Page 46 of Bossy Trouble

And I wasn’t quite sure why.

Perhaps it was the constant proximity. Or maybe it was finally seeing her as the woman she’d grown into. Contrary to what I believed before, she hadn’t changed all that much. She still retained her famous temper, but it was now suppressed with sophisticated maturity. I wondered if that was a consequence of having a child. She’d always been kind, but now her whole manner was so nurturing that it instantly put people at ease.

I saw it at the meeting we held with her employees and manufacturers.When we went to the warehouse, she inquired about the status of the items in a tone of voice that was knowledgeable without being condescending. Although it was subtle, I noticed she sometimes shifted the way she addressed different people based on her perception of them. She was a lot more encouraging with the bashful Simon, a withdrawn but intelligent tech whiz who was in charge of the online user interface, and she was a lot firmer with Electra, the somewhat flighty marketing manager. Georgia seemed to understand each person’s unique strengths and weaknesses, and she accommodated them well for it.

While it wasn’t the technique I would have used, her sensitivity showed in her interactions, and as a result, they adored her. Which I was now realizing wasn’t such a bad thing.

Maybe that was why I felt how I felt right now.

Georgia had grown into one of the most beautiful, genuine people I’d ever met, and I didn’t want to see her hurt.

But the only reason she would be hurt was because of me. In any case, I embroiled her company in all this mess, and now there was Sasha involved too.

Which brought me to my second problem.

I couldn’t help thinking selfishly about whether Sasha would go along with my plan to not tell her father about our break up until I could find another investor to take his place. And I needed to do that quickly before the time ran out.

And I also needed to keep up appearances, so damn Lupin didn’t come sniffing around again.

It was all a lot to think about. My mind drifted toward proposing a fake relationship with Sasha to our mutual benefit, but I ultimately discarded the idea. I knew Sasha would eventually go for it—I could convince her of anything.

But somehow, I doubted Georgia would see it as only a fake relationship. I doubted even harder that she would be okay with it. Despite everything she said about no-strings-attached sex, I knew she would consider my relationship with Sasha to be a betrayal.

And she may not be entirely wrong.

And that was the real reason I was sitting here, staring into nothing and ignoring the pile of work on my desk.

Because for the first time, I was forgoing doing what was most beneficial for me in order to do what was fair to someone else.

And also, for the first time, I felt no desire to get back to work. I typically loved work because it fed the hungry need inside me to be more, do more, and have more. But now that need was dulled under the need for something else.

I didn’t know exactly what that something was.

But I knew where to find it.

* * *

I knocked on the door,glancing around the neighborhood as I waited. One streetlight was broken, but for the most part, it was clean and quiet. It didn’t look like the kind of place a woman would get mugged coming home at night. Still, I made a note to have Kenny drop off Georgia at the end of every work shift. I could drive myself to and from work.

I rapped on the door again, wondering what was taking Georgia so long. There was a flurry of footsteps, and then the door unlatched, slowly coming open.

But it wasn’t Georgia standing at the doorway.

Instead, her daughter, with an inquisitive expression way beyond her years, stood there, scratching her hair and looking up at me.

Then, she stuck out her hand and said, “Hello there. I’m Avery.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Hi, Avery. We already met.”

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me your name.”

I thought about it and recalled that I did. She must have forgotten.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said anyway. “I didn’t.”

I put out my hand, and it engulfed her tiny one. “I’m Donovan.”

“Donovan,” she mouthed it with a slight lisp. “That’s a cool name.”

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