“I’m a great motivator,” she says, beaming up at me. “You know that. I can talk anyone into anything.”
Almostanyone.
“Then you don’t need me along,” I say, stopping outside my office door. It’s shut but not latched and I can hear Caroline talking to Evelyn through the crack.
“Your daddy’s desk is so big, isn’t it? He does such important work there.” She pauses. “Or maybe he’s trying to compensate for something.” She chuckles softly. “Though I guess I know he’s not compensating forthat.”
I want to laugh. And I should scold her for talking about things like that with my daughter.
But I should be focusing on what my junior vice president is telling me.
“They’ll appreciate it,” Felicity says, ending her mini-monologue about why I should go to Nashville.
“I don’t think so,” I tell her simply. I don’t need to give her reasons. I’m the boss.
“Grayson,” she says, reaching out and putting her hand on my forearm.
She, wisely, only calls me Grayson when it’s just the two of us speaking privately, but I’d really rather she continue to call me Mr. Ross.
“I just think if you’d spend a few days there with me, it would not only be good for the local office, but it will give me a chance to really show you what I can do. We’ve never done a site visit together and I’m really eager to show you all of my ideas about how we can move forward.”
Uh, huh?
“Felicity, I?—”
The door beside us suddenly swings open, and Caroline and Evelyn are there, smiling brightly.
Well, Caroline is smiling. Evelyn is scowling. At Felicity.
“Hi!” Caroline greets. “I heard your voice.” She looks from me to Felicity. “Hi, I’m Caroline. I'm Grayson's girlfriend.” She extends the hand not holding Evelyn.
She looks amazing.
And as opposite of Felicity as she possibly could.
Felicity is a blonde who wears pencil skirts, blouses, and high heels—like the navy blue and white she has on today—gets French manicures, and her hair is always sleek and perfect.
The gorgeous redhead holding my daughter is in jeans, a bright yellow V-neck T-shirt, and canvas sneakers. Her hair is loose and looks like she’s recently pulled her fingers through it. She’s got little or maybe no makeup on. And she’s stunning. She’s clearly not trying to impress anyone. She’s confident in who she is and, I hope, how I feel about her regardless of how she dresses or does her hair.
Caroline goes on. “I just wanted to pop my head out and let you know that Nashville isn’t going to work for us.”
Felicity looks a little surprised. I’m surprised, but amused. I decide to let Caroline take the lead here.
“Traveling a lot with Evelyn isn’t really a good plan. We want her to get used to flying, of course. But it’s better for us to go back-and-forth between New York and Honeysuckle Harbor, where Grayson has apartments and she can feel more settled.”
Felicity nods. “Of course. Don’t feel that you have to come along. Grayson and I can handle the trip without you.”
Caroline gives her a cool smile. “I don’t feel that Ihaveto come along. But I know Grayson would want me to be there. Evelyn too. He prefers spending time with us over anything else. If we’re not there, I know he won’t want to be gone. And he certainly won’t be at his best.” She looks up at me and smiles, moving closer and leaning into my arm. I move that arm so it’s wrapped around her, my hand resting on her hip. “He’ll be distracted and crabby without us.” She smiles at Felicity again. “But it’s so wonderful that Grayson is so good at hiring excellent people. So that you can handle this trip on your own.”
Felicity’s eyes narrow slightly, but her smile stays in place. “Well, Grayson and I can discuss it further later.”
I decide this is the perfect opportunity to make things very clear to Felicity, thanks to Caroline.
“There’s nothing further to discuss, Felicity,” I say. “It’s exactly as Caroline said. I will only be making trips that one or both of my girls can accompany me on. I am certain you can handle Nashville without me.”
Before Felicity can respond, Caroline raises her voice slightly. “Andrea, we’re ready for you to take Evelyn for a few minutes.”
Andrea suddenly appears with us and reaches for my baby girl. “Wonderful. Come here, sweet thing,” she says to Evelyn.
