Millionaire Boss (Freeman Brothers 1)

There was something more behind that question than it sounded. I knew he was trying to get at something but didn’t want to come right out and ask.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You think I just forgot about what happened last weekend at the bar?” he asked. “We never talked about that.”

“Do we need to? You saw it.”

“Come on, Q. I know you. That wasn’t just some sloppy drunken kissing. What’s going on between you and that social media girl?”

“Merry,” I corrected quickly, and he gave me a knowing look. I let out a sigh.

There was no real point in trying to avoid it anymore. He was going to figure out a way to get it out of me at some point anyway. If there was anyone I needed to be honest about the situation with, it was Cole. He knew me better than anybody other than my brothers, in some ways, even better because he was there at times when my brothers were away from home or I was. He would listen to me without judgment and tell me the truth.

Tossing aside the newer version of what happened between Merry and me, I laid it all out, telling him everything from start to finish. I didn’t go into extreme detail, but it was enough for him to know everything he needed to. When I was finished, I leaned back in my chair, waiting for his reaction. He stared back at me without a change in emotion.

“Well,” he finally said. “You had to fall at some point.”

“What?” I asked.

“This was going to happen and, frankly, it’s about time. Don’t let my bad experience or, hell, your own bad experiences, stop you from trying for more,” he said.

That hit me hard, and I let it sink in. Somehow, he knew exactly what I was worried about, exactly how I was thinking. But it didn’t matter. No matter what I was thinking or feeling, I didn’t think it could go anywhere. Merry and I already agreed it was a one-and-done thing, and I had to accept that.

26

Merry

Saturday didn’t seem like it could come fast enough for me that week. Quentin told the crew they could take half days on Thursday and Friday, which meant the complex all but cleared out by noon. There really wasn’t much reason for me to stay there at the office when everybody else was taking off. Mine was the kind of work essentially made for doing remotely. There was a ton for me to do following the race. I needed to post the pictures, follow up on the live stream of the celebration, and gather feedback for the tailgate event. From there I could determine which parts of my campaign had been successful so far, which could be tweaked further, and what I could add. It would also help me in planning future events. Since I was the one who suggested the party, the bulk of putting it together fell on me. Minnie was there to help, but it was an added responsibility I didn’t really sign up for but enjoyed taking on.

No matter how much I needed to do, though, it didn’t really require me to be in the office. With the exception of having meetings with Minnie or Quentin, I could do everything from my living room couch with my tablet in my lap and my laptop on the table in front of me if I really wanted to. Since both of them left the complex late in the morning, there were no meetings to keep me there. The only thing that had me locked in place at the office rather than heading home was knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to focus at home. I was still struggling with everything that happened, and now that Brandon was sharing my apartment, it would be far more difficult to actually concentrate on what needed to be done. Honestly, it was far more likely I would end up in stretchy pants eating popcorn and getting lost in daytime TV under the guise of researching what interested our demographics than it was I’d get everything done the way I needed to.

So, I stayed at the office. All day Thursday and all day Friday, I sat behind my desk in the strangely quiet office building, straining for the sound of the mechanics or anyone else at the complex. It was a little eerie for it to be so still, but it forced me to delve into what I needed to do. And by the end of the day Friday, I was exhausted and more than ready for the weekend. Olivia and I were going to get together, and I was looking forward to that. We hadn’t been able to have as much time together as we usually did, and I was missing her.