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The receptionist greeted her with a smile and asked her to take a seat. That irritated her – after rescheduling like he had, the least that Trent could do was be ready to meet with her.
The receptionist had a weird smile on her face when she came back out. “You can come through now.”
She led Alyssa to the same conference room where she’d met with Trent the last time she was here. There was still no sign of him. She sighed and checked her watch when the receptionist left her alone to wait.
She wandered over to the windows. The view of the Bay Bridge was quite spectacular from here, but she preferred theview from Bentley’s office – the rolling hills covered in vines that marched away to the horizon.
After a few minutes, she turned back and was surprised to see a note on the table. She didn’t know how she’d missed it before, but when she saw her name written at the top, she went closer and picked it up.
Alyssa,
I’m afraid that the board reached the decision that we’re going to push our audit to next year.
I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Trent Pearson.
She scowled at the note and turned it over. There was nothing on the back. She hadn’t really expected there to be. She was just shocked. If they’d decided that they didn’t want to work with her, wouldn’t a phone call have done the trick? Why had Trent asked her to come in?
She turned at the sound of a knock on the door. She should probably pull herself together. She was kind of angry right now, and if Trent came in, she might just have to tell him so.
She watched as the door opened slowly, and her mouth fell open when Bentley walked in with a big smile on his face.
“What the heck are you doing here?”
He came to her and slid his arms around her waist. “I heard that this contract might have fallen through. So, I came to offer you a better one.”
She couldn’t help smiling. How could she stay angry at Trent when it meant that she got what she wanted? Her eyes widened when a thought hit her.
“You didn’t?”
He shook his head rapidly. “I didn’t. I promise you. You said you wanted to see how it played out, so I respected that.” He gave her a shamefaced smile. “However …”
She smiled through pursed lips. “However, what? Is there something you want to tell me, Mr. DuPont?”
He laughed and drew her closer, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “I swear to you that I did not interfere. However, I may have checked in with Trent. I may have known for a little while that this contract wasn’t going to come off.”
Her smile faded. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Why rearrange the meeting?”
“Don’t be mad at me? I wanted to buy some time.”
Now she was really confused. “Some time for what?”
She might be confused, but there was no way that she could be mad at him; not with the way he was smiling at her. He looked so pleased with himself.
“You know I told you that I want to offer you a better contract? Well, there were a few details that I wanted to have in place before I did. What do you say, do you want to come home now, and we can talk about it there?”
Alyssa laughed. She had no idea what he was up to, but the only thing that mattered was that he wanted her to come home, back to Napa, with him. There was nothing that she wanted more.
He put his hand on the small of her back as he led her out of the conference room and back toward reception.
Trent was standing there with the receptionist, both of them smiling. “Hey, Alyssa. I hope you’re okay with this? Bentley promised me that you would be.”
She smiled. “I am. It’s all good. Thanks.”
“Okay, then. I’ll be in touch early next year.”
Bentley laughed beside her. “Don’t hold your breath on that one.”
