Chapter Six
Jamie
The next day, I walked past Liz’s desk. She was staring straight ahead at her computer, but when I came in, she looked over at me and smiled. Her smile took my fucking breath away, and she’d worn a dress again, which I took as code for “I’m ready for a hook-up whenever you are” and damn, I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d gotten.
She was even being totally understanding about keeping our relationship under wraps for a while. Not many women would be so tolerant. Feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and love for her, I risked brushing my hand along her shoulder before I headed back to the hall that led to my office. The cream-colored dress she wore had colorful embroidery, and the thin straps looked like they were just begging to be slid off her shoulders so I could fondle her perfect breasts.
A few seconds after I was settled into my desk chair, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Liz: Last night was amazing.
Jamie: Can’t wait to do it again. Are we on for dinner tomorrow?
She sent back a blowing-kiss emoji, and I set my phone down, smiling, before turning on my computer. Email after email was waiting for me. I flagged a few of them for my assistant to handle, but there were others that I’d need to deal with on my own.
I was neck-deep in some of those emails when my cell phone rang. I checked the ID. Francis Marsh, the investor I was salivating to have on board with Tolbert Developments.
“Hey there, Francis,” I said, grinning. Yesterday’s meeting with him had gone well, and we’d even progressed to calling each other by our first names.
“Mr. Tolbert.” His voice was cold.
Shit. There went the “first name” privilege.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Marsh?” I asked carefully. “I thought we were on the right track after our meeting yesterday.”
“Right track?” He laughed bitterly. “Meet me for coffee at that Starbucks around the corner.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. What the hell? He’d been promising me some great tickets to a Giants game, we’d shot the shit about baseball, football, investing, business, everything we could think of. Yesterday’s meeting had made me think I had this guy locked in.
I ended the call, puzzling over what could have gotten him so riled up. I checked the news, wanting to make sure my name hadn’t been slung in the mud for some crazy reason, and to make sure everything was okay with Joshua’s company, too. But there were no red flags, nothing else to signify that something weird had happened in the past twenty-four hours.
I made my way to Starbucks, mind spinning over the possible causes for Francis Marsh’s sudden change in mood.
He was waiting for me at one of the little tables, a cup in front of him. He wore a suit that screamed he had a lot of money, but his physique was soft. He spent all his time working, and never working out. I allowed myself a second to feel better about my own harsh exercise routines, because although it took time away from work, I knew my heart would be thankful for it when I was older.
I decided to forgo my own coffee and bypassed the ordering counter—I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. I pulled out the chair across from Marsh and sat down, and then I held my hands out. “So, what gives?”
“There’s been an ugly turn of events,” Marsh said. He let the mysterious statement hang in the air and took a sip of his drink. Coffee as black as his soul, from the scent of it.
“Okay,” I said slowly, biting back my feelings of defensiveness. I didn’t want to come across as a hothead amateur. “Care to explain? Because I’m pretty confused right now.”
“So am I,” Marsh said, clenching his fists. “I want to put my money in a dependable company.”
“I’m damn certain that’s what Tolbert Developments offers,” I said, my voice tight.
“Ha,” he said, without any humor at all. “I forgot my briefcase in your office yesterday after our meeting. I had to come back and get it.”
I nodded. “I apologize that I didn’t see it when you left. I can assure you, nobody would have messed with it, if that’s what you’re worried about. Were you locked out? If it’s still up there, I’ll go retrieve it myself right now.”
His cheeks were turning red, and his dark eyes flashed with anger. “That’s not the problem. I retrieved it just fine. Around six-fifteen p.m.”
I thought back to six-fifteen. Shit. Fuck. It was a struggle, but I kept my face blank of shock when I realized that Francis Marsh had been in the office at the exact moment that Liz and I had been loudly making love in my office.
“Where—where was your briefcase?” I asked.
“Outside the restroom. Down the hall from your personal office. I saw you walk back there with your employee.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “Okay, listen. That employee is actually my girlfriend. We’ve been together for a few weeks now. I’m not taking advantage of anyone, and—”
“None of that matters to me,” Marsh said. “I only invest in straight-arrow, trustworthy operations.”
“I can assure you that there’s nothing untoward happening. We’re in a committed relationship.”
“Look, I know what I heard,” he said. “Sounded pretty indiscrete if you ask me, and the fact that you’re screwing an employee in your very office is a huge red flag to me.”
“It was a moment when we believed we were entirely alone,” I said.
He shrugged. “I don’t give a shit what you believed. The fact is, you’re showing an extremely unprofessional side of yourself and your company. And I know you might not need my investment dollars but you sure as hell need my global contacts, don’t you?”
I nodded miserably. I hated that I needed those contacts, but it was the truth. If we didn’t get Francis Marsh on board, we’d be left with a very small reach for the app, and everything else would be thousands of times harder.
“So,” he said, “I guess this is where I tell you that you have some choices.”
I raised my eyebrows, already knowing I wasn’t going to like whatever options he presented.
“One,” he said, “is that you can stop seeing the employee.”
“Liz,” I interjected. “She has a name, and she’s my girlfriend.”
He waved his hand, like Liz didn’t matter. I wanted to punch the guy. I moved my hands beneath the table so he wouldn’t see my clenched fists.
“Two, is that she stops being your employee.”
“Unacceptable,” I said. “This is her work, her profession. She’s damn good at what she does. The company would be lost without her.”
“Guess you have what my daddy would call a good old-fashioned dilemma,” Marsh said. “You either stop seeing her, or have her resign. Or—I walk away from Tolbert Developments and watch your company flounder. Simple.”
I wanted to tell him to stuff it. I wanted to tell him he could take his connections and stick them up his ass, that I didn’t need him or anything he represented. But the truth was, I did need those connections. And it wasn’t just me, but the company. All the people depending on me now—it wasn’t just a small handful of people who were happy to gamble with a brand-new start-up—no, now I had Gamerz Group to consider, and all their jobs and their well-being.
“I’ll figure it out,” I told him, feeling sick inside at the very thought. “I’ll break things off with her.”
He nodded, got up, took his coffee, and walked out of the coffee shop.
I had no intention of leaving Liz, of course, but I had to figure something out to get Marsh off of my back. I just wished I knew how to handle this.