Page 17 of Say You Remember Me
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not…” She narrowed her eyes.
“About pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting?” I asked. “Never.”
Before she could respond, Saylee reappeared with our food, setting the plates in front of us.
“Here we go,” Saylee said as the fragrant spices swirled up, filling the air. “Enjoy!”
“Thank you,” I said, picking up my spoon to dig in as Maddie eyed her plate.
She leaned in for a cautious sniff, her eyes wide as if unsure what she was in for.
As she took her first bite, I watched the subtle change in her expression, her pink lips parting slightly in a way that I knew I shouldn’t find attractive but did.
“Oh my gosh,” she said after a pause, her voice full of surprise. “This is incredible!”
“Told you.” I grinned, pleased by her reaction. “Once you start, there’s no going back.”
Maddie chuckled, taking another bite. “I think you might be right.”
6
MADDIE
Ianand I ate in comfortable silence for a moment, the easy-going, flirtatious vibe we’d had going ever since we met simmering just beneath the surface.
And even though I was starting to think that Ian probably just had the type of personality that oozed charisma whether he was trying to or not, I was having a hard time remembering that this charming, confident, and extremely attractive man was my superior. My boss.
That this man who had asked me about my hobbies and invited me to bring him baked goods was the same man who could fire me on the spot if I ever got my role in his life confused.
“So,” I said, picking up my water glass, taking a small sip to ease the flutter of nerves in my stomach, “we should probably talk about the summit, right?”
“That is why I invited you here, I suppose,” he said with a smile, setting down his spoon and seeming to gather his thoughts. “So, basically, the summer business summit in Boston is something I’ve been attending for the past three years. It’s a pretty big event with about seven hundred attendees—primarily business owners hoping to grow their companies. And thoughI’ve taught a few classes at this particular event each year, this time I’m actually giving the keynote on Friday morning.”
“Oh, wow,” I said, my eyes going wide. “That sounds like a pretty big deal.”
“It is.” He nodded, a modesty in his tone that I hadn’t expected. “I was honored to have been asked to speak.”
Ian was only twenty-eight—just two years older than me—so either he really was phenomenal at what he did at Hastings Industries, or he was given a lot of clout because of his dad being a billionaire.
Though, after seeing just a tiny bit into what he did during my short time at his family’s company, he did seem to be extremely competent. And if his reputation for charming women was any indication for how good of a salesman he could be, I was pretty sure he could sell a luxury yacht to someone living in the desert.
“Anyway,” Ian said, drawing my attention back to him, “I’ll be giving a presentation on ‘How to Thrive in Any Economy’ and then answering a few questions in the Q&A afterward.”
I nodded, thinking that topic sounded like a really good one.
“The conference staff should be handling most of the setup and tech for my speech, so you can just sit in the audience and watch during that time if you want.” He paused, seeming to remember something. “Well, actually, if you notice any good soundbites, if you could jot them down with the timestamp, that would be super helpful since our marketing team will be posting several short-form videos to my social media platforms, which they’ll also add to my YouTube channel.”
“Wait.” I blinked, surprised. “You have a YouTube channel?” How had that not come up in my internet search last week?
“Technically, yes.” He chuckled softly. “I mean, it’s not live yet. But I’ve been stockpiling content for a few months, and my team is hoping to have it up and running by the summit.”
“That’s awesome,” I said, trying to mask my surprise. Apparently, Ian had layers I hadn’t even scratched the surface of yet.
“It’s a passion project of mine,” he said, his cheeks flushing slightly. “A way to help make business education more accessible for all kinds of business owners.”
“That’s actually really generous of you,” I said, thinking most people would probably try to keep their business secrets behind a paywall.
"Well, I wouldn’t call it completely generous,” he said with a light chuckle. “Sure, I want to help people get better at business, but there’s a selfish angle, too. If I can teach business owners how to grow their companies before they partner with Hastings Industries, it means they’ll be that much more viable when we invest in them.”
