Page 70 of Charm

She lunges at me, tugging me into a big hug. She cries with her face against my shoulder. I hold onto her tightly, sure I can feel the tension leaving her body.

“I’ll call Jameson,” she whispers. “I’ll call him and tell him the deal is a go.”

“No,” I say evenly. “Don’t.”

She moves back from our embrace to look at me. Her hand swipes her cheeks, chasing away the last of her tears. “I’m fine with you making the call, Greer.”

I rehearsed what I wanted to say to her on my way here, but all those carefully chosen words have gotten lost now.

“I’m not selling,” I start, stopping to blow out a breath. “I’d like to dissolve the agreement we had about selling the company together. I want to hold onto my half, Krista.”

Her brow furrows. “Carden will be on board for that, Greer. Jameson already mentioned the possibility of buying me out so they can partner with you.”

She’s making this harder than it needs to be.

“That can’t happen,” I tell her. “I don’t…”

“Sure, it can happen,” she interrupts me. “Once we dissolve that clause in our contract, I’ll hammer out a deal with them and then all that’s left is for you to approve it.”

I rub my hands over my thighs, smoothing out the denim of my jeans. “I won’t approve it.”

Her eyes instantly well with tears again. “What? Why not?”

I knew before I got here that I had to tell her the truth. I can’t fumble my way through a bunch of lame excuses for not agreeing to partner with one of the most successful candy conglomerates in the world.

“Are you scared they’ll force you out?” she asks, jumping to an obvious conclusion. “That’s it, isn’t it? You think they’ll make your life hell so you’ll eventually throw your hands up in the air and give in and sell to them.”

They might, but I’ll never have to worry about finding out if it happens.

“I’m not scared of that.” I thread my fingers together, anxiety driving every one of my movements. “It’s something else.”

“What is it, Greer? Please tell me.”

I glance at her face to see understanding in her expression. I hope it’s still there after I confess what I need to. “I slept with Holden Sheppard.”

Her mouth falls open. “No, you didn’t.”

I hold in a laugh. “I did.”

She jumps to her feet, still holding tightly to the silver cube. “It was sometime before the meeting, wasn’t it? That’s why you couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I nod. “We met in East Hampton when I was there. We both used fake names, so I had no clue I spent that weekend with Holden.”

“You spent the entire weekend with him?” Her hand leaps to her mouth. “So when you walked into the meeting, was that the first time you’d seen him since you two slept together?”

“Yes.” I stand, too. “I almost fell over.”

“I saw it firsthand.” She laughs. “This explains everything, Greer. It explains so much.”

“Does it explain why I can’t agree to you selling your half of the business to him?”

She purses her lips. “Maybe, but what if it’s a good thing for you if I sell to him?”

“It’s not.”

She wraps her arm around my shoulders. “He might be the guy for you, Greer. You know what they say about how thin the line between love and hate is.”

A bubble of laughter falls from my lips. “I’ll never love him. I don’t hate him, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever go into business with the man. That will always be a hard no.”

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