Page 23 of Seventeen Years Ago

“He is leaving next week. I need to know before then if he’s in or out,” she said.

That didn’t give me much time at all. “Reesa, don’t rush into anything.”

She looked at me puzzled. “Why? Is there something that you know that I don’t?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Sometimes things that look too good to be true, aren’t true at all.”

“Are you talking about my project or Steven?” she questioned.

Telling her my fears would mean giving her an explanation as to why. I wanted to keep the past in the past. I also wanted to make sure it didn’t get repeated.

“Neither and both. Just know that you control when it needs to be finalized, not anyone else,” I reminded her. “You’re the one in charge.”

Reesa smiled. “I really don’t know what I’d do without you. You’d make a great president one day.”

I burst out laughing. “Not interested.”

“Funny. That’s exactly what I said when my brother Jasper told me to run.”

“There’s one difference. He was right. You make a wonderful President,” I grinned. “We’ll see you at six.” I closed her office door as I made my exit.

It was early enough that I could get home, shower, and maybe squeeze in a nap. I had a feeling that I’ll need to be well-rested tonight if I was going to gather any more information that I needed.

And I’m not going to let Steven distract me like he did at lunch. Tonight, I listen, and he can do all the talking.

CHAPTER11

Steven

“When Aiza told me we’d have a driver, I wasn’t expecting it to be you,” I said to Bennett as I got into the SUV.

“I didn’t expect you to be having dinner off the resort either,” he replied. “Didn’t know that you and Miss Cross were friends.”

I ignored his comment. “I assume you know where we are going and don’t need me to provide you with an address.”

“I do.” He pulled out the gates of the resort and said, “I thought you were here on business.”

“I am,” I replied.

“Yet Caydan isn’t attending this meeting. Seems odd, don’t you think?” he said sarcastically.

Asshole.

“I am not aware of who is invited or not. Aiza called and informed me that President O’Connor requested I join them for dinner. Beyond that, I don’t know anything. If you want answers, then call her,” I said.

He didn’t ask anything further, and it wasn’t long before we pulled up in front of a small cottage. She was standing inside the gate. It was good to see that she was wearing jeans as well. I was about to get out of the SUV when Aiza came out of the house. She walked over, opened the back door and slid in to sit beside me.

“You look nice,” I said.

She chuckled. “Reesa said come comfortable. I figured my pajamas were too extreme, so I opted for jeans. I see you did as well.”

“It was this or a pair of swim trunks,” I smiled.

She turned her attention to Bennett and said, “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”

“The driver is feeling under the weather, so I decided to give him some time off,” Bennett replied.

I didn’t buy that for a second. Bennett was here because he wanted to keep an eye on me. Maybe he thought his presence was going to intimidate me. He was dead wrong. After living under my father’s roof, not much scared me.

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