At the mention of his sisters, Duke’s face soured and he finally opened his mouth. “My sisters are under the impression this company exists to fund every harebrained idea they come up with after watching Rachel Maddow. We’re moving into a new chapter for Sturm’s and we can’t drag every whim they’ve concocted over the years with us, especially this insane new thing they’re throwing two million dollars into.”
I schooled my face into a neutral expression and hoped my neck wasn’t turning red. He was talking about Julia’s program. A program that helped kids and families. You would think from hearing him his sisters were throwing parties with the money. My back teeth ground into each other as I tried to come up with something to say that wouldn’t get me fired.
These guys talked about the twins like they were clueless. It really fucking irked me. Still I needed to find a way to roll with it, because I was not going to put my foot in my mouth over these people’s infighting.
“I’ve talked extensively with Mitzy and Muffy.” Okay, their nameswerekind of ridiculous. “Their philanthropic efforts are significant and we do need to think about making those leaner,butthey already know that needs to happen. And I will make sure they don’t forget it.” I tipped my head toward Duke and even managed to smile. “As you know, Davidson’s approach is to make sure the company does not lose what makes it unique in the process of preparing to go public. Sturm’s social responsibility arm makes it stand out in the high-end retail world, and that will help with the IPO. People like investing in corporations that invest in their people. We just have to be smart about balancing all of it.”
I ignored their eye rolls and kept going. “I will take your feelings into consideration.” I didn’t say anything else. I wasn’t looking to get taken off this project, but I would not get steamrolled either.
Phil pursed his mouth, obviously displeased with me not just rolling over for them. “The twins were born into trust funds, and that makes it hard for them to stay grounded sometimes.”
So had the fucker standing next to him, but I wasn’t going to point that out to Phil.
“They need to show more restraint. The senior executive team barely got bonuses last year, and yet they decided to give evenmoremoney to these Hispanic kids.”
This guy was really getting on my nerves. “This company is doingfine.” I’d learned to get past my personal feelings for the executives I had to deal with and their motives when it came to doing my job, but every once in a while I really wondered how people got the way they did. “I’m sure we can find a way to make everyone happy and have Sturm’s in good shape for the IPO early next year.”
Phil’s face soured and he looked at his watch impatiently. It seemed like he was done with me, but Duke apparently had more to say.
“Mr. Quinn.” Duke talked to people like they were a waste of his time. “I understand that you feel the need to assume a neutral position, but I am in no uncertain terms letting you know I couldn’t care less about your opinions on my sisters using company money for their ‘good Samaritan’ schemes.”
Duke Sturm was tall, about an inch taller than my own six feet, his skin more tanned than his sisters, and he was always dressed to the nines. And not in boring dark grays or navy blues. No, he took his place at the helm of a high-fashion empire seriously. Today he was wearing a velvet jacket in a burnt orange and a dark purple tailored shirt and pants. He was handsome and if he weren’t such a pain in my ass right now I’d actually appreciate his style.
But I could not play with this guy. “I understand that, sir.”
He nodded and his smirk literally made my entire body break out in goose bumps. He lifted a finger and pointed it right at my face. “If you see anything that’s not on the up-and-up, let me know.” A chill ran up my spine at his words. “No matter what my sisters think, this company is not actually the Mitzy and Muffy show. You focus on keeping this IPO on track and we will keep them in check.”
With that he turned around with Phil on his heels. For as much as neither Duke nor the twins had anything to do with their father’s bad decisions, they certainly didn’t seem to let bygones be bygones. There was malice there and people were going to get caught in the crossfire. People like Julia, and me.
It was one thing to say I needed to keep it together when it came to Julia when she wasn’t there and an entirely different thing when we were in the same room. I’d only just arrived at the after-school program site and my blood was already buzzing. I told myself to calm down as I made my way to her in the reception area of the foundation. She was in more casual clothes today. Jeans with a top and cardigan combo. Of course, it was Julia so there was still a lot of color. She had her hair pulled back into a puffy ponytail with gold hoops dangling from her ears. I couldn’t help the grin on my face by the time I reached her.
“Hey,” I said as I almost leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. It was a reflex from seeing her looking so familiar, like the embodiment of New York City. But this was not a kiss-hello situation, this was work, so at the last second I stopped, leaving us both in an awkward midair lean. I pulled back and offered my hand instead like a complete tool, but she rolled with it. “Thank you for arranging this so fast. I’m sorry I’m late.”
She gave my hand a long look, like she wasn’t totally sure I wouldn’t pull it back and leave her hanging again. “No problem.” She looked at her iWatch, then shook her head, a tiny smile on her lips. “Besides, you’re only like ten minutes late.”
“Where’s the suit jacket?” she asked, her eyes fixed on my bare forearms. I could feel the heat on my face and knew I was turning red.
“I thought I’d look more approachable to the kids if I wasn’t in it,” I explained, and felt extremely dumb as soon as the words came out of my mouth.
I pointed at the parking lot in the direction of my rental. “I can go get it.” Julia made a face at that, but I wasn’t sure what it meant. It was like she wanted to smile but was forcing herself to be serious. When she spoke, she couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice.
“You sort of overthink things, don’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question, but I still didn’t know if she thought it was a good or a bad thing.
She wasn’t wrong. I could overthink things sometimes. My therapist said it was from growing up in a home when a wrong answer could get me yelled at or worse, and a father who was never happy with anything. This felt different though—I found that I liked Julia’s focus on me, especially if it involved one of those smiles that got me right in the gut. I turned to look at her and saw that she was still waiting for an answer.
“I can. But I also don’t want to disappoint the kids if you promised they’d get to see a real-life finance superhero.” I said it deadpan, so it took her a second before she cracked a smile. Those cheekbones popped and it was hard not to lean in and brush a kiss across one of them.
“You’re not funny.”
It would’ve been easier to believe if she wasn’t showing me all of her teeth at the moment. “I’m a little funny.” What the hell was this? Was I flirting?
Julia took another long look at my forearms and hiked a thumb over her shoulder. “We can head inside. The students start arriving at about four, so we’re in full swing already.”
I nodded as I followed her through a long hallway lined with doors. She pointed at a few of them that were closed.
“Those are the therapy rooms. We have about six therapists on-site and they see clients all week. We also have a couple of support groups. Those are weekly and usually it’s some kind of therapeutic model. We also have some for parents in the evenings.”
I nodded as I looked around. The walls were full of art and inspirational quotes and the far one had a mural with lots of flowers and birds. “That’s pretty.” She stopped right in front so we could take a look at it and pointed at some of the more colorful spots.
