She shook her head slowly. “Brandon was frustrated about the delay in him assuming the leadership role and told me about ‘Uncle Thad’s mystery child’ and he was not happy. Apparently, he anticipated running the company alone and wants to keep it that way.”
“That boy has always been intense, but he usually comes around.”
“I don’t think so…not this time.” She thought back on the disagreement that led to her asking him to leave and their conversation yesterday and didn’t see him changing his stance anytime soon, if ever. “Because I know how he feels, there’s no way I can take that position now.”
“That VP position belongs to you just as much as the CEO position does to him. He knows how important family legacy is. Don’t let him cheat you out of your inheritance. I’ll have a talk with Nolan. He’ll—”
“No, no. Please don’t.”
Thad studied her. “You haven’t told him.”
“No,” she answered softly. “I tried a couple of times, but we kept getting interrupted.” An image of Brandon’s hands trailing over her body and making love to her on the massage table appeared in her mind. Her nipples tightened and her core pulsed. Faith quickly pushed the vision aside. “But I plan to tell him tomorrow, so please don’t say anything.”
“I won’t, but you remember I want to introduce you next Tuesday.”
“I do.” She definitely had to tell him before then. He’d hate her even more if she walked through that door and he found out she knew beforehand.
He patted her hand. “I know you’re worried, but don’t be. Everything will work out. Now I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy about the two of you getting together. However, now that Brandon is dating my baby girl, that changes his position. I love him like a son, but I’ll roast him on a spit if he breaks your heart.”
Faith almost laughed, but the serious expression on Thad’s face stopped her. She realized he meant every word and the fact that he hadn’t seen her in twenty-eight years meant nothing. He was still her father and he took that to heart. She wanted to tell him that he might as well dig the pit and start the fire because her heart was already breaking.
* * *
Friday, Brandon spent the first part of the morning meeting with his father and now sat going through the stack of applications and resumes for his replacement. He had wanted to keep it in-house, but his father wanted to make sure they had an adequate pool of candidates and released the announcement to the general public. So far, there were nine candidates and only four were current employees of Grays. He picked up the next folder, opened it and groaned.
“Seriously?” he muttered. Why in the world had Gordon Samuels applied for the position? The man had worked here for fifteen years in the PR department and believed they should continue doing business the same way as they did when he started, regardless of the changes in technology. That was one reason he did not get the promotion to PR director and Siobhan did. The other being he always looked just short of rumpled. Needless to say, he would not be leading the home safety division, either. Brandon closed the folder, tossed it aside and opened the next one. He had just picked up a résumé when his cell buzzed. He slid it in front of him, swiped the screen and read the message from Faith: I’m downstairs. He closed the folder, pushed to his feet and hurried to the elevator.
While riding the elevator down, Brandon mentally rehearsed what he would say. Parts of him wanted to tell her how much she had come to mean to him, that he was falling in love with her. He had wrestled with his emotions and finally accepted it, but Faith still seemed reluctant and he didn’t want to scare her off. When they’d first met, she’d told him he was very direct, and usually he was. The elevator doors opened and he stepped around the people waiting to board and spotted Faith standing by the entrance to the café. She had on a sleeveless top and a slim skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees and revealed her shapely legs—the same legs that were wrapped tightly around him Saturday night as they shared the most intense pleasure. He smiled. No, this time he needed a gentler approach.