AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The ball bounced off the window behind me.
“I can see this girl has you all fucked up,” he said.
“Blow me,” I said.
He’d already left.
I didn't need to agree with him, but he was only half wrong. Amy did have me off balance. I hadn't had a woman in my penthouse, or my life for that matter, since Roberta passed. It hadn't seemed right.
I rubbed my ring finger absentmindedly.
Somehow Amy had changed that. She had eased her way into my world, and it all seemed so natural.
Veronica ventured in now that Josh had gone. She generally avoided my office when Josh was visiting. I couldn't put my finger on it, but for some reason she didn't care for him, and I hadn't challenged her on it.
“Mr. Schmulian requested you call him when you got in.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Thanks. I'll call him right away.”
He could've texted me directly and asked me to call him, but Hue was old school. He’d told me he preferred the old-fashioned way of talking to people like Veronica. There were times I agreed with him.
I reached his voicemail and left a message.
I turned to face the window. Two racing shells were competing in the distance on the Charles, each trying to out-row the other, both teams trying to reach the finish line first. The epitome of competition, but the equally matched boats were almost dead even. What determined the winner was ninety percent raw effort, but ten percent strategy.
In our competition, Winterbourne was doing something I wasn’t. I just couldn’t figure out what.
Chapter 19
Amy
It had beentwo days since the dual meetings with Lighthouse and Winterbourne. Lighthouse had been a bust, but I’d just finished an unexpected third meeting with Winterbourne.
Samantha strode into my office without so much as a knock. “When were you going to tell me about this new money?”
I'd only gotten out of the meeting five minutes ago. “I was just on my way to tell you. I didn't want to get your hopes up unnecessarily. Hell, the lawyers only sent one person over.”
“I'm listening,” she said as she took a seat.
“I met with them Monday afternoon, and the lawyer showed up yesterday. Today they told me they’ll have papers ready tomorrow.”
“And it’s eleven million?” she asked.
That figure had only come up in the meeting I’d just returned from. Obviously Grace had gone straight to Samantha and told her the good news, stealing my thunder.
“Like I said, I was just coming to see you. Yup. That’s the deal.” I tried to keep myself from giggling as I said it. It had turned out so well.
“Are they for real?” Samantha asked.
“I had my doubts until today.” I pulled a piece of paper out of my folder and handed it to her. “The money arrived in escrow yesterday, so it’s just waiting on paperwork with us tomorrow.”
Samantha read the paper carefully, her eyes bulging as she did. “Holy shit, you did it, girl.” She ran around the desk to hug me.
We released each other. “We did it,” I told her. “Remember, it's all about your recipes.” That was certainly the truth. Without Samantha's knack in the kitchen, the whole company would still be just a dream.
“There is a small hitch,” I told her. “They want two seats on the board.”
Samantha face turned sour. “Is that wise?”
