Page 21 of Until I Find You

Jack gestures with an open palm. “What would you like to be called, Camilla?”

“Assistant is fine.”

“No, it’s not fine. That’s how our wires got crossed. What do you want? You want to be my partner? You want to be an advisor? What do you want?”

“Why are you so willing to give me what I want? You barely know me.”

Jack lifts his chin and straightens up. If only he would take himself seriously, he’d know he already has everything together to be good at this. “Seth trusts you. I trust Seth. And in the time we’ve worked tougher, I know you know your stuff. You flourish where I fall. And I hope I can be the same for you if we continue to work together.”

Can I really go from executive assistant to full on partner in the blink of an eye? Am I ready for that?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But what do I have to lose?

“Fine. Partners.”

Jack smiles. “Ten ninety split? After all, I’m fronting the money.”

“Eighty twenty?”

“Deal.”

Damn. That was easy.

He reaches across the table. Long, elegant hand. Trimmed nails. Soft-looking palms.

I put my hand in his and regret it. It feels too good. Too right.

However, partners in business. Nothing more. And he’s got more stake thanks to our verbal agreement. He still has the power and the money.

I hope I haven’t just made a deal I’ll regret.

5

JACK

I watchCamilla as she paces in front of the picture windows of my apartment, phone pressed to her ear. The lights of New York bounce against the bay, lighting up the ripples of water.

“That’ll be just fine. But we have a schedule to keep. We can’t deal with any more changes.”

Tomorrow, we leave for Hawaii. We’ve been solidifying our plans for the past week. Meanwhile, the team has been assembled, an amazing team thanks again to Seth.

I took Camilla’s advice and practiced the presentation for her. It went over exactly as we wanted it to.

All that’s left now on our end is to get the ball rolling. Get the beans.

Which is why she’s spent the past hour confirming all our appointments for a trip.

Letting Camilla on as a partner is the best thing I’ve done thus far. I can take on the brunt of the creative work while she usesher business know-how to get everything in line. If it wasn’t for her, I’d be up shit’s creek.

“Okay, we’ll see you then. Bye.” Camilla hangs up her phone and tosses it onto the couch. “Arghhhhh…” She keels over until she’s crumpled over the sofa.

I chuckle. “Was that it?”

“Yep,” she says into the couch cushion. “That was the last of them.”

She remains there for a long moment before lifting her head to look at me. “Anything else on the list?”

---