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“You got it, boss.”
I turn back to Jasmine for a moment and narrow my eyes at her. She mouths, “Fuck him. Hard.” I discreetly give her the finger behind his back.
We reach my small office in the back. He’s a big guy. Too big for this small office and the small chair he squeezes into. I sit in my nice, big, comfortable chair, and inwardly smile at the situation.
“What can I help you with, Mr. Daulton?”
“It’s Carter. Mr. Daulton sounds like my father, and he’s a jerk.” I nod my head in agreement at that.
“Okay. What can I help you with, Carter?
“Can I call you Reagan?” I nod. “Reagan, do you have any idea why my father’s interested in your company?”
I shake my head. “Carter, I haveabsolutelyno idea. I don’t know anything about your father. I know you guys gave me a shit offer. I know you tried to buy the building, which I now own, by the way.” He smiles at that. It’s interesting that he didn’t know. “And I know you’re fucking with my suppliers. That’s all I know.”
He looks genuinely surprised by my last point. “What do you mean by that? What’s happened to your suppliers?”
“I mean prices go up constantly. I need to switch suppliers practically every other month, because the second or third month in, all of a sudden, the prices double. That never happened until your father started bothering me. It’s a time-consuming pain in my ass, and I’d appreciate if it stopped.”
Carter shakes his head and mumbles, “He’s such a prick.” I’m not sure he meant to say it out loud, but I laugh.
“Yes, he is.”
Carter looks around my office. His eyes land on a big family photo from Mom and Jackson’s wedding in Mexico. “Your stepfather’s Jackson Knight, right?”
“Yes, why?”
“When I asked my father why he wouldn’t just offer you more money, he made some remark about not wantingthat familyto get a windfall. I suspect this has nothing to do with you personally, Reagan. I’m guessing that he has some old beef with Jackson. We occasionally do business deals with him. Though my limited dealings with Jackson have been nothing but easy and above board.”
“Jackson’s a good man. He wouldn’t pull any shit.”
“My father’s not a good man. He’d definitely pull shit.” Wow, this guy really hates his father.
He sits and thinks for a moment. “Reagan, I don’t know if you know anything about me.” I shake my head that I don’t. “I’m not the cutthroat, misogynistic, harassing, miserable asshole that my father is. My goal is to take over Daulton Holdings when my father retires and restore it to my grandfather’s dream. I assure you, destroying a small business, especially one owned by a young woman, wouldn’t have been something my grandfather would have wanted. Just the opposite. Daulton Holdings was founded by my grandfather under the premise of using best practices and big business dollars and resources to help smaller businesses like yours flourish.”
“Okay, so what does that mean for me?”
“It means that I’d like to figure out a way for us both to benefit from this situation. I get my company, and you get to hold onto yours. When I’m in charge of Daulton Holdings, I certainly won’t pester you. I have no interest in stealing your company. At a minimum, I would make you a much more appropriate offer to collaboratively build your brand. There will be no strong-arm tactics, just an above-board business deal that equally benefits everyone involved.”
I nod my head for him to continue. I have no idea where he’s headed with this.
He stands up and paces. It takes him all of two steps to make it across my office, but he paces back and forth in thought for a few minutes. He rubs his knuckles across his lips while thinking. I’m actually finding that a little distracting. The pictures online didn’t do him justice. He’s remarkably attractive.
He stops for a moment and looks at me. “Reagan, are you married?”
I hold up my left hand and wiggle my empty ring finger. “Nope. Not even close.”
“Are you dating anyone?”
“I’m not sure why this is relevant, but I’m not.”
“Do you have children? I thought someone told me at some point that you were pregnant.”
“I carried a pregnancy for someone in my family who was unable to conceive. Yes, I was pregnant last year, but the babies weren’t mine.”
He looks shocked. “Wow, that’s an amazing thing to do for someone.”
“Thank you.”
