Page 25 of Charm (Billionaire Buck Boys #7)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Holden
I’ve tried repeatedly to drag Greer into this conversation about the potential sale of her business, but her partner is doing all of the talking…and I do mean all of the talking .
It became apparent in the very early moments of this meeting that Greer has zero interest in selling Sweet Indulgence to me, or more precisely, to my company.
When I mentioned our vision for both the company and the storefront they now inhabit, Greer shook her head.
She was essentially cutting each of our ideas down with a single shake of her head.
Every time it happened, I moved on to the next idea that Jameson and our marketing team had jotted down for me.
Nothing impressed Greer, including the smile I tried to dazzle her with. That resulted in a frown from her and what I think was a slight eye roll.
She’s pissed as hell.
I have no clue if it’s because she wants to retain control of her company.
There’s a damn good chance that she’s fuming because I’m not Joe Campbell.
Either way, I plan on grabbing a moment alone with her once this disaster of a meeting concludes.
“We need to get back to work,” Greer announces loudly.
“What?” Krista’s head snaps in her business partner’s direction. “We haven’t accepted their offer yet.”
Greer shoots her a look. “We’re not accepting anything.”
“Ever?” Krista jumps to her feet. “Please, Greer. Let’s talk about this.”
Greer stands, too, so I do the same. Jameson follows my lead.
“If you two need a moment to discuss the offer in private, we’ll give you the room,” my na?ve brother says.
He has no idea I spent the better part of three days naked between Greer’s legs, and her rush to run out of here likely has a lot more to do with that than the offer we presented.
“Thank you, but we’re leaving.” Greer’s voice is strained. The frustration in her tone is unmistakable.
“Really?” Krista stomps her shoe against the floor.
The only response she gets from Greer is a blank stare.
Jameson looks to me for guidance, but I’ve got nothing to offer him other than a half-shrug of my shoulder. I have no fucking idea if this deal is salvageable or not, but my gut is telling me that approaching Greer right now is not what she needs.
“Thank you all for making time for us,” Krista says as she hurries over to where Greer is now standing near the closed door. “I’ll be in touch.”
Greer doesn’t back that up with anything other than a glance in my direction. Seconds later, both women have left the room with my brother chasing after them.
“It seems someone isn’t on board with selling their company to Carden.” Marc chuckles. “Do you think Jameson can change Greer’s mind?”
From what I just witnessed, I’d say no.
That doesn’t mean I won’t try to persuade her to give the offer more consideration. I’ll do that in person because I want to see her again as soon as possible.
“I fucked up.” Jameson slaps the back of his phone against his palm as he enters my office.
It’s been almost thirty minutes since Greer ran for the hills with Krista and Jameson chasing after her. That’s not exactly how it happened, but I was able to get a clear view of them heading toward the elevator since I stepped out of the conference room mere moments after they did.
I watched my brother sprint after the two of them.
I know he was clinging to the slim hope that he’d pocket a deal with them today to purchase Sweet Indulgence, but he wasn’t seeing any of it through the same lens I was.
Greer may not want to sell her company to us, but I don’t believe that’s what sent her bolting out of the room.
It was seeing me again.
“How so?” I motion for my brother to come into my office so he can take a seat in one of the guest chairs that face my desk.
“How so?” he parrots as he drops into the chair. “Um, Holden, were you asleep in that meeting? One of the partners in the business didn’t want to be here. I think Greer would have rather had a wisdom tooth pulled than entertain the idea of selling to us.”
I can tell he has more to say by the way his knee is bouncing up and down. I know my brother. Nervous anxiety has its grip on him.
“Krista mentioned that Greer had minor reservations about selling, but what we witnessed wasn’t minor.
” He closes his eyes briefly. “That’s on me.
I should have had a sit-down with her before today to get a better sense of where she was in terms of selling.
She obviously wants nothing to do with us. ”
I could allow this to continue until he thoroughly chews himself apart for not connecting with Greer before today, but I can’t let that happen.
Being upfront and honest with my brother is important to me. I owe him that because since we put our issues behind us, he’s only been truthful with me.
“Greer wants nothing to do with me,” I correct him. “What happened in the conference room today was about me.”
“You?” Confusion knits his brow. “How?”
“We know each other,” I start, but stop to rethink where I want to go with this. “Or she knew me as Joe Campbell before she saw me today.”
“You fucked her?” he asks, jumping to the logical conclusion since he knows the alias I’ve used to hook up with women in the past.
I see no reason not to own up to that, so I nod. “We spent time together in East Hampton.”
“Wait!” He darts to his feet. “Are we talking a long-ago hook up or is this a more recent thing?”
“It’s a six week ago thing.”
Scrubbing his hands over his face, his head falls back. “Jesus, Holden. She’s the woman who stayed at Mrs. Frye’s place the weekend you went there to secure the deal with Tim. It’s her, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I acknowledge with a brisk nod. “I met Greer then.”
He drops back into the chair. “No wonder she wanted nothing to do with us. You gave her a fake name, took her to bed, and then dropped out of sight.”
I tap a finger on the top of my glass desk. “It wasn’t quite like that, James. She didn’t give me her real name either, and she made it very clear that what happened in East Hampton that weekend stayed there.”
“Talk about a coincidence.” He takes a deep breath. “So, where does that leave us now? Krista is desperate to sell, and you fucked Greer over, so…”
“I didn’t fuck her over,” I spit out each word slowly.
“I want that company, Holden,” he repeats what he’s been telling me for weeks now. “They offer something unique. We need Sweet Indulgence to be under the Carden umbrella.”
A mental image of Greer with the umbrella firmly in her grasp when she caught me in the pool pops into my mind. I can’t help but chuckle.
Jameson’s eyes narrow. “What the hell is so funny?”
I ignore the question and get back on the track I know he wants me to focus on. “I’ll speak to Greer.”
He tilts his head. “You think that’s the solution? She couldn’t get away from you fast enough today.”
He’s right about that, but I’m willing to risk being told off by the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. “Tomorrow is another day. I’ll reach out to her then.”
“I can feel Sweet Indulgence slipping away from me.”
If he weren’t smiling right now, I’d feel like shit, but we’re in this together. Sometimes things go as planned. At other times, they shoot straight to hell at high speed.
“Do what you can,” he says as he stands. “I trust you to do what’s right for the company, Holden, but more importantly, what’s right for you.”
“What’s right for me?”
“You like this woman.” He tucks his hands into the front pocket of his pants. “Something tells me behind all that anger, she likes you, too.”
“She likes Joe Campbell.”
Jameson snorts, his hand jumping to cover his mouth to restrain his laughter. “That’s such a bad fake name, Holden. You’ve been using that since you were what? Eighteen?”
“Nineteen,” I correct him. “It’s a solid name.”
Agree to disagree on that.” His head shakes. “Out of curiosity, what was Greer’s fake name?”
“That’s none of your business,” I say because for some reason I want to keep it to myself.
“You do like her,” he says. “Don’t try, and deny it. Work out a deal with her. We can up the offer if need be.”
I’m well aware of that, so I nod. “I’ll talk to Greer tomorrow.”
I don’t bother adding on that I can’t fucking wait to do that. I’ll be counting the hours until I’m standing face-to-face with her again.