Chapter 9 Penny
PENNY
All morning, I mull over the details of last night’s date, how perfect it was, and how I have Karmen and Duke to thank for it.
The fabulous dress I wore is destroyed, ripped at the hips and bust from when I was manhandling the potato gun. Karmen left me several others, along with some makeup that I only know how to put on due to her lengthy tutorial.
After a shower, I go out into the kitchen to find breakfast on the counter.
Happiness flutters in my chest, because not only is Greyson thoughtful, but he knows exactly what I like.
After eating way too much bacon, I get dressed, deciding to head into work.
All eyes are on me as I walk across the field, but Duke is the only one who tries to stop me.
“What do you think you’re doing out here?”
“About to check in to work.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Oh, yeah—watch me.”
I try to push past him, but his enormous body sidesteps in front of me. “Not in your condition.”
“Condition? What the hell am I supposed to do all day? Eat bon-bons and watch reality television.”
“I don’t care what you do, just so long as you—”
“Duke!” Greyson calls. “Step aside and let Ms. Green pass.”
Duke mean-mugs me, but obeys his older brother, knowing better than to challenge him.
“Come with me.” Greyson gestures for me to follow.
We head into his office, and I’m overwhelmed by a rush that only he can bring on.
When he dropped me off last night, I was eager to finish our evening inside, or, more specifically, in the bedroom, but he decided to leave, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m being punished for refusing him at his family’s dinner.
But that isn’t like Greyson.
“Sit down,” he says, and I take the seat across from him.
The commanding tone in his voice sends an electric sensation coursing through me, reminding me of what it felt like to be spread for him on his desk.
But now is not the time for that.
He pushes over a stack of folders. “Look through these and give me the five you think are the most qualified.”
I pick up the stack, opening the first one to a resume. “Ah, are you asking me to pick out an assistant?”
“More like a replacement.”
“But I’m not planning on quitting.”
“Then I guess I’m going to have to fire you. You can finish your research into Randy’s subscription box and train your replacement, but after that, you’re packing up your desk and hightailing it out of the barn.”
“But that’s not legal!”
He leans back in his chair and lifts his brow. “So sue me.”
“I will!”
“Yeah, but you won’t win.”
“Because you have better lawyers?”
“No, because your severance is going to be bigger than if you’d worked here for the next fifty years.” He slides an envelope across the table. I pick it up, open it, and pull out a check.
“Five million dollars?”
“Do you think I low-balled you?”
“No! It’s just not necessary.”
“The way I see it, it is.”
“How so?”
“Because if things are going to work out between us, it can’t be because you’re desperate. I can put you into contact with people who will help you invest it if that’s your prerogative, but that money is yours and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
I hate the giddy feeling I get when I look at all those zeroes written on the check. But I know that while money can take away stress, it can’t buy happiness.
“Thanks, Grey. I’ll take the check with me and think on it.”
“Take the files, too.”
As much as I want to argue with him, there’s no point. I’m having his child, and he’s dead set against me working.
“I’ll look through the files today and give you my thoughts.”
For a long minute, I sit, willing him to look up from his desk at me and take me as he had, but his eyes stay glued to the papers in front of him, and when I finally get up to leave, the only words he utters are, “Be ready by six.”