Page 103 of The Billionaire Is Back

“Well, I was here.”

“I wish you’d be here for the opening.”

“Me too. But I’m only going to miss the beginning. I’ll be here before you close.”

“Promise?” The way she’s looking at me, holding that big garbage bag, she seems so young and vulnerable.

I wish I could promise her that. I wish I could promise her everything. But I can’t. “I will do everything within my power to be here as soon as I can on opening day. And as you know, I am extremely powerful.”

That doesn’t get me another laugh, but I do get another hug.

I made a commitment to my company and all of my employees and all of Lynch’s employees that this transition will be as fluid as possible. I made a commitment to helping Claire achieve her dream. I can’t falter. I can’t stop moving. I will protect what I’ve built and do everything I can not to let anyone down. For now, that’s the only promise I can make.

Chapter 27

Apps for Dessert

Grady

“Hang on one second,babe. I just have to reply to this email, and then you will have my full attention.” I quickly type up an email on my laptop without looking over at my desktop monitor first because I don’t have to look at the screen to know that my beautiful, beloved virtual dinner date is frowning at me. I don’t enjoy making Claire wait, unless it’s part of a carefully planned edging technique that I can eventually pay off—in person. But I really do have to respond to this email ASAP. And then she really will have my full attention.

That’s what being a CEO is, for the most part. Choosing who and what will get my attention, when. Making decisions. Calculating risk. Is this something that I can fix if things devolve, or do I need to find a solution now before it becomes a bigger problem?

I am confident that I can still turn things around for us tonight, so the email gets answered, and then I close the laptop. I’ve been eating dinner at my desk in my home office, and Claire and I were having a very pleasant long-distance dinner date via my private video-call app for all of fifteen minutes before my phone started blowing up. “You were saying? How did theGilmore Girlsreunion end—did the old guy finally start wearing his baseball cap the right way?”

If there wasn’t an iPad, a computer screen, and about three hundred fifty miles between us, I would be wiping ice water from my face right now.

“His name is Luke, and he is not an old guy! You know what, I’m done eating. You’re obviously too busy for this. And it’s fine, so let’s just call it a night.” She dabs at her luscious lips and then balls up her napkin and tosses it at the iPad camera.

“Oh, is itfine, Little Sweeney? I know his name is Luke. It’s Luke Danes. I know that because I once made the mistake of asking you what you liked so much about that show, and you listed off about fifty reasons in a ranty monologue.”

Her expression softens a little. “You remember that?”

“There isn’t anything about you that’s forgettable, Claire. Except for your obsession with that Jess guy. I had to block that from my memory.”

She grins. “I was just trying to make you jealous. I’m happy to hear that it worked.”

As I’m turning my business phone over so I can’t see the notifications, I spot a textfrom Alice. I said I’d give Claire my full attention, but Alice wouldn’t text me after eight if it wasn’t important. So I read the text. And then I type my reply.

“Okay, well, I have to do laundry, so…”

“Claire. Do not end this call.”

She gets up from her stool at the kitchen counter and takes her dishes over to the sink. “It’s fine!” she calls out. I can’t see her anymore.

“I am putting the phone away now. Come on. We haven’t had dessert yet…Claire.”

She returns to stand in front of the iPad on the counter. “I have to wash some things before I leave for the bakery tomorrow morning. I’m tired anyway, so…”

“You brought laundry from the bakery home? Why didn’t you have the laundry service I set up for you take it?”

She waves her hands around, trying to dismiss me, but I will not be dismissed. “I’m talking about clothes that I wear around the house.”

“That’s what the housekeeper is for. That’s why I hired all of these people, Claire, so you have more free time.”

“I’m not comfortable letting other people launder my panties, okay? Maybe I never will be.”

Christ. Just hearing her talk about her panties, even laundering them, does something to me. I am so in love. “Babe. I have a very important question to ask you.”

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