“Good thinking,” I tell my best friend as she leads us in the direction of our conference room. She’s tucked her arm through Harlow’s, the two of them talking quietly on the way.
Just barely able to make out the words, I chuckle. While Hope is glad Harlow is okay, she’s also giving her a gentle reaming for not getting in touch with her. Trust Hope to smoothly blend in that scolding. She was freaked out when I told her what had happened, but I had managed to hold her off this week while Harlow recovered. I guess all bets are off now. I’m not sure if it’s the best or scariest thing in the world for all the important women in my life to be getting along. God forbid Hope, Harlow, and Jacinta team up. We’d all be fucked.
“What are you doing for lunch?” I hear her ask.
“Oh, I’m having lunch with Alex, Shane, Jacinta, and Jace,” Harlow answers, and Hope stops dead, her hand on her hips.
“And I wasn’t fucking invited?” Harlow is blinking in what could be shock, surprise, or fear, no idea, and before she can react, I grab my friend and nudge her down the hallway ahead of us, wrapping a reassuring arm around my girl.
“Settle, Rocky. Harlow is playing matchmaker.” The amount of surprise on Harlow’s face is adorable. “Babe, it was practically written all over your face.”
She shrugs, not denying it. “Actually, Hope, you can help if you want.” That wipes the disgruntled look off Hope’s face, and I squeeze Harlow’s waist in approval. Of course inviting her to be a part of the shenanigans is enough to appease her.
“Yes, I’m in! Just tell me what to do.”
“Well, if you come find me, maybe ten minutes into the meal, and tell me that there is an emergency with something, I can give my excuse to leave so they have to have lunch on their own. Together. All that sexual tension those three guys put out will be enough to drive Jacinta wild, or that’s what I’m hoping.”
Most guys wouldn’t want to hear anything involving their sister going wild, but Tom made a good point. It would be amazing for Jacinta to make some connections outside the family, and if those connections happen to be with men who will treat her right, I’m all for it.
Hope nods enthusiastically, so excited by her conversation with Harlow that she would’ve walked into the door had I not opened it for her. “I’ve got you, babe, then you and I can sneak to my office up here and have lunch.”
“Hey, that’smyoffice,” I complain. I’d like to say that she looks contrite, even apologetic about displacing me, but all I can see is a twitch of her lips that dares me to continue. Yep, between her, my sister, Nana, and Harlow joining the ranks, my life is run by women. I don’t hate it even though I might fear it.
“The second desk that’s been placed in there tells me it’s mine as well.” I feel my eyes widen in surprise.
“Second desk?”
“Yup.” She pops the p smugly. “Nana had one brought in for me at the beginning of the week. She says if I’m going to be your right hand woman now, I need my own space.”
Of course Nana would do that. She’s so thoughtful, and she loves Hope like one of her own. She’ll take off running with any opportunity to tie Hope more tightly to the company and our family. “Well, good then. Does this mean you’re going to take the position of VP of Neighpalm Records?”
“Yes, but I’m not giving up being head of Public Relations. I’ve got a really great team, and my second in command is going to get a promotion, but I’ll still give approval on the big things.”
A thrill runs through me at my bestie’s words, and I grab her and spin her around with my good arm before giving her a big kiss on the cheek. “Awesome, I knew you’d eventually cave. Alright, if I know you, you’ll have a game plan for this meeting. How about we sit down so you can give us a quick overview?”
Harlow is watching us with a delighted smile on her face. There’s no hint of jealousy, which I’m happy with. Hope has been my friend for a long time now, and I couldn't stand it if there was tension between the two.
“Well, I have a feeling the two of you will be unstoppable. Ninja Starfish better watch out if they're going to cause problems,” Harlow says happily as she takes a chair and pulls it away from the table. She doesn’t sit down until it’s tucked in a corner, out of the way.
My smile drops, a frown taking its place. Hope’s face mirrors mine as she looks at Harlow.
“What are you doing?” she asks before I can.
“I’m sitting out of the way,” Harlow says, like it’s obvious.
“But why?” I ask cautiously, not wanting to upset her because I have no idea what she’s thinking at the moment.
She stammers a little. “Because... I’m not part of the business?”
“Bullshit, you’re a Summers! They're all your businesses.” Again, Hope hits the nail on the head. “You sitting in is no different to Brad or Poppy and Nana or any one of the siblings sitting in. Get your ass over here.”
I kiss my friend on the head and whisper thank you to her. If we want Harlow to make a home here with us, we need her to know that she fits with us in all respects—as part of the family, as a lover/partner, and as part of the businesses. Every little sign that we want her here with us is hopefully undoing an ounce of the pain and discomfort that we inflicted on her in the first place. Going over to Harlow, I help her to her feet before moving her chair back to the table, right between Hope and me. “Hope hit it on the head, babe. You’re one of us and deserve a place here. Plus, I wouldn't mind an unbiased view of today; you might have some insight that we don't.”
A knock on the door has her nodding and quickly taking a seat. There’s no time for her to argue, thank goodness, because it looked like she was revving up for one. A moment later, Missy shows in the five guys from Ninja Starfish, their manager, and someone I don’t know, but he’s holding a briefcase and has the slimy lawyer look.
Well, it looks like they came to play hardball. I look around the group as they all take seats, noticing there is a very visible divide. What the fuck is going on here?
“Hey, guys, Giselle. Welcome and thanks for allowing me to reschedule this meeting.” I start off with pleasantries because there’s no need to go straight for the jugular. Gotta lull them into a little sense of comfort before you do what needs to be done.
