Page 23 of Protected By My Best Friend's Brother

The revelation washes over me in waves. Elizabeth Walker eventually left the company to start her own marketing firm, proving her brilliance to everyone who had doubted her. But the cost had been high – years of having her work questioned, her achievements diminished.

“He thinks he’s protecting me by pushing me away.” The words aren’t a question this time, but a realization.

“Classic Lucas. Noble, self-sacrificing, and completely misguided.” Sophie reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

I stare at my wine, memories flashing through my mind. Lucas catching me when I tripped during a presentation. Lucas defending my market predictions to skeptical executives. Lucas’s face lighting up when I explained my color-coding system that made complex data instantly readable.

“I’m going to remind him who we really are,” I say finally. “And it’s not the people in those sanitized documents.”

“That’s my girl.” Sophie grins, raising her glass in a toast. “And maybe remind him that his approach isn’t just hurting you both personally, but it’s actively endangering the Johnson contract. If they wanted bland corporate speak, they’d have already signed with Brighton.”

“You’re right.” I straighten, energy returning as a plan forms. “The Johnsons responded to our authentic approach. To howwe work together. To the innovation that comes from our connection, not despite it.”

“So what’s the plan?”

I pull my laptop from my bag, opening the proposal document with a renewed purpose. “I’m going to show him exactly what we’re losing with his ‘corporate-approved’ approach. And then I’m going to remind him of exactly who Lucas Walker really is—the guy who never plays by someone else’s rules.”

My fingers fly over the keyboard, restoring color, life, and innovation to the document he’d tried to sanitize. This time, the changes come with comments—specific memories of times our unique approaches succeeded, data points showing client response to authenticity versus corporate jargon, and examples of how our connection strengthened our work rather than compromised it.

At the end, I add one simple question:

Do you really want to become what Brighton already is, instead of being what made Walker Enterprises special in the first place?

I hit send at 11:43 PM, too late for a professional response and too urgent to wait until morning. Whether he reads it tonight or tomorrow, Lucas Walker is about to be reminded that some partnerships are worth fighting for—personally and professionally.

And if he still chooses corporate formality after that?

Well, then maybe we really are just CEO and analyst after all.

But I don’t believe that. Not for a second.

Chapter Nine

Lucas

I’ve rewritten this email six times, and it still sounds wrong.

Dear Ms. Hastings,

Your work on accelerating the Johnson integration timeline while maintaining our sustainability standards continues to exceed expectations. In recognition of the team’s efforts in advancing Project Phoenix’s development schedule, I would like to arrange…

Delete. Too formal. Like I’m writing to a stranger instead of the woman who knows exactly which movie I’ll quote before I say a word and can predict my arguments before I make them.

Emma,

Great job getting the Johnsons to consider fast-tracking the renewable energy integration. I was thinking we could celebrate beating Brighton’s timeline by...

Delete. Too casual. Too much like the old us, the ones who didn’t have Garrett’s watchful eyes monitoring every interaction for signs of “inappropriate workplace dynamics.”

Project Milestone Recognition EventTo: Market Analysis Team

I groan and let my head fall against my chair, squeezing my eyes shut. When did talking to Emma become so complicated? A few weeks ago, we were trading jokes about suspicious garden gnomes while revolutionizing sustainable energy analytics. Now, I’m agonizing over email greetings like a teenager trying to ask someone to prom.

My computer pings with a new email. I open one eye to see Emma’s name in my inbox, the subject line making my pulse jump: “Revised Johnson Proposal - My Version.”

She sent it at 11:43 PM last night. I’ve been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I haven’t checked my morning emails yet. Opening it, I see she’s completely restored her original document - the color-coding, the accessible language, the innovative approach that made our presentation so successful. But what catches my breath are the comments she’s added throughout.

Next to her restored section on sustainability integration:Remember when the Johnsons smiled at this slide? When Mr. Johnson said it was the first time he’d actually understood how the metrics worked together? That’s what we’re losing with corporate jargon.

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