Page 44 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

“On one condition.”

She pulled back a fraction, cocking her head. “Condition?”

“You have to stop promising me things, Dinah. You can’t make promises in business. We don’t know what will happen in the boardroom, and God knows, me in a boardroom is a scary enough prospect on its own, let alone if people know we’re sleeping together. But it’s business, and I know part of this is so we can be Carter and Dinah, together.”

She stepped back a little bit as if she was uncomfortable with his admission, but it was true. The only reason she’d come up with this plan, and the only reason he was agreeing to it, was because they had feelings for each other.

“Even with that being the case, we have to draw a little bit of a line between what happens with Gallagher’s and what happens with us. Every business I’ve been a part of has included people I love.” He almost immediately regretted using the wordlove, so he kept steamrolling on, hoping there were no meaningful pauses in there. “I’ve had to fight my family and disagree and argue, and it sucks. I don’t want to fight with you, if we’re going to do this. I don’t want business crap to become a part ofus.”

“But . . . I thought the whole point was so we could combine our lives as who we are, and I am Gallagher’s.”

“I’m not quite sure what the whole point is, but I know I need a little bit of distance between what’s going to happen in that boardroom and who you are here.”

“It’s the same person. Dinah in the boardroom. Dinah in the bedroom. That’s . . . the whole point.”

“You really think Dinah Gallagher is the same as D?” Because he didn’t. He’d met both, spoken to both, understood both. D was more of the truth underneath all those things she was so certain shehadto be.

Hell, he knew it because he’d used C for very similar purposes. To be someone he didn’t know how to be in real life.

“I’m not D. She was a little fantasy I indulged when I had time. In reality, right here and now, I am a Gallagher. My business means everything to me.”

“If you were happy with that, you wouldn’t have needed D. You can’t argue with me. I did the same thing. I was drowning in my own life, so I created this other one. But it was me. If it wasn’t honest, we wouldn’t be here . . . having feelings for each other.”

She wasn’t looking at him now, her face all scrunched and so not the powerhouse woman she usually was. He felt like shit for undermining any of her confidence, but he had no idea how to get through to her that there was a danger in her thinking she was Dinah Gallagher and nothing of the woman he’d gotten to know in emails. In sex. In the past few days. Words, at least spoken ones, had never been his strong suit.

“Let’s pause and eat. Maybe talk a little bit about what you want this presentation to be.”

“And not fight?” she asked, sounding very weary.

“I’m tired of fighting, remember?”

“I don’t want to fight either.”

“Let’s enjoy dinner. Then we’ll talk business, and then . . .” He forced himself to smile at her, trailing off.

“And then?” she replied, some of her spark returning.

He grinned. “Dessert.”

Chapter 13

Carter served her a delicious dinner of grilled local pork chops and—not quite, but almost as delicious—corn and beans. He’d bought her a nice bottle of wine and poured her a glass with dinner while he drank from a can of beer.

She had never been in a relationship like this. Where the guy did really nice things for her without her ever having to drop hints. Where they could talk about their jobs and be interested in each other’s families and memories. She didn’t know if it was because they shared a similar passion for businesses rooted in their family histories, or because their personalities simply made it easy for them to talk.

All Dinah knew was she really, really enjoyed him. She’d been able to relax after her shit day and their odd conversation.

It was important that the board meeting go well, and even more important that she live up to the promise she’d made Carter: that this would work out and be good both for his farm and for Gallagher’s. He could say he didn’t want promises, but ensuring this idea’s success was of paramount importance.

If they worked together, if they planned everything out, they would succeed. They would have to succeed. “All right. We’re done eating. Now we discuss business.”

He leaned back in the little chair on his porch. They’d eaten outside in the cool fall evening, and Dinah couldn’t express how much she enjoyed these little moments. Outside. Stars. Meals together.

Business, Dinah. Focus.

“You sure you don’t want to skip to dessert?”

“Unless you’re referring to an actual brownie and not a euphemism for sex, no. I want to focus on business first.”

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