When we arrived in front of my building, he got out of the car, opening my door. Deep lines marred his forehead.
After getting out of the car, I traced those lines with my thumb. “You’re stressed out.”
He took my hand, kissing my palm. “This is an unexpected development. But it’s nothing I can’t deal with.”
Hmmm… that didn’t seem entirely true, though. His shoulders were hunched. His jaw was set. He was worried, and I wanted him to know that he could be vulnerable around me.
I rose on my toes, pressing my lips to his. The kiss started out chaste, but then he deepened it. The next thing I knew, he’d pressed me against the car.
I pulled back slightly. “Griffin,” I murmured, “we’re at my office.”
“Fuck. I completely forgot that.” His frown had dissipated.Ha!This was progress. “No one makes me lose my head the way you do.”
I grinned. “I feel very full of myself right now.”
“You should.” He splayed his fingers on the side of my neck,zeroing in on my lips. “I’m going to go before I make a spectacle of us.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “Have a great day.”
“You too.”
Even after he drove off, I stood rooted to my spot.
Tonight, I was going to take care of him just the way he deserved.
CHAPTER 33
GRIFFIN
“Dude, you look like shit,”Finn said the second I stepped into the meeting room at Sterling Investments.
“Thanks for the observation,” I replied.
My brothers were all gathered here. Even though I had a lot on my mind with Jude, I was determined to focus on the here and now.
“Want to share what happened?” Wyatt asked.
I shook my head. “No, let’s hit the ground running. I have a lot to do today.”
“You know, we have been known to have good ideas,” Knox said.
“Not to sing their praises too much, because it might go to their heads, but they’re right,” Duncan said.
Chase frowned, looking at me without saying anything for a few beats. But then he said, “Want me to have your back or work with them to convince you to fess up?”
Knox whistled. “Dude, that’s not how taking sides works. You don’t actually ask one of the parties involved.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at him, shrugging. “You do things your way. I do them the way I want.”
I tapped my fingers on the table, making a split-seconddecision. I actually did want to talk to my brothers. They were smart, and their input was valuable. But I also knew that if I opened up, I’d derail the whole meeting.
“This is what we’ll do,” I said. “First we’ll vote on the creation of those new funds, and then we’ll chat about my issue.”
“Ha! So thereisan issue,” Wyatt said.
“Voting first,” I insisted.
The team at Sterling had worked tirelessly since we’d spoken about adding funds into our portfolios that invested in green energy. They’d put together some options for us to consider. We had a golden rule: all of us had to approve any change in strategy for it to happen.
