Page 105 of See You Maybe
“See You.”
“Maybe.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Atlanta—Present Day
Olivia hadn’t seen Declan since Saturday night and she wasn’t sure how she should handle what happened between them in the bathroom. Would he bring it up? He said they needed to talk. She really hoped he didn’t mean at the office.
He had been out of the office for the last few days, and now that it was time for her proposal presentation, she wasn’t sure if she was thankful or nervous that Cecile wasn’t there in the office with them. Declan had given her one week, and she was pleased with what she had created so far.
“If you look at the figures I’ve pulled together,” Olivia said, “we can offset much of our cost with the new manufacturing tax credits program Georgia passed in their last legislative session.”
Declan looked thoughtful. “This plan requires a significant capital investment. Your facility isn’t currently equipped to manufacture XEROS.”
Olivia stepped forward. At least he was listening and hadn’t told her to get out of his office… yet.
“That’s true. However, if you look at the projections over the first two years, not only would you recoup those initial costs, you’d increase revenue by controlling your supply chain.”
“That assumes I want to hold on to this business for two years.”
“Even if you don’t, you could put those projections in front of any potential buyer. Also, with intellectual property theft being such an issue lately, keeping the designs in-house means you can more tightly control it. XEROS is only valuable if it hits the market a year or more ahead of our competitors.”
Declan was quiet for a minute, studying the papers. He picked up his pen and made a few marks. Hope flared in her chest as she bit her lip to keep from asking what he thought.
He set the papers down, but when he lifted his gaze, it stopped on her mouth.
Sparks sprang up all over her body at the look of pure lust on his face, and she released her lip. Declan dragged in a breath and raised his eyes to hers.
He shifted in his leather chair, his voice gruff when he finally spoke. “I’ll look over your proposal again. There might be a compromise somewhere. Continue your research, particularly the legislative aspects, and get back to me.”
Surprise held Olivia silent for a moment. But any goodwill vanished when he raised one of those supercilious brows. “Is there something else?”
Declan’s tone made Olivia want to rip his head off. “Not at all,” she said, with a saccharine smile. “Have a fantastic day.”
Before she could get up, the phone on his desk buzzed. Declan ignored it at first, pushing the button to silence it, but when it immediately buzzed again, he growled.
Todd’s voice was loud through the receiver. “Mr. Menardi and Mr. Worthington are waiting to talk to you. They are expected.” Todd continued, “But you have another visitor as well.”
“Who?”
“Ms. Carrol.”
Olivia kept her face carefully blank.
“She can wait.”
Todd must have lowered his volume, because Olivia couldn’t decipher the next part.
“I’ll make some calls and reach out to a few congressional representatives and see what assurances I can get,” she said, when Declan ended the call.
The office door opened and two men strolled in before she’d crossed the office. Olivia recognized the older man from the day of Declan’s takeover. The other man was younger, closer to her age, with laughing eyes and an open expression.
As they strolled past her, the younger man gave Olivia an intentionally obvious once over, before shooting her a cocky smile.
“Brady,” Declan snapped, drawing the man’s attention.
Brady came to a stop, pivoting back to Olivia. He extended his hand. “Brady Worthington, Investigator Extraordinaire.” He jerked a thumb towards the other man. “That’s my new partner Vincent Menardi, but you don’t need to remember him.”