CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Did you hear that Josh quit?”
Laurel looked up from the quarterly report she’d been reading over to find Grace standing in her office doorway with a cup of sanity. Her blonde hair was perfectly pulled back in a French twist, not giving away her previous panic over Rye Marshall’s whereabouts last week, for which she had supplied an alibi.
It was hard to believe ten whole days had passed since Laurel had found Brad’s body in his office. How could there be no leads, especially given that so many people had motive to see him dead? There wasn’t such a thing as the perfect murder. Or had unicorns come back in vogue when she hadn’t been looking?
“I figured Josh would make that decision, considering his baggage,” Laurel shared, wishing things could have been different. After Josh had found out that Steve had been having an affair with Meredith, it had certainly ended their previous friendship, but it had also damaged their working relationship beyond repair. “At least the police have cleared Gareth regarding that threat Marilyn had taken out of context.”
So many things had happened over the course of the week, but a lot of it beneficial to those she cared about. Cynthia had decided to end things with Gareth, considering their roles in the construct of the business. It wouldn’t surprise Laurel to find out that Gareth was pulling his money from the fund, just so that there wasn’t any conflict. He didn’t seem to realize that wasn’t the only reason Cynthia had backed off of their affair. She appeared content with her decision, though, and that was all that mattered to Laurel.
Paul was around the office more, giving speeches to anyone he thought would benefit from his wisdom. He’d become somewhat philosophical of late. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was a bit much to take when he tried to recreate the old atmosphere from years prior that had died a brutal death along with Brad. Unfortunately, there was no going back to those initial days of the firm in its infancy.
“I’m worried about Cynthia.” Grace handed Laurel one of the coffees she’d been carrying, not bothering to take a seat. The market was open, trades were being negotiated, and nothing got in the way of the daily grind. “I think she’s having a harder time with her decision than she lets on. Are you free Thursday night? I was hoping we could take her out for drinks.”
“Absolutely.” Laurel missed their time together, but nothing had been the same since Brad’s death. “And thanks for the java.”
Grace lifted a hand in acknowledgement as she walked out of the office, leaving behind a faint scent of her favorite perfume. She hadn’t said a word about Rye since last Monday. It was obvious that the police hadn’t realized that Grace and Rye weren’t together that night or else they both would have been called in for more questioning. At least, that was the current working theory she was going off of.
Speaking of calls, Laurel’s cell phone rang. She’d left it in her purse, which happened to be underneath her desk. It made a hollow buzzing sound, followed by the familiar ring. Who would be calling her personal number at ten o’clock on a Monday morning? Even her mother knew to call the office when Laurel was at work.
“Hello?” Laurel had come very close to not answering the number displaying on the phone, not recognizing the digits. The only reason she swiped the bar to the right was because of the pending investigation. Detective Nielsen had reached out to her twice regarding that horrible night, looking for further details. All of his questions had been put through Meg and approved. “This is Laurel.”
“Laurel, this is Alice. I know you’re at the office, but Smith wouldn’t transfer me to your line.” Smith’s mother sounded as cheerful as she had last night, though that might have had more to do with the second glass of wine she’d had after dinner. “I was wondering if you’d like to go shopping with me on Saturday for the charity ball we’ll both be attending.”
Laurel hadn’t been too pleased when Smith had answered for her, saying that they would be honored to attend the formal function to pull in money for one of the local hospitals. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to support the cause, but those personal insecurities of hers had reared their ugly heads. She hated feeling out of her element.
“That sounds like fun,” Laurel replied, not having a choice but to accept unless she wanted to offend Alice. Honestly, it didn’t sound like any fun at all. Laurel would most likely spend the entire day watching everything she said and did, all the while wondering if she was going to have a heart attack from the anxiety. She was already going to hell, but she’d rather delay the trip as much as possible. “Let me know where and when, and I’ll be there.”
“Fantastic,” Alice exclaimed, clearly ecstatic over Laurel’s acceptance. It caused her to flood with guilt, and now her temples throbbed with an oncoming headache. “I’ll text you the time and place. We can meet there and do brunch, too. I’m looking forward to spending the day with you, Laurel.”
She rested her forehead on the desk in defeat after Alice disconnected the call.
“I take it that was my mother?”
Laurel gave Smith a thumb up, not moving an inch because the coolness of the wood surface was doing wonders for her headache. This past week had been…well, almost perfect. Too perfect, to be honest. It truly scared the shit out of her, because she never would have thought they could have made their relationship work due to their professional entanglement. It somehow made the days and nights simpler, while allowing them to smoothly integrate themselves into each other’s daily lives.
There was only one thing she hadn’t done. And that was to introduce Smith to her mother.
“You know, she doesn’t have fangs,” Smith murmured, having quietly made his way from the doorway to her desk. He must have walked around the back of her chair, because his strong fingers began to knead the tension out of her shoulders. She might be able to handle a day with his mother if it meant this type of royal treatment. “And she thinks you have great taste in shoes, whatever that means.”
“You’re just trying to placate me into going,” Laurel mumbled around a groan when his thumb pressed against a knot in the muscle of her shoulder blade. “I already said yes, but you can keep doing whatever it is you’re doing as an installment payment.”
Smith’s rich laughter filled the air, and she realized that she’d heard him laugh more in the last week than the last three and a half months.
Her mom was going to love him a bit too much, and that was the sole reason Laurel had been putting off the introductions. Brenda Calanthe’s endorsement meant Laurel could commit one hundred percent to the man standing behind her.
And that scared the hell out of her.
“I didn’t just stop by your office to talk about my mother taking you shopping.” Smith leaned down and pressed his warm lips against the back of her neck before stepping away. He surprised her when he made his way around to the front of her desk and took a seat in one of the guest chairs. “We need to talk.”
And here it was…the gauntlet. This was the exact reason Laurel had been avoiding introducing him to her mother.
The talk.
Grace should have put a shot of something strong in Laurel’s coffee.
“Josh resigned early this morning. I want to hire him.”
Well, it was rare that Laurel was caught behind the cart, but that appeared to be the case. Her stomach was still kind of nauseated, but she managed to respond without sounding like an idiot.
“Hire him? You’re still around nine months out from opening your doors, aren’t you? The man has to make a living somehow, and I doubt that he’s going to want to be unemployed for that long a period considering the house he just had built and the debt that goes along with that whole mess.”
Laurel wasn’t even sure why Smith was soliciting her advice. They had yet to discuss the fact that he wanted her to work for him.
“What if I could make it so that he had a temporary position, prepping the ground so to speak, before coming to work for me full time? You’ve worked with Josh for years. He’s damned good at his job. Honestly, the best I’ve ever seen.”
“Smith, you’re not here to talk about Josh, are you?”
“I want you at my firm.”
Laurel’s heartrate stuttered at his forthcoming response, but she managed to save herself from entering a discussion she wasn’t ready to have when Marilyn appeared in the doorway with a questioning look.
“Smith, someone is here to see you by the name of Catherine Greenlee. Her appointment was with Paul, but she stated she wants to see you first.”
It was obvious that Marilyn didn’t like Catherine Greenlee, and Laurel could relate. She was one of their high net worth individuals who ran in the same circles as the Gallo family. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t contain one ounce of human decency like Smith’s family encompassed. It was people like the Greenlees that made Laurel reluctant toward entering that type of lifestyle around those kinds of scavengers.
“I’ll be there in a moment. Please ask her to wait for me in my office.” Smith waited for Marilyn to walk away, giving him the privacy he clearly wanted for what he had to say regarding their previous conversation. His dark eyes met hers with that familiar intensity she was coming to expect from him. It still caused her heart to flutter in anticipation. “I want to make myself crystal clear.”
Laurel wasn’t expecting Smith to walk around the desk, holding out his hand for her to take as he guided her to her feet. Something told her that he was about to take a giant step forward, and she wasn’t so sure her Garavani heels could follow suit. Catherine Greenlee was the perfect example of why doing so wouldn’t be a good idea.
“Don’t think for a second this gets you out of our conversation,” Smith warned, his patience apparently running thin at her hesitancy. She couldn’t really blame him, considering they’d spent almost every night at his apartment since they’d been forced to make their relationship public. They’d stayed at her place last night, but that was because she’d worn the couple of business suits she’d hung up in his closet. That in and of itself had been a pretty big step for her. “I’m serious, Laurel. I didn’t want to do this here, but the look on your face makes it evident I couldn’t wait.”
“You can wait. There’s no need for the Olympic pace.”
Laurel swallowed around the lump in her throat, terrified he was about to say something he couldn’t take back. She could admit that quietly sleeping with him without the world knowing had given her the best of both worlds. He had no idea what it was like to live with expensive student loans, helping her mother out financially, and working harder than any other employee for a partnership because she didn’t have the right surname to be automatically included. The Catherine Greenlees of the world didn’t open their arms and take anyone into their circle. Not for any reason. She would always be outside to those select few.
“I don’t want to wait, sweetheart.”
Alice Gallo had opened her arms, though.
“You should wait,” Laurel encouraged as she struggled to maintain her composure. She wasn’t one to get nervous in situations like this, but he was about to talk about their future. “Give it some more thought. We’re working, and we promised Paul that we would—”
“We’re having a discussion, Laurel. We’re not fucking on the desk.”
Laurel had to bite her tongue at the thought that she’d rather be doing the latter, because it was in those precious hours when she felt whole. Reality was what made her second-guess herself.
“Catherine Greenlee is waiting for you.” Laurel would have taken a step back, but her chair was in the way. “It’s not good for business to keep someone of her ilk waiting, especially one who has the kind of money she has to invest in your future hedge fund.”
“You are something else.” Smith’s lips curled in a small smile as he cupped the side of her face with his warm hand. She was going to short-circuit if he didn’t stop. “I had planned on an intimate dinner with rose petals and champagne. There was going to be—”
“We can still do that,” Laurel urged, tamping down the need to escape. “There’s nothing to say we can’t postpone this talk until—”
“Laurel, I want you to stay in Minnesota after the doors close on Manon Investments.”
Well, that was straightforward. And not nearly as terrifying as she thought this topic would be in the grand scheme of things. “I want you here with me, and I want you as my retail analyst.”
“And you believe we can work seamlessly together while still seeing one another?” Laurel asked, able to breathe a little better now. “I’m not saying it can’t possibly work, but there are—”
“It can work with you as my wife.”
And there went all the oxygen in the entire room.
What had he expected? She’d been upfront with him all along that she wasn’t sure the two of them were right for one another. It didn’t matter that Alice Gallo wanted to take her shopping, or that Nathaniel Gallo had been elated when she’d challenged him at a game of chess last night. None of those things prevented flashing lights from dancing in front of her vision as she grappled with Smith’s marriage proposal.
Only it wasn’t a down on one knee proposal, per se.
Was it?
Laurel reached up and grabbed his wrist, needing something solid to hold onto. He’d somehow become her anchor over the past four months without her ever realizing how entangled they’d become in each other’s lives.
“That didn’t come out right,” Smith murmured, resting his other palm on her other cheek. “When I properly ask you to marry me, Laurel, it certainly won’t be in the office. What I need you to know is that I do love you. All of you. From your odd sense of humor to the fact that you allow your neighbor to keep her breastmilk in your freezer. I love that you never allow my father to intimidate you and that you secretly adore that my mother is taking you shopping. And let’s not forget your heel fetish, because sometimes it’s the only thing getting me through those daily meetings. I love you, Laurel Calanthe, and I want you to stay in Minneapolis because you love me, too.”