"What my brother means to say," Blade said, pulling Weston back before I tackled him, "is, how much is Mace paying you because we'll pay you three times as much?"
"And I'll pay you five times as much." A tall dark-haired man in a dark suit clapped me on the shoulder and shook my hand.
"Wes Holbrook," he said, extending his hand to Josie. "Also I'm probably the only Holbrook the Svenssons can stand."
"Greg can't stand you," I corrected.
"Can Greg really stand anyone?" Blade mused.
"I think he's kind of funny," Josie said. We all gaped at her.
"You think Greg is funny?" Blade asked, peering at her like she was some sort of strange sea creature.
"He has a dry sense of humor."
"Maybe she has him mixed up with someone else?" Weston asked. "Are you sure it was Greg? Tall, blond, mean as a snake?"
"Are he and Hunter around?" Wes asked.
"They were at the presentation, but I think they're off on investment meetings," I told him.
"Phew. I don't think I can handle them right now."
"How's business?" I asked Wes.
"We have this new product…" Wes bounced slightly on his feet and looked at Josie.
"Are you serious?" I asked, looking around. "All of you want to hire her?" They nodded.
"Hell. No," I snarled. They all started yelling at me at once.
"You can't say that!"
"I'll pay you ten times the amount!"
I waved them all away.
"Just think about it!" Wes said over his shoulder as he left.
"You have so many handsome brothers," Josie said, nudging me. "But don't worry, you're the best looking one!"
I stayed at the booth the rest of the afternoon—people seemed to like that Owen and I were there to talk and answer questions. When I wasn't talking to people, I watched Josie. I wondered if she was happy.
It was clear I couldn't have her go back to being my assistant, especially since now Anke was my assistant. Did Josie want to continue to live in Harrogate? We had amenities, yes, but it was nothing like Manhattan. Maybe she would be happier working on slick marketing projects at ThinkX with Weston and Blade. Or maybe she would want to work with Wes Holbrook. His robotics company was hot right now, and tiny robots were always cool.
I knew I should encourage Josie to build her career, but I didn't want to lose her. I wanted her to always be in my life—not just in the tiny house but in my home.
55
Josie
The flow of people trickled off as we approached cocktail hour.
"Two days down, one to go," Willow said.
"I could use a drink," I said as I strung the cable lock through one of the TV screens.
"I'm meeting up with Marnie," Willow said to me as we powered down the iPads. "You coming?"
