Page 19 of Whatever You Need

I tooka deep breath as I stood in front of my grandfather’s desk. My nervous fingers gripped the tablet in my hand. “I reviewed the numbers in our proposal and looked over the win rates in the past year for the convention business, and as your chief marketing officer, I have to say that I have a few concerns.”

My grandfather’s blue eyes assessed me as he leaned back into his leather chair. He pushed a stack of papers aside and steepled his fingers under his chin. “No need to dress it all up, Amelia. What are your concerns?”

I shifted on my high-heels. “If we are going to win the bid, we will need to come down with our pricing. I was told our numbers were way off and we are in jeopardy of being disqualified.”

“Owen was confident that those numbers would win the bid.” He sat back and watched me. “So why are his numbers so much higher than what the customer is expecting?”

“Owen believed that we could start high and work our way down to a mutually agreed number. I warned him that this would blow up in our face and look where we are now.”

He pulled his glasses away from his face so he could rub his eyes. “Amelia, you’ve always had good instincts when it comes to business. It’s things like this that have me supporting this merger, if you want to call it that, between you and Owen. So, here we are. What do you propose we do now?”

I pushed my iPad in his direction. “I believe this is in line with the customer’s expectations. I was able to make some changes that improved our margins and still decreased the proposed event cost to make us more competitive.”

My grandfather dragged his eyes over the documents. Once he was done skimming through the details, he looked up at me. “Well done, my dear. As always. I will look at this more thoroughly when I get home, but this is exactly why this company needs you. Having you slip into my role after I retire gives me great peace of mind. It gives me the opportunity to spend more time with your grandmother without worrying about all this.” His voice wobbled. “Her Alzheimer’s is getting worse, I’m afraid I don’t have much time left with her.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat and pasted a smile on my face. That queasy feeling in my stomach started to form. “I’m glad I could help.”

“Amelia, tell me what’s going on?” He looked at me with so much tenderness and I couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing him. “I thought this is what you wanted. I can tell this decision is weighing on your mind.”

I tipped my head back. It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I didn’t have any expectations outside of my career. Running this company was all I ever wished for. It is what I was groomed for, but marrying someone I didn’t love felt like I was losing something I’d never be able to get back. “I do want this, Grandfather, but I don’t want to marry him.”

He cocked his head to the side and caught my eyes. “Are you dating anyone?”

I shook my head with sadness. “No.”

In one heavy breath, I saw all the stress and worry leave his eyes. “Then what’s the problem? I know this isn’t the perfect situation, but you’ve said many times that business is your true love. This way, you’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted, along with all the money and success you could ever dream of having.”

My eyes fell shut. I didn’t give a damn about the money and the status, but I did care about the business. It angered me that I was being railroaded into a fake marriage just to keep the two families happy.

Every bone in my body was screaming at me to tell him no, but the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint the one person who has supported me my entire life. But marrying Owen? God. I’m not sure I could do it. He was a walking, talking cliché. Selfish. Arrogant. Obnoxious. Womanizer. You name it.

“Can I please have more time to think about it?” I pleaded, trying to reach the soft spot I knew he still had for me.

“My dear, as your grandfather, I can see you have some serious doubts. You know better than anybody that I wholly believe in the institution of marriage. The last thing I want is for you to end up alone. I told myself that if you didn’t find anyone by the time you turned thirty that I wouldn’t even consider asking this of you. You and Owen have history, even if it wasn’t prefect. I always felt that with a little time and effort the two of you could make it work. I meant what I said, and I want you to be comfortable with this decision. So, yes, I can hold off Jeffery for a few more weeks while you think it over.” His expression grew serious. “Now, as the partner in this business, I need to remind you that I cannot keep stalling on your behalf. The sooner you get past the issues you have about this arrangement, the better. Have I made myself clear?”

I pushed off the chair and grabbed the iPad off his desk. “Crystal.”

I gave my grandfather a fake smile before walking to the door. Something told me that there would never be a day where I would be happy about this decision. Instead of going straight to my office, I decided to pay Owen a visit. I couldn’t keep putting this conversation off.

I rolled my shoulders back and knocked softly on the door as I pushed it open. “Hey, I was wondering if we could…” The sight in front of me stopped me mid-sentence.

Owen was seated in his high back leather chair with his hands placed behind his head. I couldn’t ignore the red-haired ponytail bobbing up and down on his lap. He tapped the young woman on her shoulder to get her attention. She froze when she saw me in the doorway and sprang her knees off the floor.

“Amelia?” Owen stood up and turned so he could adjust his fly. I did my best to shield my eyes but there were some things that could not be unseen.

The redhead straightened her skirt, snatched her oversized purse off the desk, and raced out of the room without a backward glance. She was in such a hurry she didn’t even realize that her shirt was still hanging open.

I walked over to the upholstered chair that sat in front of his desk and curled my hands along the back. “You need to be more discrete around the office. At least lock the fucking door next time.”

“Well, hello to you too.” He pushed back his hair and acted like I just didn’t walk in on him getting a blow job.

“Owen…” I warned. “Don’t act like nothing just happened.”

“We aren’t even married yet and you’re already trying to tell me what to do.” He smirked. “I can’t believe you’re this jealous?”

I probably should have been upset that my soon to be fiancé was just caught with his pants down, but I felt nothing. I simply didn’t feel a thing.

“If we are going to make this work, you will need to cut this shit out.”

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