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“I’m trying to find a way to approach her without pressuring her or acting like a creep. And I have little self-control around her so that’s a problem too.” The image of her dancing with one guy after the other has left me sleepless. Maybe she has gotten over me, after all.
Andrew sighs and taps at his screen until the rest of my schedule disappears from the calendar.
“What are you doing?” I snap.
“Making sure you don’t make the same mistakes again. There’s a woman to woo by the end of the week and in the unlikely scenario that you decide to chicken out again, I have six more piles like those for you to go through.”
Satisfied, Andrew shuts the screen and puts the tablet on my desk. “Don’t worry,” he adds. “They weren’t important. I’ll have Abby call the other parties to let them know. Now, back to you. Don’t use her reaction to your comeback as an excuse to crawl back into your shell again. You can’t go back to your old ways, Brian. Not for you and not for Daniel.”
My previous lifestyle satisfied my needs pretty well, at least when it came to sex. And if someone had asked me about it a week ago, I would have raved that it was perfect, and that abandoning it would be a huge sacrifice for my son. But now… it feels empty again, just like the first time I met Carol. And again, as with the first time, I worry that maybe I’m just not made for this. “I’ve been trying for months, Andrew. Maybe deep relationships are just not for me.”
“Ah, Brian, you shouldn’t lie to your therapist,” he jokes. “I think we’ve already established that you weren’t actually trying. You didn’t want to do it and that was obvious. Painfully so. But you’ve had a taste of what being with her is like. And it’s clear you want her. This is not about Danny. And this is not about your fear of commitment.”
Andrew doesn’t say what it is but we both know it. I can’t bear the thought of getting back together and messing things up, losing her again. That was why I left like that six years ago. It wasn’t just that I couldn’t bear to look at her—I wanted to act like what we had never existed.
And I did. I buried it deep inside until fate brought us back together that night. What were the chances that we’d meet after all those years in a different state?
I stare at the black screen hanging before my desk. It’s sleek and modern, the steel beams that keep it in place, clashing with the rest of the office. The floor and almost all the furniture are made of dark wood, with intricate details, matching my father’s taste perfectly. When I first took over his office, I was overwhelmed by it all, but I ended up keeping it like this. It felt like I was somehow more connected—oh, crap. Andrew is starting to get to me with all that psychology stuff.
He reads my sour expression and decides to change the subject. “I have two more things on my notes for you today, so let me get to them before you shut down completely.”
I cross my arms against my chest. “Were you always this snippy?”
He nods. “Your mother called, she’s having a great time and sent new photos. It’s fascinating to see someone go through a second adolescence.”
Mom and her friends are currently touring Europe. She had had enough of me and my problems, so I sent her on a much-needed vacation. And it’s for the best. I wouldn’t want her to be here now, with all that’s going on.
“And the second?” I ask.
Andrew’s mouth twitches. “It’s about the board of directors. You’ve been CEO for almost three years, but your father is still the face of the company. They want you to step up in that direction as well, in fact, Bracken has been insisting—”
“Not now.” Hardly anyone knows I’m the CEO of Reeds and even fewer that I’m Robert Reeds’s son, yet my circle of friends is always being infiltrated by money-hungry vultures.
“Good. That’s all for today, Boss.” He stresses the last word and walks out, leaving me to stew over Carol and the failing finances.
I push the first pile of folders to the back and reach for the top of the new one when it hits me.
A business deal.
Carol would accept a business deal, Dennis was certain.
The investigator had sent everything there was to know about her, including skills, studies, seminars, and all her work achievements. She is ambitious and hard-working, and the most suitable candidate for going through the company’s finances to find the culprit.
It’s the perfect excuse to approach her without making her feel like she owes me a favor.
I don’t stew on it for long. I pull out my phone and scroll past Carol’s number, tapping on Dennis’s instead.
“Brian?” he answers. “Why are you?—what do you want?”
Come on, Dennis, you were far more willing to help yesterday. “I need Carol’s number.”
“Carol’s number?” he repeats. “Why?”
“I didn’t get the chance to tell her everything I wanted. And I have a proposal for her, as you suggested.” The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.
“Is this about the date? I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
“Dennis, I’ll just give her a call, that’s all. I think she’ll like the deal I have for her.”
