Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)
Page 101
“Congratulations, sir! I hope to meet Jenna soon. Is there anything I can do to facilitate the relationship? Should I have you send flowers?”
“I can send my own flowers. But thanks for offering. By the way, damn fine work on this Stuart Malloy thing. When this is over, remind me to give you a raise.”
“Oh! That is, I never dared dream that after just three months I’d be—”
“Forget that. How would you like to be Roar’s new CEO?”
“Is…this a test, sir?”
“No test. I want you to take over the company. Run it for me. Hell, you practically do already. Let’s go ahead and double your salary. Would that be acceptable?”
There was silence.
“You there?”
“Yes, sir. I’m just…”
“Overcome with emotion?”
“How did you guess, sir?”
Ben smiled to himself. Screw it. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this right. “One more thing. Write up a letter to the partners at the firm.”
“Right away, sir. Um, what’s the subject line?”
“My resignation.”
“But…if I’m taking over as CEO of the company and you’re resigning from the firm, what will you be doing, sir?”
Ben thought about it a minute. “How much money do I have?”
“You don’t know?”
“Not really. I mean I have an idea, but no solid numbers.”
Gavin proceeded to tell him exactly how much he had, down to the penny. “That’s just the liquid assets. If you count long-term investments, that sort of thing, it’s about ten times that amount.”
“In that case, I won’t be doing anything. Scratch that. I’ll be doing the most important job
in the world.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“I’ll be raising my niece.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Gavin?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you think you could start calling me Ben now?”
* * *
Fixing things with Jenna started with a call to Zeke Grant. Even though it was Sunday and his day off, the police chief agreed to meet Ben down at headquarters.
The receptionist showed him into Zeke’s office, where he sat at his desk, looking at Ben with distrust in his eyes. After Friday’s city council meeting, Ben didn’t blame him.