On cue, Kieran materializes at the door like the mind-reading wizard he is.
"Everything good?" he murmurs as we pass in the doorway.
"I'm about to pass out," I whisper. "Stall him."
Kieran nods, then turns to Miller with his megawatt smile. "Mr. Miller! Let me show you our Q3 projections. You're gonna love this."
I make it to my office on shaky legs, closing the door behind me before collapsing into my chair. My hands are trembling, my heart racing, and I can't tell if it's pregnancy or panic or both.
Twenty million dollars. A life-changing amount. Enough to never worry about money again, to give our baby every advantage.
But at what cost?
My phone buzzes on my desk, and Kasen’s name pops up on the screen. I hesitate, then answer.
"This isn't a good time," I say instead of hello.
"What’s wrong?" The concern in his voice makes my insides warm. "You sound off."
I blow out a breath. "Miller's here." I don't know why I tell him this. We agreed to keep business separate. But the words tumble out anyway. "Making an offer for Cascade."
A pause, then, "How much?"
"Twenty million. Plus incentives."
Another pause, longer this time. "That's a hell of an offer."
"Yeah." I run a hand through my hair, destroying my ponytail. "Did he approach you too? Kieran said you were meeting with him yesterday."
"He did." Kasen's voice goes flat. "He made a bullshit pitch about maintaining independence while accessing Pacific Northwest's resources."
So the exact same shit he said to me. "And?"
"And I told him to go fuck himself."
A laugh bubbles up despite everything, that ball of tension in my gut starting to loosen up. Talking to him is just… easy. "That direct, huh?"
"You know me, Pink. I’m allergic to corporate bullshit." There's a smile in his voice that I can almost see. "What’re you going to do?"
"I don't know," I admit, surprising myself with my honesty. "It's a lot of money."
"It is." His tone softens. "But money isn't everything."
Coming from anyone else, it would sound like a platitude. But coming from Kasen, who rebuilt his brewery after a fire and who sells directly to bars even though others disagreed with his model, it has more impact.
"I need to get back to the meeting," I say, glancing at the clock. "I just—I'm feeling like garbage. I think it’s maybe pregnancy stuff, but I don’t know."
"Have you eaten?" The immediate shift to protective and worried in his voice makes everything inside of me go melty and warm all over again.Bad Wren. What the hell are you doing?"Low blood sugar can make you dizzy and nauseous."
"How’d you know I was dizzy?"
"Lucky guess." He pauses. "There's a protein bar in your purse. I put it there this morning while you were in the shower."
This man. "Is this gonna be a thing? You being completely overbearing?”
"Only until you start taking better care of yourself." His tone is gruff. Also, why don’t I believe him? "Eat the damn bar, Wren."
"Fine." I dig through my purse and yep. It’s one of those fancy bars with extra protein and vitamins that’s supposed to taste like a brownie. "Anything else you hid in here I should know about?"
