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“Good,” he growled, dipping his body slightly and hooking his arm under my ass, lifting me off the floor and carrying me back toward his bedroom. “Because fake or not, I’m about to show you exactly how I treat what’smine.”
Chapter Fifteen
REED
Two Weeks Later…
“Harold Dennison is here,” Martha announced from the doorway to my office.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell her to make some excuse so I didn’t have to see him, but as I lifted my gaze, he came charging through the open doorway past her.
“Mr. Lawson, you are a hard man to tie down,” Dennison loudly spoke as he strolled into my office like he owned the place. “Or are you avoiding my calls?”
Martha was pushing the door closed before I could even hit her with a hard glare and let her know I was not fucking happy.
Dennison walked straight over to my desk, the heavy-set gentleman dropping his large body into one of the leather chairs opposite me. I closed my laptop and leaned back in my seat, folding my arms across my chest. “What can I do for you today, Mr. Dennison?” I asked casually like I didn’t already know exactly what had bought him down here.
Harold Dennison was the CEO of the Boston Children’s Hospital.
I’d known him for years, since I first opened my business and was making enough to begin donating to the hospital. The first amounts weren’t much, not enough to make a blip on the radar of the CEO.
But over the years, they had become bigger.
And bigger.
Until two years ago, I funded an entire project.
“Any other business would be on my ass, demanding I make a spectacle and tell the world what they’d done,” he started, his large hand reaching up and stroking at his thick beard. “But not you. You brush me off like I’m some debt collector. I’ve tried phone calls, emails, letters, damn smoke signals. I swear, even the president is easier to get an answer from. But his security team has nothing on your assistant out there.”
“She’s worth every cent,” I told him with a shrug, knowing precisely what Martha would do to protect me if she had to. The list was a lot longer than helping me dodge a few phone calls. “I don’t donate because I want everyone to look at me like I’m some kind of hero. I do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
“You do it because you know what it’s like to live in the hospital,” he argued. “Because you know what they need. You know what would make their lives easier. More comfortable. You have experienced the things they are going through and come out the other side strong. If you come to the opening, you can inspire them to—”
“I’m sorry you feel the need to come all the way down here because the answer is still no.”
It was no over a year ago.
It was no nine months ago.
And the answer would still be no in six weeks when the hospital had a large-scale opening for a new cancer wing I had funded.
“Reed, I know you know how big this is. How much good this new building will be able to provide.” Dennison leaned in, bracing his forearms on his knees. “Wouldn’t you want to thank the person who stepped in when you were at your darkest and created something that would make your life a little easier? Wouldn’t you want to tell them how much you appreciate them?”
I was already shaking my head before he was done. “I don’t need thanks.”
He didn’t understand.
Knock. Knock.
Thank God.
“Come in!” Getting to my feet, I shoved my chair back and walked around the desk. “I appreciate you coming down here to try and get me involved, but—”
“Involved?” I glanced up as Valen stepped through the door, her eyes cautiously assessing the situation.
Dennison was quick to leap from his chair, his eyes alight with opportunity. “Mrs. Lawson,” he crooned, holding out his hand. Valen glanced at me questioningly before returning her attention to Dennison, a pinched smile on her face as she shook his hand. “It is such an honor to meet you. Reed and I were just discussing his attendance at an event.”
“We were just discussing how I won’t be attending,” I corrected firmly.
