Page 65 of Austen Persuaded

He can’t be here.

I tugged on Rainn’s sleeve desperately and looked at him with wild eyes. He tilted his head in concern and mouthed,What?

Sofia leaned over, and I tried to conceal my distress. “Annie, is that …” she whispered. “It looks like that guy from the book club. Kyle?”

I nodded numbly, unable to tear my eyes away now. Kylan wasn’t looking at me, probably hadn’t spotted me. He was talking quietlyto Lucas and the others in the front, smiling and looking dashing in a suit and tie.

Oh my god, he’s handsome.I’d never seen him this dressed up, had I? No, I would remember if I had.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Lucas spoke, his voice naturally carrying across the room. A few people still streamed into the room, but he was a busy man and wasn’t going to wait all day, his tone said. “Thanks for gathering so quickly. We have an important announcement to share, and I wanted you all to be the first to know, before it goes public.”

The pit in my stomach grew. As if it weren’t traumatic enough that Kylan was here inexplicably, this was sounding even more ominous for the future of my new job that I already loved so much. I wasn’t the nervous type normally, but I bit my trembling lip and tried to breathe steadily. Rainn squeezed my hand in my lap.

“Franchersantz is being acquired by Elliott Literary.” Gasps circulated around the room, but Lucas put his hand forward for silence. “Elliott is a much larger agency headquartered in New York, one of the top agencies in the country if you somehow haven’t heard of it.” He extended his arm toward Kylan. “I want to introduce Kylan Quinn, who heads up the agency. Elliott has brokered countless deals with the biggest publishers and has been acquiring some smaller regional agencies like ours.” I heard Rainn gasp next to me as I leaned into him for support.

Kylan was smiling politely at Lucas with what seemed like a genuinely humble expression. I was starting to suspect my ex was actually a lot more successful (and richer) than I’d ever realized … to think he’d started from nothing, or almost nothing! Viviana had thought me too good for him—which I’d never really believed—but nowhewas far too good forme. How on earth had he traveledthatfar up the ladder in just four years since we’d known each other?

Not that it matters, since that was long in the past.Just pay attention, dammit.

“… so this is great news for our business,” Lucas was saying. “With more resources and contacts within our reach, we can grow and succeed beyond what we could do on our own. We’re really excited.” My face scrunched in confusion.

Was Lucas spinning this acquisition as a good thing? Was it actually good, or was he just trying to smooth things over for the moment?

“We’re going to have a Q&A session early next week,” Lucas continued, “as well as some other resources to help our team with the first part of this transition. For now, I’m going to give the floor over to Mr. Quinn for a bit, and then to Jardin to discuss the human resource perspective.”

Kylan shook Lucas’s hand as though concluding a business transaction right then and there. Then he turned to the rest of the room and smiled. If he saw me, it wasn’t obvious. Rainn squeezed my hand again in support, and I gave him a weak but grateful smile before turning back to Kylan. I tried to focus on his words instead of … him. In a well-tailored, expensive suit, simple but perfect haircut, strong, clean-shaven jaw, and a confident smile, helookedthe part of the man taking over a company. It was hard to imagine I’d known him just four years ago as the sweet and passionate college guy with a lot of dreams and no money. Again I reminded myself to pay attention to the speaker.

“I’m all about growth,” Kylan was saying. “I want to grow my company, but I want to grow your company too. Ours. Together. I’ve been in town for a few weeks now, and I plan to stay here in the Twin Cities for at least a few months to make this a smooth transition. I’m committed to helping us all succeed. Every single one of us. I don’t plan to lay off anyone.” I heard someone behind me sigh in relief. “Lucas is choosing to step away from his post and move to a board position, but other than that, every one of you still has a job, if you want it. We’ll even be looking to make transfers or hire for a few new positions and asking you for referrals. Your HR director will be able to answer more questions too—she’s great, by the way. I’m looking forward to meeting with all of you in the coming weeks and getting to know your business. I like to be hands-on, but I also have a lot of trust in the people we employ. We have a great transition plan mapped out that we’ll share and kick off next week.”

He paused, scanning the room and flashing a massive smile.

He must not have seen me yet.

After clearing his throat, he continued, “This will be an amazing union for all of us. We’ll be able to help more authors than ever before and help bring more books to market and sell more than ever. And hopefully—this goal is close to my heart—through those books, inspire more people and instill in them a lifelong love of reading.”

Some people clapped, and I rolled my eyes. Unfortunately, Kylan chose that moment to finally notice me, and a muscle in his jaw tightened slightly before his eyes darted away.

Oh crap.

No …

He’s going to be … my boss! Or my boss’s boss’s boss, or something like that. He could fire me.

And I’ve just started this awkward new phase by rolling my eyes at his cheesy but probably well-intentioned line.

Not to mention being frosty every time I’ve seen him.

He could ruin me. Ruin this dream.

Just like I ruined his.

No, I didn’t ruin his dream. He’s living it, here, now. Look how successful he is.Thiswas his dream, not some silly college romance with me.

Rainn squeezed my hand again, and I looked up first at him and then at the woman now speaking. Jardin was giving a brief overview of what to expect next week from HR.

Ugh, how could Kylan do this to me?

I can’t even pay attention to an important meeting, one of the most important of my life, possibly.

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