“You’ve earned it, don’t you think, ladies?” Natalie looked at the rest of us.
The group nodded, even Kellie, whose husband Ryan would be the most likely pick for CEO.
I couldn’t quite read Noah’s expression, but it was almost as if Natalie had given him a gift or maybe a puzzle piece filling an empty spot.
“I was hoping to borrow Andi,” he said.
“You can have her, can’t he?” Natalie said to me.
I stood and put my coffee in the sink. “What do you need?” I asked, certain his request was job related.
“I need to show you something.”
Natalie snorted. “I bet you do.”
He frowned.
I hurried him out of the staff lounge and toward my desk.
“This way,” he said, redirecting me to the elevator. “We have strict orders to go home and get some rest.”
“Oh. I am tired, which is weird since I slept most of the flight.”
We took the elevator down to the garage. He walked me over to a corner where a motorcycle was parked. He handed me a helmet.
My heart sped up in my chest as hope and relief filled it. “What’s this?”
“I had someone drive this over for us. It’s time we had that second ride; don’t you think?”
I wiped a tear of joy away. God, I was sappy.
“But first, don’t you think you should kiss me?” he said.
I flung my arms around him, fusing my lips to his. I kissed him with everything I had, hoping that we were on the path to something great.
25
Noah
After the family meeting, I wanted to leave and take Andi with me as it seemed like we had things to talk about. But Gran asked that I speak with her in her office. I wondered if she noticed a difference between me and Andi. I tried to play it cool in there and not give away the change in our relationship. I didn’t want them thinking my feelings for Andi, and in particular my jealous hate of Chen, was clouding my judgement.
“I know you’re tired and need some rest from your trip, but I wanted to speak with you alone,” Gran said as I took a seat on the couch in her office.
I nodded. “I’m here to finish this.”
“It seems you have,” she said, sitting in a chair across from the couch. “You’ve fulfilled your agreement. Now I’m fulfilling mine. I won’t ask you to do anymore here.”
I swallowed the unwelcome feeling of disappointment. It was odd because this was exactly what I’d wanted.
“My work isn’t done,” I said.
She arched a brow. “You found the hacker. Your brothers will take care of the rest.”
Thinking fast, I said, “But I haven’t found the breach that let him in. It’s possible that it happened here. We need to get that solved and the system cleaned up to be sure it's secure.”
She studied me for a moment. “You don’t think the current IT department can do that?”
I shrugged. “You asked me to do a job. Until that bit is done, the job isn’t finished.”