Page 41 of Mister Cowboy
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With her hairpulled up in a messy bun, she slipped into her ballet flats and strolled to the kitchen in search of coffee. A glance toward Michael’s shut door indicated that he was home and sleeping. She sighed as she was slammed with a pang of guilt over her reaction last night. Brecken was right about one thing, sleeping had helped her see things a little clearer.
A scribbled note in Michael’s small, sloppy handwriting laid on the kitchen counter.
Jan—Sorry. Can we talk tonight? Come by the bar early before your shift.
She wroteher response underneath and tossed the pen on the granite. With her coffee cup in hand, she hurried downstairs where Edward was already parked at the curb. He stood next to the car with a smile on his face.
“Good morning, Edward,” she chimed merrily.
“Mornin’, Ms. Lyle. Beautiful morning out.” He opened the door, and the smell of flowers was so strong she took a step back. The entire backseat was filled with flowers—roses, daisies, lilies, and tulips.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, looking at Edward, who grinned at her excitement.
“He did well.”
“He certainly did.” She slid into the seat and examined every bouquet, gravitating toward the yellow tulips.
Edward leaned down as he held the frame of the door. “I meant you, but the flowers are nice, too.” He winked and shut her in among the flowers.
Not wanting to interrupt Brecken in case he was in a meeting, she snapped a picture of the backseat filled with flowers and typed a short message.
Me: Thank you! You made my morning. Hope you have a good day.
She added a kiss emoticon for good measure, pressed send, and relaxed into the cool leather.
21
Brecken
“So what did you think?” Brecken asked as he relayed the information from the last two days of meetings.
Tina stared back at him through the computer screen and pushed her glasses up farther on the bridge of her nose. “I’m not sure this is something I should weigh in on. This is your company. Your name and reputation is the one associated with it.”
“Okay, well, pretend you’re a friend giving me advice then. What should I do?”
She hesitated long enough that he thought she was going to refuse to play ball. “Frankly, I don’t know why you’re considering it. The other companies have something to gain. Theyneedthis. You don’t. Blackstone Software is doing well. We’re thriving. We’ve already signed our third client this year.”
“Yeah, but this could open new opportunities for us.”
“We don’t need the people in that room for that.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her, but she continued without letting him respond.
“When I met you five years ago, you would have told anyone coming at you with a deal like this to go fuck themselves.”
She was right about that.
“So, if I were speaking as your friend, that’s what I would say. Tell them to go fuck themselves, or better yet, why don’t you look at buying the resources you need to expand.”
Expand Blackstone Software? Could he buy the pieces and do it himself? It hadn’t occurred to him, and he wanted to kick himself. “I think I like having you as my friend.” He chuckled, and her shoulders relaxed. It was only then that he realized they had been tense, as if she had been worried how he would react to her honesty.
He stood and put on the suit jacket he’d tossed on the chair.
“What are you doing?” Tina asked.
“I’m telling them to go fuck themselves. Then I’m catching the next flight out of here. Let’s meet in the office tomorrow morning at nine and brainstorm ideas for the future of the company. I think you might be onto something.”
