Page 17 of Her Christmas Wish
“I can sign on as your personal lawyer, representing you as you separate from the business you started. And our firm has experts we work with who can handle anything I’m not able to do. Either because it’s not my field of expertise, or I end up with some kind of conflict. And I can help you establish a new corporation, to get you working as soon as humanly possible, so that we mitigate client loss.”
He got that she wanted to help. And that she’d always lived with the stars shining over her. But... “Have you been listening? There’s no money to start a business yet...” He’d already be working if there was any way he could be doing anything other than the volunteering he was doing at a couple of shelters in the city.
Until the case was settled, no other clinic would want his bad publicity. Nor would he ask them to take it on.
“One of our partners’ area of expertise is start-up funding,” she told him, making another note. Alight, suddenly, as though she’d had a fire smoldering that had just shot into life.
Reminding Gray of something he’d forgotten over the years.
That fire... He’d once been the match that lit up her glow.
And there he was, lighting it up again.
In an entirely different way, of course. Professional not personal.
But still...
For that second, it was nice.
Filled with adrenaline and determination, with purpose, Sage asked Gray—as soon as he’d turned over access to his accounts—to give her a couple of hours. Telling him that she’d get back with him after she’d had a chance to look things over.
He agreed to keep his phone handy.
He hadn’t agreed to accept her help.
She purposely hadn’t asked, figuring him for more of a no than a yes at that point.
Because he didn’t realize that help really was possible. Or didn’t think people would help him unless he had money. The man had always been infuriatingly self-sufficient.
You could tell a whole lot by a man’s financials. When Gray was in town, he ordered lunch from a place by the first of the GB Animal Clinics, six and sometimes seven days a week. He ate out at least four of those nights—usually upscale places with well-known chefs.
He had regular bar tabs, once or twice a week, but not high enough to indicate more than a few drinks. And not always at the same places. On the contrary, they were all over San Diego and her northern suburbs, including Rockcliff.
Did he still prefer beer? Scott had always been a beer drinker. Their father had preferred scotch. Only the best, perfectly aged. And Sage...sometimes in the evenings, after Leigh was in bed, she’d pour herself half a shot of the expensive whiskey. Not on the rocks like her father had taken it. She put ice in the glass, and a whole lot of water, too. And sipped slowly. Appreciating every swallow like she used to savor Gray’s touch...
His grocery bills were high—which didn’t make a lot of sense with all the eating out. Obviously, his expensive tastes carried to the kitchen as well. But could hardly be a cause for concern. The man wasn’t even an inch overweight.
Then there was his travel. The guy had been everywhere. Or close to it. Beaches she’d never heard of, mountainous hikes, deep-sea dives. Almost always with luxury hotel bills and what appeared to be first-class flights attached. From the accounts she had in front of her, she couldn’t tell if he’d traveled alone. His paying for a companion could account for the high airline fees.
When she found herself looking at food expenses during the times he was gone, to try to determine if he’d paid for more than one meal, she stopped herself.
Ashamed. Disappointed.
And glad for the warning, too. She could do so much but couldn’t push it. Like someone who’d once been an over-shopper having to limit exposure to stores.
What she’d been looking for, and had been able to determine, was that not one dime of money from that sole account under the business name, the one with only Gray’s signature allowed, had been spent on business.
They had a good argument for getting that one account released to him.
After another hour of research, she had enough evidence in front of her to present Gray with a solid case as to why he should accept her help, on behalf of her firm.
Didn’t mean he’d accept.
Gray had had a real thing about anything he considered to be charity flowing in his direction.
To the point of never letting others do a favor for him.
Not that she owed him a favor. On the contrary, she had every justification for shunning the guy.
