her expression both wary and hopeful. “I’m so sorry that it hurt you. I never meant to do that. But if you think you didn’t help me, that you didn’t go into the battle with me, that you didn’t fight for me…you’re wrong, Grant. You were there the whole time. You were part of the reason I did this…because I knew you’d had the courage to strike out on your own even when you could have taken an easier route. You were my role model. For two years, you’ve been so dependable, so steady and rock-solid that I always knew you wereright over there. I knew you’d still be there, if it took me a week or a month or a year. You were like a lighthouse I knew I’d return to. You were my hero. You still are.”
“Yeah, well…” He cleared his throat and rested his hand against the side of her neck. “Heroes don’t get all sappy.”
“Of course not.” She smiled, her eyes glistening. “They just adopt kittens named Button.”
“One more crack about Button, and I’m taking back the gummy worms.” He tugged on a lock of her hair. “I meant it when I said I’ll always do whatever you ask of me. So, feel free to get kinky with your requests.”
Rory laughed and poked him in the chest. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“As for your software design plan…” Tension threaded his shoulders again. “Applying for funding is a long process. It could be months before you know if your project will be approved or not. Venture capitalists are obviously no guarantee, either. God knows I’d lose my shit if you ended up dealing with another scumbag. Which is why…”
He took a breath and rested his hands on her arms. “I want to fund your software project.”
Rory stared at him, shock darkening her eyes. When she opened her mouth to speak, Grant shook his head.
“I have money, Rory. Plenty of it. My parents established trust funds for me and Nathan when we were born, and I’ve never touched mine. But investing in you…I can’t think of anything I would rather do.”
“Oh, Grant.” She eased away from him, and a tear slipped down her cheek. “I can’t take your money.”
Frustration lanced through him. He’d known she would say that. “Yes, you can. I’m offering it to you.”
“What would your father say?”
“He’ll probably be glad to know I’m investing in technology. In you. I want you to have all the support you need without worrying about money. If you want a contract, fine, but all that matters to me is that you have the resources to do exactly what you want. To do what makes you happy.”
She wiped her eyes with a napkin and shook her head. His insides twisted.
