Page 53 of Give Me Forever

To my surprise, he came in a few minutes later.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"He’s not confident in working together because I’ve yet to pay what's owed to our last manufacturer."

“You’re still paying that? But it’s not your fault.”

I closed my laptop, pushing my chair back and rising to my feet. I needed to walk for a bit. I had too much adrenaline. I wasn't a runner, but in moments like this, I understood why people said they did it for stress relief.

“The contracts were in my name. That’s why she cleaned out all the money.”

“Declan can look over your contracts. He’s good at that stuff and will find a loophole.”

My heart swelled. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. But I don’t think he can do much. I was way too stupid when we drafted the contract and agreed that I couldn’t sue her for taking out funds from the company.”

“Avery, you’re not stupid. You just let your heart get in the way.”

“That shouldn’t happen in business. But I’ll figure something out. I’m just drawing a blank right now.”

"I know you will." He looked at me intently. "I have full confidence in you. But it's also okay to admit that this just sucks."

"Of course it sucks, Sam. But if I allow myself to fall apart because of this, I don't think I'll get back up. It's been a few months now of hitting roadblocks." Which was true; I felt like I was taking one step forward only to take two steps back.

"Come on, let’s go out.”

“I forgot about that,” I said, not totally in the mood to enjoy myself. I wasn’t one for pity parties, but I could throw myself one tonight.

“I’ll cheer you up, the way you did for me the other evening.”

"Sam, you'd had a terrible day at the hospital and lost a lot of patients. People died. That's nothing compared to this."

"It's not fair to compare people's problems. Each of our struggles are unique to what we do. It doesn't mean they're any less important. " He stepped closer, pushing strands of hair from my chest and my shoulder. The gesture was strangely intimate and comforting. He looked me in the eyes. "What do you want to do?"

I cocked a brow. "You don't have a plan? The secret one you've been working on for a while?"

"I do, but I thought I'd ask just in case there was something specific you wanted to do."

"I trust you fully tonight," I told him. "Do with me whatever you want."

He grinned, and his blue eyes darkened a notch.

I pressed my lips together. "That was not an innuendo."

"I see.”

“You do?” Because I was totally lost.

“Yes.”

“Don't make me regret it."

"Not a chance."

***

Sam

"Where are we going?" She looked at me, moving her lips playfully from one corner to the other. Damn, I forgot she did that. She was cute.

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