Page 52 of Bargain With the Boss

Her dark floral scent wrapped around me and I gripped the back of my chair. Hell. This wasn’t the smartest move on my end. I pulled up the first quarter earnings and glanced at her. She sat stiffly, but slowly relaxed as she clicked through the spreadsheets.

I grabbed the mouse and opened our first and second year earnings. “You can see it was a little rocky at first, but once Jude moved here permanently, things evened off with all three of us focused on our company. Houses, properties, even flips. We have been in the black since the third quarter of our first year.”

She sat back in the chair.

“We’re not fucking around, Duchess. All of us have something to prove in one way or another.”

“I see.”

I turned the chair so I could get a good look at her. “What’s really going on here?”

“Nothing. I’m just worried about Jude.”

I crouched in front of her, letting her be a bit above me. It seemed to take a little of the wariness out of her eyes. “I get that, but you have to see he’s happy with Maddie and the kids. Or is that the problem?”

She looked away but quickly met my gaze, her eyes cool. “Why would that be a problem?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

“Look at it from my point of view. Suddenly he’s moved across the country and left everyone behind.”

I covered her hand. “He didn’t leave you behind.”

She pulled back and pushed the chair back, walking away from me. “That’s not relevant to this conversation. Can we just get to work?”

“Sure.” I straightened and dropped into my chair. “You can use Jude’s logins. I’ll give you access so you can make a profile for yourself.”

She nodded and settled at Jude’s desk. “Good. Thank you.”

The three of us had full admin capabilities and it was easy to add her. Something told me to see what had her so worried, and I added a backdoor program to watch where she went in the system and what she was focusing on.

I stayed most of the morning and once I was sure she was set up I returned to the office. Still, something niggled at the back of my brain.

The inner workings of the female mind were a wild and wondrous place. Syd was a quiet sort which meant she was probably an overthinker. It wasn’t a bad thing. Gavin was very much like her in that regard and I’d learned to wait him out.

I wasn’t sure why it was proving so difficult to do the same with Syd.

While I wheeled and dealed through the stock market and made a few more contacts for startups that interested me, I checked in on Sydney throughout the day.

Diligent worker didn’t even cover her abilities. She’d shredded through half the to-do list that had piled up since Jude had been distracted with his impending baby’s arrival.

I had a feeling things would be changing in FHK Property Group.

It remained to be seen if it was for the better.

Chapter 13

Sydney

Two weeks flew as I dodged calls from my mother, got into a groove with the business, and spent time with Claire. I spent most of my days working with Xavier. He had a keen mind and I found him playing with the array of toys on his shelves while he wheeled and dealed during phone calls.

He had an effortless charm and seemed to know everyone in town. Problem with a contract? Had a lawyer at the ready. Problem with a contractor? He or Gavin had a workaround.

He usually split time between the two offices and never seemed to be tired.

In between working I looked at a few properties for my time in Crescent Cove, but nothing felt right. I ended up spending most of my evenings with Claire at her little cottage when I wasn’t at the office.

I wasn’t going to sever my new friendship with Claire just because I was crossing the proverbial lines that Xavier and Gavin had. As Friday morning faded I found myself at the Crescent Cove Town Hall. I was determined to make sure the permits were approved for Lakeside Terrace today.