Page 130 of Playing A Risk
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“That’s probably for the best. All I have is water and iced tea.” She stands at the kitchen island and scans over her loft. “Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”
“I don’t care about how clean your place is. Besides, it’s not that messy.” I join her on the other side of the counter. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you seem a little down. Anything you want to talk about?”
Her eyes flit across my face before they lower. “Why are you here, Jami?”
“I cleaned out my office today and went to say goodbye. Hailey said you went home early, so I came here to see if we could chat.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
My stomach tightens. “Why would you say that?”
“Hailey’s on vacation.”
“Oh. Busted.”
“Yeah, I’d say. Let’s go into the other room and you can start over.” She motions to her couch.
I walk over and sit beside her while considering how to make a good recovery. Honesty seems to be the best policy, but I feel bad throwing Melanie under the bus.
Dori saves me instead. “If you were at the office, I’ll assume you ran into Melanie.”
“Yeah. She came in to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? Don’t you two have plans to meet up once you’re in Miami?”
“Just because I’m working for Mateo again and she is starting there doesn’t mean I’ll see her. Actually, we probably won’t unless we schedule something.”
Dori curls up into the corner of the couch. “Why wouldn’t you see her?”
I shift sideways. “Since word got out about the app’s success, I’ve been getting tons of inquiries. I’m going to open an office there so I can work on multiple contracts at a time. I’m growing my team in-house so someday I can sit back and enjoy my life while I still bring in the cash.”
“Look at you making moves. If you’re not careful, you’ll wind up a billionaire before you’re thirty-five.” She flashes me a forced smile.
I smirk, knowing I’ve already hit said target. I glance away to hide appearing smug.
“Jamison Stone, look at me.”
“What?” I face her direction.
Her eyes widen. “Holy shit. You already are one, aren’t you?’’
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I can’t stop myself from smiling.
“Impressive, Jami. Impressive.” She shakes her head. “Why hide it?”
“Like you, Dori, I’ve never been about the money. Sure, it’s nice knowing I’ll be able to provide for a family, but the goal was always about leaving a legacy my parents would be proud of.”
“They were always proud of you.” Her expression drops. “You haven’t talked about them in a while. How are you doing with it all?”
I adjust myself, taking in a centering breath and resting my arm on the back of the sofa. “Since we had the accident in themountains, the intense pain dissipated. It’s like reliving it helped me release it somehow.”
She’s quiet for a few beats, then peeks up at me. “Despite the circumstances, I’ll always treasure that day.”
“Yeah, me too.” I let the memory of my time with her fill my soul. “I have one regret about that day, though. One thing I wish I could change.”
“What’s that?” Her question comes out timid.
