I put my hand up and motioned for him to back off.
Still smiling, he straightened his tie and gestured for me to sit. “I knew you’d come around eventually. Max really did run quite the story.”
“Actually,” I said, “I was here to let you know a few things. One is that I broke up with you for a reason. It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t the kind of thing that you can change my mind on. I thought I could be with somebody who made financial sense and who would be good for my career, and the feelings would come all on their own. But that never happened.”
Robbie leaned forward with an irritated look. “Wait a minute. If you think all of this was about trying to win you back, you’re just flattering yourself.”
“Another thing,” I said, interrupting him, “is that Nick’s parents told me what you were planning when the Max Frost story didn’t work. Which is why I’m here today.”
“I have no idea what they are talking about. I haven’t spoken to his parents in ages.”
“I am here to lay this out to you, not to listen. So if you don’t mind, stop trying to make excuses and just listen to what I have to say.”
Robbie glared, but he sat back in his chair and watched me.
“So I decided you were probably going to keep trying petty, childish things to spite me. That’s why Nick and I worked up a plan to buy out Lockhart and Taylor. All we’d need is twenty-four hours, and we would have the power to fire you and anyone else we choose. We could shut the whole thing down, for all we care.”
“Bullshit.”
I shrugged, standing up. Nick thought Robbie would try to get the details of our plan, but we decided we’d have to keep them secret in case he tried to warn his bosses. “It’s up to you. Believe it’s bullshit if you want and test us. Maybe you’ll lose your new, cushy job. Maybe you won’t. But I feel confident that you’ll be smart enough not to find out. Won’t you?”
“I don’t think you’d risk your reputation to get involved in something like this.”
“The reputation you ruined? Thanks for that, by the way. You didn’t really give me a choice, but I realized it wasn’t everything I made it out to be.”
“Miranda,” he said, changing his tone entirely. “You’re not really considering that, are you?”
I shrugged. “All I’d need is a little motivation. So maybe think really carefully next time you want to interfere in my life.”
Robbie gripped his pen so hard I thought the top was about to pop off, but I managed to keep from smiling smugly to myself until I turned to leave.
Epilogue
MIRANDA
Six Months Later
I could hardly believe I was looking at the nearly completed version of Bark Bites Resort. I knew Nick had more money than he could spend in a lifetime, but it still made my heart swell to think he’d risk his reputation and his money on my idea like this. Nick met me at the dog-bone-shaped swimming pool.
He hugged me tightly and slid his hand behind my back in that possessive way he had, then kissed my neck.
I secretly liked the way Nick always made sure to mark me as his own when we were out together. He never seemed jealous or insecure about it. It was more like a simple statement of fact. This one is with me, so forget it.
I grinned at the thought. “You smell nice,” I said into his shoulder.
“You taste better.”
“Stop,” I whispered. “There’s a lot I have to show you, and if you start talking dirty, we’re going to end up in a janitor’s closet somewhere.”
“You say that like it’s a problem.”
I jabbed my finger in his chest. “You’re supposed to be looking over the pool with me to make sure we don’t have any complaints to take to the contractors.”
“You know, usually this sort of thing gets delegated to your underlings. I think having the vice president and CEO personally inspect a pool is a little overkill. Although they apparently didn’t think using a level would be a good idea when they did these pavers.” He knelt and pulled a coin from his pocket, then set it on edge and watched it roll down the slope of pavers that should’ve been flat.
“See?” I said. “This is why I brought you.”
“I just came for the ass,” he said.
“You better be talking about mine.”
Nick nodded to a worker who was bending down to work on some pipes a little way away. “Actually, I was talking about him.”
I slapped his arm. “Could you try acting like my boss for a minute so we can get this over with?”
“I actually meant to talk to you about that. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I don’t think I can let you work for me anymore.”
I laughed at first because I thought he was kidding, but he didn’t even smile. He just looked down at me with a grave expression.
“What do you mean?”
Nick sighed. “It’s just . . . well, I’ve never stayed on at a company this long after Sion acquired it before. Part of what I do is find a suitable replacement CEO to take over when I walk away from the company. And I’ve found someone who is perfect for the job. You.”
“Nick,” I said slowly. “As much as I want that—and I really do. But it’s too much. I can’t accept that.”
“Miranda, this isn’t a gift. It’s not some trinket I went and bought at the store to try to impress you. It’s a job that you earned. You earned the hell out of it. Just look around you. This whole thing was your idea. Your dream. So I want to give you the keys and the ability to know you made this. When it works, you’ll be able to know it was because you put it together and ran it as amazingly as I know you will.”
I blinked a few times, trying not to let the tears I felt stinging my eyes come. “For the record, there’s a lot of pollen out today.”
Nick pulled me into a hug. “Cry if you want to,” he whispered. “You can stay right there for as long as you want. Oh, but there was one more thing.” He whistled sharply, catching me off guard.
I heard the sound of a dog approaching. When I pulled away from Nick’s chest, I saw Bone Thug trotting up to us with a goofy little pink ribbon tied around his head. There was a pillow on top and a . . .
“Is that?” I asked.
Nick got down on one knee and reached for the ring. Bone Thug tried to bite him, so Nick yanked his hand back and swore. “We practiced this, you big asshole.” He tried again, but then Thug thought he was trying to play and started running sprints. Thankfully, the ring fell off, and Nick was able to awkwardly crawl a little to retrieve it.
He cleared his throat. “Not exactly as smooth as I planned, but now that we’re not colleagues, I figure there’s nothing stopping this from being a great idea. So what do you say, Miranda Collins? Will you marry me?”
Epilogue
NICK
The sound of clattering bowling pins filled the air. There was also a distinct dog smell floating around. Miranda and I joined my brothers and their wives for a game of bowling to celebrate opening day of Bark Bites Resort. The bowling alleys were shaped like big dog bones—supposedly, at least. I personally thought they looked a little phallic. Each lane was flanked by a padded doggy lane where the dogs could carry plush bowling balls down and smash into the pins at the end.