Falling in Love Again: A Valentine's Day Proposal

king you a part of his company.”

“You think?” I glow. I can’t help it. I prefer to think of it that way. “I hope so. He will only feel more threatened when we get there as well. That’s when he’ll learn that I’m not the one to be messed with.”

“Exactly. Raelyn Owens, you are going to be the woman who takes him down, and I cannot wait to see it.”

I start to see things from Leon’s point of view, more and more the further away we get. This is an opportunity, and I need to see it for what it is. For myself, my business, everything that I have built up and my employees too. They all deserve the best and this will be a stepping stone to getting there.

Screw Carter Lace and his bullshit. It doesn’t bother me at all. Not anymore.

“So, what do you think will be better?” I ask Leon, focusing on the good parts.

“Oh, where do I begin? Just absolutely everything…”

I really hope that he’s right.

5

Carter

“What the fuck was that?” I growl at Gary. “That was messed up, wasn’t it?”

“Er… it was?” he stammers back. “I don’t know, I thought it went okay…”

I shoot him a dagger filled look. How can he be so naïve? I don’t want to work with women, I thought that much was obvious. I keep any females far away from me on purpose and I don’t really want to change that. I wouldn’t have signed any of those papers if I wasn’t so damn excited about the deal.

“Urgh, that woman is just so much of a nightmare,” I spit out. “She’s going to cause us serious issues…”

“That sweet looking red head?” Gary gives me a confused look. “She seemed nice to me.”

“Well, she won’t be. You can just trust me on that one. She will cause problems. I guess it’s just lucky that she’s going to be in the office next door so I don’t have to see her every day. If I just focus on that…”

“Right, sure. I see. Well, I think I need to get back to work now…”

Gary practically runs from the room in his desperation to get away from me, which I suppose makes sense considering my mood. I would want to get away from the black cloud hanging over my head as well. But I can’t. I’m here and stuck with it, just like I’m going to be stuck with Raelyn. The first woman who I will have to be around a lot, every single day almost, since Anna. It really isn’t going to work out well.

I grab my cell phone, needing to take my temper out on someone else now. Someone who is actually to blame for what has happened. My delightful private investigator, Lee. He is the best of the best, there is not a chance in hell that he didn’t know that Raelyn is a woman. He should have told me; I should’ve been warned.

“Hello?” He doesn’t even sound guilty as he answers. He knew my meeting was today. I called him to thank him. I need to know what the hell he’s playing at. “Everything okay, Carter?”

Ah, he asked me a question. Maybe he does understand after all.

“No, everything is not okay, Lee. I just had my meeting with R. Owens.”

“Ah, and that went well, I presume. You got everything signed.”

“Oh yes, but that isn’t the issue, is it?” I snap at him. “And I think you know that.”

“Can I ask why? It seems like a damn good deal to me.”

“Because she’s a woman and you know my feelings on women.”

“Because of your ex, I know.” Lee was a part of my life even then. We don’t need to be best friends for him to have seen how it utterly destroyed me. He might not be one to have small talk with me, but I sure as hell moaned a lot to him during that particularly challenging time. “But that was a long time ago now.”

“This has nothing to do with that. I just don’t need any trouble. This doesn’t feel good at all.”

“Can you please explain why then? Because as far as what I saw, Raelyn is an astute business woman who is fantastic at her job. So good, in fact, that she posed a threat to you which no one has really done before. I know that through all the façade that intrigues you, and that’s okay. There is a reason I didn’t specify that she was a woman, and that’s because I know what’s best for you. Even if you don’t realize that now. It will be good for you to work with Raelyn. She is incredibly good at what she does. You can both learn from each other.”

I pace the room, silently mulling this over. It isn’t what I wanted to hear, but I know that Lee has never steered me wrong in the past, so as much as I don’t like it, maybe I should listen.