“Sir, I—”
Carlisle raised an authoritative hand to cut him off, and Leo snapped his mouth shut, tension coiling in his stomach.
“I know I said yesterday that you had a choice between resigning or pulling your girlfriend’s funding, but certain things have come to light since then that I’d like you to explain to me.”
His stubby-fingered hand rested on top of a file marked Beaucoeur BUILD, and Leo immediately knew what was in there. Faith’s original application and probably a copy of the one he’d submitted for final approval. The difference in the checkboxes. Fuck.
“Are you able to explain some discrepancies in—”
The door burst open. “Wait!”
Leo spun in his chair to see the most beautiful sight imaginable: Faith, wild-eyed, wild-haired, wearing Crocs and the rattiest Fall Out Boy sweatshirt he’d ever seen. She didn’t spare a glance at Carlisle as she slammed the door behind her and walked straight over to him. “Don’t quit for me.”
His heart leaped, and that sick tension fled. She washere.
“I think I have to.” He stood and took her hands.
“What is she doing here?” Carlisle said sharply.
Leo shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her. She does what she wants.”
“Yes, she does,” Faith said. She turned her most disdainful gaze on Carlisle, her regal posture completely at odds with the sushi print on her pajama pants. “You thought you could bully the man I love into making a choice between his job and me, but I’m here to tell you that—”
The door flew open again.
“Carlisle, how could you?”
Both he and Faith turned to see Savannah slam the door shut and charge forward, cheeks flushed.
“We discussed this. No matter what you think about Leo personally, he’s doing an outstanding job with the community grants. And if there’s some kind of conflict with one of the recipients, I’ll just take over that particular case.”
She glanced at Faith and lost the rhythm of her speech as she absorbed the details of her outfit, but she quickly refocused. “I’ll have all oversight with BUILD. Leo’s recused, and we’re able to keep a valuable new employee. There’s no conflict here.”
She folded her arms and glared at Carlisle, who glared back. “There was a conflict from the beginning,” he snapped. “The whole grant is tainted.”
“Says who?” Faith asked hotly. “We weren’t involved when the board voted and when I signed.”
Skepticism twisted Carlisle’s face, and Leo bit back a growl. At this point he wanted it all out in the open so this man had nothing over him.
“We gotinvolvedabout three minutes after she signed,” Leo said. When Faith turned to him with ashut the fuck upexpression, he just shrugged. “I want to be honest about everything.”
“Okay, but we didn’t actually get into a real relationship until a month ago,” Faith said.
For a second, they were the only people in the room. “So it’s serious for you too?” he asked, heart in his throat as he waited for her to answer the question he’d intended to ask at Olive Twist the day before.
Her mouth softened. “Of course.” She reached for his hand again, and he brought it to his mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles. Then he remembered their audience and glanced guiltily at Savannah.
Savannah beamed at him, then turned her hard stare back on Carlisle. “He just said the vote and her signature happened before they started dating. He can still recuse without conflict.”
“I disagree,” Carlisle snapped. “And he also needs to explain this.” He reached for the folder, but before he could pull out the paperwork, the door slammed open again.
“Stop!”
“Char?” Leo was starting to wonder if he was having a fever dream. But no, his subconscious wouldn’t be able to conjure up that lumpy brown hand-knit sweater on its own.
The tall woman advanced on Carlisle with an outstretched finger. “Are you the person who’s destroying the best thing to ever happen to the Knit Nook?”
Carlisle shrank away from her angry point. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
