Page 29 of Dirty Rival
There’s debate and talk of that timeline being too fast, but Reid is strong in each turn that is taken. Once they get past talking about me, the talks turn to financials, future projects, strategies, overhead, and the list goes on. I take detailed notes on my open computer. During lags in the meat of the meeting, I type out my rebuttals to each question, comment and statement I feel deserves them.
It’s a full two hours later when the meeting ends and I resist the urge to text a thank you to Reid. He made it clear last night that he doesn’t want that from me. Instead, I quickly finish typing my notes and email them to Reid, when my cellphone rings with Reid’s number.
“Hello,” I answer quickly.
“Get me answers to every question in that meeting,” he says without preamble. “I need your point-of-view to compare to mine before I head into a lunch meeting.”
“Already in your mail.”
“I need details, Carrie.”
“I typed as I listened and perfected when I was done. You have what you need.”
He’s silent two beats. “I’ll be into the office by five. Plan for a later night.” He hangs up in full asshole mode again, which worries me.
Just how much pressure is he getting outside the boardroom and on what? Me? Is that why he wants my notes? Are the board members rejecting me even as I sit here and push Reid to the point of no return? I think of exactly what that man wants me to think about; him between my legs. And from there, I can almost feel his big body crowding me against his door or some wall. He keeps touching me. He keeps pushing every female button I possess. And maybe that’s the point. It’s not the board that’s the real issue. It’s Reid who wants to push me to the point of no return, but to what end?
Chapter thirteen
Carrie
Idon’t hear from Reid for the rest of the day, but right before I expect him to arrive, Sallie pokes her head into my office. “I’m about to leave, but your father is on the line.”
“Put him through and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’m bringing cookies,” she says with a smile, then disappears, and I hope she brings a ton because I’m a really good stress eater.
The line buzzes, and dread fills my belly, which I shouldn’t feel over my father’s call, of all people, but I do. “Hey, dad,” I answer.
“I just read the transcript from the stockholders’ meeting,” he says, without his normal preamble. “They’re never going to accept you.”
His words punch me in the chest. “Thanks for the confidence, dad.”
“This isn’t about you. That’s the point. You don’t deserve to get punched in the teeth because of me. I thought you were simply transitioning out.”
“I thought I’d be walked out,” I say. “Reid Maxwell decided otherwise, and he made it worth my while to stay.”
“How worth your while?”
“Worth it,” I say, hating that I don’t want him to know the figure. “Enough to keep me from selling my apartment.”
“Since when are you selling your apartment?”
“Since I don’t know where I’m headed. At least this gives me more time to find out.”
“Carrie, honey, this isn’t going to go as you expect it to. Come here. Help me close this land deal.”
No, I think, and it’s the first time I’ve reacted this way to my father, which is a weakness. Maybe if I’d said no sooner, we wouldn’t be in this mess. “Unless you have six figures to help me exit the company, I’m staying.”
“You’ll leave humiliated.”
Those words punch me in the chest once more. “Did you really just say that? Do you really have that little confidence in me?”
“I told you, this isn’t about you. I believe you can hold the world up, but it won’t matter. You’re a West.”
“I’m my own person.”
He’s silent for several beats. “You don’t understand what you’re dealing with,” he finally says.