Page 94 of Forgotten Desires

And he loves to change topics so I won’t complain. I sigh. “It was good. I got three more calls from your friends.”

“They’re not friends,” he corrects.

“No? What are they?”

“Businessmen who see value in your company. You and Thea have great ideas and ways you want to help corporations. They know you’re a lawyer, she’s a marketing manager. The two of you are also under Catherine Cole, which helps, since Anchor Light is a well-known name as well.”

I try to let that be the truth, but sometimes I wonder if he’s not calling in favors. Thea, on the other hand, doesn’t give a flying fuck why we’re getting business because now we’re actually going to be able to float instead of sink.

“I hope that’s true.”

Crew runs his hand through his thick hair. “Let’s just say it wasn’t true.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Let’s pretend for a second that none of these clients came to you for the reason I just stated. Does it matter?”

“Well, I’d like to think it does, since I want this company to be built on its own merit.”

Crew leans forward. “Brynlee, you are a start-up, love. No one company has any merit when it’s just starting. You’re only as good as the relationships you’ve built. Thea isn’t bringing in clients because they think Anchor Light’s corporate division is brilliant. They’ve never heard of it. They’re taking meetings with her and you because of your friendships or working relationships. The people I’ve told about you are reaching out because they know me. They know the businessman I am. They aren’t stupid and know there’s a power move in having my wife in their ear. Take advantage of it.”

“It just feels . . . I don’t know, wrong.”

He’s silent for a moment. “Would you say that I don’t deserve my success because my father built Knight Food Distribution?”

“Of course not! You busted your ass to get everything. Not to mention the other four companies you own.”

“How do you think I was able to do any of it?”

Oh, I see where this is going. “I think you should’ve been a lawyer.”

He laughs. “I’m just saying I have what I have because of who I am and who I know. My grandfather, father, mother’s side, all of them are the stepping stones I had to climb. I’m a boulder you get to climb and use to your advantage. And I’m more than willing to have you hang all over me.”

I smile and roll my eyes. “You have to be home for that to happen.”

“I know, baby. I’ll be home tomorrow. Your brother is flying out tonight so we can leave early.”

“Do you still have a meeting with your lawyer?”

He makes a face that I giggle at. “Unfortunately.”

“Why don’t we stay in the city this weekend? We don’t have to go to Sugarloaf.”

“Absolutely not,” Crew says with authority. “It’s a weekend with you, in those jeans, without Layla, and absolutely no one around for miles. We’re going to Sugarloaf, and I’m going to see just how much noise we can make in the silence around us.”

I blush and really look forward to that threat.

twenty-three

CARSON

“Is the barn finished?” I ask Ford as I’m at my desk, going over all the things I missed here while I was in Arizona.

“The barn?”

I huff. “The one I told you to get built by this weekend.”

Ford sighs heavily, leaning back in the chair across from me. “You know, I’ve done some weird shit for you over the years, but this is by far one of the strangest things.”

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