Page 52 of Greed

I’m confident of that too.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me.” He moves to kiss my cheek. “I chose you because I know you’ll handle this deal with tact and grace.”

“Tact and grace,” I repeat. “I may need to add that to my business cards.”

That lures a deep chuckle from him. “Let’s talk about that tomorrow. I want to end our first date with a kiss.”

I smile and nod before he leans down to brush his lips against mine.

* * *

Hours later,I walk into one of the conference rooms at Thorsen & Associates with a coffee in hand and a lack of sleep weighing me down.

I had every intention of going home to bed after I left Declan’s, but on the drive there, I chatted with Rygar about the merits of plain bagels over his favorite. Rygar prefers a bagel with strawberry preserves. I’m a purist since I only opt for good quality cream cheese.

We decided to convert each other when we stopped for a very early morning coffee and an assortment of bagels. It turns out that we both are fans of the poppy seed bagels with lemon jam at Bailey’s Bagels in Brooklyn. I even bought one for Carrie so it would be waiting for her when she woke up.

That happened while I was sitting at the kitchen table researching Marg Jablonsky. I was already dressed for work since I took a shower as soon as I got home from my bagel date with Rygar.

“Good morning, Helena,” I greet my co-worker in the cheeriest voice I can muster.

Her head pops up. She pushes her reading glasses down the bridge of her nose to peer over the frames at me. “Someone is as happy as a clam today.”

I laugh that off. “Someone is dead tired and is apparently doing a pretty good job of covering that up.”

“Please tell me you weren’t burning the midnight oil at this place.” She gazes around the expansive room. “The best advice I can ever offer is don’t make work your life.”

I know Helena’s backstory. She mentioned it herself when we met for a drink after work one Friday. It wasn’t just the two of us. Helena invited half the office to join her at a bar near the building.

After Helena’s second glass of wine, she confessed to everyone present that she wished she had taken the plunge and married her college sweetheart when he asked her to. Instead, she went to law school, which sent her life on a trajectory that ended with where she is now.

“I won’t make work my life,” I reassure her.

“Does that mean a man is to blame for your sleepless state?”

I smile. “He’s partially to blame for it.”

“Good.” She motions to a chair near where she’s sitting. “Let’s talk about the Llura deal. Have you tried reaching out to their lawyer?”

“Marg Jablonsky?” I feel a certain level of satisfaction in the name-drop. “I haven’t, but I plan on doing that this morning.”

“Look at you.” She grins. “You’re a step ahead of me. I wasn’t sure who was representing Llura.”

“This deal is important to me,” I tell her, even though I know she’s fully aware of the enormity of this assignment in terms of my career.

“You’re going to nail it, Abby.” Her tone swells with confidence. “I have to say I admire you. So far, it looks like you’ve got work and your personal life figured out.”

I wish that were true.

I’m sleeping with the first real client I’ve ever had. I can only hope I’m navigating that correctly because it’s not a subject any of my professors covered in law school.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

Declan

A weekend spentwith friends is always a good idea.

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