Page 64 of Foreplay with the Boss

Since when do I care about kindness?

Not like I thought people should be assholes all the time, but now I was analyzing the right moment? What the fuck was happening to me? Clearly Kat got under my skin.

Remember Dad. Think about how everyone took advantage of his kindness. You chose to be a businessman, so now you have to own up to it and follow through.

“Thanks for meeting with me, Stu. I wanted to talk to you man-to-man before tomorrow’s meeting.”

Our food came, interrupting my plan to get on with it.

“And I wanted to personally thank you for helping me out by letting Katrina do that internship at your office,” he said. “Last time I talked to her, she told me she was learning a lot.”

This was it. When he’d drop the bomb that he was going to fight with everything he had, or sue me for trying to shut down his branch.

Nope, it was the moment he’d take a giant bite of his food and mumble about how good it was. In some ways, he reminded me of my dad. Friendly, open. Way too trusting—he’d sent his daughter to me, thinking I’d teach her to be a ruthless boss who could shape up his office. Instead I’d shown her just how ruthless I could be.

“When’s the last time you talked to Katrina?” I asked, watching his face.

“Today. Well, I got a text saying she wasn’t up to meeting for dinner. I haven’t talked to her since last Sunday.”

I was sick of dancing around things, and I’d gotten confirmation that she was healthy enough to text, so it was time to get on with it. “So, like I said, I wanted to talk about tomorrow’s meeting. I’ll be recommending shutting down your branch.” I narrowed my eyes. “But I’m sure you already know, or perhaps expected as much.”

His fork clattered against his plate, and he wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin. “How would I know that? And it’s definitely not expected.”

I didn’t want to drag Kat into it more than I already had.

Stu pressed his fingers against his temples, and I looked away so he’d have as much privacy as possible while he pulled himself together. “What about Katrina?” he asked, jerking my attention back to him. “What’ll happen to her? Is there an opening at your office, or any of the other ones? I know she’s green, but as I’m sure you saw, she’s amazing with numbers and a hard-worker. She’s been talking about working at my company since she was a little girl—I’m afraid this will crush her.”

His first thought was Kat. My first and last of the day were always her, too, but naturally this was different. This was a father who hadn’t asked what about his position and salary, but immediately shifted to ensuring his daughter would be taken care of. As for his fear, I was afraid the news had crushed her, as well as what was left of us.

Which was hard to figure out, since I didn’t even know for sure what exactly we had before.

I realized Stu was looking at me, waiting for me to answer his questions out loud instead of just in my head. “Kat-rina,” I quickly tacked on, “is amazing with numbers and is a hard worker, just like you said. I’ll be happy to be one of her references, whether she wants a position in Boston, or if she wants to work somewhere closer to home.” The thought of her being so far away hit me again, punching a hole in my chest, and I worked to push through. “I know that your marketing company has been in your family for generations, and we’ve enjoyed working with you, so it’s unfortunate that it’s no longer fiscally realistic to do so, and I’m doing my best to give you and your employees the best severance package I can.”

It was a tricky balance of how much we could afford without cutting too much off our bottom line while keeping PR issues down and people from suing. Suddenly I didn’t want to go quite as low as I had before.

You’re going soft, Stone.

Maybe it was for the best that things went the way they did with Kat, because whenever she was around, making me see the bright side of things and reminding me what it felt like to be happy and content, I lost my edge.

And maybe if I kept telling myself that enough, I’d be able to actually believe it.

CHAPTER 37

Kat

I stared out at the harbor Thursday near dusk, thinking that I’d liked it better before, when my rose-tinted glasses were on and I believed that someone like me could actually end up with someone like Jameson Stone. There’d been those nice few days when I convinced myself he cared about me as much as I cared about him.

A seagull landed on the rope next to me and squawked. My dad always said they were filthy birds who ate trash and spread diseases, and he often referred to them as air rats. Luckily for this guy, I thought seagulls weren’t that bad.

“I don’t have any food for you,” I said, “but I have some solid advice if you’re interested…”

The bird dared a step closer and gave another squawk.

“Never fall in love.” I’d avoided tacking on the love when I thought about how I’d fallen for Jameson because leaving it off made it seem safer for my heart, but it didn’t change the truth. I’d fallen head-over-heels in love, fast and crazy, regardless of logic telling me I shouldn’t, the way I’d always imagined falling in love—in real, true love—should be. “It’s not worth it. And when a guy tells you that he doesn’t do attachments, just believe him. Don’t go being an idiot, thinking that was before he knew you, and that things were changing, because that just leads to crying and talking to birds like some kind of crazy person.” Even saying it aloud made me feel like I’d lost something, even though what was done was already done.

The seagull took off with a flap of wings, obviously deciding I had only words and not food.

“Great, now I’m talking to myself. Thanks a lot, stupid air rat.” “What was that?”

---