Page 34 of Honor

The breathtaking view of Paris’s main attraction and a glass of bubbly seems like the ideal way to close out the best weekend of my life.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Reid

Any curiosityI had about where Miss Starling was this past weekend has been buried under the unraveling deal we tentatively had in place with the Bogners.

They called Baden late last night to tell him they aren’t sure we have the same vision they do for the future of the bowling alleys.

Our vision is clear.

We’ll spruce them up by bringing the interior décor into this decade. We’ll reduce the hourly cost for walk-ins looking to bowl a game since the Bogners have raised their prices repeatedly over the last several years, chasing away families who saw the bowling alley as their Friday night escape from the pressure of work and school.

Adding better refreshment choices and an entire area devoted to video games will quickly increase revenue.

Baden hurriedly put together the outline for how to transform the business going forward. Since the price of purchasing the enterprise and the cost of improvements is wellwithin the scope of what Baden wanted to spend, I trust our profit will be impressive when we go to sell to a nationwide chain.

I spent the bulk of the afternoon and evening yesterday with Baden and the Bogners tweaking the deal.

We broke for sleep at midnight, but I’m set to meet them all in the atrium in an hour to continue our discussion.

At this point, I’m ready to give up on this and move on to something that will prove just as profitable and half as stressful.

“Oh, you’re here,” Miss Starling’s voice comes at me as I stare out of one of the expansive windows of my office. “I didn’t expect you to be here yet.”

I turn to look at her.

If she ran off to some locale that is known for sun and sand, she missed out. She’s not sporting a tan.

She does have a smile pasted on her face. I glance at that before my gaze drops to her dress. Some people might classify it as plain, but the color is lilac, and it plays off the speck of purple that dots her right iris.

She steps toward me with a coffee in hand. Her smile fades as soon as she spots the one on my desk. “You like your coffee to be on your desk by nine. It’s five minutes to.”

I can’t tell if she’s reminding me of my morning routine or trying to ward off a dose of anger from me.

“I came in early,” I tell her. “I stopped to pick up my own coffee.”

That brings the smile back to her red lips, and since that’s the best sight I’ve seen in days, I say something to keep it there a bit longer. “I’ll be grabbing a cup of coffee on my way in every morning going forward.”

Her mouth falls open. “Really?”

Her reaction would be warranted if I just announced that I’m upping her pay by twenty percent. All I’m doing is saving her a trip to the café down the block.

“Really.”

She glances at the cup in her hand. “Do you want this one, sir, or can I have it?”

The hope in her voice isn’t lost on me. I know she regularly fills her ceramic mug with the sludge that is brewed in the break room. The coffee she picks up for me is made with freshly ground organic beans and prepared to just the right temperature. A small splash of cream is the only addition I like.

“It’s yours.” I stare at her. “Enjoy.”

“Oh, I will,” she says before she takes a taste, leaving a very faint imprint of her lipstick on the plastic lid. “This is so good.”

“Reid.” Baden appears behind my assistant. “I need a minute.”

Evie glances over her shoulder. “Hi, Baden.”

“Hey!” He tosses her a wide smile. “How was the trip?”

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