4. Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Tanner
E arly Monday morning, I stand outside the Blue Vista building, my back leaned against the wall next to the door, staring out at the sparkling water of English Bay. They really have prime real estate, and I know the building is owned by the business. It was a smart decision on their behalf, but knowing the four people who own and operate Blue Vista Events, I expect nothing less than smart decisions.
I’d told Richard, at the end of our dinner, that I would be taking the morning off to figure out the logistics of marrying Vic. I’m not sure what he thinks that means, but he was happy to give me the morning if it meant I’m going to do what he wants. I’m certain he doesn’t know what I’m about to do, though.
The thing is, Vic hasn’t willingly talked to me since the day I got the job with her father. After the fallout, I considered declining the offer. Was a job I hadn’t started yet worth losing the woman I’d had a crush on for two years? In the end, I’d taken it for a lot of reasons. I had student loans that needed to be paid, and it was the best opportunity to come my way out of the dozens of applications I’d sent out. Richard makes it very difficult to say no to him. Besides, the damage had already been done.
“Tanner? Is that you?” a warm voice calls to me from down the sidewalk. I turn to see Adalie, the HR Coordinator of Blue Vista Events, and one of the four owners.
I’d met Vic and Spencer shortly before starting our MBA program and we had really hit it off. At first, I’d wondered if they were together, but it was clear very quickly they weren’t. Once we started the MBA, we met Derek and Adalie. The four of them had done a project together during one of the most difficult courses in the program and had come out as best friends. I was not part of that project. Sometimes, I wish I had been.
“Hey, Adalie. How are you doing?” I ask, straightening from the wall and opening my arms. Adalie is a hugger and I’m always happy to oblige. She’s a tiny woman with curly red hair and bright green eyes.
We hug and I hook a thumb in the direction she had come. “You driving to work these days?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Yeah. It’s pretty much the only drawback—oh, I guess you don’t know. I moved in with my boyfriend last month. Sold my place. We’re still discussing what I should do with the money, if I should buy into his house or invest it somewhere else.” She shrugs, like having a large sum of money isn’t a big deal to her.
Adalie didn’t grow up poor, but she didn’t grow up rich either. Not the way Vic and Spencer grew up. But I guess, being around people who know how to manage money can be very beneficial.
“So, what are you doing here?” she asks.
“I came to talk to Vic. I was working up the courage to go inside.”
Adalie laughs and links her arm through mine, tugging me with her.
“Good morning, Denise,” she says to the woman at the front desk. “Any messages?”
“None. But Spencer said he needs to talk with you about an upcoming event. And Derek wanted a meeting with all of you to discuss some purchases for Crescent Beach. It’s set for today after lunch.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see Spencer in a minute. This is Tanner. He’s here to see Vic. I’ll take him back.”
I nod to the receptionist and follow along as Adalie tugs me through the staff lounge.
“Would you like a coffee or tea before I feed you to the wolf?” she asks.
I adjust my glasses. “I think of her as more of a tiger than a wolf. Or maybe a black panther.”
Adalie laughs again. It’s easy to make her laugh.
“Coffee? Tea?” she repeats.
I shake my head. Better to not have anything in my hands that I can fidget with.
Adalie tugs me through the lounge to the other side where the offices are and goes to the far corner. I don’t drag my feet. I want to. But Adalie draws me forward, and I let her.
We get to the door, which is standing open, and Adalie says, “Morning, Vic. Someone here to see you.”
And there she is. Her raven black hair swept up in an elegant bun, her creamy white skin flawless, and her ice-blue eyes piercing in their intensity. God, she’s gorgeous.
Her desk is clear of debris. Like my desk, she has almost no decorative items except for one mug with three bands of colour in pink, purple, and blue, with a small rainbow flag sitting inside it.
Adalie gives me a little shove and I realize I’ve frozen at the door. I walk in, pulling up my practiced professional smile. I wave to Adalie and shut the door, taking a seat across from Vic. She hasn’t said anything yet, just watching me with a guarded expression.
I sit back in the chair, feigning a relaxed pose. “Hello, Vic.”
“Tanner,” she responds. “What are you doing here?”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
She arches one black eyebrow and sits back, elbows on the arms of her chair, fingers pressed together in front of her. “Is that so? What makes you think I’ll have any interest in this business proposition?”
“Because it involves Sterling.”
Her eyes narrow and her head tilts slightly, telling me I have her attention. I’d practiced this speech at least twenty times in the last twelve hours, going over it and over it until I got it just right.
“I want to start by saying you have to listen until the end. I promise it will be worth your while.”
She blinks slowly, but doesn’t say anything.
“I had dinner with Richard last night. He told me he’s considering retirement.”
Her eyes widen in shock, but she remains silent as I’d asked.
“He said he wants me to take over Sterling, but only if I’d be willing to become a Sterling.”
She sits up straight, her hands landing flat on her desk, and I know she wants to speak, so I hold up my hand.
“He wants us to get married. I don’t know why he thought I could just waltz in here and ask you and expect you to say yes, but it got me thinking. I need you to get the business, right? If you don’t agree to marry me, Richard won’t give me anything. But why would you agree to marry me unless you get something in return?”
“Like what?” she asks, breaking her silence.
“Half of what I get.”
I had expected her to start asking questions right away—why I would do this, why I would come to her and not just try to manipulate her. I have answers for these questions, if she wants them, but she doesn’t ask.
Instead she says, “What’s he offered you?”
“Fifty per cent shares and CEO.”
“So you’re offering me twenty-five per cent and what position?”
“Yes, on the percentage. Position we can negotiate. I wouldn’t be averse to staying the COO and you becoming CEO. Or vice versa.”
She nods as though this cold logic makes perfect sense to her. I suppose it does. She’s not a cold woman, but she is ruled by logic.
“Fifty per cent isn’t enough,” she says after a moment of consideration.
“What do you mean?”
“The Board holds twenty-five. If Dad gives you fifty, he still holds twenty-five. In disputes, there could be a deadlock. You need fifty-one.”
I grin. “That’s why you should be CEO. I never considered that.”
She almost laughs. Then she shakes her head. “There’s too many ways this could go wrong. Besides, you’ve worked for Dad for over seven years. You don’t feel any loyalty to him at all?”
I meet her gaze straight on. “Do you think he deserves my loyalty, Vic?”
She meets my look for a long time and doesn’t answer. Finally, she relaxes back into her chair again and I mirror her movement out of habit more than any other reason.
“You could have tried manipulating me into dating you, played the long game, gained the whole thing without having to give me any of it.”
It was something she might consider, but still, cold disgust washes through me at the thought and I lean forward again, ignoring what I’ve learned about not showing emotions in negotiations.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I’ve learned a lot from Richard over the years, including how to manipulate people. He is incredibly skilled at it, and I’ve picked up most, if not all, of his tricks. But I swear to you on my life, I will never manipulate you.”
She watches me for a long moment, assessing. If I’ve learned Richard’s tricks over the past seven years, she’s certainly learned them over her whole life. I can only hope she sees my sincerity now.
She gives me a small nod. “I believe you. So what is your proposal, exactly? We fake a marriage until he signs over the shares?”
I shake my head. “Not fake. He’d see right through that.”
“You think we should actually get married?”
“Yes.”
“Then what? Do we move in together? Fake a relationship?”
“No, Vic. We’re not faking anything. Everything is real. We get married. I’m with you, you’re with me. We live together. The whole thing. It’s the only way he’ll believe it. But we’ll have an expiry date he doesn’t know about. It can’t be too soon after the paperwork is finalized. We’ll need to sort out those details.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s ridiculous. We haven’t spoken to each other in seven years. We can’t just be together now. What if I’m in a relationship?”
“Are you?”
It was the one thing I worried about. She brought someone to the last family dinner and from what Richard has said in passing at work, Vic had been dating someone recently, but I don’t remember where that stands. I try hard not to pay too close attention to who she’s dating for fear of not being able to hide any possible jealousy.
She glares at me, and I grin.
“If you’re single, and I’m single, there’s nothing standing in our way.” I spread my hands as though to show how the way is clear.
“Nothing except we can’t stand each other,” she says.
“I never said I couldn’t stand you. It’s only you who can’t stand me . So you need to ask yourself, is that worth getting in the way of finally getting control—partial control, anyway—of Sterling Properties? I have a feeling it isn’t.”
She regards me skeptically for a long moment.
“I need some time to consider this,” she says, which I know is code for discussing it with her closest friends.
“No problem. Let’s go out for dinner tonight. Take the rest of the day to consider and we can talk more about the details then.”
She shakes her head. “It’s game night at Derek’s house,” she says. “I never miss it if I don’t have to. And I especially won’t be missing tonight.” She purses her lips, considering. “Tomorrow night. We’ll go out for dinner. I’ll have a decision for you then.”
I smile and stand, holding out my hand for her to shake. “Perfect. Shall I make a reservation?”
She stands and takes my hand, and a spark of recognition zips through me at the touch of her palm against mine. I haven’t touched her in over seven years, and I suddenly don’t want to stop. I take my hand back slowly before I do something stupid.
“Fine,” she says, clearly unaffected. “Make it for three. I’m bringing Spencer.”
“I expected nothing less. I’ll make it for four and I’ll bring Wyatt.”
She nods and comes around her desk, leading me out. “How is your brother doing?” she asks as she walks me through the corridors back to the front door, ever the good hostess.
“Great. He and his wife had another baby a few years ago. Hunter will be five this year.”
She gives me a genuine smile this time. She’d liked Wyatt the few times she’d met him. He and his wife Addison had come out for a night when Vic and I were still friends, leaving their daughter Riley with our mom for a much needed date night.
“That’s nice. What does that bring your count up to now?”
She’s asking about my nieces and nephews. I have a few.
“Eleven. Hunter was the last. I think everyone is done now, so there probably won’t be any more.” I bite my tongue on the urge to say, unless someone has another oops baby . Vic doesn’t need to hear my thoughts on my siblings’ lack of sexual responsibility.
She nods to Denise when we get to the lobby and turns to me. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“I’ll text you the details once I have the reservation.” I turn to leave, then pivot back, taking something out of my pocket. “Oh, I almost forgot. I made this for you last night.”
I smooth out the slightly crumpled paper crane, folding the wings and the beak back into shape, then place it in her palm.
She turns it around and around, staring down at it. Then she looks up at me, her blue eyes finding mine, one eyebrow raised.
“Let me guess,” she says dryly. “I’m not allowed to throw it away because you made it for me.”
My heart clenches at her reminder of the morning we’d spent together. Does she still have the paper flower I made her? For the first time, I wonder if I could have been wrong all those years ago. Could I have gotten her back if I’d done something as simple as make her some other silly piece of origami?
“That’s right.” I wink at her, not letting her see the emotions roiling within me. “See you tomorrow night.”
Then I leave the building before she can suspect how much I want this to go right. Because the truth is, I am playing a long game, but Sterling Properties isn’t the prize.