Chapter 18
A fter she gets inside her old Honda and waves, I call Greg over Bluetooth on my drive back to the cottage.
“What was that yesterday?” he opens with a gruff tone.
“I deserve that.”
“This girl,” he states and asks at the same time, his voice booming.
“We just met … but it feels?—”
“Adam!” he interrupts. “Do you know how to be single?” He laughs.
“It’s fine,” I deflect. “Actually, I’m happy.”
Greg laughs, mocking me.
“Remember that company, Shirts?”
“How could I forget that dog of a company everyone was enthralled with?”
“Remind me,” I say, smirking, knowing I’m about to set Greg up. “Why did our team like that company so much?”
“The marketing. They were absolutely crushing the marketing, but everything else was a disaster.”
“Are you at your desk?”
“Yeah.”
“Look up Shirts in our CRM. Remind me of the marketing contact over there.” After ten years of working together, I hold back a laugh, knowing the reaction Greg is about to have.
“Dani Sommer,” he says blandly.
“The flash in the pan.” I let it linger. “That’s Dani Sommer .”
“No fucking way!” I hear him pound his desk in shock. “Adam, I could’ve killed you yesterday. Now, I’m actually might kill you. You cannot be fucking team members of companies we’ve invested in.”
“I didn’t know. I just found out.” I sigh, distracted by thoughts of her. “But I don’t think she works there anymore.”
“We all expected some form of a midlife crisis, but this is more than we bargained for.”
While it’s completely inappropriate for me to be sleeping with someone who worked at a company we’ve invested in, the coincidence of it all feels like … fate? That’s not a thing.
Greg pauses for a moment before chuckling. “Fuck! I’m so jealous; tell me what hot sex is like.”
I shake my head, not wanting to share anything about her.
“I introduced her to our team via email this morning,” I redirect. “Can you have them confirm she’s no longer at Shirts? And should I even care how the wind-down is going?”
“If she’s no longer at Shirts, then she’s fair game,” Greg states the obvious.
“They’ve only got a skeleton crew there now as we spin the company down …
and no, you don’t want to know what was going on.
” He cynically chuckles, which tells me everything.
“It’s only going to upset you,” he says, and I saw that coming.
“There’s even less than we were thinking.
” He pauses, then laughs. “Make sure to thank Declan. He owes us three million dollars for insisting we invest in that company; he ruined our damn near-perfect track record.”
“Good thing he’s good for it.” I desperately try not to think any more about work. I’m not supposed to be working that much right now, after all. “Twenty-five-year-olds, man.” I laugh, changing the subject. “It’s a whole new world.”
“Stop making me jealous about what freedom is like. And don’t let it distract you from the assignment, which you’re fucking failing at,” he reminds me. “You promised you’d return calm, relaxed, refreshed, and healthy.”
“I’m happy.” I smile, thinking about her and our time together. “She makes me happy.”
“Good for you. And get her to sign an NDA while you’re at it.” His COO brain is always on. “Can’t have her running her mouth about fucking Adam Harris during his midlife crisis.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Send me something.” I should have her sign an NDA. “Thanks, man. Talk later.”
I end the call. Dani is quickly surprising me. She’s a real talent. Why does she need to get back on her feet? And here, in Wisconsin? I need to know the full story about what happened at Shirts.