Page 23 of The Acquisition

Fitz leaned against the desk, right in front of us, and crossed his arms. He was still an intimidating man and looked nowhere near his mid-sixties. "You misunderstand me. I want to give you these shares. There are stipulations though."

"Surely you can't demand I marry Beckett," she joked.

He looked at me and smirked, since I'd made a similar comment when he told me before we walked into the boardroom. "The two of you are a bit too much alike. No, I don't intend for you to marry anyone to get the shares."

Jana looked over at me for some clue what he was talking about. "I'm totally lost, Mr. Anderson. If you aren't going to require marriage to get the shares, what is your requirement?"

"Thanksgiving and part of Christmas," he told her.

Her brow furrowed. "What do the holidays have to do with owning part of the company?"

Fitz set the folder down on the desk. "My stipulation is simple. Anderson Global is going back to being a family company. To get the shares, you become part of the family."

"You said I didn't have to marry anyone. How else am I supposed to join the family?" she asked.

"I already said, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The family gets together, and we have dinner."

"That's it? I come over for holidays?"

He lifted his shoulder. "Birthdays and any other family gathering would be included as well."

"So, I just join you for all family events?"

Fitz smiled at her. "You join the family. Not all families are related by blood. Colter has been a member of my family since he was eight years old. Of course, I wouldn't be displeased if you and Colt married, but you'll be part of the family even if you only remain friends."

He gave her the file. "Here's the paperwork to get the shares transferred to you. If you'd like to have a lawyer look them over, go ahead."

He strolled out of the office. Fitz didn't hover to get her to sign the contract. Instinctively, he knew she was slow to trust and would need some time to think.

The moment he was out of the room, Jana hit me on the arm. "Why did you let him spring that on me?"

"Why do you think I asked you to go for a drink?" I reminded her.

She hit me again. "I thought you were trying to get me into bed, jackass."

I smiled at her. "And you still agreed to go."

Her cheeks turned pink, but she squared her shoulders and faced me. "Pardon me for not immediately considering you only wanted to tell me that my best friend's father-in-law wanted to adopt me. I should have assumed, I mean it's so obvious."

"It isn't like he is actually trying to adopt you. Not legally anyway," I pointed out.

She leaned back in her chair. "I should hope not. I'm twenty-six years old."

"I think you should start calling him dad," I teased her.

She smirked at me, and I put my hand over her mouth before she told another daddy joke. The minx licked my palm, but if she thought her tongue would make me back off she was mistaken. I did, however, have some suggestions for how else she might use it. "Let's go get a drink."

Grabbing the folder from the table, she stuffed it in her briefcase. "Yeah, I could use one."

I nodded toward the door. "I know just the place."

NINE

JANA

Hot Spot was not the kind of bar I imagined Colter would frequent, but he gave the bartender the kind of head nod men give each other when greeting someone they see often. This seemed to be kind of a haven for tech nerds, and I instantly felt at home.

No one knew I had a secret love of coding and played around with building apps in my spare time. It wasn't something society ladies did, so my mother pretended I was working on a gardening club or beautification organization when I was really attending summer camps at the science center.

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