More importantly, I like Life Corp. But Life Corp is a job.
Riley is my heart.
“Whatever happens, I’ve got your back,” River says, leaning forward to bump fists with me. “But if things go bad, I call dibs on your chair and your coffee warmer. I think I’ll go put my name on them now, just in case.” He picks up a stack of sticky notes and starts writing his name on them.
I flip him off as I march out of his office. The elevator ride to the top floor is both too long and too short, giving me time to panic but not time to practice my speech.
In Lady Elisa’s office, Tina and Gina are in their normal positions, half assistant, half royal guard.
“I need to see Lady Elisa,” I tell Tina, smiling easily. Inside, my guts are churning, but this is why I talked with River. Tina doesn’t deserve to be put on blast for what I have to say.
“She’s not taking visitors today,” Tina says professionally. “But if you’d like, I can put you on her schedule for a chat. Say, next Tuesday at—”
“Tina, I don’t want to be an asshole,” I interrupt her, putting my hands on her desk and staring at her as I admit to knowing my reputation, “but I need to talk to her today. Now. I understand that she doesn’t like to be disturbed unexpectedly, but this is important.”
“Important enough to risk your job?” Gina says gravely. “That’s what you’re doing.”
I turn to look at her and nod. “I’m positive.”
“Your funeral. It’s been nice knowing you, Noah.” Tina smiles politely and gets up from her desk, disappearing into Elisa’s office.
Gina is fighting to hide her smirk. “Tina’s being kind. It most definitely has not been nice knowing you.”
I frown, my brows slashing down over my eyes in surprise. I thought I was okay with Gina and Tina. We’re not buddies who go get Friday night drinks at happy hour, but I wouldn’t have thought they’d take glee in my misery.
“Until recently,” Gina finishes. “You’re like a whole different person these days. Got a little sunshine in your life, huh?”
Ah, I have been an asshole. I know that, and it seems that Gina is a Riley Sunshine fan too. Hell, maybe she’s the one who told Elisa about the photo reveal? But it doesn’t matter.
I was who I was, and I am who I am.
But I’m not all watered down. I pass by Gina, prepared to open Elisa’s door and let myself in because Tina’s taking too long. It’s been at least sixty seconds and I’m ready to say what I need to.
Just as I’m reaching for the knob, the door opens, and Tina waves me in before slipping by like she’s running from a zombie horde. I give her a small nod and walk in, closing the door behind me.
Never has Lady Elisa’s office looked so damn big. The room seems to stretch out in front of me, longer than a football field, and at the apex of it is Lady Elisa, looking none too pleased that I’m here.
“Mr. Daniels . . . I’ve had a busy morning, full of interruptions, oddly.” She glares at me accusingly. “And I have work to do.” She keeps reading her screen, a red pen in her hand marking things on the paper in front of her, and I wonder how she’s multitasking. I mean, she’s dealing with thousands of dollars, or sometimes hundreds of thousands, with every signature she signs.
“I’ll keep it quick then,” I tell her, sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk without invitation. “I appreciate the offer, but the answer is no.”
Elisa looks up from her work, her eyes blank. “I’m going to need a little more,” she prompts.
Seriously? I almost lose the most important thing to me in the entire world, and she’s forgotten about it?
“BlindDate. Riley. Our relationship. You can’t use it,” I continue, tripping over my tongue as my urgency combines with my fear that I’m angering someone I respect. “I know I said it might be a good idea, but it’d hurt Riley, and I won’t let her—”
“Mr. Daniels, I do believe you’ve—”
“Lady Elisa, will you please let me finish?” I plead. She recoils as if I just slapped her. But in for a penny, in for a pound. “Your offer was generous, and I completely understand why it would be a good idea . . . for BlindDate and Riley. But the conversation alone nearly cost me everything. And I won’t risk losing Riley over a sponsorship. I love her too much. I’m sorry, but I won’t.”
I take a deep breath, realizing that was one long rant of a monologue that barely made sense. But it’s out now, and I shut my mouth for the first time since I entered, looking Lady Elisa in the eye. “Thank you for listening.”
Lady Elisa tilts her head, lifting an eyebrow. “Are you finished?”
I think about it and nod. “I guess. I mean, I’d add that I don’t want to leave. I like working here. I wish I could keep learning from you. But I love Riley. That’s the bottom line.”
“I see . . . and apparently, love hasn’t made you blind, but it has made you deaf,” Lady Elisa says. “And impatient. Because if you’d given me a moment to complete what I was saying before you so pointedly interrupted me, I’d have told you that everything’s fine.”
“Fine?” I ask, feeling stupefied. “So . . . I’m not fired?”
Lady Elisa looks up at the ceiling as if beseeching the gods for assistance. “What is it about love that makes men unable to listen? Do you store your testosterone in your ear canals or something?” she asks, looking back at me. “Noah, you’re not fired. I mean, I’m certainly not happy about your barging in here and going on that rant, but I’ll overlook it . . . this time. But what confused me during that whole rant is that you’re telling me you won’t allow Life Corp to use Riley because it hurt her, yada, yada, yada, and yet, the reason my morning schedule’s backed up is because Miss Watson was in here earlier this morning herself. She wanted to discuss the terms of her deal with Life Corp personally, and if my guess is correct, she’s down in the legal department going over the specific terms and boilerplate with them right now.”
It’s my turn to be confused, and I feel like my knees have just turned to jelly. “She’s here?”
Lady Elisa smiles evilly. “Ah, so your ears do work.” I flush at the dig, which seems to be the correct response because she puts me out of my misery by explaining. “Yes. I was working this morning when she came barging in here much like you did, demanding a few minutes of my time. A few minutes turned into a full hour as we discussed the offer, went over some numbers, and I gave her a quick tour of Life Corp. When we were finished, I dropped her off in legal.”
“But I—”
“Noah, go talk to her. Legal department. Understood?”
Her simple command energizes me, and I leap to my feet, almost running to her door. “Thank you.”
I hurry out the door and through her outer office. As I pass their desks, Tina and Gina snicker, and I know they must have enjoyed that. I don’t care, instead breaking into a full-on run that only pauses at the elevator before running through the legal department looking for Riley.
When I see her, I skid to a stop.
“Riley?”