Page 14 of Sunset Serenade
“I’m excited for this job,” she said. “It’s something new.”
“I’ve heard a lot about that company – it’s incredible. Great work getting hired there. I mean, they’re lucky to have you, but I think you’ll like it, too.”
She was glad there was no need to hide her grin. “Thanks, Greg.”
“I’d love to hear more about it, and I’m going to be in Seattle in a few weeks for work. Would you want to grab dinner or something?”
Her heart thudded against her ribs. She reminded herself to act casual, as though the last time they saw each other two years ago she hadn’t humiliated herself by asking him if he wanted to get back together. “Yeah, sure. That’d be nice.”
“I’ll text you when I’m in town and we’ll figure something out.”
“Okay,” she said airily. “Talk to you then.”
She ended the call, and after making sure it had, in fact, ended, she let out a squeal.
It couldnotget any better than this.
Well no. It could. If she could figure out how to wrangle this data on her own, how to make thoughtful, effective matches for people – she couldactuallyget away with doing this job.
And if she could succeed at this job, not only would she be able to keep working at the fabulous SerenadeMe with all of its amazing perks, she would impress Greg and he’d finally admit what a fool he’d been to break up with her. They could get married at a winery like they’d always talked about, and he would tell people how he’dalmostlet her get away.
Rose sat back, cracked her fingers, and turned her eyes back to the rows upon rows of data. It was time to get to work.
Chapter Seven
His first meeting was with the developer team. It ran over time, and Craig had to quietly slip into Barney’s office for his next meeting – a call with the board.
Luckily, Barney had it under control, talking through quarterly earnings and addressing the insultingly low offer an investor had made the previous week.
“They said they knew we need a cash injection and offered to pay a value equal to one time our revenue,” Barney said. “I told them to come back when they got better at math.”
Laughs burst through the speaker before Barney muted the phone and nodded to Craig. “I’m going to end on a high note. Anything to add?”
Craig shook his head and Barney unmuted himself. “Thanks, everyone. We’ll talk next week.”
He ended the call and let out a long breath.
“Rough day?” Craig asked.
“Nah, not too bad. I just still can’t figure out how they could be so confident in low-balling us.” He shook his head. “It’s been bugging me all week.”
“What company doesn’t need cash?” Craig shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got a buyer.”
Barney scoffed. “Do you mean Brett? From AptMatch?”
“I don’t know why you’re saying it like that, but yes. Brett.”
“Because he’s not serious. He’s playing with us, trying to get his name in the papers to get attention and funding for his terrible app. He’s a dinosaur. He doesn’t know the market.”
Craig wouldn’t claim to be sure of Brett’s intentions, but he didn’t think it was that simple. “He’s not a dinosaur. He’s experienced, and AptMatch has twice as many users as SerenadeMe.”
Barney sighed. “Yeah, because our users actually find someone and stop using the app. We’re too good, Craig.”
“Always have been.”
“Do we even want to sell to this guy?” Barney grabbed a paperweight from his desk and rolled it between his hands. “Maybe we want to stay on. Find more growth.”
Craig raised an eyebrow. “Two weeks ago, you told me you were so burnt out that you were going to sell all your possessions and float away on a catamaran.”
