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Chapter Twenty

Rebecca

I’d nailed the meeting. My rage at Bennett had done wonders for my concentration. Every question the board tossed my way, I lobbed back the perfect answer. My anger quickly turned to the adrenaline rush of the victory of scoring the perfect designer shoes on clearance, in the exact right size, during a Black Friday shopping marathon.

If it wouldn’t have killed my credibility, I would have thrown my hands in the air and waved them like I was rushing on the downward slope of a roller coaster. A large one.

“Thank you,” I said instead, shaking the last board member’s hand as they filtered out of the conference room.

Mr. Jakobs had been surprisingly quiet during most of my presentation. He’d come in, introduced me and taken a seat at the head of the table, clasped his hands together and let me do my thing.

Throughout the presentation, he’d worn a thoughtful expression, less, it seemed interested in my proposal and more curious as to how I handled it. Perhaps it was because he’d already heard the whole thing once, but once the room was empty and he was still sitting in the same seat, I highly doubted it.

Walking to the computer, I shut everything down and unplugged it from the projector. “I think that went well, don’t you?”

I wouldn’t know their answer, but based on everyone’s responses and pleased expressions as they left, I figured Bennett would be getting a call soon.

“You’re impressive,” Mr. Jakobs said. He pushed from the table and stood, grabbing a file as he walked toward me. “And while I was originally disappointed when Bennett said he couldn’t make the meeting, I’m even more thrilled he sent you.”

“Why is that?”

He handed me the file in his hand and nodded toward it. “Because I talked to the board last week about wanting to bring you on, and what position we could create for you.”

I looked at the file, at Jakobs, at the file, back up. My eyes had become ping-pong balls. “I’m sorry, what? Did you just say—”

“Create a position for you? I did. We want to bring you on as our new Executive Project Manager. You’ll have full control over all new developments we create as well as the budget to create your own team.”

Oh. My. God. The file in my hand began to tremble and I dropped it on the laptop like I’d been burned. Ifeltlike I’d been burned. My skin was tight and hot, itchy. My blood raced through my veins at insane speeds. The rollercoaster I was on crashed to an abrupt landing and I jolted, stumbling back two steps.

“Mr. Jakobs—”

He lifted a hand. “Anderson. And it’s just an offer, Rebecca. Take it home, look it over. Take all the time you need.”

Take all the time I needed to decide to uproot my career? To leave Ashby Enterprises? I’d worked there since I was eighteen on a summer internship, working my way through a two-year business degree. It was the only company I’d worked for, and up until I went to work for Bennett, I’d never regretted that.

I’d been loyal to his company, loyal to him, but after how he’d treated me today...

I shook the thought out of my head. I’d worked too hard to make professional decisions based on emotions, but damn it. I was still hurting from the way he’d looked at me earlier, how he was going on a date when my ass was still sore from him.

I picked up the file and my computer. “I’ll look at it and let you know as soon as I have a decision.”

“Excellent,” Jakobs said. I shook his outstretched hand and gathered my things.

Halfway back to my office, I made an abrupt left-hand turn down a side street, pulled my car into a CashWise liquor store.

Then I took my two cheap bottles of white wine home, turned off my cell phone so no one from the office could call me, most especially Bennett, poured a glass of wine, tossed the job offer onto my kitchen table, and went to take a bath.

I was only putting off the inevitable. When I didn’t return to work, when I didn’t let Bennett know how the meeting went, he’d come looking for me.

My bath and my wine and my lack of cell phone were merely an avoidance.

I slipped into the water, glass of wine in one hand, regret in the other, and hoped like hell by the time Bennett found me, the memory and feel and taste of him moving inside me and taking care of me would be washed away.

Then I hoped it would give me clarity on what I was supposed to do next.

Fat freaking chance of that happening.

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