Page 40 of Most Eligible Billionaire

“That’s the last thing I expected,” I say

“Do you want to spearhead it?” Henry asks.

“Me?” I study Henry’s face. “Is this a trick?”

“Does asking for your help to identify a charity to give a million dollars to seem like a trick to you?”

“A million dollars?”

“For our portion. Partners might want to contribute if there’s enough buzz. We can have a ceremony and introduce Smuckers. Have fun with it. Turn what my mother did into something positive.”

I’m still stuck on a million dollars.“A million dollars?”

“For our portion,” he clarifies, like that’s the unusual part. And not CAPS LOCK! A MILLION DOLLARS! “And you can direct it to a specific organization. You know, if you have opinions. Or we can have a consultant handle it—”

“No, I have opinions. There’s this dog and cat rescue shelter my friend runs—they’re really good. They just started a stray drop-off center and they could do so much.”

“Let’s schedule it up.” Just like that.Schedule it up.He turns to April. “Get the details and coordinate our calendars on the ceremony. Make a list of who to reach out to and all that.” Then he seems to remember she’s my assistant, and he turns to me. “Good with you?”

I nod, feeling stunned. Why are they being so nice? But I don’t forget my manners. “Thank you. They’re going to be excited,” I say. “That is generous.”

“It’s what the Locke Foundation is for.”

April is smiling in the background, because she is all about the Locke Kool-Aid.

“You want to give your friend a call?” Henry asks. “We’ll want to keep it under wraps until we orchestrate the PR angle, but we can float the donation as soon as they need it.”

I get on the phone to Kimmy to deliver the good news. The board members file out while she squees into my ear. I promise her over and over that it’s real, that they’re getting that money.

By the time I pocket my phone, it’s just Henry and me and Smuckers. Henry has Smuckers all leashed up.

“What?” he says.

“It’s just really nice. For the memory of your mother. For animals in need. For my friend’s organization.” I feel drained. Confused.

“I want to make this work,” he says. “There’s no reason we all can’t get what we want, right?” He takes a step toward me, extending a hand. “Truce?”

I'm overwhelmed by his nearness, his unexpected kindness, the intense masculine energy that seems to be concentrated in his hand—so much so that I feel shy to take it.

But it’s there before me.

I pause, mouth dry. Slowly, I place my fingers inside his. His hand is smooth and heavy, and it closes over mine, swallowing it up completely. Heat shivers through me.

“You know what we need to do now?” he asks.

“What?”

“Make one of those ridiculous giant checks,” he says.

“That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would be in a CEO job description.”

“It’s in the CEO job description if the CEO says it is. I make the operational rules here.” He lets my hand go.

I stand there reeling, trying to untangle the annoyance from the allure when he takes Smuckers’s leash and heads across the tundra of blue elegance. Smuckers trots after him without so much as a glance back at me.

“Hey…” I start after them. “You can’t just take Smuckers.”

He gets into the elevator and claps a hand over the door, eyes sparkling. Henry can do anything he wants.

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