“We missed you at the game last night,” he says.
I was terrified of seeing him. I was afraid that if I did, I would break down in tears, pushing him away and being completely irrational, like a three-year-old. My emotions are all over the place, and I don’t know what to do. That’s not his problem, though. It’s mine.
“I, um, I was busy. I’m sorry. I’ll make the next one.”
He takes me in, hand on his chin, and eyes calling my bluff.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, sitting across from him.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“Holden…”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“If it’s you offering me money, the answer is no.”
“Nope. I’m not giving you money. You made it abundantly clear it makes you uncomfortable.”
Heat rises up my neck and touches my cheeks. “Sorry.”
“No need.” He slides over a stack of papers I completely missed he was holding.
“What is this?”
“See for yourself.”
I pick them up, carefully reading the first few lines.Expansion Proposal by Holden Clay.I skim the following page,seeing clearly this is, indeed, a business plan. “I can’t accept this.”
“Why?”
“Well, for starters, there’s a conflict of interest here.”
“Which one?” he asks, acting naive.
“The one where your tongue was shoved down my throat just a few days ago.”
He all but chokes on his spit and coughs. “Natalie.”
“It’s true. We can’t go into business together. This is almost the same as giving me money.”
Holden shakes his head. “Read it.”
Fine, I say with my eyes and the exasperated huff I let out. I turn the page and start reading the business proposal. It talks about all the plans, how long it would take, and even the percentage of revenue the investor would get. This is not selling a part of the store; it’s allowing Holden to invest in it to grow the florist side into more. It has everything from timelines and graphs with three and five year plans. Sweet, but I still can’t accept it.
I’m ready to give him back the papers when a name catches my eyes. It lists the investor, and it’s not Holden. Holden just wrote the proposal.
“What is this?” I ask.
“A business proposal from an investor.”
“Gerald Clay? Jerry? Your father? You asked your father to give me money?”
“This is where you’re very mistaken. I take no joy in telling you that you’re in the wrong, I want that to be clear.” His smirk is a little infuriating. He’s a little cocky right now, and I realize I’m looking at Businessman Holden Clay. “He came to me with the idea of investing in your business. Apparently, he has a shit ton of money and wanted to help. I told him you wouldn’t take money, and he said he wanted to invest instead.”
“Why? Because we have sex?”
“It’s more than sex. Don’t downplay us.” There’s hurt behind his tone, and I regret it immediately.
