Page 28 of Love to Hate You

His brother peeked his head out the door then silently closed it.

“What’s with the 007 behavior?” said Wes.

“I don’t want Aunt Cecilia to feel my energy and blow everything.” Randy stretched out the neckline of his polo. “I’m going to ask Autumn to be my wife.”

“Then why do you look like you’re going to vomit?”

“Because this is the real deal, bro. She’s the one, my person. You know, the whole “you complete me,” boom box over my head, pulling up in the white limo with red roses while I stand out of the sunroof.”

A knot formed in Wes’s stomach immediately. The last thing they needed when trying to grow the company was Randy to be even more distracted than usual. He’s like a dog with a butterfly in his periphery—easily distracted.

“This is bad timing. We’ve got the new location, the board breathing down our backs, and a grand opening timeline that is near impossible. And you know how you can become absorbed with a shiny new project.”

“So we postpone the opening. The board will get it.”

“Whoa, you saidproposal. Now you’re talking wedding?”

“When it’s right, why wait?”

Jesus!“How soon are you thinking?”

“In the next month. That’s if she says yes.” Randy’s eyes went wild with desperation. “She’ll say yes, won’t she?”

“You should be thinking about the board and this opening, not some wedding and garter toss. The board would jump at the chance to catch us with our pants down.”

Randy looked confused. “The board has always had our backs. This will be no different, you’ll see. They’ll understand.”

“No, they won’t.” They’d be thrilled, because that would mean that they’d gain control of the company. Not that he could tell Randy that.

“Business comes and goes. Love only comes around once.”

A bite of anger tightened painfully between Wes’s shoulder blades. “Not in a business like ours. You’re the vice president of operations, you can’t just decide to take a few weeks off when we’re in the middle of the make-it-or-break-it moment. Especially not after your disappearing act. Your job is to literally run the daily operations of the company. Be on the ground floor of new openings.”

This was why Wes should have never involved himself in his father’s business. It wasn’t that Randy wasn’t teachable, the kid just didn’t have any interest in learning. He thought that because he’d grown up with his father running an empire and had an MBA from a fancy Ivy League that he knew everything he needed to know to run a successful company.

“You’re the CEOandpresident, I think you can manage for a few weeks without me.”

“I’m the interim CEO, and is this about my title? I didn’t pick it, Randy. Your dad made that choice. Without consulting me. So don’t pull this rank-and-title crap. It’s bollocks.”

Randy’s face fell, and all that anger morphed into embarrassment. “I know. It just hurt, you know? He’d always told me that he was training me to take over, then he hands the golden key to you.”

“You can still run things. I’m only here until the company stabilizes, then we can hire a new president together and you can take over as CEO.”

“I know.” Randy ran a hand down his face. “That makes it even worse. I don’t want your hand-me-downs. I wanted Dad to want me for the position.”

“Is that what this is? You and Autumn? Is this a distraction, or some way to get back at dear old Dad?”

Randy held up a hand. “No. I swear. I love her.”

“You’ve known her, what? A month?”

“Sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye.”

Randy was a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Wes was not. Not only was he suspicious of any woman claiming love months after Randy had come into a fortune, he was suspicious of marriage in general. Why jump in with both feet when there was no guarantee it would last? Just look at his own life.

“I only want to make sure you think this through.”

“This isn’t a business deal, Wes. It’s my life.”

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