“Good evening, everyone,” Carter said, striding into the board room, Nat following close behind. A confused rumble of voices broke through the room as he entered, and he raised an eyebrow as he got to the head of the table. “Were you not expecting me? Charles was supposed to let you all know I was coming.”

The table was long gleaming wood, and a dozen men and women—the entire board—were seated around it. Charles wasn’t messing around—he’d tried to set up a coup, but Carter was two steps ahead of him.

“So what’s all this about?” asked Tom Branson, one of his early investors. He was a bit of an old-school business guy, but Carter respected him and his knowledge. He was the kind of level-headed person you wanted on your board.

“Apologies for the emergency meeting,” Carter said. “And thank you, Charles, it was so kind of you to call it for me.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Charles said. “I—”

“I have some urgent news to announce,” Carter said, plowing over Charles’s words. Dillon was sitting next to his father, a gloating expression on his face. He thought that he had won.

Carter suppressed a smile. Didn’t he know geeks always won in the end?

“I’ve felt very privileged serving as the CEO of the company for all these years,” he said. “We have an incredible workforce, a fantastic board of directors, and while the product we’re selling isn’t exactly ‘family friendly… There was a rumble of laughter at his joke and he smiled, letting it roll through the room. “… I like to think our company has a family feel in that we take care of each other.”

Dillon looked like he’d just sucked a lemon, and Charles shifted in his seat, getting progressively redder. “We’ve always put our customers and our employees first, and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of. We’ve been able to provide parental leave for our employees who are new parents; day care and health insurance for all of our employees from office to warehouse workers; and last year, our first STEM scholarship for women was awarded to Veronica Rocha, a young woman who is now completing her freshman year at MIT and studying robotics. I’m exceedingly proud of everything we’ve accomplished—thanks to you, our customers and our employees—in the past five years. Which is why what I am about to say is so difficult: I have decided to step down as CEO, effective immediately.”

Shock filtered throughout the room as a murmur rose among the board members.

“What!?” Charles suddenly turned so red that Carter was a little worried the guy was going to have a heart attack. “What is the meaning of this? Is this some sort of ploy—”

Carter shot him a befuddled look. “There’s no ploy, Charles. As some of my personal friends on the board know, my young sister, who is only seven, has been battling illness for the last year and a half. The doctors have reached a point in her treatment where she requires a kidney transplant. My family’s been blessed—it turns out that I am a match for her. I know this is short notice, and I apologize for that, but I just got the go-ahead from her doctors. The operation will be taking place in less than 48 hours.”

Dillon’s mouth was open. “Bullshit!” he said.

Everyone in the room’s head whipped toward him, the shocked faces of the men and women saying everything.

“Are you suggesting I’m lying?” Carter asked, continuing to keep a confused look on his face. “Why would I? I’ve made the decision to step down to spend more time with my family and turning my focus back to inventing. I’ll be working out of a lab that’ll be set up during my recovery; we had an extra suite of offices anyway. I’ll be hiring a small engineering team to work under me. I’m very excited about these new changes, and I’m confident that it will bring a lot of new fresh ideas—and fresh products to the table. With the subscription box launch coming soon, we’ll need all the fresh ideas we can get.”

“The new social media campaigns you just rolled out are doing well,” said Rosalind James, a short-haired woman who gave off the air of being effortlessly cool. “There’s been a lot of positive buzz among younger women about the new campaigns.”

“Madeline Craine, our new social media manager, has been a huge asset to us,” Carter said. “We’re very lucky to have her.”

“About Madeline Craine—” Charles started to say, but Rosalind ignored him. She had never liked him, and had been against his buying into the company, but Carter’s hands had been tied at the time.

“Carter, I understand the need to step down immediately, but who will be taking over?” Rosalind asked.

He smiled. “That’s why Ms. Banks is here,” he said, as Nat stepped forward. “Natalie has been with us since the beginning. She’s served as CFO and vice president, and I think it’s time she takes the reins.”

“Ms. Banks has no CEO experience,” Charles gritted out. “Surely you want someone more qualified to take the helm.”

“Oh, please, Charles, you had no experience when you took over your first company, either,” Tom Branson scoffed. “Ms. Banks has been a stellar CFO, and no offense to Carter, but having a woman CEO would be fantastic optics for us.”

“No offense taken,” Carter said easily. “I agree with you. A majority of our customer base and workforce is women. It’s time we were led by a woman. With Purely Pleasure’s direction in Natalie’s very capable hands, we will soar to new heights. It’s been a privilege being the CEO, but now it’s time for me to be happy with founder and inventor and, of course, owner.” He looked directly at Charles and Dillon when he said the last word, and Dillon shifted in his seat, looking over at his father like, do something!

But really, what could they do? Carter had just snatched all of their ammunition away. They couldn’t get him fired as CEO if he stepped down. And as primary owner of the company, head of the board, and current CEO, he had all the power to hire the next CEO. The entire board would have to make a vote of no confidence in order to overrule him, and that was highly unlikely—Nat was the natural choice to step in.

“I’m very excited to get back to inventing full-time,” he said. “In fact, I’ve been feeling positively inspired lately. There will be specs for a new pocket-sized line exclusive to the subscription box in your email tomorrow, along with the basics of the new campaign that Ms. Craine and Ms. Banks created themselves to roll out the new line.”

He nodded to Nat, who stepped forward. “The new campaign will be centered around an entire social media experience,” she said. “The nationwide Purely Pleasure scavenger hunt. There will be tasks to complete and document online, special boxes in different locations for our hunters to find, and monthly parties nationwide. We’ll be partnering with several local brands in each city so we support local business and bring that city’s flavor into each task and box. Maddy and I will be presenting the final campaign in three weeks, you’re all welcome to join us in Portland, or via Skype.”

“This sounds great,” Tom said.

“I like the scavenger hunt idea,” Rosalind added, and the two men flanking her nodded.

“What’s especially fun about it is that it’s something you can do on a silly date night or with your girlfriends,” Nat added. “There’s plenty of crossover. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from our initial test audience, and we think this is going to be quite the campaign.”

“It seems you’ve got everything planned out great,” Tom said. “I’m impressed at how well you’ve dealt with a difficult situation.”

“Natalie and I are both committed to making this as smooth as a transition as possible,” Carter said, unable to stop the triumphant smile from spreading across his face. “We already have several CFO candidates set up for interviews next week, so there should be very little difficulty.”

“Excellent,” Tom said, clapping her hands together. “Well, it sounds like everything is well in hand. Is there anything else? Because I should be getting home to my kids.”

“I can’t think of anything,” Carter said.

That’s when Dillon exploded. “I have something to say!” He bolted to his feet, looking almost as red as father, who was sitting there, slumped and angry, but clearly smart enough to know that Carter had defeated him.

Carter raised an eyebrow. But before he could say anything, Rosalind, who was co-chair of the board with Tom, held out a hand.

“Dillon, you are not a member of this board.”

Dillon sputtered. “But—” he started.

“Why is he even here?” Tom asked, looking over to Charles. “I understand wanting to show your boy the business, Charles, but this is more than a little unconventional.”

Charles didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then, with his eyes burning, he said, “Sit down!” to Dillon which such chilling authority that the younger man obeyed instantly, his cheeks stained with humiliation as it finally sunk in that his little plan to overthrow Carter wasn’t going to work.

“Everyone,” Carter interrupted smoothly. “I’d love to stay, but I’ve got a red-eye to catch, and it’s Natalie’s show now.” He shot her a smile, and she beamed back, giving him a little nod that said thank you.

It was him who should be thanking her. He could have never done any of this without knowing that he was handing his company over to someone who would do the job better than anyone else—even himself. And Nat was that person.

“Of course,” Rosalind got to her feet, giving him a brief hug. “I am very happy about your news. Olivia is very lucky to have such a wonderful big brother. We’ll all be rooting for her.”

“I’m just glad I can do this,” Carter said. “Thank you for understanding. Everyone,” he addressed the room. “It’s been a pleasure. And I will continue to see you at board meetings. I promise you aren’t rid of me for good.”

“Have a quick recovery,” Tom said.

Carter nodded, leaving the room, not even bothering to look at Charles and Dillon.

But Dillon wasn’t done with him. Carter was almost to the elevator when he heard a door flying open. He turned around to see Dillon marching down the hall, his shoulders hunched and his fists clenched.

“Hey, asshole,” Dillon called.

Carter sighed, planting his feet. He felt like he was in eighth grade again, it was ridiculous. “We really gonna do this?” he asked, the disgust dripping off his voice.

“Don’t you dare,” Dillon hissed, like a toddler whose toy had been taken away.

Carter rolled his eyes. “Dude, just walk away,” he said. “You’re going to embarrass yourself.”

“Please,” Dillon scoffed, lurching forward, telegraphing his every move. “I can take you down. I was all-state. I box. You’re a fucking geek.”

He swung, but Carter’s hand lashed out, catching his wrist and using the momentum and one quick sweep of his foot against Dillon’s ankles to flip him to the ground in an easy, seemingly effortless movement that actually took a ton of practice and precision.

The breath knocked out of his lungs, Dillon lay gasping on the ground, dazed, as Carter leaned over him.

“I may be a geek,” he said, his mouth tilting up. “But I’m a geek who takes krav maga. Better luck next time… if you’re stupid enough to try.”

The elevator doors dinged open, and Carter stepped over Dillon’s prone body, to walk inside. As the doors closed, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face.

He wasn’t smiling because he’d just kicked Dillon’s ass, even though the guy kind of needed it. He was smiling because he had nothing but good things ahead of him. Olivia healthy and happy. His parents stress-free and able to focus on their lives and work and Olivia, on anything but hospitals and worries. Nat taking over the company, freeing him up to invent. His own lab, where he could fiddle to his heart’s content—no timelines, no paperwork, no day-to-day business he hated.

And Maddy.

His smile grew wider at the thought of her. He wanted to take her somewhere after all this was over and he was recovered and Olivia was out of the woods. Just the two of them. Somewhere isolated. Maybe he’d rent a place on an island. Or maybe an island itself. Somewhere with sand and the ocean and Maddy in a bikini and impractical shoes that had plastic cherries swinging from the straps.

As the elevator doors opened and he made his way out to the parking lot, his mind turned from sand and sun and vacations to a deeper desire that he hadn’t let himself contemplate until now.

Maddy in his bed was good. But Maddy in his life? Even better.

He wanted to wake up and wander into his kitchen and find her there in one of his old shirts, her feet propped up on a stool as she drank her coffee and did the crossword. He wanted to end each day with her in his arms, in his bed, in his heart. He wanted her funny shoes in his closet and her long legs tangled with his under those ridiculously expensive organic cotton sheets and her laughter floating through his—no, their—home.

He stopped walking, the realization hitting him all at once. How had he not seen it until now?

Well, fuck. You really can be stupid, Carter, he thought as a overwhelming feeling—joy, relief, that damn fizzy, happy kind of love that felt like nothing else—rose in his chest.

When the time was right, he was gonna marry the hell out of that girl.