Page 32 of One Night Billionaire

“You did it, Anna.”

“Well,” she winked. “I started. You get to finish it now.”

She went to the table and grabbed a chocolate-covered donut but not a coffee. He’d remembered her need for creamer and picked up extra.

“You okay, Anna?” he asked her.

She nodded, yawning. “I’m good. Excited this is figured out.”

“I’m sure you’re ready to start your new job,” he couldn’t help the words.

“It’s not that. I was getting worried that we were going to miss the launch. I’m glad that I was able to help figure it out and get it back on track.”

“Thank you for that. For this. All of this.” He gestured to the room. “Go to my office and lay down. We can all sort this out while you take a short nap.”

She yawned again. “I’m really fine.”

“You’re tired. I appreciate the dedication. Go take a power nap and then join us again. There’s only so much you can do now anyway.”

She looked dead on her feet, and he wondered if he had missed it yesterday. This didn’t look like the kind of tiredness you get from one night of poor sleep. She looked completely exhausted.

“I need to be here—"

“And you will be. Once you’re rested you can help close things out with the team, but even you have to admit you’ll work better after a few minutes of sleep.”

Brian reached for her without thinking but she didn’t pull back, a true sign of how tired she was. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to his office.

“Don’t let me sleep more than an hour,” she told him.

Brian reached down, lifting the top off the ottoman and pulling out a blanket. He stashed that there for nights when he’d worked too late and needed to be back early. He had a suit in a small closet as well. He had everything he needed if he needed it.

“You’ll wake me up, right?” she asked.

Brian nodded. He would, but not in an hour. Not until things were almost done would he do that.

She stretched out on his sofa with another yawn, and Brian draped the blanket over her. She tucked it under her chin and was asleep before he left the room.

It hit him as he shut the door. This was it. Now that the project was wrapping up to launch, she’d leave. Leave the company and leave him and he wouldn’t see her anymore.

He was still pissed at her. None of that had changed for him, but it meant there would be no more second chances after this week. Getting to see her every day was infuriating and frustrating, but he also looked forward to it.

He would miss her whether he wanted to or not. Brian leaned back against the closed door and sighed. This was truly it. Well, sure, she had a week left here, but this was the beginning of the end.

Brian made his way back to the conference room and joined her team. He watched them work for a moment before joining them.

Jose, the man that Anna had suggested to lead the team was already taking the lead. The team was looking to him for guidance and he was providing it. They were seamless and he knew she was right on that.

“Hey, Boss,” Jose greeted him. “Should we be saving you some donuts?” he joked.

Brian laughed and shook his head. “Have at it, but you might want to save one for Anna.”

“Already on it.” Jose pointed at the napkin with two chocolate-covered donuts on it. “I know her weakness. Poured her some coffee, too, just in case.”

“Great.”

“Glad you got her to take a break. She’s been working nonstop on getting this up and going. Anna needed some rest.”

“Yeah,” he said absently. “If she asks, we were all so busy we didn’t realize how much time passed. She wanted me to wake her up in an hour.”

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