“That’s it,” he said. “Let it out. All of it.”
His words always did it. Always threw that last stone to knock everything out of her.
“More,” she said, her body coming undone, the pulsing draining her already exhausted muscles. “Give me more.”
He was heaving out breaths, doing exactly what she demanded. Giving it to her.
Her body went off in a series of exploding sensations, her arms and legs limp hoping he didn’t let go because she couldn’t hold on any longer.
She was exhausted in mind and body. Even her soul.
“I’ve got you,” he said. “Always.”
His arms were tight, as he sat back holding her against his chest.
The beating of his heart mirroring the sound of hers.
35
CALM AND ORDER
“Let me think about it some more, Don,” Arik said a week later.
“We need you, Arik,” Don said. “Name your price and conditions. I mean it. It’s a short-term thing, but I know if anyone can get the team back on track, it’s you.”
He blew out a breath. He was tempted. He really was.
“Let’s recap, you need me to get the right people in place and the roles that suit them the best, then layout plans and progression and where they should be after each step?”
“Yes. Regular check-ins to help, maybe even guide them in the right direction, but I’m not asking you to do the work. Not unless you want to.”
The laughter had a tingling starting at the base of his neck.
He’d taken his buyout and moved on. Don had been right there beside him, working just as hard, but without the same investment, his payout was smaller. Now Don sat in a corner office with a skyline view, giving orders instead of getting his hands dirty.
To each their own.
He’d take his life over that any day.
Even one that was spent floating more than staying upright.
He was there now. It only took time.
“Guiding is one thing. Busting my ass, I’m way beyond that.”
“Don’t blame you. But I mean it,” Don said. “Name your price. I know we can afford you because we can’t afford not to do this.”
Natalie was right. He took pride in the company he’d helped build, and it’d be a brutal blow to his ego to watch it fail if he could step in to fix it.
“Give me a couple of days to sort some things out. I’m working on something else.”
“Another company?”
“No. Nothing like that. An app I’m toying with.”
Don’s laughter shouldn’t have gotten under his skin, but it did. “I remember your opinion of writing apps.”
“Yeah, well, that was before I could do whatever I wanted in life.”
