Chapter 52 You Have a Beautiful Smile
The study light was still on when Ryan got home.
Grace was working late again.
After living with her for a week, he’d learned that she wasn’t simply using work to avoid him. On quiet evenings, she read or watched a show in their room and went to bed at a reasonable hour. When she stayed in the study, there was a reason.
He showered, dried his hair, and checked the time.
Past eleven. She still hadn’t come back.
He hesitated, then went to the study. Pretend marriage or not, there was nothing wrong with checking on the person he lived with.
The door was ajar. He knocked and pushed it open.
Grace stopped typing and looked up.
“Do you need something?”
“No. Just wondered how you were doing. Company business?”
The question caught her slightly off guard. He’d come to check on her.
For once, she felt no urge to dismiss him.
“A shareholders’ meeting tomorrow. I’m finishing the presentation.”
“Can’t someone help you prepare it?”
“The research is done. I’m working on the argument.” She leaned back. “Our growth has stalled. If we want to move forward, we need another source of revenue. I want us to acquire a pharmaceutical plant and start manufacturing.”
She glanced at her screen.
“Some shareholders think the business is fine as it is. They don’t want the risk.”
“So you have to convince them.”
“Yes. My family owns twenty-five percent. I need support representing at least fifty-one percent to get it approved.”
“And Whitaker?”
Normally, she kept these frustrations to herself. Henry heard the good news; she spared him the rest. But Ryan was listening, and she was tired.
“Against it. Several shareholders follow his lead. I’m not expecting an easy meeting.”
Ryan leaned against the doorframe.
“Is it worth wearing yourself out for them? You own a quarter of the company. Why is its entire future your responsibility?”
She looked at him.
“If they want to coast, let them. Sell your stake and build something of your own. No arguing over every decision.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“From here, it looks as though you’re dragging people forward while they hang on to your ankles. You do the work, they slow you down, and then they take most of the rewards.”
He shrugged.
“Why keep doing it?”
The bluntness touched something she’d kept bottled up for too long.
When things were difficult, they offered little help. When there was money to be made, everyone wanted a share. Ryan had understood that without needing a long explanation.
Perhaps he wasn’t as thoughtless as she’d assumed.
He kept his word. He could read a situation. And he could see why she was exhausted.
“My father founded the company,” she said, more quietly. “He devoted his life to it. I can’t simply walk away. There are other family matters tied to it, too.”
“Then that explains it.”
He considered her answer.
“Buy enough shares to take control. You don’t need all of them. Just enough to stop fighting for permission.”
She laughed.
“Again, simple. The company still pays good dividends. No one wants to sell. They want our shares, not our money.”
She pushed a loose strand of hair aside.
“And another twenty-six percent would cost tens of millions. I don’t have that kind of cash.”
“At least you know what would solve the problem. That’s somewhere to start.”
Grace gave him a small smile.
“Thank you. I feel better.”
Ryan stared.
“What?”
“You smiled. At me. I think that’s a first.”
Her cheeks warmed.
“Go to bed. Stop distracting me.”
He chuckled and pushed away from the doorframe.
“All right. But do it more often. You’re home. You don’t have to be the president every minute.”
He paused at the door.
“You have a beautiful smile.”
Then he was gone.
Grace touched her warm cheek, embarrassed, irritated, and unexpectedly pleased.
As though she needed him to tell her what she looked like.
Honestly, that man.