Page 94 of Boss Me
The furrow was back. “Of course I’m all in.”
“Really? Weston said you…” Fuck. Weston.
“Weston? After what that asshat did to you today, how can you believe anything he’d say?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have talked to you.”
Jackson stared at the path ahead. I was glad he didn’t say what was on his mind.
I lengthened my stride. “This is going to take a fuck-ton of work. And some groveling.”
“Groveling? You’re the jerk who sold your shares to Weston.”
I winced. “Not to me. To the board.”
“Oh. Then I guess I’m in.” He dodged an ambling pair of Yorkies on a double leash. “You think we can grovel enough to sway them to our side at the meeting tomorrow?”
If we hadn’t been practically sprinting, I’d have sighed. But, ever the competitor, I’d set the pace too fast, and I didn’t have breath for that. “All we can do at tomorrow’s board meeting is delay the decision. I’ll call it a victory if we can get a week to work our magic.”
“Maybe Gurusoft’s offer isn’t great.” Jackson turned hopeful eyes on me. “Maybe it’ll be easy to turn down.”
“I doubt it. Weston called it extraordinary. He’ll have gotten them to put out their best number.”
“Weston.” Jackson spat on the grass beside the running path. “What he did to you was low. We have to get him out now.”
“If we push him out, it’ll be just the two of us until we can hire someone else. That’s a lot of work to take on. I can’t do it myself. You’ll have to shoulder your share.”
“I’ll hire more help. In another month, after school is out in Texas, we can ask Alicia’s moms to spend the summer with us and the kids.” He stared down the path. “But if I fuck up—and I will—you won’t quietly pick up my slack. You’ll tell me, yeah? And we’ll do the work together. Or delegate it.” He shot me a quick glance.
I relaxed my shoulders and shook out my hands. “Yeah.”
“Okay, then. We plead our case to the board. Then what?”
I accelerated to pass a slower pair of joggers. “Pray they see it our way.”
“You know I’m an atheist.”
“Then you’d better grovel your ass off.”
“Speaking of groveling”—he side-eyed me—“what are you going to do about Ben?”
“I don’t know. I fucked it up pretty bad.” I could still see the shock and hurt on his face, hear his gasp when I’d denied our relationship. “I tried to call him before we left, but he didn’t pick up. I’m not sure he thinks I’m worth it.”
Ben was smart not to pick up. Not to want anything to do with me. Not to give me another chance to hurt him.
I wished I was smart enough not to want him back.
Jay veered right to nudge my shoulder. “You’re worth it. If I were gay, I’d totally be all over that.” He waved his hand from my sweaty face to my shirt, which stuck to my chest and smelled like angst and despair.
“You would, would you.” I chuckled for the first time since I’d walked into Synergy earlier. “I think Ben has higher standards.”
“Seriously. He wouldn’t have been so hurt if he didn’t care.”
My lungs seized. Confronted by Mick Fallon, I’d only wanted to protect Ben—and myself. Like all those other times, I’d frozen. I should have stood up for myself. For Ben. I didn’t deserve him.
“You know what you’ve got to do now, right?” Thankfully, he toned down his smirk.
I sped up, and he matched my footsteps. I grunted.
