I take another breath, calming me down, my hands nervously playing with the ends of my hair. “I just don’t think it’s fair to Mr. Edgerton to call him Satan behind his back, when it’s your own missed deadlines that started it.”
“I, uh, I guess you’re right,” Rui concedes. “It isn’t like he’s yelled at me for being late when I was here on time.”
“And I did code all of the office supplies to that contract instead of overhead expenses, messing up the true portfolio costs that one time,” Erica says.
“I still think he could be friendlier though,” Rui adds.
I try to keep the smile off my face as we let the conversation drop and get back to work. Inside, a feeling of pride swells on Damian’s behalf.
A quiet scoff catches my attention. I look up and find Devin in the doorway, his face pinched in a deep scowl before he turns and walks away.
Chapter 17
Damian
“I’mlookingforwardtoseeing what you can do for us, kiddo,” Leon says. I’m so relieved to have finally closed on this account, I don’t even let the “kiddo” reference bother me.
“Thank you, Leon. I truly believe this will be a mutually beneficial partnership. You’re making the right choice,” I tell him.
“Maggie can’t stop talking about that weekend. She was asking about Brielle again just the other night. You and your lady really made an impression on her. And Pammie, if I’m being honest. She wasn’t sold on this partnership originally, truth be told,” he says. It’s exactly what Brielle said to me that night after dinner. Leon was ready to jump in bed with us right off the bat, but Pam was the one we needed to win over.
Since we’ve come back from that weekend trip, I hadn’t heard from the Vitales. I was starting to think that maybe we didn’t sell ourselves as a couple, that the Vitales caught on to our charade and lost trust in us… in me.
“Well, I’m glad that we were able to get to know each other, and your family, on a deeper level. Pam was right to withhold her trust in a complete stranger.”
Leon laughs. “She usually is right. That’s why she calls the shots on who we do business with.”
“I’m honored to have been chosen,” I tell him. “Say hello to her and the family for me. And Brielle,” I add.
“I will. I will. We’ll have to get together again soon. Maybe when the weather warms up a bit, I can have you both back for some fishing on the lake. In a boat next time.”
I plaster a smile on my face, my insides squirming with discomfort. It isn’t like I can run to Brielle every time something comes up. She isn’t at my beck and call as some on-call fake girlfriend. Although the thought of having a fake breakup with her doesn’t sit right either.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say. We end the call, and I sit back in my chair, giving myself two minutes to just enjoy the fact that I closed on another account. My first thought is that I have to let Brielle know the good news. The urge to go down the hall to tell her in person hits me, but that would be a mistake. And Lord knows I’ve made enough of those where Brielle is concerned. Not that they feel like a mistake. I pick up my phone instead, shooting off a text to her.
Me: Signed and sealed. Cardinal West Outdoors is officially part of the CreativEdge portfolio.
I stare at my phone, waiting for a response. When one doesn’t come through right away, I put my phone down so I can send the account details to our contracts department to start setting everything up for them. I’m halfway through the email when my phone chimes. I reach for it faster than I should, a smirk tugging at my lips when I see a text from Brielle.
Brielle: Congratulations, Mr. Edgerton.
That’s it? That’s what she sent? After all the work we did signing that account?
The formality shouldn’t bother me. Hell, it shouldn’t be bothering me that we went a week with no communication whatsoever since we came back from Maine. We had an agreement. The moment that night ended, we forgot it ever happened, but I still couldn’t get her out of my head.
Me: Thank you again for everything you did.
Brielle: Again? I don’t recall the first thank you.
Me: I thought I had made that clear when we were up against your door. Was it not?
I hit Send and then immediately regret it. This is not forgetting it ever happened. This is the exact opposite of that, and it isn’t what we agreed to. Still, my heart beats harder, waiting to see if she’ll respond.
Brielle: I suppose that was a pretty decent thank you.
Me: Decent? That’s how you’re going to describe it?
The gall. I am already shaking my head at the phone with no one around to me see. There is no way in hell she thought that was just decent. Almost a week later, and it is still the first place my mind goes every morning and every night.
