He presses his lips together. “I’m not answering the question. I plead the fifth.”
“We’re not in a court of law, sir,” my attorney says. “You can answer the question.”
“I don’t know the exact numbers,” he says. “Look, I just needed this deal. My family needs this deal. Coconut Beach needs this deal. We all need this deal to happen. I guess I just panicked. I guess I just?—”
“You falsified records. You falsified reports. What did you think was going to happen once the deal closed?” I stare at him. “You know I would’ve sued you.”
He stares at me. “I would’ve been in the Cayman Islands by then. I guess—” He looks at Katherine. “Your little girlfriendhere did more research than I was expecting. How did you find out this information? I thought I made sure to dot all my i’s and cross all my t’s.”
“It’s funny what information you can find out when you do just a little bit of digging,” she says, shrugging. “I wanted to ensure that Jack purchased the best hotel possible, and I wanted to ensure that I took my job seriously.” She looks at me. “Because this job is important to me. I’m more than just a pretty face.”
“You did a good job, Katherine,” I beam at her. “Thank you. You saved my ass.”
“It wasn’t all me. The entire team helped.”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” she says.
“Don’t keep boosting everyone on your team and not taking the credit for yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you took the blame when I obviously knew you weren’t the one who caused that PowerPoint presentation to happen.” She looks down and blushes. “And I also know that Cora, Xander, and Marina did not find out this information. In fact, I’d be shocked if they did much research.”
“No, they’re good people,” she smiles at me. “They did work. I mean, no, they didn’t find this out. It was me. But they do work. They work hard, and they love working here, and we’re a really good team. I mean that.”
She smiles at me. “They’re good people, and they work hard.”
“You know what? You’re a good person for advocating for them, and I appreciate how much you’ve put into this. I’m glad that I hired you.”
“Excuse me. Are we in the middle of some sort of Dr. Phil episode?” Mr. Johnson says, sounding pissed and I just shake my head in disgust.
I stand up and grab Katherine’s hand. I look over at Mr. Johnson and at my attorneys.
“The deal is off right now. I’m sorry,” I shake my head. “We won’t be moving forward with the purchase and I think you need to leave, Mr. Johnson. And before you think about trying to pull this scam on any other businessman, I will warn you not to do it because I will have you prosecuted for fraud, and I will contact everyone I know in the hotel world about your plans.”
He stares at me. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Jack.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying,” I hiss. “Come on,” I say to Katherine, and we leave the room. I close the door behind me and just stare at her. “And to think, I thought you were calling me because you wanted a quickie.”
“You always think I want a quickie,” she says, and her face becomes serious. “Sometimes it’s about work.”
“And to think you thought that you weren’t important to my team.” I stare at her. “Thank you,” I say softly, “and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You’re an asset to Heathcliff Enterprises. You’re an asset to me.”
“Am I?” she says, staring at me, lips parted. I want to kiss her. I want to pull her into my arms. I want to take her up to my office and fuck her hard and fast. I love this woman. And yet it’s because I love her that I know that I can’t do that. I don’t want her to think that our entire relationship is based on our sexual attraction. I don’t want her to think that I only care about her because I need her. I love her for so many other reasons, and I need her to know that I value her. And right now I can tell she needs to be respected as an employee that has done a fantastic job.
“You’re a smart cookie.”
“I mean, I try my best,” she says, twirling her hair. “But I’m thankful to you that you listened to me and you took me seriously. I’m sorry that the deal didn’t work out.”
“I’m not,” I say. “There are plenty of deals to be made, and maybe this wasn’t the right one. You’ve impressed me. You did what so many other people in my company have not done.”
“What’s that?” she asks, eyes full of pride.
“You went the extra mile. You’re good at your job, Katherine. You’re good at business. You’re good at research. I want you to remember that. You excel in this position. You impressed me. You’re a kickass businesswoman.”
“You mean instead of running a bed and breakfast?”
