"I will," I said. My second lie of the day.
I didn't feel comfortable enough in our newfound closeness to ask for his assistance. Besides, we didn't have much time. The meeting was in two days.
"Let me know how the meeting goes."
"I will," I said again. My third lie of the day.
Jamison left soon after, leaving bitter disappointment in his wake. I didn't doubt the attraction we had for each other. After all, we'd spent a wonderful night together and had sex twice. I can't remember the last time I orgasmed that many times in one night. The last time had probably been with my ex-husband, more than ten years ago.
While I didn't doubt the attraction and chemistry between me and Jamison, he was hesitating, and so was I. Neither of us wanted to be the first to put ourselves out there, and I understood why. Based on our conversations, we were both once again attracted to someone different than ourselves, which hadn't worked out in our first marriages.
"Can I help you find anything?" I called to the remaining customer.
"I'm just browsing. Are these part of the sale?" She held up a tincture.
"Yes. Twenty-five percent off."
"Thanks." She placed two in the basket on her arm.
I returned my attention to the presentation I had been working on. Whatever was or wasn't happening between me and Jamison would figure itself out.
For now, I needed to work on saving my business.
Chapter 23
Jamison
Seated in my office, I scrolled through the reports on my screen summarizing the financial position of Freedom Capital Real Estate. They weren't a client, but through my contacts, I was able to pull together non-confidential information.
Tallulah hadn't asked me to do this. In fact, I hadn't heard from her, though I'd told her to let me know how the meeting went. I didn't want to appear desperate, so I hadn't reached out, but I was seriously reconsidering. All I could think about was the way she'd looked up at me when I was in her store last. The slight upturn of her mouth haunted my thoughts, and those lovely brown eyes of hers never failed to send chills down my spine.
I had to talk to her again. I had no choice. But before I reached out, I was doing a little research on the company causing her stress.
A knock on my office door pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked up to find my son standing in the doorway with a folder tucked under his arm, a slightly uncertain expression on his face. I sensed he wasn't completely comfortable coming to me with work-related questions and struggled with having his father as a colleague, though I wasn't his direct supervisor.
"Hey Dad, got a minute?" he asked.
"Always, for you."
I closed the tabs on the screen and gave him my undivided attention as he approached.
He set down the folder and opened it to a credit analysis he had been working on. "I'm having a hard time with this debt ratio calculation. It's an agricultural company, so their revenue stream is irregular because of seasonal variations. I'm not sure if I should use data from the last 12 months or an average of the last three years to account for the irregularities."
I pulled the folder closer and scanned the figures. "It's an agricultural company, so youhaveto account for the seasonality, but you also want to make sure you capture any trending data." I picked up a pen from my desk and made notes in the margin. "I suggest you run the numbers both ways and compare both results. If there's a significant difference, you'll have a good idea about the stability of the operation."
He nodded slowly, leaning over the desk and pulling out his own pen to write a few notes. "I see what you're saying. Show the range of possibilities instead of trying to force a conclusion from one set of numbers."
"Correct. In a case like this, a single data point could lead you to make the wrong decision. You want the full picture, which will be in the best interest of the client and help you make the best decision to assist them."
"Makes sense. Thanks, Dad." He picked up the folder. "You want to grab dinner tonight? Blossom is busy, so you and I could hang out. There's a new Thai place up the street from where I live. We could try it out."
Any other day, any other week, I would've jumped at the chance to have dinner with my son. Manuel and I didn't spend as much time together as I'd like, and most of the time when I saw him, we were at work. I wanted to maintain a relationship withhim as much as possible, even though he was an adult, but I had already made up my mind about my plans for the evening.
"I'll have to take a raincheck," I said. "I have a class."
His eyebrows rose higher. "What class do you have on Monday night?"
"Yoga."
