Brynn laughed, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. “That sounds more like a rap song than a fancy drink.”
“Good luck.”
Brynn grimaced. “Thanks.”
As Kaitlin started for the front door, Brynn called her name. Kaitlin turned.
“Any chance you’d want to grab a drink tonight?” she asked in a rush of breath. She swallowed and added, “Tyler has Scouts on Thursday evenings. It doesn’t have to be this week. If you’re too busy...”
“I—”
“I’m sure you already have friends,” Brynn continued, the words coming more rapidly now. “You’ve been here a couple of years. I have friends, of course. Mostly from high school. And family. But...I just thought...”
“Tonight would be great,” Kaitlin told her. She reached into her purse and pulled out a scrap of paper, quickly jotting down her cell number. “Let’s invite Mara, too. She can give you tips on coffee orders. Text me about the time and your address. I’ll pick you up.”
“Great,” Brynn said, folding the small piece of paper and pocketing it.
“Brynn, will you grab the box of lids in the storage room?” the barista called.
She nodded but continued to smile at Kaitlin. “Thank you for the words of encouragement. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to rattle off a mocha, steamed, double-shot whatever, but I have the first inkling of hope that I’ll find my new normal, whatever that ends up looking like.”
“You will,” Kaitlin promised, then headed for the bank. In truth, she owed Brynn a thank-you, as well. She’d let herself sink into a funk far too quickly this morning.
So what if Finn had taken off? He owed her nothing, and she wasn’t going to let herself be some overly sentimental woman who made a night of great sex into more than it was.
By the time she walked through the bank’s polished mahogany doors, she’d finished half her coffee, which also helped her confidence. A jolt of caffeine and female bonding were a powerful combination.
She waved to Meg at the teller window, then took the steps to the second-floor offices. She’d built in time to review some of the marketing initiatives before the executive management meeting Finn had called, but thanks to her coffee shop detour, she went straight to the conference room at the end of the hall.
Channing Cooper, the chief finance officer, pumped a fist in the air as she entered. “You owe me a dollar, Finn,” he shouted across the room.
Finn, who was speaking to his father near the head of the table, glanced up at Channing and then toward Kaitlin, his brows furrowing as he took in the coffee cup she carried.
“I told everyone you’d stop at Perk,” Channing said as he approached Kaitlin. “Finn thought you’d bring something from home.”
“My vote was that you’d get to the office early and make a fresh pot here,” Jack called, one side of his mouth kicking up.
“But I was right.” Channing tapped a bony finger against the side of her cup. “I know you so well.”
“That sounds a little creepy,” Martha Paige, the bank’s operations and human resources manager, told Channing. “Leave Kaitlin alone.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” Channing insisted. “Everyone knows Kaitlin doesn’t have a personal life.”
“Inappropriate,” Martha said with an eye roll. “Go sit down, Channing.”
Channing grumbled but did as he was told. That was another thing Kaitlin liked about life in a small town. Even in a business setting, there was a camaraderie that couldn’t be faked. She knew there were plenty of mean people in any community, and those two women who’d derided her in the break room certainly proved that people could be jerks no matter what, but she had a place in Starlight.
“I know he was joking,” she assured Martha anyway.
“Yeah,” the woman agreed. Then she added under her breath, “He only looks like a creeper.”
Kaitlin coughed to cover a laugh. “Is the HR manager allowed to say that?”
“Probably not.” Martha shook her head. “Sorry. My toddler is teething so no one in the house is getting any sleep.”
“We’re ready to start the meeting,” Jack announced to the room.
As Kaitlin slid into a chair at the far end of the table, her gaze caught on Finn’s. His dropped to the cardboard cup, and he raised a brow.
She gave a small shake of her head, then opened her notebook, trying not to make it obvious how much it affected her to be in the same room as him.
Everything about Finn affected her, but she wasn’t going to let him know it. Talking to Brynn had been a great reminder that Kaitlin had succeeded at starting over. She’d reinvented her life in this town, and she wouldn’t let anything or anyone jeopardize the happiness she’d found there, no matter how good a particular anyone looked naked.
Chapter Thirteen
Finn bit back a growl of frustration as he watched Kaitlin duck from the conference room as soon as they finished the staff meeting.
He couldn’t exactly fault her as he had no doubt she was heading for her desk to start on the new work he’d assigned her as he discussed various projects and initiatives for the staff to implement in the coming weeks.
In a short time they’d made decent progress, and he was impressed by the updates he’d been given, especially Kaitlin’s headway on the marketing plan. Not that he’d told her that in front of everyone else.
He didn’t want to do anything to attract attention to his feelings for her, although it was difficult to believe people didn’t see the sparks flying between them.
Unless those sparks were only one-sided at this point.
Why hadn’t he stayed with her this morning or woken her with the kiss he’d been dying to give her?
Could he follow her without being obvious? He wanted to find a way to pull her aside and smooth over whatever damage he’d caused by walking out.
He inwardly cursed himself even as he listened to Channing discuss the new risk assessment metrics Finn had suggested. He had no business with her outside the bedroom. She’d made the rules around what was between them abundantly clear. There was no reason he should want to change that, not after one night.
“Mr. Samuelson?”
He focused his attention on the young woman who’d approached him. “Meg, right?” he asked and she nodded with a small smile. “Call me Finn. What can I do for you?”
She glanced toward his father and Channing, then swallowed. “A man named Peter Henry is here to see you. He was asking a lot of questions about the health of the bank downstairs and I didn’t want everyone to get anxious. When I asked him about his business at First Trust, he said he had an appointment with you. He’s waiting in your office.”
“What the hell, Finn?” his father muttered as a hush fell over the staff who remained in the conference room.
“He’s here to go over some things on my accounts out of Seattle,” Finn lied, knowing that whatever had brought Peter, the chief operating officer of AmeriNat’s West Coast offices, to Starlight couldn’t be that simple.
“We’re getting things on track,” Jack said, more to himself than Finn. “No one is going to swoop in and take over at this point.”
“I know, Dad.”
But Finn also knew that the bank wasn’t on solid footing yet. He hadn’t been specific at his office about why he was taking time off, allowing everyone to believe it had something to do with his dad’s health.
True and not true.
Lies and not lies.
After last night it felt like the only real thing in his life was Kaitlin, but she didn’t belong to him. He couldn’t make her his true north because there was no scenario where that would lead to a happy ending.
“Thanks, Meg,” he said with as much of a smile as he could muster. “It’s not about First Trust,” he told his dad.
Jack gave a cu
rt nod. “Stop by my office later.”
“I will.” Before heading to his office, Finn walked at a normal pace down the hall toward his father’s.
Kaitlin sat at her desk in the corner of the reception area, her eyes glued to the computer screen in front of her.
As he approached, she glanced up, her expression schooled even as one feathery brow rose in question. “I heard your boss is here.”
“It’s not about First Trust,” he repeated. In response, her lips thinned. “We need to talk,” he said quietly, massaging his hand along the back of his neck.
“The way you left this morning said everything.”
“You made the rules,” he snapped, then shook his head. “I can’t leave Peter waiting. Can we talk later?”
She shrugged noncommittally. “I’ll be working on the marketing materials for the booth at the art show. We’ll talk about that.”
“Kaitlin.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Please,” he whispered.
“That isn’t playing fair,” she muttered, eyes blazing.
“I don’t—”
“There you are.”
He fought back a groan as he turned toward the hallway. Peter Henry, chief operating officer of AmeriNat Bank, walked toward him, looking irritated and impatient.
“Hello, Peter. I wasn’t expecting to see you in Starlight.”
The older man inclined his head. “And I anticipated you’d be back in Seattle by now. I didn’t realize the angle you were working here.”
Finn squeezed shut his eyes as he heard Kaitlin’s sharp intake of breath. “No angle, but we should talk in my office.”
“I’m waiting,” Peter agreed.
Finn didn’t look at Kaitlin again. He couldn’t stand to see the disappointment he knew he’d find in her gaze, even though he didn’t deserve it.
“This bank’s a hidden gem,” Peter said without preamble as Finn followed him to the office at the end of the hall. “If they entertained multiple offers, it could start a bidding war. But I’d like to lock it down for AmeriNat before that happens. They have—”
“It’s not for sale,” Finn said, moving to stand behind his desk.
“Everything’s for sale,” Peter argued, his quiet tone laced with steel. “The Pacific division needs a win right now, and if you’re the one to pull it off, there would be no question about your bid for the partner title.”
“I didn’t realize anyone had questions,” Finn countered. He waited until Peter lowered himself into one of the winged armchairs before taking a seat in the leather desk chair.
“Nothing’s set in stone until the board approves it.” Peter rested his elbows on the arms of the chair, pressing his fingers together in a way that reminded Finn of his own father. It would be interesting to see Peter and Jack together. Two old-school bankers whose careers had taken very different trajectories. The thing they had in common was that both men were used to being top dog and neither liked to be challenged.
“This is my family’s bank,” Finn said, as if Peter didn’t already know that. “I’m helping my dad return it to financial health.”
Peter waved a dismissive hand. “Community banks are a dinosaur in the industry. We both know that, even if your father doesn’t. I don’t have to remind you that acquiring them is a big part of what your career is based on.”
“You don’t,” Finn agreed, “although it sounds like you just did.”
“AmeriNat wants to continue our expansion throughout the Pacific Northwest. I’m not sure why First Trust hasn’t come up as a potential purchase before now. Having a bank charter in this part of the valley would be a huge coup for you, Finn. It would also make your dad and his board very wealthy.”
“But he wouldn’t have his family bank anymore.”
“He might not anyway. We can make sure First Trust retains a decent percentage of the local employees and offers fair severance packages to those they let go.”
Nausea rolled through Finn’s stomach as the metallic taste of bile filled his mouth. Being back in Starlight had reminded him how important the bank was to this community. Not just for day-to-day operations but also because of the relationships his dad had formed and the lives he’d helped to change.
Finn thought about the deals he’d done over the years, and how the banks he’d bought and sold had been anonymous entities. It was simple to determine a bank’s worth on paper. Spreadsheets and financial reports showed the facts and figures, but there was more to valuing a small-town business than what could be shown in black and white.
Anger plunged through his veins, mostly self-directed. He’d ignored the lessons he’d learned watching his father’s dedication to the family business for so many years. He’d let his resentment and bitterness shadow everything in his life.
Hell, he’d willingly turned his back on his family legacy in order to make his life about the opposite.
“First Trust isn’t for sale.”
“Be realistic, Finn.” Frustration edged his boss’s words. “This bank isn’t your dream or your future. I have no doubt you’ll turn it around for a period of time, but what happens when you return to Seattle? There’s no way to guarantee the kind of lucrative offer we can put together will still be on the table.”
“I understand.” Finn rolled his shoulders, trying and failing to dispel some of the tension weighing on them. “I made a promise to my father.”
“You have a commitment to me and to AmeriNat,” Peter countered.
“The numbers in my division have been top in the country for the past four years. I’ve done more than my part for you and for AmeriNat.”
Peter looked around the office as if assessing the decor. “Needs updating,” he said quietly. “Businesses either keep progressing or they fail. Nothing and no one is irreplaceable.”
Finn ignored the implied threat in the words. “I’ll be finished here and back in the office within the month. Until then, I’m keeping up with clients remotely. In fact, I have a conference call scheduled with Bay Bank.”
“Not necessary,” Peter answered immediately. “I’m sending Trent to San Francisco. He leaves tomorrow.”
“That’s my account.”
“Not while you’re in Starlight.” Peter stood, the conversation effectively ended. “It’s a pretty little town but way too quiet for men like you and me. We need the thrill of the chase.” Peter smiled, and Finn wondered why he’d never realized how smarmy the older man was under his facade of polish and sophistication. “I saw Chelsea Davidson at the club last weekend. I don’t know why you ever broke things off with that woman. She looked good, Finn. Very good.”
He’d heard rumors of Peter’s wandering eye for years although he’d never seen his boss with a woman other than his over-Botoxed wife. But when Peter spoke of thrills, Finn couldn’t help but think he was talking about more than making business deals. Was that what happened when a man chose a wife based on whether she could host a decent party?
“I hope Chelsea’s happy, and I’ll get the files over to Trent,” Finn said quietly. He wasn’t going to win a squabble over a client meeting with his boss, so why even bother?
The thought made him almost laugh. He’d never walked away from a fight in his life, but right now he couldn’t muster the energy to care.
“Within the hour,” Peter advised, then walked out of the office.
Finn pressed two fingers to his temples, which were practically throbbing with tension. He knew the senior banker’s appearance in Starlight would raise all kinds of questions about Finn’s intentions and master plan when it came to First Trust.
As much as he wanted people to trust him, he’d done little to earn it. He thought he was on sure footing at AmeriNat, but the fact that Peter would so quickly give away his client showed that there was no loyalty from that quarter. Although Finn was officia
lly on vacation, he’d been working his accounts late at night, between meetings and planning at First Trust or in the early-morning hours.
Contrast that with his father, who’d been through months of secret cancer treatments and had taken his hands off the reins at the bank for so long it was in real jeopardy of failing. As far as Finn knew, every one of his employees still showed him respect and loyalty as if he were some benevolent business owner taking care of each of them personally.
Finn couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to lay his head on the pillow each night knowing he made that kind of difference in the lives of the people he employed.
* * *
Kaitlin knocked on the door of Finn’s office several hours later, growing concerned when he didn’t answer.
“Finn?” She knocked again. “At least grunt so I know your creepy boss didn’t take an ax to you while he was here.”
The door opened a crack, Finn glaring at her from the other side. “Don’t you think you would have heard a struggle?”
“It was a joke,” she said.
“I’m not in a mood to be funny.”
“Lucky me.” She held up a brown paper bag. “I brought you lunch.”
His eyes narrowed.
“It’s chicken salad,” she continued. “From The Hole in the Wall Deli. It opened last year. Sal, the owner, smokes the chickens himself and adds the tiniest bit of curry to the recipe. It will ruin you for all other chicken salad.”
“The way last night ruined me?” he said, his voice low and rumbly and doing dangerous things to her insides.
“I doubt that,” she answered, then gave a startled yelp as he hauled her into the office, slamming shut the door behind her.
“I made you coffee this morning,” he said, and it sounded like an accusation.
“Right before you sneaked out.” She couldn’t help the words or the accusation that laced her tone. She’d brought him lunch because she cared, but a part of her hated that she cared.
He took the bag from her and turned for the desk. “I get up early. I didn’t want to wake you.”
The Best Intentions (Welcome To Starlight Book 1) Page 13
