Page 85 of Love Me Forever

I hesitated for a second, wondering if it was too early to tell her, but why not bring it up?

"Do you think Kimberly would like to join us? Not necessarily now, but in the near future?"

"Join us?" she asked.

"As head of international development.”

My cousin's face lit up. "That's a brilliant idea! You didn't even tell me you want to expand. I thought you just wanted this one hotel."

"You know me. Go big or don't try doing anything at all. I want Maxwell Hotels to make a mark in the industry. I've always liked the idea of as many family members as possible being involved. Part of me always regretted our parents selling the bookstores."

Reese leaned back in her chair, looking at me intently. "That's surprising. You never seemed interested."

"I was a kid when they sold it, and then the software thing really blew up, and I knew the opportunity was huge. I didn't even have time to think about the stores, but now I want to build something that lasts."

"Already thinking about your heir?" she mused, placing her chin in her palm.

"Something like that," I said proudly.

"You know, you always said you're not relationship material. I suspect that deep down, you're a family man through and through. You just didn't know it."

"And still you continuously warn me not to mess things up with Bonnie."

"Oh, Travis. If I've learned something in my series of romantic failures, it's that we can fail even when we have the best intentions."

I grinned. “Nothing like some Maxwell wisdom to make my day.”

“Oh, I’ve got plenty of advice to give. One of these days, maybe I’ll even follow it myself.”

We spent the rest of the lunch talking about the next steps. Reese was ready to start tomorrow. Once we finished our food, we went back down to the office. I introduced Reese to Tim, then to Paul, who had her contract ready to go.

“Perfect,” Reese said. “So that’s all for now?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“Great. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning, then.”

Marjorie glanced at me questioningly. I said nothing. She was probably stunned by Reese’s serious and professional tone. In the past, whenever Reese dropped by at the office, she’d asked Marjorie about her nieces and nephews. My cousin loved small talk. I was curious if she’d be able to keep this up for very long.

After Reese left, I returned to my office. Marjorie had moved my lunch call with the marketing agency to two o’clock, so it was going to start in ten minutes. Even though we had a marketing manager, we were still working with an agency for social media. I preferred that because I liked the flow of creative ideas. You couldn’t get the same quality in-house unless the marketing team was huge. The department only had three employees as of now. Tim agreed with me, making me even more confident in my decision to hire him.

I was halfway through reviewing their presentation deck when my dad called, surprising the hell out of me. He didn’t like talking on the phone, preferring face-to-face conversations. Mom was the one who usually called.

"Dad," I said, putting the phone to my ear.

"Son, how are you doing?"

"I just had Reese over. She agreed to be my CFO.”

“That’s great news. You must take her out to celebrate. You know Reese loves that.”

“We went to the bar upstairs for lunch.”

"That's good to hear." He sounded distracted. I recognized a loaded phone call when I got one. I knew how this was going to go. Gran baked apple pie whenever she was scheming; Mom made Dad call me, chat me up about something completely different, and then he'd pass the phone to Mom, who went straight for the jugular. I was curious what subject my dad would pick today as the inroad.

"Son, I need some help deciding on your mother's birthday present."

"Okay," I said in a measured tone. Dad had never asked for advice on her present.Ever. "What are your options?"

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