Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love - Kim Fielding Page 0,72

then.” Romeo kissed him gently and thoroughly, and for a few seconds Teddy could almost believe everything would be okay.

“You taste like maple syrup,” said Teddy.

“Pancakes for breakfast. Mama was awake early.”

Teddy smiled against him. “That’s nice.”

“She’s been going on about you.”

“Yeah?” Teddy leaned back so he could look up at Romeo.

“Yep. She and the kids ate half the candy you gave me, Portia yelled ’cause I let the girls have so much sugar that late at night, and I told all of them how amazing you are.”

“Amazing?”

“Stop fishing for compliments, Teddy. Let’s get this over with.”

Teddy grumbled as they tromped up the stairs. “Compliments are better than calamity.”

The main room of the Reddyflora suite stood empty, with Teddy’s cubicle dark and forlorn in the corner. But the door to Lauren’s office stood open, spilling warm light toward them. “Is that you, Teddy?” she called.

“And Romeo,” Teddy answered.

“Come on in.”

Dressed in a navy pinstripe suit and crisp white blouse, she sat behind her minimalistic desk. A blank pad of paper and Montblanc pen waited in front of her, while an oversized cup steamed gently nearby. Tea. Teddy noted its slightly floral scent. “Sit down, please.” Her face was as carefully composed as her voice.

Teddy and Romeo obeyed.

“I want to begin by apologizing,” Lauren said. “I honestly thought she simply wanted you to pitch the product in person. I had no idea she’d subject you to those...trials.”

Teddy sat up a little straighter. “If you’d known, would you have refused?”

A slight vee appeared between her carefully shaped brows. “I don’t know. But I would at least have forewarned you and let you make a more informed decision about whether to participate.”

That seemed fair. And if that had happened, Teddy would have willingly boarded the plane, although with considerably more trepidation. He nodded his acknowledgment.

Romeo, however, shifted in his seat. Instead of one of his usual midrange black suits, he was wearing the lovely gray one that Teddy had chosen for him. “That woman’s tests were asinine,” Romeo said. “The project’s promise and our value as employees have nothing to do with whether we can make flatbread.”

Lauren picked up her pen, peered at the nib, and set it down again. “I know. I suppose when you’re old and rich and famous, you feel like it’s okay to indulge in eccentricities, even at other people’s expense. If you ask me to, I’ll try to find funding elsewhere. But there’s no guarantee I’ll succeed.”

Romeo’s eyes widened and Teddy snapped his head back as if struck. “If you turn Joyce down, where else could you go?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. But none of this is fair to either of you. The two of you have worked incredibly hard for Reddyflora. We wouldn’t have come this far without you. I’m not willing to throw you to the wolves just because Joyce Alexander wants me to.”

Teddy knew that without Joyce, Reddyflora was effectively DOA. A fairy godmother was not going to magically appear and bibbidi-bobbidi them into solvency. And not only would he, Romeo, and Lauren be unemployed, but Imani and Skyler and everyone else would also be left high and dry. Still, it was nice that Lauren offered to take that step for their sake.

“Take the money,” Teddy said. Beside him, Romeo nodded in agreement.

Lauren sighed and let her shoulders droop. “Thank you for that. But you know what this means. I’m going to have to—”

“Fire me.” Teddy kept his chin high. “I know.”

Romeo and Lauren both spoke at once.

“That’s not—”

“She didn’t—”

Lauren waved her hand at Romeo to quiet him. “You know that’s not what Joyce said. She said one of you has to go, but she left the decision to me.”

Now it was Teddy’s turn to gesture at Romeo to hush. “But I know what the decision has to be. Look, let’s assume for the sake of argument that the failures in Seattle weren’t mostly my fault. I think they were, but whatever. And let’s also assume that Romeo and I are equally valuable employees and would be equally hard to replace. Also not true. But even if it was, you need to fire me.”

“Why?” Lauren set her elbows on the desk, clasped her hands, and leaned forward.

Teddy shot a quick look at Romeo, hoping he wasn’t about to betray a confidence. “This is Romeo’s dream job. Really. He loves what he does here and there’s nothing he’d rather do. And me? Don’t get me wrong, I like my job too. But if I could be