by Dakota Rebel
“I’m not,” he lied.
“Okay. How can I help you?”
“I’d like to hire you as a consultant for a few days,” he blurted.
We stared at each other for a minute. Why the hell would he ever want to hire me for anything?
“Doing what?” I asked, as the silence between us started to get uncomfortable.
“Did Jacob tell you what’s happening at the firm?” he asked.
“Yes.” I walked around the counter and motioned for him to sit at the small café table by the window. I usually did tarot readings there, but he didn’t need to know that. “Something about the board forcing you to sell. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Well, I think that we can stop it, but I need to be able to get a couple of the board members on our side.”
“You want me to kneecap some guys?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No! Jesus.” He shook his head. “We have meetings scheduled for the next couple days and a final vote on Friday. I’d like you to attend these meetings, see if you can get a…a read on the group. Find me a couple guys who seem like they’re on the fence.”
“Levi Morton,” I said, glaring at him. “Are you fucking with me?”
“What?” He stared at me. “No! Jacob said you could do it. That you were…an…” He trailed off as if unable or unwilling to continue.
“An empath,” I finished for him, smiling softly.
“Yeah.” He waved his hand between us. “That. Look, you know I don’t believe in any of this hooey—”
“Hooey?” I laughed.
“Yes,” he answered firmly. “I don’t give a fuck if Uranus is in Gatorade, okay? I just need you to watch the group and see if anyone looks like they’re hesitant to sell. Can you do that?”
“For you?”
“For Dad.”
“Low blow, Morton,” I told him. “Don’t use family against me.”
“I’m not.” His shoulders sagged slightly, and I realized that he was exhausted. He’d been given the firm to take care of, and now he felt like he was failing his father. That had to be a terrible position to find himself in.
“Okay,” I answered softly.
“What?”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, there may need to be a little bit of subterfuge, can you handle that?” he asked.
“I can lie if the occasion calls for it,” I assured him. After all, he had no idea that I’d had a crush on him for the better part of a decade.
“Good.” He relaxed a little more. “I think it would be easiest if you pretend to be my assistant. Just sit there and take notes and observe.”
“Now I’m your secretary,” I clarified.
“Yes, just for the next two days,” he answered. “It’s not like I’m going to ask you to fetch coffee or anything.”
This may have been the first time the Levi had ever asked me for anything. And there was no doubt I owed his family more than I’d ever be able to repay them. This was nothing compared to what they’d done for me in the past.
“What time should I be there?” I asked him.
His eyes lit up and he reached across the table to squeeze my hands.
“Thank you,” he said, his body visibly relaxing as if he’d been expecting a completely different answer from me. “Can you be at my office by eight-thirty tomorrow morning?”
“I’ll be there with bells on,” I promised.
We stood and he smiled at me before turning and heading toward the door. He opened but paused and turned back to me.
“Auggie?”
“Yeah?” I stared at him, my heart thundering in my chest. Why did I feel so flush all of a sudden?
“You don’t mean actual bells, do you?”
“Go away,” I told him, rolling my eyes.
He smiled softly and left, leaving me alone in the quiet shop.
What the fuck had just happened?
Chapter Four
~Levi~
“I already regret this,” I grumbled to Jacob as I looked at my watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. “If she shows up with a crystal ball I’m going to punch you in the dick.”
“I left it in the car,” Auggie said, appearing in the door and making me jump. “Should I go get it? I’d kind of like to see that.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, standing up and walking over with my hand out to her. “I’m nervous about this meeting.”
“I know,” she said, shaking my hand. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of embarrassing you.”
I cringed as I realized that I’d been worried about that. It wasn’t fair of me to think the worst of her when I’d been the one asking for a favor in the first place.
“Can I take your jacket,” I offered, unable to come up with a response to her.
She pulled off her raincoat and handed it to me, and I stood there staring at her, my mouth falling open.
“Is it too much?” she asked, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she looked from me to Jacob then back to me again. “I don’t own much in the way of business attire.”
She was wearing a black pencil skirt that hugged every curve of her hips and thighs, the hem hitting at her calf and accentuating the bright red heels on her feet. The white blouse clinging to her ample bosom was adorned with tiny red cherries and there was a teardrop pendant around her neck that called immediate attention to her cleavage.
“You look great,” Jacob said, bumping me as he walked around me to take her arm. “We’re setting up in the conference room down the hall. Come on.”
They walked out and it took me a minute for the blood to return to my brain from the inappropriate places it had rushed as I took in the sight of her.
Jacob’s bratty little friend was all grown up, and I was in big fucking trouble.
“Bro!” Jacob called from the hall. “You coming?”
I heard Auggie giggle and I groaned as I dropped her jacket on the chair in my office and followed them out.
How the fuck was I supposed to concentrate with her looking like that?
We walked into the conference room and I showed her where we would sit and explained how the meeting was supposed to go.
“Okay,” she agreed, nodding. “And you just want me to see who might not be totally onboard with the selling of the company?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “We only need a couple guys to side with us, and the deal won’t go through. The by-laws state there has to be a majority vote to sell.”
“Why did your dad even set up a board?” Auggie asked, setting a notepad and pen at her seat before looking back at me.
“Well, at first Jacob and I didn’t actually want to work here.” I blew out a sigh and exchanged a sheepish look with my brother. “So, Dad set up a board to handle the corporate side of things while he ran the day-to-day. But when he died, we felt like we owed it to him to take over.”
“And you can’t fire the board because?” Auggie asked.
“They all have pretty strong contracts,” Jacob said, motioning for her to sit and taking the seat across from her. “It’s pretty standard business practice for a board member to get a massive payout regardless of how they leave the company. Unless there is a legal reason, embezzlement or something, they’re generally untouchable.”
“Bummer,” she said.
“I’m glad you’ve grasped the severity of the situation,” I told her, rolling my eyes as I turned away from them toward the door. “They’ll be here in a minute. Is everyone clear on what they’re objective is?”
“Sit down and shut up,” Jacob said with a small salute.
“Same,” Auggie agreed, her lip quivering as if fighting a smile.
Great, this was going to be a fucking disaster.
Chapter Five
~Auggie~
We were two and a half hours into the meeting and Levi hadn’t stopped talking yet. Most of the men around the table had obviously tuned him out,
including Jacob, and the man hadn’t even noticed.
I reached over and put my hand on Levi’s arm, startling him so badly he jumped then turned to stare at me. I leaned over and whispered. “You’ve lost them. You should call for a break.”
“We’re in the middle of a meeting,” he argued softly.
I looked around the table pointedly, hoping that he would see that no one had noticed he’d stopped talking. When I looked back at Levi he was still glaring at me.
“I can’t get a read on anyone if they aren’t speaking, or even paying attention,” I told him. “Call for a break.”
“You need to learn to exercise some patience,” he hissed.
I narrowed my gaze at him then stood, and all eyes snapped up to me.
“Gentlemen,” I said, smiling brightly. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, something’s just come up that requires Mr. Morton’s attention.” I felt Jacob perk up from across the table. “The elder Mr. Morton,” I clarified. “Would you mind taking a small recess?”
Everyone stood and started to file out of the room. I turned my gaze back to Jacob and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh! Me, too?” He stood up and followed the other men out of the room, then closed the door, leaving Levi and I alone.
“Levi,” I said as patiently as I could. “What the fuck, man?”
“What?”
“What are you even talking about? You’ve been droning on for over two hours and no one cares.” I shook my head. “If you want to get through to them, you need to connect with them on a personal level. Throwing out stats doesn’t mean a damn to anyone. As board members, shouldn’t they already know all these numbers you’re giving them up here?”
“Well, yes,” he agreed. “But that’s what meetings are, Auggie. And interrupting me isn’t helping.”
“There wasn’t a single person in the room paying attention to you,” I said. “You need to talk to them about your dad. You need to get some emotion involved, or nothing is going to change.”
“This isn’t a hippie drum circle,” he said sharply. “This is a board room. This is a business. Thank you for your opinion, but I’d appreciate it if you would just do what I hired you to do and butt out about everything else.”
I touched his arm again and he flinched. He was so wound up. As I searched his gaze, I realized that he was scared.
“Oh, Levi,” I whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek in my palm. “Your dad would be so proud of you.”
His hand slid over mine and he dropped his gaze as his shoulders heaved with a heavy sigh.
“I don’t know about that,” he said after a minute. “But I’d like to think you’re right.”
“I am,” I assured him. “He always was. You’re doing fine, but you need to mix it up a little if you want to get through to them.”
“We’re breaking for lunch in a little while,” he said. “I actually do have to finish presenting these numbers. I’ll think about what to do this afternoon. Okay?”
I nodded, smiling at him before pulling away and walking over to the door to let the boys back in.
“Ms. Jones, how lovely to see you again,” the last man said, pausing as he entered the door. “I’m sorry I didn’t say hello earlier, but I didn’t recognize you until just now.”
“Mr. Potts!” I said, shaking hands with the older the gentleman. “You look quite well.”
“Thank you, miss,” he said. “I took your advice and I’m down twenty pounds since Christmas.”
“Good for you,” I told him. “Do you have plans for lunch yet?”
“Free as a bird,” he assured me.
“Well then,” I said, taking his arm and leading him back toward his seat. “Would you be willing to accompany me to a fine fast food establishment across the street?”
“It would be my pleasure,” he said, smiling brightly.
He took his seat and I went back to mine, pointedly ignoring the stare I could feel coming from Levi.
I’d spoken with Conrad Potts many times at Morton family parties. He’d been friends with Mr. Morton senior, and if there was anyone on the board that I knew would be secretly against the sale of his old friend’s company, it would be Mr. Potts.
And the opportunity to get the man alone meant I could possibly get him to tell me who’s idea the sale had been, and why.
“Pardon the interruption,” Levi said, starting the meeting up again. “Shall we continue?”
I could feel the room tune him out and rolled my eyes as I stared down at the blank notepad in front of me. It was going to be a really long day.
Chapter Six
~Levi~
The morning had gone really well. I’d been able to present the sales figures in such a clear and concise way, I was pretty sure even August could have understood where we were at as a company.
I’d been a little confused to see her leave for lunch with Conrad Potts, but I knew they’d met at one of my mom’s parties, so maybe it wasn’t that strange. I’d just assumed she would be having lunch with Jacob and I to discuss what she’d seen from the other men in the room.
It had been shocking when she’d interrupted me that morning. I’d thought our roles had been perfectly clear, but she was convinced that I was the reason she couldn’t get a read on the room. Right. Like me doing my job was screwing with her psychic energy or whatever.
“Did Auggie go to lunch with Mr. Potts?” Jacob asked, his tone bemused as he dropped into my office chair. “Damn, I knew she always liked older men, but I think that’s pushing it.”
“Shut up,” I told him. “What do you mean?”
“What?” he stared at me, his brow furrowed.
“What do you mean she always liked older men?”
Jacob laughed and stood back up, shaking his head at me as he walked out of the room.
I flipped him off to his back and turned back to the file on my desk, not really taking much of the data in as my mind drifted back to Auggie.
She’d always been a pretty girl, but somehow I’d missed what a beautiful woman she’d grown into. I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about what it would be like to date her, but we were so at odds about…everything, I’d given up on that idea years ago.
But now…
No. I physically shook my head, blowing out a sigh and staring at the spreadsheet in front of me. Today was too important to this company for me to be thinking about anything but saving the firm.
“Hey,” Auggie said softly from the doorway.
“Hey,” I answered, closing the folder and looking up at her. “Come in.”
She walked over and sat down in the chair Jacob had vacated.
“How was lunch?” I asked her.
“It was good,” she said, smiling brightly. “I think Mr. Potts is on your side. But he’s receiving a lot of pressure from Donald Cyrus.”
“Figures,” I spat. “Cyrus is the one that brought Walker Industries to the table in the first place.”
“Is the firm in trouble?” she asked, sucking her lower lip between her teeth and cautiously meeting my gaze.
“No!” I insisted. I wasn’t shocked that she hadn’t paid attention to my presentation that morning. She was there to focus on other things. “We’re having the best year we’ve ever had.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed as if confused. “Mr. Potts seems to think that this sale is the only option. He thinks the firm is in danger of closing.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. Hadn’t Potts listened? I’d thought I’d been clear about how well we were doing. Plus, the entire board received monthly reports of our profits, they should all know what a boost we’d been having.
“So, did you find anyone else we might be able to sway to our side?” I asked her.
“Not yet,” she shook her head. “Are you going to continue bogarting the meeting this afternoon?”
“What?” I stared at her.
“I need to hear from other members before I can tell if anyone else is hesitant,” she explain
ed. “When you’re talking, everyone else just seems…” she trailed off, shifting her gaze away.
“Just say it,” I told her.
“Bored,” she admitted. “They’re just blasé. There’s no body language, no inflection to tone if they aren’t speaking. I need them to actually emote or there’s nothing to read.”
“Well, this afternoon the board will speak,” I told her, trying not to snap. I may not believe in all her mumbo-jumbo, but I’d hired her to do a job, and if she needed to hear from them to do it, it would be stupid to argue with her about it. “Cyrus is going to lay out his presentation, try to convince the board of why the sale is the best idea. Then tomorrow we’ll go over everything that was discussed today and it will go to a final vote.”
She looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Well, I already know where he stands. But maybe I’ll be able to get a read on the rest of them as the react.” She smiled softly. “This sounds like a court trial.”
“It feels like one,” I admitted. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For doing this for me,” I said. “I know we haven’t always gotten along, but it means a lot to me that you would come here to help.”
“Levi, you guys are my family.” She reached across the desk and laid her hand on top of mine. “I would do anything for the Morton’s. You know that. Besides, you’re paying me.”
I laughed, careful not to move my hand in case she pulled hers away. I actually liked the contact more than I wanted to admit. Her palm was soft and warm, her perfume a citrus and floral mix that was playing hell with my senses.
“Ready to get back in there?” she asked, standing up and sadly taking that hand away.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I stood too and walked around the desk to her.
She looked up at me and for a minute I thought she was going to say something else to me, but she shifted her gaze to the floor and headed for the door.
Chapter Seven
~Auggie~
Donald Cyrus was a slimy, skeezy git.
The more he talked, the more hairs stood up on the back of my neck. There was something severely off about that man, and it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t put my finger on it.
