by Skylar Hill
“I’ll take care of it,” Nat said. “No point in bothering him. Plus, this is what CEOs do—they take care of problems.”
“You are going to be an amazing CEO,” Maddy said, feeling relieved that Nat was so sure that this wasn’t a problem and she had a plan. Dillon Palmer was clearly just a jerk who was trying to get back at Carter for banning him from the company. He’d been in the right place at the right time to see Carter and Maddy kissing and had decided to use it to mess with them.
“Okay,” she got back up, that restless energy filling her again. “I should go.”
“Um, no,” Nat said. “You should sit your ass down and give me details. You owe me. I want to know everything. Well. Not like, everything, because eww. I love you both, but no. I want a fuzzy, tasteful picture.”
Maddy’s mouth quirked up, her amusement evident. She sat back down, taking the Godiva chocolate that Nat offered her from a little ceramic box on the coffee table. “Okay, so, you know how you hit a point with someone you’re in a relationship with, where they really know you and they can just… anticipate what you need? What you want?”
“The really good sex phase that comes after the kind-of-awkward learning-each-other stage?” Nat asked.
Maddy nodded. “Yeah. That. Except without the awkward learning-each-other stage. It’s just all amazing,” she said. “It’s like… it’s like we knew each other from the first touch.”
Nat was making a face that was usually reserved for looking at puppy pictures. “Maddy, oh, my God,” she pressed her hand against her heart. “This is great.”
“Yeah,” Maddy said, smiling, trembling, and finally hopeful, for the first time in a long time. “I think it is.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Carter
“We have a problem,” Nat said.
Carter looked up from his computer, where he’d been going over the last battery specs he had before he’d been distracted from the project. Both Nat and Zoe were standing in front of his desk, looking worried.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I just got a call from Rosalind James’ assistant,” Zoe said, naming one of the members on the Purely Pleasure Board. “Tucker and I are close, and he’s a huge gossip. He wanted to know the details of this emergency board meeting that’s being called tonight.”
“A meeting of our board?” Carter asked.
Zoe nodded. “I played along like I knew what he was talking about. Apparently Rosalind had him change plans tonight so she could attend.”
“Fuck,” Carter swore. He looked over to Nat, who had a grim expression on her face. “What do you think?” he asked her.
“It’s a coup,” Nat said.
“Fuck,” he said again.
“Seriously?” Zoe asked, and then she turned red. “Um, do you two want me to be here? I can go…”
“It’s fine, Zoe. We trust you,” Nat said. “We might as well tell her,” she said to Carter.
“She probably already knows,” Carter said. There wasn’t much that went past Zoe when it came to his life. She was his assistant, after all.
“About Nat taking over as CEO?” Zoe asked. “Yeah, I know about that. You had me check the company by-laws last month, remember? But what does that have to do with a coup? Who’s trying to take over the company?”
“Charles Palmer and that asshole Dillon,” Nat said. “You think he has the votes?”
Carter shook his head. “There’s no way. So that means he has something else up his sleeve. What’s his plan? He wouldn’t do this without ammunition. Do you think he found out Olivia is sick?”
“I don’t think it’s that,” Nat said.
She bit her lip, flipping her hair over her shoulder in a way that he recognized. She was hiding something. “What are you not telling me?” he asked.
“I want you to promise not to get mad,” Nat began.
“Words that are deeply reassuring,” Carter said dryly, leaning back in his chair.
“The Halloween party at the Secret Society Lounge? Dillon saw you and Maddy there together. He approached Maddy yesterday, saying all this shit about how soon, she’d be working for him. I told her to ignore him. I thought he was just running his mouth. She wanted to tell you, but I was the one who told her I’d handle it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have interfered.”
“It’s fine,” Carter said. “Just… tell me this stuff, okay? I need to know all the details so I can make sure to protect us all from all angles.”
“So what’s their plan here?” Zoe asked the two of them, looking confused. “Go to the board and tell them what? That you and Maddy are dating? There aren’t any rules about employees dating.”
“Charles could argue that I used my power to influence Maddy. He could say that I was acting irresponsibly. That I opened us up to potential lawsuits if the relationship went bad. He could do some damage if he painted a bad picture,” Carter said. “Especially since I banned his own son from the company because he was making my employees uncomfortable.”
“What you and Maddy have is not the same as Dillon cornering me in the closet,” Zoe said firmly, looking angry that anyone would think so.
“You and Maddy are in a healthy consensual relationship,” Nat said. “You two just fell for each other. We could use that as the argument.”
Carter shook his head. “We’re going about this the wrong way,” he said. “We have a weapon in our arsenal that Charles and Dillon have no clue about: They think I want to stay CEO.”
A smile crept across Nat’s face. “I see where you’re going with this,” she said, looking down at her watch. “But if we’re going to pull it off, we’ll need to get to the airport now.”
“Go, both of you. Right now,” Zoe said, pulling her phone out and already tapping away at it. “I’ll have flights booked for you by the time you get there. I’ll text you the flight information.”
“Will you let Maddy know I have to miss our lunch?” Carter asked, standing up and grabbing his jacket.
“On it, boss,” Zoe said.
“And I’ve got a meeting with Renee,” Nat added.
“I’ll let her know, boss,” Zoe said, and Nat beamed at the honorific, making Carter so damned glad he was able to turn the company over to her… at least, if they managed to outsmart Charles.
He’d be damned if Charles and Dillon ousted him from his own board. His board wasn’t puritanical, obviously; they wouldn’t be offended by the idea of a CEO dating his employee. But it was populated by smart businessmen and women, and Carter fully owned up to the fact that falling for one of your employees wasn’t the greatest business sense. Charles could maybe sway a few members who hadn’t been thrilled with the Portland move. There could be a real risk if he didn’t get to the board meeting and take charge before Charles could spread his poison.
“Let’s go,” he urged Nat.
“You think this will work?” she asked him as they made their way to the airport.
“It better,” he said.
It had to.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carter
“Good evening, everyone,” Carter said, striding into the board room, Nat following close behind. A confused rumble of voices broke through the room as he entered, and he raised an eyebrow as he got to the head of the table. “Were you not expecting me? Charles was supposed to let you all know I was coming.”
The table was long gleaming wood, and a dozen men and women—the entire board—were seated around it. Charles wasn’t messing around—he’d tried to set up a coup, but Carter was two steps ahead of him.
“So what’s all this about?” asked Tom Branson, one of his early investors. He was a bit of an old-school business guy, but Carter respected him and his knowledge. He was the kind of level-headed person you wanted on your board.
“Apologies for the emergency meeting,” Carter said. “And thank you, Charles, it was so kind of you to call it for me.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” Charles said. “I�
�”
“I have some urgent news to announce,” Carter said, plowing over Charles’s words. Dillon was sitting next to his father, a gloating expression on his face. He thought that he had won.
Carter suppressed a smile. Didn’t he know geeks always won in the end?
“I’ve felt very privileged serving as the CEO of the company for all these years,” he said. “We have an incredible workforce, a fantastic board of directors, and while the product we’re selling isn’t exactly ‘family friendly… There was a rumble of laughter at his joke and he smiled, letting it roll through the room. “… I like to think our company has a family feel in that we take care of each other.”
Dillon looked like he’d just sucked a lemon, and Charles shifted in his seat, getting progressively redder. “We’ve always put our customers and our employees first, and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of. We’ve been able to provide parental leave for our employees who are new parents; day care and health insurance for all of our employees from office to warehouse workers; and last year, our first STEM scholarship for women was awarded to Veronica Rocha, a young woman who is now completing her freshman year at MIT and studying robotics. I’m exceedingly proud of everything we’ve accomplished—thanks to you, our customers and our employees—in the past five years. Which is why what I am about to say is so difficult: I have decided to step down as CEO, effective immediately.”
Shock filtered throughout the room as a murmur rose among the board members.
“What!?” Charles suddenly turned so red that Carter was a little worried the guy was going to have a heart attack. “What is the meaning of this? Is this some sort of ploy—”
Carter shot him a befuddled look. “There’s no ploy, Charles. As some of my personal friends on the board know, my young sister, who is only seven, has been battling illness for the last year and a half. The doctors have reached a point in her treatment where she requires a kidney transplant. My family’s been blessed—it turns out that I am a match for her. I know this is short notice, and I apologize for that, but I just got the go-ahead from her doctors. The operation will be taking place in less than 48 hours.”
Dillon’s mouth was open. “Bullshit!” he said.
Everyone in the room’s head whipped toward him, the shocked faces of the men and women saying everything.
“Are you suggesting I’m lying?” Carter asked, continuing to keep a confused look on his face. “Why would I? I’ve made the decision to step down to spend more time with my family and turning my focus back to inventing. I’ll be working out of a lab that’ll be set up during my recovery; we had an extra suite of offices anyway. I’ll be hiring a small engineering team to work under me. I’m very excited about these new changes, and I’m confident that it will bring a lot of new fresh ideas—and fresh products to the table. With the subscription box launch coming soon, we’ll need all the fresh ideas we can get.”
“The new social media campaigns you just rolled out are doing well,” said Rosalind James, a short-haired woman who gave off the air of being effortlessly cool. “There’s been a lot of positive buzz among younger women about the new campaigns.”
“Madeline Craine, our new social media manager, has been a huge asset to us,” Carter said. “We’re very lucky to have her.”
“About Madeline Craine—” Charles started to say, but Rosalind ignored him. She had never liked him, and had been against his buying into the company, but Carter’s hands had been tied at the time.
“Carter, I understand the need to step down immediately, but who will be taking over?” Rosalind asked.
He smiled. “That’s why Ms. Banks is here,” he said, as Nat stepped forward. “Natalie has been with us since the beginning. She’s served as CFO and vice president, and I think it’s time she takes the reins.”
“Ms. Banks has no CEO experience,” Charles gritted out. “Surely you want someone more qualified to take the helm.”
“Oh, please, Charles, you had no experience when you took over your first company, either,” Tom Branson scoffed. “Ms. Banks has been a stellar CFO, and no offense to Carter, but having a woman CEO would be fantastic optics for us.”
“No offense taken,” Carter said easily. “I agree with you. A majority of our customer base and workforce is women. It’s time we were led by a woman. With Purely Pleasure’s direction in Natalie’s very capable hands, we will soar to new heights. It’s been a privilege being the CEO, but now it’s time for me to be happy with founder and inventor and, of course, owner.” He looked directly at Charles and Dillon when he said the last word, and Dillon shifted in his seat, looking over at his father like, do something!
But really, what could they do? Carter had just snatched all of their ammunition away. They couldn’t get him fired as CEO if he stepped down. And as primary owner of the company, head of the board, and current CEO, he had all the power to hire the next CEO. The entire board would have to make a vote of no confidence in order to overrule him, and that was highly unlikely—Nat was the natural choice to step in.
“I’m very excited to get back to inventing full-time,” he said. “In fact, I’ve been feeling positively inspired lately. There will be specs for a new pocket-sized line exclusive to the subscription box in your email tomorrow, along with the basics of the new campaign that Ms. Craine and Ms. Banks created themselves to roll out the new line.”
He nodded to Nat, who stepped forward. “The new campaign will be centered around an entire social media experience,” she said. “The nationwide Purely Pleasure scavenger hunt. There will be tasks to complete and document online, special boxes in different locations for our hunters to find, and monthly parties nationwide. We’ll be partnering with several local brands in each city so we support local business and bring that city’s flavor into each task and box. Maddy and I will be presenting the final campaign in three weeks, you’re all welcome to join us in Portland, or via Skype.”
“This sounds great,” Tom said.
“I like the scavenger hunt idea,” Rosalind added, and the two men flanking her nodded.
“What’s especially fun about it is that it’s something you can do on a silly date night or with your girlfriends,” Nat added. “There’s plenty of crossover. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from our initial test audience, and we think this is going to be quite the campaign.”
“It seems you’ve got everything planned out great,” Tom said. “I’m impressed at how well you’ve dealt with a difficult situation.”
“Natalie and I are both committed to making this as smooth as a transition as possible,” Carter said, unable to stop the triumphant smile from spreading across his face. “We already have several CFO candidates set up for interviews next week, so there should be very little difficulty.”
“Excellent,” Tom said, clapping her hands together. “Well, it sounds like everything is well in hand. Is there anything else? Because I should be getting home to my kids.”
“I can’t think of anything,” Carter said.
That’s when Dillon exploded. “I have something to say!” He bolted to his feet, looking almost as red as father, who was sitting there, slumped and angry, but clearly smart enough to know that Carter had defeated him.
Carter raised an eyebrow. But before he could say anything, Rosalind, who was co-chair of the board with Tom, held out a hand.
“Dillon, you are not a member of this board.”
Dillon sputtered. “But—” he started.
“Why is he even here?” Tom asked, looking over to Charles. “I understand wanting to show your boy the business, Charles, but this is more than a little unconventional.”
Charles didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then, with his eyes burning, he said, “Sit down!” to Dillon which such chilling authority that the younger man obeyed instantly, his cheeks stained with humiliation as it finally sunk in that his little plan to overthrow Carter wasn’t going to work.
“Everyone,” Carter interrupted smoo
thly. “I’d love to stay, but I’ve got a red-eye to catch, and it’s Natalie’s show now.” He shot her a smile, and she beamed back, giving him a little nod that said thank you.
It was him who should be thanking her. He could have never done any of this without knowing that he was handing his company over to someone who would do the job better than anyone else—even himself. And Nat was that person.
“Of course,” Rosalind got to her feet, giving him a brief hug. “I am very happy about your news. Olivia is very lucky to have such a wonderful big brother. We’ll all be rooting for her.”
“I’m just glad I can do this,” Carter said. “Thank you for understanding. Everyone,” he addressed the room. “It’s been a pleasure. And I will continue to see you at board meetings. I promise you aren’t rid of me for good.”
“Have a quick recovery,” Tom said.
Carter nodded, leaving the room, not even bothering to look at Charles and Dillon.
But Dillon wasn’t done with him. Carter was almost to the elevator when he heard a door flying open. He turned around to see Dillon marching down the hall, his shoulders hunched and his fists clenched.
“Hey, asshole,” Dillon called.
Carter sighed, planting his feet. He felt like he was in eighth grade again, it was ridiculous. “We really gonna do this?” he asked, the disgust dripping off his voice.
“Don’t you dare,” Dillon hissed, like a toddler whose toy had been taken away.
Carter rolled his eyes. “Dude, just walk away,” he said. “You’re going to embarrass yourself.”
“Please,” Dillon scoffed, lurching forward, telegraphing his every move. “I can take you down. I was all-state. I box. You’re a fucking geek.”
He swung, but Carter’s hand lashed out, catching his wrist and using the momentum and one quick sweep of his foot against Dillon’s ankles to flip him to the ground in an easy, seemingly effortless movement that actually took a ton of practice and precision.
