Page 35 of Honor

“Magical,” she answers with a sigh. “It was the best weekend of my life. Thank you again for approving my time off.”

“Not a problem,” he says in a rush. “Anytime.”

I’d argue that point with him because I don’t want my assistant to think she can disappear for days at a time on a regular basis. She gets three weeks of paid vacation a year. That’s more than enough time away from here.

“I’ll leave you two to talk.” She steps around Baden. “If you need anything, please let me know.”

“We might need a miracle to save this deal.” He laughs. “Otherwise, we’re good.”

“Don’t promise her more time off,” I warn as soon as he’s closed the door. “I need her here.”

“You want her here,” he counters. “You did just fine without her.”

He’s right about the second part. I’m not sure his first statement holds true, but I let it slide.

“I want this deal done today, Reid.” He sits in one of the visitor chairs facing my desk. “I think we need to offer the Bogners more money to wrap this up.”

I think he may be right. I suspect they’re playing hardball, but I can do the same. “Let me talk to them alone. If I can’t reach an agreement with them this morning, we’ll consider that.”

“You want time with them alone?” A nervous chuckle escapes him. “Why?”

“You want this too much.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t. It’s a trio of rundown bowling alleys. I don’t want it that much.”

I lean against the corner of my desk, so I’m facing him. “It’s not the bowling alleys you want. You want that nice older couple to retire in Florida. You want to fund their lifelong dream.”

He slumps back in the chair, his hand jumping to tug on the knot of his tie. “They’re good people, Reid.”

I don’t doubt that, but our offer is generous, so I need to swoop in and remind the Bogners that they won’t find another firm willing to take this type of risk on their business. If left to their own devices, I can’t be sure they’d be able to retire to anywhere anytime soon.

The way they’re running their business now is barely sustainable. It hasn’t been moving in the right direction for years.

I lean forward to pat his knee. “Give me until noon.”

He glances at the screen of his phone. “Fine. You need to text me at noon with an update. If you haven’t made any headway, we’ll offer more money.”

That won’t happen. I’m as sure of that as I am of my name.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Evie

I haveno idea what happened while I was in Paris, but I may have to jet off on another mini-vacation soon.

Apparently, after being forced to get his own coffee when I was out of town, my boss made the executive decision to do that every day.

When he told me that, I was tempted to do a cartwheel, but since I’m wearing a dress with lace underwear beneath it, I opted to skip the celebratory gymnastics and instead enjoyed the overpriced coffee meant for my boss.

I had to run to the break room to grab a packet of sugar because it was a little too bitter for my taste, but after pouring that in and giving it a quick stir, I savored every last drop while Mr. Hunt met with Baden. When that was over, he took off out of the office like an arrow headed straight for a target.

I have no idea who or what that target is because my boss’s calendar for today is blank.

In addition, he never sent me the usual email last night that details my tasks for the day.

My Tuesday is turning out to be a snoozefest, and I can’t say it’s a bad thing since I’m jetlagged.

“Miss Starling,” Mr. Hunt barks my name from somewhere behind me.

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