Page 110 of Most Eligible Billionaire

I snort and poke him in the side.

We get out and cross the expanse of corporate grandeur. People have already assembled in the glass boardroom chamber. I hate to be out of our magical private bubble, but I love seeing him back in his habitat, back in the place he so loves.

Smuckers rides happily in his flowered purse, the picture of dog cuteness in his Locke-blue sequined dog bow tie.

Henry grabs the handle of the glass door and holds it open for me, gazing down at me. The air between us crackles.

I practically glide in. I turn to say hi to the other board members.

And the world screeches to a halt.

He’s beefier than I remember, with a thicker neck than back in Deerville.

I tell myself it can’t be him.It can’t.

But the blond hair is the same, and then he smiles that smug smile.

My hands go numb. An icy clawing steals up my back, up my neck. Saliva fills my mouth, like I’m really and truly going to puke.

It’s my body, reacting to what my mind can’t comprehend.

“Henry, Vicky.” Brett stands, smiling like the cat that swallowed the flock of canaries. “I want you to meet our new leadership consultant, Denny Woodruff.”

The room seems to tilt, or maybe that’s my world, tipping on its axis with everything sliding off.

How is it possible?

“Leadership consultant?” Henry bites out, confused.

I’m not confused—not when I meet Brett’s eyes. He knows exactly who Denny is. He knows exactly who I am. Vonda.

“Denny’ll be working closely with us on board leadership and cohesiveness issues,” Brett announces in a friendly, casual way that’s everything fake. “I think this will be especially helpful to you, Vicky. To get you integrated, to get us working in tandem instead of at odds. You’ll be working very closely with Denny. Every board meeting, Denny will be right there, helping you integrate productively.”

My mouth goes dry.

“What is this?” Henry says. “Vicky doesn’t need leadership consulting.” He looks between me and Brett. “What’s going on?” He sets Smuckers’s carrying purse on the table.

“Kaleb and I agree this could really be good for the board,” Brett says. “We made the move. It’s within our rights to add a board consultant. We don’t need a majority for that, just twenty-five percent. His salary is a matter of operations budget…” He’s rattling off company jargon, bylaws jargon.

Denny’s up and out of his chair, meanwhile.

My mouth goes dry as he nears; I feel too frightened even to move.

He goes around to Henry first. He takes his hand and pumps it up and down. “I’ve done a lot of work with the Percival Group. I went to Yale with Dale Runson, who I think you know.”

Denny’s naming off names. I look over at April. She furrows her brows.

“Okay.” Henry sounds annoyed.

I’m a little bit behind him. He doesn’t see me backing away. He lets go and addresses Brett. “Let’s take five. I need a sidebar here with you and Kaleb.”

“Denny’s a board consultant,” Brett says. “The point here is to include him, even in sidebars.” Brett looks at me. “Youdon’t have a problem with this, do you, Vicky? Part of being a competent board member is to work well with others. If you don’t think you can work with Denny…”

Denny smiles. “Vicky! I’m excited for the opportunity to work with you. I feel like we accomplish a lot together.” He’s coming to me. I tell myself to stand firm, to not back up anymore, but I take a step back. Another.

Denny has his hand out. “I promise you—”

I back up, senses reeling. “Get away!” The words come out a whisper, like one of those dreams where you can’t seem to make your voice work.

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