Chapter Sixty-Six

Carrie

Reid and I are about to walk into the West office building when he stops me, pulls me to the side, and around the corner into a small alleyway. “Where are you going to say you’re living? Because people are going to find out about your apartment.”

“I—well, where should I say I’m living?”

“With me, Carrie. We’ve nailed a huge opportunity for the stockholders and the staff. We’re living together. That’s not something easy to hide and I don’t want to.”

My hand goes to his chest. “You don’t?”

“No, I don’t. What about you?”

“Me either.”

His eyes warm. “Good. We’ll stay professional, but we won’t hide our relationship either. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

He pulls me to him and kisses me. “Then let’s go up.”

He takes my hand and leads me toward the door, but releases me when we enter the building. And it’s a good thing we just had that conversation because the minute we step off the elevator and into the executive offices, Sallie and Connie, who are both at Sallie’s desk, bombard us. “We heard about your building,” Connie says. “Oh, hon, I’m so sorry.”

“I tried to call you,” Sallie says.

This goes on for a good two minutes, before I say, “My apartment aside, we’ve all but closed on the Japan deal and we’re signing on with Grayson Bennett’s company for more work. So I have to put the apartment thing behind me and dig in.”

Both women show appropriate excitement, and when Sallie’s phone rings, Reid eyes Connie, “I’m expecting a document from my father today. Call his office and check on the status.”

“Oh right. What documents?”

“He’ll know what it is,” Reid says and then looks at me, motioning to my office. “Let’s talk.”

I nod and head that direction. He’s on my heels and shuts the door behind him. I round my desk and set my briefcase, which had thankfully been at Reid’s place during the fire, down. Reid walks to the window and offers me his back. I frown and join him. “What’s up?” I ask.

He turns to face me, or really tower over me. “Our lives are merged now.”

“Yes. They are.”

“Then you need to know something.”

“Okay,” I say cautiously.

“My father tried to make his retirement contract contingent on no West having any personal or professional involvement with a Maxwell.”

“In other words, me moving in with you means he’s not retiring,” I assume.

“It’s more layered than that. Gabe and I came together and gave him papers that officially withdraw us from the firm should he not sign my version of the retirement plan by today.”

I blanch. “Wait. Maxwell and Maxwell would leave Maxwell, Maxell, and Maxwell?”

“Exactly.”

“You can’t leave your firm for me. Reid, no.”

He pulls me to him. “Gabe and I will start over. I’m not against the idea and Gabe and I both have plenty of money and connections to make this work.”

“What about this Japan deal? I assume as CEO, you, and your firm, receive a percentage of this sale. How badly does leaving cut you out of your profits?”

“I’m operating as an extension of the firm, but I’m on the front line and a managing partner. I’ll get a nice payday as will Gabe. He’s a co-managing partner. I have plenty of money, Carrie. You can feel secure with me. I know how much you need to feel that stability.”

I swallow hard, shocked at how well he really does get me, but I don’t want him to feel that motivates me in negative ways. “I feel secure because of you and what we’re becoming, not because of your money.”

“I want you to feel secure and comfortable with me and my money.” He kisses me. “But we have plenty of time to talk about that. I need to run to the office and meet with Gabe. Call me when you know anything about Japan.”

“Yes. Of course, I will.”

He caresses my cheek. “See you soon.”

He walks toward the door and my cellphone rings at my desk. “Leave it open, please,” I call after him as I race to answer my phone.

Once I’m behind my desk, I snatch my cell from my purse to find the number labeled “Cat” that Reid input for me. “Hey, Cat,” I say. “Thank you so much for last night.”

“You sound good considering everything.”

“This huge deal Reid and I have been working on is about to close. It’s exciting and, well, Reid and I are good. I’m going to live with him without hesitation.”

“That’s wonderful. I wasn’t so sure last night that was going to work for you.”

“We talked for a long time. Cat, do you know he and Gabe might pull out of the firm?”

“Yes,” she says. “Gabe told me and honestly, if they make that decision, they’ll make it work. They’re incredible together and all around incredible at their jobs.”

“I noticed,” I say. “It seems to run in your family. And on that note, I’d love to take you to lunch soon and fan girl over your column.”

She laughs. “You’re too kind I’d love to have lunch, but Reese has a huge trial going on that I’m covering. Well, you know that. You read my column. It would need to be next weekend.”

“That works. I’ll call you later in the week.”

“Perfect, and Carrie, you’re good for him. My mom would approve.” She hangs up and Sallie appears in my doorway. “What do I need to do?” she asks.

I motion her forward and she claims the visitor’s chair in front of my desk. “I need to have you fight my insurance company to get me paid. I need to focus on Japan.”

“Of course. Do you need them to advance you for clothes and a place to stay?”

“Get them to pay for all you can, please,” I add.

“Do you need a hotel or a short-term rental?”

“No, but brace yourself,” I warn. “I’m staying with Reid.”

She blinks. “What? You hate each other.”

“No. No, we really don’t. We’re together.”

“Wow. That was fast. So very fast. Carrie, are you sure?”

“Very, and yes, it’s fast but I’ve never felt this way before. He’s not an asshole—well, okay he can be, but I’m working on that.”

She studies me a moment. “He makes you happy?”

“How do I seem today after my apartment burned down?”

“Happy,” she says, surprise in her voice.

“Yes. Happy. I’m alive and so is this company. And Reid—he matters to me.”

The sound of her phone ringing on her desk has her grabbing my phone to answer it. “Eric,” she says. “One moment.” She glances at me and I nod. “Let me patch you through to Ms. West.” She hands me the phone and rushes away.

“Eric,” I greet. “I’m excited we’re working with you.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do, and if this is what you do while your apartment’s being burned down, I’m quite certain I won’t be disappointed. I’m about to email you and Reid the agreement. I’m sure I’ll be hashing out the legalities with him, but I wanted to welcome you on board.”

“Thank you. We’ll do an amazing job for you.”

“I know you will. More soon, Carrie.” We disconnect, and I call Reid.

“Eric just emailed us contracts for the rest of the work. I’m about to pull them up and review them.”

“I’ll go through them at the office.”

“I’ll email you my notes.”

His phone beeps. “That’s Eric calling me,” he says. “I’ll let you know if he adds anything new to the conversation.”

We disconnect and the phone on my desk rings. I smile. I love this day. I love Reid. I grab my phone and dive into the craziness. This is where I belong. This is where I want to be.

***

Reid shows up back at the office mid-afternoon and he and Eric have hashed out our contract. An hour later, we ink a letter of intent to sign a contract with the owners of the Japan event center. We have one month to come to terms or the bids can reopen. We finally leave the office at seven and order from our favorite sandwich place on the way home.

Home.

With Reid.

It’s really surreal.

It’s on the walk through Battery Park that it hits me we haven’t talked about his father’s retirement. “Your father?”

“No response, which means Gabe and I will close out our current projects, take on no new clients, and leave officially in six months. An announcement will go to the staff after the board meeting next week.”

“How do you feel about it?” I ask as we enter the building.

“It’s surreal,” he says. “That place has been my life, but it feels right. Gabe said the same thing.”

Surreal, I think, as we enter the apartment. There’s a lot of that going around today.

Half an hour later we’re both in sweats, on the couch, with wine in our glasses and work spread out on the table, when our sandwiches arrive. Reid sets them out on the table and surprises me by asking, “Is there anything you want to change in the apartment?”

“Change? It’s beautiful. I don’t want to change your place, Reid.”

“It’s our place, Carrie. I want it to feel that way. We can redecorate if you want. Hell, we can sell it and buy something new. I want this to feel like home.”

“We love Battery Park.” I scoot close to him and settle my hand on his leg. “Thank you, but you are what feels like home. I don’t need to make changes. And really, this place is stunning.”

He lays me down on the couch. “You’re stunning.” He leans in to kiss me.

“Oh no,” I say, feeling the press of his erection against my belly. “Feed me first. I didn’t eat all day. Then take me to bed and do all the naughty things you can think of, please.”

“I do believe I can live with that deal.” He pulls me back to a sitting position and we both reach for our sandwiches.

“If we buy a place, Gabe and I could open the office in that building. Of course, we’d have to tolerate him because he’d probably move into the building, too.”

“You really want to sell and buy something new?”

“It’s something to think about,” he says.

We talk about that and I tell him about Cat’s call. “Mom would approve, Carrie,” he assures me. “I hate that you can’t meet her.”

The doorbell rings. “Who can get past security?” I ask.

“Only my family, which means it’s Gabe.” He glances at his watch. “Technically my father has two hours to get us the papers. Gabe must want to ride this out here.”

“Or he’s having second thoughts?”

“Not Gabe. He doesn’t have second thoughts. You’ll learn that about him.”

He walks to the door, and I hear it open, followed by the sound of a deep male voice. I stand up. That’s his father. I hold my breath and wait. About sixty seconds later, Reid walks back into the room and indicates an envelope in his hand. “He shoved the retirement agreement at me, and then said, ‘you win.’”

“And?”

“And then he left.”

“So we’re not buying a new place so that your office can be in the same building? Because if we’re staying, that lamp,” I point to this tall steel thing that looks like a street light, “is actually ugly.”

He laughs and closes the space between us. “The lamp goes as long as you stay.”