Page 19 of Falling for the CEO

"I mean, suit yourself. See you," she said before taking off.

Naomi grated on my nerves, but I intended for Ben to grow up with his mother involved in his life. But I wanted what was best for my son, and maybe a relationship with a mother who wasn’t interested wasn’t a great idea. Time would tell.

Agatha arrived a few hours later. "How is the little one?"

"He napped a lot during the day, but he seems active now," I said as I handed him into her arms. Agatha was a lifesaver. "I've got to go. Call me if you need anything.”

"Oh, you have fun. Ben and I will enjoy ourselves too," she cooed.

I couldn't believe that a woman I paid to take care of Ben was showing him more affection than his own mother. I really needed to think this through with Naomi. I kissed Ben on the head and told him to be good as I stepped out the door, got into my car, and drove out onto the road.

I was heading to my grandparents’ house to pick up my grandmother for dinner. A few months ago, my brothers and I decided to take turns going to the city with her, primarily to get her out and about so she wasn’t cooped up at home all the time. I arrived in front of their house sooner than anticipated. They still lived in the same house they did when I was growing up. The exterior was green with white shuttered windows. The tile had been red when I was a kid, but it was dark gray now. Being here always took me back to that time.

My grandparents had been a stable force in our lives for as long as I could remember. I was about to call Grandmother and tell her I was early when I noticed a missed call from Gabe, so I marked his number instead. He answered right away.

"Hey, what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm waiting for Grandmother. We’re going to dinner."

"Oh yeah, that's right. It's your turn. A word of warning—last week she subtly told me that she's got her eye on me. And Maddox too."

"Really? He didn't mention anything to me. But I haven’t seen him since our last tennis match three weeks ago.” Then again, Gabe was the closest to our half brothers.

"She sprang it on him last week. The two of us took her out together.”

“Thanks for the warning. What else did you want to talk to me about?"

"I'm prepping the opening of the bar."

“I remember."

My brother planned to open an actual bar at the distillery, but I’d forgotten his opening day was coming up.

"I want to book some ads in all your publications. Can someone in your ads team send me a cost proposal?"

"I hope that was a joke. You don't have to pay for anything.”

"No, that's not how business is done."

"It is in our family," I corrected.

"Spencer! I want some valuable real estate ad space."

"And you'll get it."

"And I'm late as fuck because I've been micromanaging a few things."

I laughed. "It's good of you to admit. That's the first step in curing yourself."

"No, there’s no cure for me."

“Runs in the family anyway.”

“What’s wrong?”

I usually didn’t share work issues with my brothers. Everyone had their own crises to deal with.

“I need a writer for biographies. The last one quit, and HR isn’t coming up with good solutions. But we’ll find someone eventually. Send me what you want, and I’ll make it happen."

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