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“Keep your eyes to yourself,” she said.
“Sit down,” I growled.
She opened her mouth as though to argue with me further, but finally dropped onto the chair. I studiously avoided lingering on the way her skirt rode higher, revealing even more of those delicious thighs.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, willing my dick to remain calm. I was too old to get worked up over someone’sthighs,for fuck’s sake.
Especially if I hated the woman attached to them.
Even if they were spectacular.
“Speak,” she commanded, directing her attention to her manicure instead of at me.
“I can’t give you all that money upfront and let you run wild with it without receiving some assurances. You had to know walking into that meeting that I’d never agree to it. This may be your family’s company, princess, but it’s my job to make sure you don’t bankrupt us.”
Ignoring my not-so-subtle dig, Amara said, “What kind of assurances?”
“The kind that involve knowing you won’t go out and blow it all on some three day party in Ibiza.”
She rolled her eyes. “That was one time, and I didn’t use company funds.”
If there was one thing I’d learned over the last five years while working here, it was that with family owned companies such as Delatou, Inc., the line between business and personal often blurred, especially where money was concerned. I had seen the credit card bills from those benders, and I knew she was lying. Unfortunately, while Leon had been in charge, I’d been unable to put a stop to it. He assured me Amara was acting within the purview of her role with the company.
Plus, that man scared the shit out of me. Amara didn’t scare me at all, and I wouldn’t be intimidated into turning a blind eye any longer. Maybe that weekend in Ibiza hadn’t been bankrolled by the company, but I could name ten other weekends just like it that had been.
“We’ll be discussing your irregular and frivolous spending habits more in depth later,” I assured her. “For now, I’m telling you…you’re not getting approval for this. Not this plan as it stands, anyway.”
I hated to admit my mind had been whirling since she’d named her sum earlier. I wasn’t going to give her that kind of money carte blanche, but…I’d be more amenable to a discussion if she were willing to compromise on something on a smaller scale.
“What do you need from me, Calvin? I’m telling you my ideas are going to be huge for this company, and I’m ready to move on this now. You’re making a really piss poor business decision if you don’t give me what I’m asking for.”
“Three months,” I blurted.
Well, I had hoped to make her sweat for it a little bit more, but apparently my stupid ass mouth had other ideas.
I think that skirt she wore was short-circuiting my brain.
“What?”
“I’ll give you three months. Or a little more. From now until Labor Day. Summer is our busiest time of year, and if these things are going to work, it’s going to be now. What do you need for three months?”
She opened her mouth to respond but I added, “And statewide only. Three months and execution within the boundaries of Michigan.”
Amara studied me, squinting, clearly apprehensive.
“I’m not fucking with you if that’s what you’re thinking,” I assured her. “If we do a controlled, statewide roll out of the cocktails and start using your silly little TikTok strategies, and everything works out, I’ll give you what you need to take it nationwide. But if it doesn’t”—which I suspected would be the case—“then it’s back to the drawing board, and we won’t have wasted all that money for nothing.”
Amara’s gaze remained locked on my face, her eyes darting back and forth. I wasn’t sure what she was searching for, but I held her stare, waiting for her to work through whatever was holding her back.
At last, she said, “You’re really not fucking with me?”
Her voice was so soft, so quiet, that I almost felt bad for all the shit I’d given her over the years. I almost allowed myself to remember that she was only twenty-eight and had never been in charge of a multi-million dollar company before. I almost succeeded in convincing myself that, since she hadn’t been prepared for this, I should cut her some slack.
But that mentality would only drive this company into the ground. I couldn’t let Amara’s pretty face, inexperience, obvious desire for approval, or her attempts to make a big splash in her first year as CEO distract me from the fact that she didn’t deserve her shiny new title. My mission was simple: prove to the rest of the world what I already knew—that Amara’s appointment to head this company was a mistake.
“I’m really not fucking with you. What do you need for three months and a statewide execution?”
She rose from her chair and moved behind her desk, opening her laptop, her long fingernails clacking on the keys filling the silence in the room. After several minutes, she looked up and gave me a number—a far more reasonable budget that didn’t have my blood pressure and anxiety rising to dangerous levels.
