He slid the folder to Lucie. She eyeballed it. “What is it?”
“A contract. The dog food. We have some details to work out—and I want to meet the woman who created it—but if it all checks out, I’ll do it.”
The dog food deal. Yes! Later, she’d do a happy dance. Right now? She needed to be a tough, hard-as-nails businesswoman. One who wouldn’t get screwed, as Dad would say.
Previously, she’d floated a 50/50 partnership and Antoine balked. After this ordeal, she wouldn’t take less. If she had to, she’d walk away and find another partner. Simply on principle. Did that make her stubborn and prideful?
Yes.
She didn’t care. She knew her worth.
She glanced at Tim, who wore his detective poker face. No help there. At least not yet. She flipped the file open, perusing the contract until the legalese made her head spin. She skipped to the paragraph outlining the terms of the deal.
$500,000 in capital from Antoine. No salary for Lucie or Jo-Jo and…
A 50/50 split.
He’d given her exactly what she’d asked for. Lucie kept her posture intact, no collapsing into relieved giggles. Refusing to react, she continued reading. Pretended to anyway. After seeing that 50/50, everything went to mush.
She paused another minute or so, flipping through pages of the contract, but not really absorbing anything. Her lawyer would have to read it anyway.
Antoine held his palm up. “I gave you the deal you asked for.”
“I see that. Thank you. I know it’s a good faith gesture on your part. I appreciate it.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I’ll need to talk to Jo-Jo and Ro—she’s a partner in Coco Barknell. If they agree, I’d say you have a deal.”
By eight o’clock, the lights still blazed in Coco Barknell.
Ro stood behind her desk, her librarian glasses perched on the end of her nose. She flipped her long, sable her over her shoulder then did a little wiggle as she adjusted her skirt. Even at the end of the day, in silly glasses, she could be a movie star.
Ro shoved her laptop and the folder with the dog food contract into her briefcase. She’d yet to say anything—not one thing—after reading the terms of the deal.
Four times.
All while Lucie patiently waited, busying herself answering emails. Tim, bless his patience, sat with his feet on their conference table, tossing Lucie’s rubber stress ball in the air. Toss, catch, toss, catch, toss, catch. Over and over again.
He’d do that all night if she let him. Men. Such simple creatures.
Ro zipped her briefcase closed and removed her glasses, waving them in the air like some big-shot CEO addressing her minions. “You really want to do this food deal?”
“I do. It wouldn’t kill us to diversify. And it’s a good deal.”
The front door swung open. Joey stepped in, bringing a blast of cold air with him. “Hey,” he said. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
Ro held her briefcase out for Joey to carry. “Relax, ape man.”
Tim snorted a laugh.
After taking the briefcase, Joey smacked Ro on the ass and kissed her. “You’re funny.”
Romance. Joey style.
On her way to the door, Ro paused and turned back. “Make the deal, Luce. What the hell. We can do anything together.”
A burst of something bright and loud and…awesome pinged around inside Lucie. She threw her hands in the air. “Whoot! Thank you. This will be great. You’ll see. I promise.”
She’d gone from being accused of theft and blackmail to owning a dog food company. Not bad.
As Ro and Joey strode out, Lucie hopped up, charging Tim and snatching the stress ball from mid-air. She leaned over and hit him with a toe-curling lip lock that included her tongue. A lot of her tongue.
A lot of his tongue, too.
With Tim, all her inhibitions vanished. He had that way about him. Acceptance. A casual understanding that boosted her confidence.
She wrapped her hand around the back of his head, holding him there while she mauled him. With the lights on and anyone on the street watching.
Who cared?
She loved him.
He let out a low groan and nipped at her bottom lip. “I guess you’re happy.”
Oh, she was happy all right. She stood tall, ran the back of her hand over his cheek. Such a good man. “I am indeed. Tired, but happy.”
“Good. You ready for dinner? We’ll celebrate. Anywhere you want to go. Then I’m taking you to my place and screwing your lights out.”
Ha. “You’re on, mister.”
She turned, ready to head back to her desk. The blackness beyond the shop window stopped her. Another cold Chicago night. She paused, steeling her weary bones for the cold.
What she needed was warmth. Days of it. And rest. For months she’d been pushing hard, building the business, forcing her brain to multi-task in more ways than she could count.
She faced Tim again. “You know where I really want to go?”
“Where?”
“On vacation. With you.”
A smile lit his face. “Yeah?”
“Yep. Someplace warm.” She gestured to the front windows. “Get us out of this miserable cold. Plus, I’m tired.”
He set his feet on the floor, anchoring the swivel chair, and drew her onto his lap. “It’s been a wild few months.”
“It sure has. What do you say, handsome? Do you have any vacation time coming?”
“I do. And I have an uncle in Florida I haven’t seen in a couple years. How about we make a pit-stop at his place and then head to the Keys?”
The Keys. Oh, that sounded…amazing. Lucie had never been, but for years dreamed of cruising the causeways in a convertible. Warm sun and ocean air. Perfect way to zap stress.
She nodded. “I’d love that. I’ll research places to stay. Maybe we can find a beach cottage. Just the two of us.”
He patted her on the upper part of her rear. “Honey, you and me. Alone? That makes me the luckiest guy alive.”
She leaned in, kissed him again then drew back. “I think it makes me the luckiest girl alive. You and me. Tim and Lucie.”
Just like they’d agreed. No mob princess. No Chicago PD detective. Just Lucie and Tim.
Things might be looking up.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my readers for all the emails and social media posts regarding Lucie and the gang. I am in awe and so grateful for your support. Muhwah!
Speaking of my readers, a very special thank you to Jan Limp and Pam Howell for helping me name Chef Rueben LeBeau. The name was perfect! Thank you also to my dear friends Kevin and Cindy Palmer and Mara, John and Josh Leach for allowing me to use their beloved dogs in my books. You guys are awesome!
Thanks also to Jon Flaute for sharing your knowledge about the finance world. I learn something new with every book and I’m always amazed at the wealth of information people are so generous with.
A giant thank you to Misty Evans and Tracey Devlyn for keeping me sane during the writing of this book. As with any job, some projects are more challenging than others. This one falls in the challenging column, but I’m lucky enough to have friends that help me clean up my messes.
As usual, thanks to my guys for making me smile every day. I love you.
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier).
She is a co-founder of Romance University blog and Lady Jane's Salon-Naperville, a reading series dedicated to romantic fiction. For more information on Adrienne's books, please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor, Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano and Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/AdrienneGiordano. For information on Adrienne’s street team, Danger
ous Darlings, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/dangerousdarlings.
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Also By The Author
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Dog Collar Crime
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Dog Collar Couture
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Justifiable Cause series novellas
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