Reforming the CEO (South Beach)

by Marisa Cleveland

  Vin stretched out his hand. “Landon, thank you for taking the time.”

  Landon’s gaze flicked down to Vin’s hand and then back to his face. When the man crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels, Vin let his arm drop. “I consider it my business to know what my family is involved in.”

  His family? Meaning Reece?

  Shit.

  So this was how he wanted to play it. Vin’s brain whirled over a thousand reasons why Reese’s brother would confront him now. And with a veiled threat.

  The man uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets, pinning him with a glare that meant he expected answers. “So why don’t you tell me what the hell you’re doing with my sister?”

  That was the million-dollar question. Vin knew when he’d asked Reece to attend some events this confrontation might happen. But when two months passed, and he hadn’t been questioned by any of the Rowes, he’d assumed that they not necessarily approved, but that they left Reece’s private life alone. Apparently, he’d been wrong.

  He kept the polite smile on his face. “Your sister is a remarkable woman.”

  “She is. And you may be a CEO to an almost publicly traded company, but she’s still eons out of your league.”

  Landon’s words slapped Vin across the face with the force of a thousand pounds of gravity.

  He wasn’t good enough to date Reece. Beautiful, smart Reece Rowe. The woman who literally made Vin forget about his past and begged him to take her on sexy adventures. He wore a #justlivelife band on his wrist, but she was the one who’d made the past two months of his life worth living.

  He blew out a breath. “Look, Landon, I know we don’t know each other that well.”

  “Damn right we don’t.”

  “It’s not like we planned to date.”

  Landon narrowed his eyes. “You’re telling me you didn’t cherry-pick her to clean up your reputation?”

  Vin swallowed. No matter what direction this conversation took, Reece would hear about it. “Yes.”

  That shocked her brother. “Yes?”

  “We have an agreement.” God, he hoped he could get to Reece before Landon, so he could explain what the hell just happened. “I asked her to attend several events with me. She understands I’m not the marrying kind of guy.”

  The expression on Landon’s face betrayed the man’s bewilderment. “Why would she agree to date you?”

  The insults just kept coming. Was it really so unreasonable to Landon to picture his sister with Vin? He was a CEO of an almost publicly traded company. Just what kind of man did Landon envision for his sister? A billionaire? Yeah, probably. Vin shook his head. “I’m not going to share that with you.”

  “She’s too good for you. But I know she has a soft heart. What does she get out of this deal?”

  As if he could tell Reece’s older brother how she’d initiated their entire encounter. “You may have given me my start, and for that I’ll always be grateful, but that doesn’t give you the right to come into my building and demand answers about my personal life. If you want to know about your sister’s motivation for dating me, I suggest you speak with her.”

  The other man stood there, his chest rising and falling in rapid bursts, the most emotion Vin had ever seen Landon display. Clearly, he cared for his sister. Hell, didn’t Vin have the same brotherly protection for Tonia? But he didn’t appreciate Landon’s animosity aimed at him.

  Landon stood there, absolutely silent, but Vin could sense the other man’s brain whirling through countless ways to respond. Finally, he gave a brisk nod. “My father may have given you your start, but I can end you. Let that sink in.”

  The man strode out of the conference room without waiting for a response, which was good, because Vin didn’t have one. Landon couldn’t have made himself clearer—break up with Reece or lose everything he’d worked to achieve. It was as black and white as when his buddy in grad school had taken ten thousand dollars not to date the daughter of a senator, only this time, Landon was willing to sink an entire corporation to protect his sister from Vin. In Landon’s mind, Reece was hundreds of millions of dollars out of Vin’s league.

  Business-wise, Vin should be swamped with IPO allocation requests. The media attention alone would drive up the demand for IPO shares. Everything about this IPO made savvy business sense. Unless Landon tanked his deal. Massive amounts of people would lose out on vital technological products and economic opportunities.

  Vin always trusted his gut, but right now—with his gut twisted in knots—he didn’t even trust his head, which said he couldn’t give up Reece.

  It shouldn’t be about the money, but for a poor kid like him, that was all it was about. If he kept up his agreement with Reece, he’d lose out on the biggest business deal of his life.

  And with his entire company and all the families counting on him to keep up the momentum, that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

  …

  Reece couldn’t keep pretending.

  Two months was two months too long for just fun.

  She was falling in love with Vin.

  He was supposed to be her fun, and fun couldn’t last. She couldn’t be a wild child and a mature woman, and she’d only started this to prove she could date for fun, not forever. To prove that she could date without an endgame or an agenda. Casual sex. That had been what this whole thing had been about. Not falling in love. But damn it. He was just so…lovable. For her, it had turned into more than just sex. Those obligatory events had been made more enjoyable with Vin by her side. She actually looked forward to their conversations. Not just the sex.

  So now what? She’d turned into one of those girls whose every thought revolved around her man. Which was a colossal problem.

  She needed something to take her mind off Vin, and she knew exactly what that something would be.

  “You and Mom win. I’m ready to head the Foundation.” Reece stood in the doorway of Landon’s office, and no sooner had the words left her mouth than Landon jumped out his chair and rubbed his hands together like some kind of villain with a plan.

  “Finally.” He strode toward her, hooked a hand at her elbow, and led her down the hall to the next corner office. “This is yours. It’s empty. I’ll get you a secretary.”

  With a small nudge, he pushed her into the spacious room and leaned against the doorframe. Reece looked around the room, making a slow circle. She knew this office. Had played in it as a girl. Before her father had slept with the chief development officer and ruined her whole life.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Ew. No. I wouldn’t be able to do any work in this office.”

  “How do you remember shit like that?” He shrugged. “Never mind. We planned to make it a conference room anyway. Come on. Candace never worked here, so she didn’t have an office.” He checked his watch. “I have a meeting, but once it’s finished, we’ll look over the building plans and find you somewhere better.”

  Currently, the Foundation ran under Candace from the comforts of her home office. Sometimes she collaborated with an advisory board and the financial department of Rowe International, along with legal, but other than the quarterly briefings, she pretty much did whatever she wanted from wherever she was. Not a bad setup, but not what Reece had in mind.

  As they walked back down the hall, she said, “You said if I agree to take over The Rowe Foundation, it would be entirely mine.”

  “I did. I’ll need to get you an updated org chart of your team.”

  Right. The people counting on her to lead them in the right direction. The Foundation employed people who would seek guidance from Reece. She would have to give performance reviews. Hire and fire staff. With a deep breath, she trudged forward with her thoughts. “Well, then, I plan to make the second floor the foundation headquarters, and there will be a massive organization change. Will I need your approval?”

  He turned and studied her for a long moment. “The Foundation is separate from Rowe International, so whatever
you decide is your decision. I’ll have a press release drafted about your appointment as new executive director. I’m sure Dad and Candace will be thrilled you’re taking it off her plate. Is there anything else?”

  She bit her lip and debated doing that thing she always did—ask her brother his opinion on a guy. But damn it, she really, really liked Vin. Loved him, probably. And even if he didn’t love her, she wanted to introduce him to her family. To bring him into her world. And their Fourth of July dinner at the Rowe penthouse would be the perfect opportunity. Usually reserved for executives and their families, it would be the perfect venue for Vin to meet the Rowe family in a casual business setting.

  She drew in her breath and asked, “What do you think about Vincent Ferguson?”

  Her brother frowned. “He tell you about our conversation?”

  “What? No.” What conversation?

  He crossed his arms. “I saw his mock presentation for the IPO.”

  That had nothing to do with her. She hadn’t known her brother was even interested in Vin’s company. The most she knew about his IPO was that his board asked him to clean up his act before they went live. “And?”

  “And I told him to stop dating you or I’d tank his proposal.”

  Why did that not surprise her? Her oldest brother had done similar crap with her other dates her whole life, until she’d gone away to college. Hadn’t that contributed to why she’d only ever dated a guy until she found out that her family wouldn’t approve? She’d grown up looking at every guy as a potential boyfriend, and when they didn’t live up to her family’s expectations, she’d walked away.

  But then, why hadn’t Vin broken up with her yet?

  His pre-IPO meeting happened on Monday. It was Wednesday. Tomorrow was the Fourth of July. If she invited him to the executive dinner at the Rowe penthouse, would he wait until after the meal to end their arrangement? Or…

  A tiny seed of hope sparked in her chest. Maybe he didn’t care about Landon’s threat. Maybe he wasn’t planning on choosing Landon over her at all.

  Maybe Landon would take back his ridiculous ultimatum if she told him the truth about Vin and her.

  Oblivious to her inner turmoil, Landon continued, “You’re too good for him. You deserve better than some guy with that kind of reputation.”

  “He hasn’t had a reputation in two months.”

  “And Tami Martin said she ran into you at some Full Moon Festival.”

  “She did.” Reece shuddered, recalling the terrible mess of a spilled drink.

  “I’d stay clear of her, too. Her father has tried to threaten his way through the agricultural boards. I wouldn’t be surprised if she uses your dating Vin to her advantage.” He held up a hand. “And before you get all pissy, know I gave the same lecture to Christopher when I found out Tami had wormed her way onto one of his boards. Just be smart. Keep your distance.”

  Landon was right, of course. The mention of Tami Martin did it. That, and the idea she’d left Waterford flutes in Vincent Ferguson’s office. Vin hadn’t denied it.

  There was so much of Vin’s life she knew nothing about, and if they really weren’t dating, that should be fine. But she’d come to think of them as an exclusive couple. She hadn’t thought about him getting any on the side. What if he had been? It shouldn’t matter. Still, her brother deserved to know the truth.

  She cleared her throat. “Landon, we’re not really dating. We have an agreement.”

  Landon nodded. “He said as much, but I still don’t like it.”

  She shrugged. “It’s just business. Until the IPO goes through.”

  “I’ll tell you what I told him. Break up, and I’ll leave him alone.” He stopped outside the executive conference room. “This meeting shouldn’t be more than an hour. If you need anything at all, just ask my assistant. Oh, and I have another stack of scholarship applications on my desk.”

  Reece yanked on her brother’s arm. “If we do break up, would you support his IPO?”

  Her brother gave one of his curt nods. “I would. It was a solid presentation.”

  “So why threaten to tank him?”

  He blew out an aggravated breath. “As for the IPO”—he shrugged and opened the conference room door—“I don’t have an opinion either way. His team never reached out to me, either because technology isn’t our wheelhouse, or they were hoping we’d jump on board after the mock session. It’s not a bad investment, but you deserve better than him, and this will prove it.”

  “Promise you’ll seek an allocation if we break up.”

  He scowled but said, “Fine. Whatever.”

  That settled it. She wouldn’t invite Vin to the Fourth of July penthouse dinner. She wouldn’t give him a chance to choose Landon over her. They’d break up, of course. Self-preservation had her deciding to break up with him before he could break her heart.

  She circled back to the office area, planning what she’d say to Vin. As she waved at Landon’s assistant and waited for the elevator, an odd numbness settled over her.

  Vin no longer needed her to help his reputation if he had her brother on board. This changed everything.

  Forget falling in love with the man. He’d never love her back. She could do this for him. She could give him what he wanted, and all she had to do was pretend like her heart wasn’t breaking.

  Chapter Fifteen

  If someone had told him at the beginning of the summer he would lose his heart to Reece Rowe, Vin would have laughed and said he didn’t have a heart. But now, standing at the window of his fourteenth floor office, overlooking a city he knew from the gutters to the botanical gardens, he wanted nothing more than to give his heart to Reece. And yeah, that sounded corny as hell.

  But to hell with Landon and his asinine threats.

  I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow night. He shot her the text and then called for his assistant.

  When he poked his head into the office, Vin rattled off his plans. “Find out where there are fireworks tomorrow. Then, call Velo’s. A dozen roses. No. Two. Dom on ice.” He snapped his fingers in thought. “And what’s a good—” He cut himself off. “No. I need to do this next part. I’m stepping out for a bit. Be back in an hour.”

  Landon and his shitty ultimatum could shove it. He needed to set things straight with Reece. This was no longer the straightforward arrangement they’d agreed upon at the beginning of their summer of secrets. He still smiled when he thought about how she came up with that clever name.

  He wanted to take her on a real date. Dinner and a real discussion. He wanted to know more about her than some internet search and the bits and pieces he overheard other people say. And he wanted to know he wouldn’t come home one day and see her sitting on the back deck with some other guy. Not without taking his shot with her. Not without giving this thing a real chance.

  He raced to his old neighborhood, where the strip malls were finally being renovated one at a time, and he entered Julio’s.

  “Vincent Ferguson.” His childhood friend greeted him with a wide grin and a hard slap on the back.

  Vin always trusted his gut, and this was the right thing to do. “Julio, I need something special.”

  Julio’s eyes and smile widened. “For your mom or Tonia?”

  He came here often enough for his mom and his sister, over the years, for birthdays and holidays, but this time, he gave his friend a knowing nod. “For a girl.”

  Julio laughed and shook his head. “Never thought the day would come. How many carats?” The other man ambled over to a case with engagement rings.

  Vin should have broken into a sweat at the thought of an engagement ring, but surprisingly, he didn’t. “Not quite yet,” he said, his gaze assessing the diamonds and bands. “Maybe a bracelet.”

  With a wink, Julio changed direction and opened a different display case. “I have just the one.”

  Twenty minutes later, with the slim box resting in the inner pocket of his jacket, Vin returned to his office. Reece still hadn
’t returned his earlier text about dinner, but that didn’t worry him—he’d call her after his meeting.

  He’d use tomorrow’s dinner to tell Reece everything. How she’d been the one to change him way back when. He needed her to know it wasn’t her name or her reputation that attracted him. She made him a better person. She’d inspired his eleven-year-old self to be more.

  And then, he’d do what he’d never before done. He’d tell her he wanted a relationship. He’d promise her the hearts and flowers she deserved. Because he could see it in her eyes. In the slow smile that curved her lips after sex. In the way she cuddled into him and breathed him in. She cared for him, too. And he’d use the bracelet to show her he wasn’t ready to let this thing end.

  Tomorrow was Independence Day, and for the first time in his life, he felt free.

  …

  Reece took a deep breath and stepped into Vin’s office, closing the door behind her. It was the end to a long day, the kind where it might have been better if she’d stayed in bed. But Landon’s ultimatum played in the back of her mind, and the only way to distract herself until Vin was free was working into a blurry haze revising the existing charter for the Foundation. She’d never been the head of anything. She’d need all her brain power focused on the Foundation, and that meant no silly flings. She should’ve known her brother would find some way to come between Vin and her. She wasn’t even bothered by his audacity. But in the end, Vin would get the better end of the deal. He’d get Landon. The funny part was Landon hadn’t been Vin’s end game. Vin wasn’t like the other guys she’d dated. He hadn’t used her for her family connections. She was sure of it.

  And now she had to break up with him so he and her brother could get on with their business.

  This was the right thing to do. She couldn’t ask him to sacrifice something he’d worked his whole life to build, not that he’d choose her anyway. Maybe leaving him first was her way of protecting her ego. To soften the blow when he chose Landon over her. She couldn’t wait for dinner tomorrow. She had to do this now.