Counting the Kisses (Counting the Billions 3)

I COULDN’T BELIEVE how soon it was before Daniel’s and my trip. In terms of the trip itself, things were going swimmingly. It helped that we didn’t want to plan t

oo much of it in advance. I had done a little bit of research to see what other things I might want to do in Thailand, but we weren’t worrying about booking transportation or accommodations just yet.

I wasn’t even too worried about packing. I had read that it would be cheap and easy to buy clothing once we arrived there, and anyway, the clothing I could find there would probably be more suitable to the hot and humid climate than anything I could bring with me. I was looking forward to doing a little shopping, too. Maybe I could find something pretty to bring back for Leanne.

But the tricky part was getting the office ready for Daniel’s and my departure. Daniel hadn’t made up huge mounds of printouts and notes for Erin like he had for me. First of all, she wouldn’t be stepping into the role of interim CEO. But second of all, Erin informed me that the only reason she had agreed to take on more of a role at the office at all was because Daniel had promised he wouldn’t leave her all those notes to go through.

Smart girl, I thought. But then again, she also knew more about the company than I did, since she had been there for longer and had worked closely with Daniel for all of her time there with McGregor Enterprises.

Of course, I was definitely starting to catch up to her. Daniel had ramped up his CEO training plans, which surprised me to be honest. I figured that since we were going to be taking time away from the office, we would quit the training now and pick up with it when we got back. After all, it wasn’t like Daniel and I didn’t have plenty of other things to get in order before we left.

But the way he had sped up the learning process made me wonder. Just what kind of business relationship did he see for us when we returned from this trip? Would I still be welcome back to work for his company? Or was he hoping that this time away would strengthen our relationship and weaken our work ties? Did he want me to go to work for a different company when I returned?

I knew this was all stuff I needed to talk to Daniel about. It wasn’t healthy to keep these concerns to myself. But I just couldn’t seem to find a good time to talk to him about any of it. When we were at the office, there were dozens of last-minute meetings and things to attend to. And when we were at home, we were either discussing the trip or else thinking about anything and everything except for work.

I didn’t want to ruin things. I didn’t want to jeopardize our trip. Not that I really believed I would. But still, I was afraid to ask too many questions. I was afraid to make it seem like I didn’t trust him to make the right decisions for the good of the company as well as our relationship.

“What are you looking so pensive about?” Daniel asked from behind me.

I startled, jumping about a foot into the air. Then, I turned sheepishly toward him. “I’m just waiting for the coffee to be done,” I said, gesturing to the pot in front of me.

Daniel frowned. “Sure,” he said. “But I can tell you’re thinking pretty hard as well. Are you nervous about our trip?”

“Something like that,” I admitted. I shrugged. “We just have so much to get done before then.” It was sort of a lie, or at least a shading of the truth, but I didn’t know how to tell him what I was really worried about. If he didn’t want me to come back to work for him once our trip was over, I would just have to wait and deal with it then. No sense panicking before I even knew what might happen.

After all, hadn’t I learned that lesson when we had fought post-trial? I had come up with so many horrible ideas of what Daniel might think of me, I had been so sure that he would fire me and that he would never want anything to do with me again. But none of those things had come to pass.

“Don’t worry about it,” Daniel said, grinning at me. “I appreciate all the help you’ve been giving me in getting all the last-minute things done, but at the end of the day, I don’t want you to be worried about it.”

“It is your company,” I joked weakly. “I guess I should leave the worrying to the boss.”

Daniel frowned thoughtfully at that. “Can you come back to my office with me?” he asked, pouring us each a mug of coffee once the pot finally finished brewing.

“Sure thing,” I said, wondering what else he was going to add to my plate that day. I knew that I shouldn’t have been loitering around the break room like that, but I just had to step away from it all for a moment.

I followed him back to his office, though, knowing that whatever he was delegating to me, he must have a dozen other more challenging things on his plate for the day. He didn’t delegate lightly; I knew that about him.

I was surprised when he closed and locked the door behind us. I raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought we didn’t do that kind of stuff around the office,” I reminded him, even though just the suggestion of a heavy make-out session, and maybe more, made me want to throw the rule book out the window just then. We’d both been so exhausted in the evenings that week that we had pretty much just been collapsing into bed with each other. My body ached to feel him inside of me again.

But Daniel shook his head. “I just want to make sure we’re not disturbed,” he said. “I have something serious I want to discuss with you.”

I felt my blood run cold. Had I done something wrong? Was he calling off this whole trip before we had even gone anywhere?

Daniel was grinning at me, though. “Relax,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it could be a very good thing for both of us. Why don’t you sit down?”

I slowly walked over to the chair at the far side of his desk. “What’s going on?” I asked him.

“It’s about the business,” Daniel said. “I brought you into this company as my advisor, in part because that was the role that Gerrard had always filled, and the one that I thought I was trying to find a replacement for. But I’m beginning to realize that that position title doesn’t do justice to the work you’ve been putting into the job in your time here.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, my mind trying furiously to process that. It must just be some sort of HR thing. Restructuring of the company or something. A different title for me, no longer Daniel’s advisor, but still with all the same responsibilities as before. I wondered why he looked so serious about that, though. And why he felt the need to tell me it himself, rather than letting HR handle it.

But Daniel’s next words shocked me. “I was wondering, actually, if you’d like to be my partner within the company. Rather than my advisor, you’d be a co-CEO, and as the company grows, you’ll have the ability to take on whatever projects you’d like.”

I gaped at him, unable to find the words. Co-CEO? Had he really said that? I was tempted to remind him of the mistake I had made when I was filling in for him before. But I knew I needed to let that go. The situation with Duncan had been resolved by me firing him as our client. He had never even gone to the news with anything he had heard, or if he had, no one had been able to use any of it. The story had totally fizzled out. No harm, no foul.

Besides, Daniel had been training me to be a CEO for real, ever since the Duncan debacle. I knew so much more about McGregor Enterprises already, and I would only learn more the longer I spent at the company and the more I got my hands dirty with different CEO projects.

I remembered what Daniel had said last time, about how he wouldn’t have asked me to stand in for him if he didn’t trust my ability to do the job. I had to assume that it was the same now. He believed that I could do the job. And not only that, but he was willing to work alongside me. Give me partnership in his company.