by Allie Hayden
I should feel more nervous, but all I feel is a calmness. Whatever happens in this meeting is what happens. Out of everything I want in life, being with the man behind the frosted glass boardroom windows is at the top of that list.
If I didn’t fight one last battle to make everything right with him, I know I could never live with myself.
I take one last deep breath in, and open the doors.
There, sitting on the chair right across from us is Carlyle. Leaned back in his chair, bouncing back and forth, nibbling his pen in his mouth. And instantly, I feel the tingle run up my back. I flash him one look. I can’t keep my eyes off of him.
He looks at me too.
My dad is here with me, so I want to make sure we’re being subtle around him. I fight every bone in my body that wants to pounce on Carlyle.
“Good afternoon, Adrian, Molly.” He nods.
The sound of Carlyle’s voice is so relaxing, like bath salts in a hot spring.
My dad sits down on and I sit beside him. He pulls out the paperwork from underneath his arm.
“First of all, Carlyle, I want to say thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.” Dad starts to spread the papers across the table. “I know we ended up on undesirable terms. I came here today with Molly to return the properties that Xander purchased in our company’s name.
“I’m sorry he couldn’t be here with us, but he’s here in spirit. So, this meeting today, I hope, will reverse any purchases my company made and in turn, give them to you. We won’t put them on the free market—they will just be transferred to you.”
Carlyle bites his thumbnail. I watch him, squirming in my seat.
Dad agreed to help me mend my relationship with Carlyle after I explained how much Carlyle means to me. After twenty-seven years of having me as his daughter, I think he understood for the most part.
“All you have to do, Carlyle, is sign here.”
Dad slides the paperwork across the table to Carlyle. There’s a pen on top of it ready for him. Another contract. How ironic.
Carlyle looks up from the paperwork and glances between me and Dad. “This all sounds very promising. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to read over the fine print.”
“We wouldn’t expect any less,” Dad says.
“Actually, do you mind?” Carlyle starts getting up. “I’d like to have a talk with Molly. For a quick moment in the hallway. Is that okay?”
I’m a bit frazzled. He wants to talk to me? I follow Carlyle into the hallway. We close the boardroom door behind us and walk around the corner to his office. Besides it being huge, it’s completely empty, not a person in sight. He closes the door behind us.
In a low whisper, Carlyle says, “This is crazy. You can’t just transfer property, can you?”
“We can,” I protest. “We went over the details with a lawyer. It’s solid. It’s right. They belong to you.”
“Molly, I can’t just accept this. It’s a bit crazy, right?”
“It is, but it’s crazier to leave things the way they are.”
His eyes go bright. I’d almost forgotten how he just towers over me so effortlessly. Then he leans down and whispers in my ear.
“I’ve missed you.”
There are tears in my eyes, and I try to hold them back so I don’t embarrass myself. I can’t help but feel so happy hearing his voice again. The way it sounds now. Not the way we left things in New York. He’s sweet again. The Carlyle I know. I don’t know what it means. But I think it’s something good.
“Why don’t we go back inside with your dad and settle this between us afterward?” he asks.
“Settle this between us?”
“Maybe we can give us another shot?”
I’m flustered again. Adrenaline shoots through my blood vessels. I should pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. But I don’t want to be dreaming. I want this to be real.
Carlyle puts his hand gently on my cheek. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like that in New York. It was wrong of me. I want you to have this.”
In his hand is a small red box. I know exactly what it is, but I’m so shocked and surprised that he would hand me this.
“Maybe we’ll do it without the contract this time,” he jokes.
I open the box and sitting on a small pillow is the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen in my life. Those blue stones must be sapphires.
“Do you like it?” He grabs my hand.
“It’s lovely.” I fight back tears.
“Let’s get back then. We have a lot to talk about with your father.”
This time we walk back hand-in-hand, husband and wife, to be.
About Allie Hayden
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