Sweet Love - Mia Kayla Page 0,28

this started because we didn’t have that much time left to get this done before I had to leave and go back to New York.

The stirring from the door had me adjusting the Chinese food cartons on the long boardroom table. Charlie’s hair was in a bun on the top of her head, messy but in a sexy way that made it seem like she had gone to the salon to get it done.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” She brought in her laptop and a big sketchpad, which dropped on the long mahogany table that cut the boardroom. Then, she frowned.

And I laughed because her face had just transformed to one of a five-year-old. “What’s the matter?”

“I just ate.”

“Oh.” I realized what had upset her, and then I mentally slapped myself because I should have told her earlier that I would be providing dinner.

We were working late. The least I could do is pay for her dinner.

“Well, if we’re here late, trying to figure stuff out, we can eat it for a late-night snack.”

“You think we’ll be here late?” Her brow furrowed, and she teetered in her spot. “If so … I might need to call an Uber.”

“Where do you live?”

“Inverness.”

So, she came from money.

“That’ll be a fifty-dollar car ride. I’ll drive you.”

She shifted, looking visibly uncomfortable. “I … I don’t know …”

I opened the takeout box of fried rice and the rest of the food. “How about I eat, and you tell me about your ideas? Later, we can figure out how you’re going to get home.”

“Uh …”

“Charlie, sit down.” I used my authoritative voice, the one that I used in the boardroom or in a liquidation scenario at the bank.

“When did you get here?” She unbuttoned her light jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. She was wearing jeans that nicely hugged her frame and a red V-neck knit top that accented her—

I swallowed and forced my eyes up to her face.

“I’ve been here all day. So, I’ve been going over the numbers that Alyssa gave me yesterday.” I undid the collar of my shirt just a tad, wondering how the hell the heat index had jumped a few notches in the room.

“So, how is it looking?”

I stood up and moved to the thermostat just to check that it was set at a reasonable temp. Sixty-eight degrees felt like eighty today.

After a beat, I sat back down. “Not looking too good. The rate of expenses does not match income. It’s the fall season, which is one of our busiest seasons, but our sales numbers are not meeting what they did last year.” I grabbed a plate, and started pouring the rice and the chop suey onto it. Then I plucked an eggroll and placed it on my plate.

“Well, we’re going to turn that around, aren’t we?” Her cheery voice almost broke me from my sullen mood. Almost because I knew that nothing was a guarantee.

“We have to, or layoffs will begin in February.”

It was a hard conversation I’d had with Alyssa today, and one of Alyssa’s strengths was her no-bullshit attitude. This would hurt her as much as it hurt my father. Alyssa had grown to know the employees at this company.

“All righty then, we have to get started.” She opened her sketchbook, which was a different sketchbook than the pocket-sized one she’d had in her purse at the bar. Opened, it occupied a good portion of the table. “Should we just start writing ideas first?”

“Sure.” My mouth was still full with food, so I placed my plate on the table to concentrate.

“I was telling Alyssa and Casey that when I think of Colby, I think of the family feel, the way you guys treat your employees like family, how you invite them over to your house. I feel like we need to brand to that.” She wrote down one word on the top of the pad. “Family.”

Her eyebrows scrunched as she searched the word for some underlying meaning.

“Family. It’s such a heavy word, don’t you think? There’s so much meaning behind the one single word.” Her voice was full of emotion, and I had an underlying need to know about her family.

“Tell me about your family.”

The question—or more like a command—startled her, and her eyes met mine.

“What do you want to know?”

Everything.

“Whatever you want to share. Do you have any siblings?”

She laughed, and one hand flew to the top of her bun. “Well, I have an evil stepsister.” The side of her mouth crept up. “She’s beautiful, absolutely