Page 21 of The Renter

“You were going to find out one way or another. We’re good.” He walks around the car. “Text me your email,” he says as heslides back in. “There’s plenty of work at my firm you could consult on. I want to reconnect you with the team.”

“You don’t have to?—”

“Dani,” he cuts me off as we head toward Lake Geneva. “You’re talented. My team already knows that. I need to remind them.”

“Wouldn’t it be a conflict?”

He smirks, eyes on the road. “That depends.”

“On?” I flirt back.

“How serious this is,” he says, glancing over at me.

With a smug smirk on my face, I hold his gaze until he looks back at the road.

18

After she gets inside her old Honda and waves, I call Greg over Bluetooth on my drive back to the cottage.

“What was that yesterday?” he opens with a gruff tone.

“I deserve that.”

“This girl,” he states and asks at the same time, his voice booming.

“We just met … but it feels?—”

“Adam!” he interrupts. “Do you know how to be single?” He laughs.

“It’s fine,” I deflect. “Actually, I’m happy.”

Greg laughs, mocking me.

“Remember that company, Shirts?”

“How could I forget that dog of a company everyone was enthralled with?”

“Remind me,” I say, smirking, knowing I’m about to set Greg up. “Why did our team like that company so much?”

“The marketing. They were absolutely crushing the marketing, but everything else was a disaster.”

“Are you at your desk?”

“Yeah.”

“Look up Shirts in our CRM. Remind me of the marketing contact over there.” After ten years of working together, I hold back a laugh, knowing the reaction Greg is about to have.

“Dani Sommer,” he says blandly.

“The flash in the pan.” I let it linger. “That’sDani Sommer.”

“No fucking way!” I hear him pound his desk in shock. “Adam, I could’ve killed you yesterday. Now, I’m actually might kill you. Youcannotbe fucking team members of companies we’ve invested in.”

“I didn’t know. I just found out.” I sigh, distracted by thoughts of her. “But I don’t think she works there anymore.”

“We all expected some form of a midlife crisis, but this is more than we bargained for.”

While it’s completely inappropriate for me to be sleeping with someone who worked at a company we’ve invested in, the coincidence of it all feels like … fate?That’s not a thing.