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“It isn’t real,” I clarified when his answer sent fear skittering through my body, nerves wrapping a noose around my neck. His smile transformed and deepened into a real one that reminded me of my very first impression of this rendition of Satan in a suit. “Why are you smiling?”
“You saidisn’t.” He wet his lips again, eyes lingering on mine. “Is that a yes?”
“Three years?”
“Quicker thananotherbachelor’s degree and much more lucrative.” Okay. Yeah. I was surprised he remembered that I had two under my belt. When I leveled a glare in his direction, even though I had to crane my neck to look at him, he finally wrestled that smile off his face. “Am I wrong?”
I could only picture this man in the sand with those kids, and Mattie looking at him like her superhero.This was madness. “I want a new title.”
“How’s thehead of public relationsuntil I’m confident you can step into acting COO?”
My mouth fell open until I could remember how to keep it closed.Acting COO? A satisfied kind of arrogance settled over his features when he rendered me silent.
“Told you that you’re sharper than your peers.” My mind was reeling, but Greyson wouldn’t compromise a position so significant to prove a point or as a means to an end. As if reading my thoughts, he shook his head. “My promotion proposal was slated for fall when Tiffany retires from the position, but you jumped the gun with your resignation. Your performance today solidified her endorsement.”
Eyes narrowed, I added, “I want a say in the company’s charitable donations.”
“As my partner, that’s inherent.”
“Partner?” I gaped.
“Wife,” he emphasized, one eye narrowed comically. “You’ll be a Hart—however temporarily. Unlike my misogynistic bastard of a father, I don’t do trophies.”
Because that made perfectly logical sense, I was clearly the one out of sorts. I was waiting for a punchline, but he just studied me, expression pensive, like he was trying to anticipate my next objection and get ahead of it. Scrambling for anything that would pop this balloon of crazy, I blurted, “You don’t get to blacklist me when this is over. If I still want to leave the company, I get to work for whoever I want to.”
“You’d be equipped to start and fund your own venture by the end of this, but should you choose to be someone’s pawn, you’ll have my blessing and a ringing endorsement for whoever you send calling.”
Dammit. How did he think all this through so quickly?“Paxton keeps his deal, no matter what happens between the two of us.”
He leveled me with a glare dripping in disdain. “That’s a given.”
Ignoring how quickly my mouth dried out as nerves and anticipation danced in my belly, I sucked down a breath. Took a shaky step back. “I want to spend Christmas with my family this year.”
“Florida sounds superb.”Didn’t expect him to remember that, but okay.
“And take the wholetwo-weektrip off work.”
“Done.”
“You’re going to say yes to anything I ask for right now, aren’t you?”
“Perhaps,” he allotted, one arm propped like a shelf below the other so that he could brace his hand against his mouth.But I swore beneath his deceptively casual stance, another smirk twitched in his cheek. “Don’t use your powers for evil, you tiny extortionist.”
Oh god, I was going to regret this, wasn’t I? Feeling spectacularly bold, I replied, “I still don’t like you.”
“I can live with that.”
His smolder held my unblinking bewilderment, as unyielding as he was with any corporate conquest.
Three years. A place on the board and influence over billions of dollars in the philanthropic budget. The ability to understand what shield he’d taken up and hide behind spousal immunity should anyone come poking around. I could make a difference with these resources—Elora had just started a vocational school for women in Manhattan that could always use extra funding, and Jameson’s fiancé, Noel, had started a foundation for victims of domestic abuse. There were so many causes I could aid with a last name like Hart. It might be the ultimate red herring of media manipulation, but the access he was offering me was…unparalleled. If we played our cards right, we’d preserve Matilda and Beau’s future and keep the public’s attention where Greyson wanted it. Hell, I’d been doing the same thing for his clients for years. This wasn’t new—it was just personal this time.
Lengthening my spine, I extended my hand to Greyson Hart. Eyes glinting, he reached out to shake it, and life as I knew it flipped on its axis.
7
Nepotistic Sack of Overpriced Wine
GREYSON