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“Wow.” Wes spoke first.
“Yeah,” Charmaine agreed. “That was pretty amazing. I’m not sure many people hold their own against Patrick Crenshawe and the might of Apex Asset Management. You actually made him go away.” Her eyes grew wider and she reached around to push her hair back into shape.
I sighed. “Yeah, but for how long?” And a traitorous part of me didn’t even want that damn man to go away. I wanted him to have his way with me — here on the conference table, even.
“It doesn’t matter how long!” Wes laughed as he perched his ass cheek against the table next to me. “It’s like this. You just had a business meeting with Patrick Crenshawe.” Again, he used his whole name, like he was a movie star or something. “He’s the juggernaut CEO of Apex Asset Management. Not only that, but he’s the alpha of the Silver Claw pack.”
I glanced up. The actual alpha? I mean, I’d known he was a member, but not that. Although who else would have a penthouse condo like that? I covered my face and suppressed a groan.
The wisdom of my previous night was starting to look very questionable indeed, no matter how much I’d enjoyed myself.
Wes continued speaking, unaware of my sudden moment of realization. “He’s a man who’s very used to getting what he wants, taking what he’s not given, and certainly taking no prisoners. And you made him go away with nothing.”
But I was barely listening to him now. Images from last night flew through my mind. Patrick had certainly liked to be in control, and he hadn’t left me wanting. His self-confidence and also his competence were very sexy — and also very much in evidence in other aspects of his life.
There was no doubt he’d be a very tricky man to work with. How could I hope to get the upper hand against a man who seemed to be an actual force of nature — or at least carried that reputation in business circles?
And how the hell had I not known? I should have at least put the pieces together. Maybe women also had two brains. If we did, I hadn’t been thinking with my big one.
I sighed again. “Oh my God,” I moaned. “What a mess. It’s only my first goddamn day, and already things are a mess. I can’t believe he came in here with such a shitty offer.”
“Well—”
I cut Wes’s response off. “After I met Charmaine in Clover’s last night, I went home with a stranger.” I sat straight up and looked at both Wes and Charmaine. “Only he isn’t a stranger anymore. It was Patrick Crenshawe. I didn’t know that at the time, of course.”
“We kind of got that memo, honey.” Wes stood and walked toward the door, then waited.
Charmaine nodded. “Yeah, it was a bit obvious that you two had…recent history.”
My cheeks warmed, but I shook my head to banish any errant thoughts. “Okay, but my point is, that’s probably why he brought this dumbass lowball offer to the table. He’s just trying to use the fact that we’ve slept together to make taking Gold Moon easy.” And that wasn’t the kind of shit I was willing to stand for. Not ever, but especially not on day one.
Charmaine shook her head. “Now, I don’t want to be the one to burst your bubble on this.” She paused and grinned. “But I’m gonna have to burst your bubble on this. I mean, I’m sure your time together was veryspecialand all that, but Patrick had already spoken to your father on the phone in the past couple of weeks. He’s been fishing around for a while. And while you don’t think it’s a decent offer, I know it’s the exact same one he put forward to your dad…and I don’t think he’d slept with him, too.”
I giggled at the unexpected image and shook my head, about to reply with something smart.
But the door opened before anyone had even knocked, the guy from Dad’s funeral, Parker Montgomery, stepped into the conference room. Wes moved out of his way, closer to where Charmaine and I were, something protective in his stance.
It was like all the air chilled, and we stopped talking. My laughter dried up and I stood, not wanting to be still seated and giving Parker the advantage of additional height.
“Did I just see Patrick Crenshawe leaving the building?” There was something imperious and commanding about the tone he used, and I clamped down on my initial reaction of annoyance.
“Good morning, Parker.” I forced a smile at him as my mind raced.
Was I literally the only person in Carwyn City who didn’t know who Patrick Crenshawe was? That sounded like my luck.
“Morning.” Wes also greeted him, but Parker barely spared Wes a glance as he remained focused on me.
“What offer did he make?”
When I didn’t immediately answer, he looked at Charmaine.
“Well?”
“It was ten million,” Charmaine said, her voice quiet.
“What?” Parker’s eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. “Ten million? That’s nothing. We need to reject that offer and tell him to increase it to at least twenty million. Ten million is just an insult.”
It was the first intelligent thing I’d heard come out of the man’s mouth, and I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I rejected the offer and sent him away.”
