Page 124 of A Bossy Roommate

“That’s one way to look at it.”

Eden shakes her head and goes back to her morning smoothie and toast. “What are your plans for today?” she asks, mixing her smoothie with her straw.

“I had an idea that I wanted to run by you. Remember when I told you about working on other plans?”

Eden looks up. “Yes, of course! You want my input?”

“I’d like to hear what you think.”

She gives me a wide smile and props her chin on her hand as she leans on the table. “Shoot. What were you thinking?”

“Instead of getting a job at another construction firm, I’m debating on starting my own consulting business,” I explain. “People have been asking for my advice for years, and it would be the perfect time now that I’m not working at Legacy anymore. If I went off on my own, I could handle things the way I want without a board to answer to.”

Eden’s eyes light up. “Yes! Do it. I think that’s a fantastic idea!” She reaches over to lay her hand on my arm.

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it.

“It’ll be a lot of work, but it wouldn’t be as difficult with my connections to find clients and eventually investors.”

“You would doamazingconsulting people. Hell, you did it all the time when working with clients. Even my sister—and trust me, she’s harder to please than a picky child at dinnertime—can’t stop singing your praises. You should go for it!”

Her excitement starts to make me excited. “It’s still only an idea. I have a lot of work to do before I can start legitimately looking for clients. But at least this time, when I put my heartand soul into something, I don’t have to worry about it being taken away.”

“Exactly.” Eden gets up from her chair and slides onto my lap, her arms coming to rest around my shoulders. “I’m behind you on this, one hundred percent. You’re a smart, clever, dedicated man, and I know you’re going to do great things.”

“Wait, what did you say? Can you repeat that?”

“OMG. Did Mr. Fun Time make another joke?”

36

CARTER

Ring-ring.

Reluctantly, I draw away from her sinful lips and pull out my phone.

“Itbetterbe important,” Eden jokes, not even bothering to move.

It’s Bradley calling.

I swipe right. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“I need you to come in this morning,” he says without even bothering with a greeting. “The board is meeting with their decision, and they want you to be there.”

“What time?”

“One hour.”

Shit. Earlier than expected. That doesn’t give me much time, but I’m not about to say no. “All right, I’ll be there.”

When I end the call, Eden looks at me with wide eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Bradley says the board is meeting this morning about his case against Huxley, and they want me to be there.”

“Holy crap, that’s huge. I didn’t realize it was happening so fast. You should get ready then, there isn’t much time.”

“Wait for me, and I’ll drive you in.”

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