Page 71 of Blindly Yours

“She bounced back really quick. Just no sports for a few weeks. Thankfully she won’t miss soccer tryouts.”

Rose nods and holds up her bag of Starbursts. “Let me just put these inside, hang on.”

She disappears into her apartment, and I have a moment to observe it from the doorway. I can’t see much, but it’s very modern and exceptionally tidy. Smooth white walls and wide-planked floors as far as the eye can see.

Before I can make any other observations though, she emerges again and closes the door. “Ok, I’m ready.”

“How was work?” I ask as we head toward the elevator.

“Exhausting. I had seven client meetings.”

I press the call button on the elevator. It’s still on her floor, so it opens right away and we walk in. “Are you and your brothers the only advisors?”

She pulls her purse over her shoulder as the elevator descends. “Right now, yes. But we’ll be hiring soon. I think I told you…my parents plan to retire in a year or two. George and Henry will move up and no longer handle clients anymore.”

“But you will?”

We reach the ground floor and exit into the lobby. “Yeah, it’s the part of my job I enjoy the most. I’ll probably take COO, but still retain a few clients.”

I hold the front door for her as we step out onto the sidewalk. “I think you’ll represent the business well.”

“I hope so,” she laughs. “I’d love to serve more families outside of greater Minneapolis someday.”

We head to my truck, which is parked on the street, and I open the passenger door for her. She climbs in and clasps her hands in her lap like she’s nervous, but I’m not sure why. I’m the one who has to prove myself to the girl with the high expectations.

“Do you just work on buildings here in the city, or in the surrounding areas too?" she asks once I'm inside.

I pull out into traffic. “My only clients are high rises right now, and that’s kinda where I found my niche, but we’ll see.”

“I thought you were afraid of heights? Why’d you choose high rises?” she asks.

“I have no idea,” I laugh, but my stomach flips a bit. We’ve only talked about my fear of heights on Blindly, and it’s something I probably wouldn’t have admitted to Rose in person, so it feels weird to start blending the two worlds together.

“Maybe you should have thought about that.” She raises a teasing eyebrow.

“Well, I’m committed now,” I smirk.

“The city’s expanding,” she suggests. “So, you’ll have more prospective clients every day.”

“But not enough employees to take on the work,” I laugh.

“Are you hiring?”

I shake my head. “Not yet, but we’re working on an org restructure soon that will allow that. Right now, I have eighteen employees. If we hit twenty, it’s time to think about developing a true leadership team.”

She peers at me with a sly grin. “You mean, you’d be promoted to CEO?”

I return her expression. “Yes, Rose, I’d be a CEO. What do you think of that?”

She rolls her eyes. “Status doesn’t meaneverythingto me.”

I laugh. “Oh really? Is that why you tried to join an elite singles app?”

She frowns and turns her head away. “I suppose that wasn’t my best move. I’m trying to be more open.”

I sense I’ve pushed too hard, so I pull back. “I like that about you. You know what you want, but you’re also adaptable.”

She peers at me, skepticism very apparent. “Says the guy who makes fun of me for being completely incapable of doing anything other than wear expensive shoes.”

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