Wild Open Hearts (Bluewater Billionaires) - Kathryn Nolan Page 0,37

know who has a lot of money, Luna.”

Her look almost had me squirming. I imagined she used it on problem employees or annoying board members. It was fierce as hell.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. If this was Beatrix—snarling and trying to dominate me—I’d do something similar. Loose, open body language with an edge to it.

To her credit, Luna didn’t blink. And neither did I.

“You know,” she said, “when I first started Wild Heart, one of the main goals was to use it to start my own foundation.”

That struck me as very Luna-like.

“And now?”

A tap of her fingernails. She opened her mouth but suddenly Jasmine was at the door. “Luna, we’ve got the emergency meeting with Fischer.”

“I know,” Luna said, eyes still locked with mine.

But then she was smiling at Jasmine and sweeping around the desk, trailing her citrus scent with her. “I was just finishing up with Beck.”

I stood—caught Jasmine in the act of changing her expression from irritated to neutral.

“Hello, Beck,” she said. “Later this week, I’d like to talk damage control for your family members. I’m concerned your background is going to be a—”

“It’s not a problem, Jasmine,” Luna said, scooping up files, a pen and her phone. I could see her morphing back into a CEO—she started reading a document and emailing someone at the same time. She was an efficient bundle of good vibes.

“All due respect, Luna, but you pay me to manage situations like Beck.”

Luna stopped what she was doing and gave Jasmine an honest-to-god glower that rivaled my own. “Beck is a human, not a situation.”

Jasmine looked away, pissed.

Luna, however, gave me a beautiful, but secretive, smile. “You have your check?”

“Uh, yeah. Is everything okay?”

“It’s probably the worst day of my professional career,” she said. “Which makes twice in two weeks. The work is never done.” She patted me on the shoulder—I felt bad, pushing her on the stuff when clearly she was having a shit day. Why hadn’t she said anything?

“Can I… help?”

“You can help by letting me work with you tomorrow. Say three-ish?”

But she and Jasmine were already moving out the door, gone before I could technically answer. Leaving me alone in her office, holding a green smoothie. I’d never admit it, but it actually tasted delicious.

21

Beck

I leaned against Betty and Veronica’s kennel, my fingers in the grating.

“All the pros,” Wes said to Jimmy. “One. You can take them everywhere in a backpack. Two. That means you have two adventure buddies whenever you want to go on a road trip. Three. They can sleep in bed with you and not take up any space.”

Jimmy held both wiggling balls of fur up to his face. “You think these pups would come on my bike with me?”

Wes turned to me for confirmation.

“You ever think about getting a sidecar for your bike?” I suggested.

Jimmy laughed—a big, booming one. But he considered it. “I guess I would if it makes them happy?”

And that’s how I knew he was the one for them.

A group of well-dressed people was walking toward us from the parking lot. “And, uh, let us know how you feel. But if you want them to go with you, they’re all yours.”

“These balls of fur are going to love you forever, bro,” Wes said.

Jimmy nodded, clapped Wes on the shoulder. “Yeah. I, uh… I don’t get a lot of that in my life right now, you know?” Jimmy said.

“Same here,” Wes said softly. “I get it from this place though.”

If Luna was here, maybe I’d even want her to capture this somehow. Because she could do it right. She’d know how.

Maybe I could even be the one speaking in the video.

You could do this.

“Excuse me, Mr. Mason?”

I turned around to that group of sharply dressed people. “Hey,” I said, a little too gruffly. I cleared my throat. “Can I help you? Are you lost?”

The man in front—white with dark hair, a little older than me—gave me an odd look. “No, not at all. We’re with the Carlisle Foundation and we found out about your nonprofit from Ms. da Rosa. You’re her favorite place right now.”

“Oh,” I said. “Um… sure. She sent you here?”

“No. We decided to pop in. We were in the area. We always find it nice to see nonprofits on a typical day, see how things are really done.”

That sounded like rich person code for catch you off guard.

“Sure,” I said, wiping my fingers on the back of my jeans. I thought about shaking their hands, but