Page 19 of The Merger
“It’s your official job offer to be the CEO of Anderson East.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re changing the name of the company?”
She chuckled. “Fitz called it rebranding. I call it a giant fuck you to my father.”
The corner of my lip curled up. “One of my favorite messages to deliver.”
Jana looked over her shoulder at the window in the door. “Did your secretary just walk past your office for the third time since I’ve been here?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I mentioned that I hate people right?”
Reaching over I pushed the intercom button on my phone. “Sheila, is there a reason you’re pacing in front of my office?”
“Sir, uhm, I know you don’t want to be interrupted when you’re in a meeting, but there’s someone here to see you,” she rambled.
I swallowed a growl. “Did you happen to get a name?”
“What is your name again?” I heard her whisper away from the intercom.
“No, you can’t just go in!” I heard Sheila screech outside.
The door burst open and my secretary chased Sabrina into my office. “I’m sorry Mr. Lawson. I told her you were in a meeting, but she refused to wait.”
“Thank God you’re here,” Jana mumbled.
“Sheila, meet Sabrina Lake, our new Operations Manager, and your immediate boss,” I said.
“Oh, I’m so sorry Ms. Lake. I didn’t know,” Sheila fumbled.
“I suppose me telling you that I needed to see Mr. Lawson because I’m the new Operations Manager was too subtle,” Sabrina replied deadpan.
I watched Sheila get more and more flustered. “That’s all for now,” I said dismissing her before she had a complete meltdown.
“Hey, Jana,” Sabrina greeted her. “Wasn’t expecting you to show up today.”
“I had documents for Stryker to sign, and I’m hiding from Colt.”
“What did my dumb stepbrother do now?” Sabrina said without heat.
“Nothing. He’s just freaking out about you leaving and apparently he locked himself out of his calendar,” Jana said chuckling.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. “If he would have let me hire myreplacement this wouldn’t be happening.”
“I think he thought I would pity him and he could play naughty secretary with me during office hours.” Jana shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to find someone old and cranky like Beck’s secretary. Speaking of which. I’ve got interviews set up this afternoon, so I better head back and get ready for them.”
She grabbed her briefcase and headed to the door. Pausing in the doorway she looked back over her shoulder. “Caroline will take care of the documents once you’ve signed them. Let’s have dinner again soon. A little less exciting next time though.”
* * *
Silence stretched between us as I fought every urge I had to reach out and pull her into my arms. She was wary of me. We hadn’t spoken for a few days, not since having dinner with Colter and Jana.
She exhaled, and her shoulders slumped. “How do we do this?”
“Depends on what you mean by this?” I asked. “Work together, talk to each other, or deal with the fact we’re married?”
She looked down and pulled at an errant thread on one of the buttons of her jacket. “Any of those. All of them. I meant work together, but we’ll have to handle all of it.”
I walked around the desk and sat in the chair next to her. “What do you want to do?”