Page 19 of Without Apology

My voice, although steady, was not it’s normal ice man quality. I was letting emotion get the best of me. She looked beautiful. And the fact I’d just been flirting with her via text thinking of the kiss we’d shared shortly before this meeting wasn’t helping. I clenched my fist, willing myself to regain control of the situation.

Jeff shrugged. “Hey, I’m a team player. Whatever helps the bottom line. You let me know, and I’ll do it.”

I knew this was the man Peyton had been talking about at dinner, so I might have had some prejudice, but I felt it fair to say the man was a suck up.

For a moment, my mind entertained the idea she might have known all along about the acquisition. She could then have set up my opinion regarding Jeff on our date. But when I remembered her shock on first seeing me here, I tended to believe this entire thing was simply a bizarre coincidence. Or maybe that’s what I wanted.

“Yes, well, good to hear one of you is a team player.” Tom simply couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

George turned a glare on Tom and then Jeff. “Being loyal to your team is a quality to admire.”

We were way off topic. “I wouldn’t argue that point. Now, then, we have a number of items necessary for the audit.”

Emma passed out a hard copy of a spreadsheet with over one hundred fifty tasks on it.

“I’ll make sure you both are emailed soft copies, too. Let me repeat what George already said. The potential sale of this company is confidential. I expect you to keep it that way until the audit is complete, and a purchase decision is made.”

Peyton glanced over the spreadsheet, probably realizing eighty-five percent of the items were for her.

“If there isn’t anything else, I think this meeting is adjourned,” George declared, obviously ready to be done.

He wasn’t the only one. I’d reached my breaking point when it came to trying unsuccessfully not to stare at Peyton across the table.

The room cleared, with the exception of Emma and I. She whispered, “I really like your girlfriend.”

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