I gave a little knock on Tanner’s open office door. I’d been working up the nerve to come talk to him all day long.
His face lit up when he looked up from his laptop and saw it was me. “Hey.”
“Do you have a minute to talk?” I asked as I stepped into his office.
He glanced at his watch. “Actually, I don’t. I have an appointment in 5 minutes.”
“Oh.”Damn it!I just wanted to get this over with. “No problem. It can wait until later.”
Tanner waved my comment off. “It doesn’t have to wait. You should just come with me.”
“To your doctor’s appointment?”
“Doctor? Who said anything about a doctor?”
Right.Not everyone scheduled as many doctor’s appointments as I did. He was probably a normal person who only had quarterly checkups. Or was it annually for regular people? Who knew. It made sense that it was a business meeting instead.
“Shall we?” Tanner shut his laptop and stood up.
“Uh…sure.”
I followed Tanner out to the elevator.
“So why’d you think it was a doctor’s appointment?” asked Tanner. “Do I look sickly this afternoon?”
“Not at all.” I gave him a quick up-down. Usually he wore a full suit at work, but today he’d taken his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves. His strong forearms were spectacular. “If anything, you look like a strapping young lad.”What the fuck did I just say?
“Well that’s awfully sweet of you. You’re looking swell yourself.” He held the elevator door open for me. “After you, m’lady.”
I stepped on and tried to quickly change the subject. “Are you sure I should come? I don’t even know who we’re meeting.”
“Neither do I. Honestly that’s half the fun.”
What the hell is he talking about?How could he not know who he was meeting? Then it hit me. He was a billionaire investor. Part of his job was to help his businesses grow, but he also heard pitches from new entrepreneurs who were hoping he’d give them an investment. Like onShark Tank. Which meant this was going to be freaking amazing. “You’re really going to let me join you?”
“Sure. It’s not a big deal.”
“Uh…it may not be a big deal to you. But it’s a huge deal for me. I always used to dream of getting to do this. Joe kept telling methat one day we’d get to if we could grow the cupcake business big enough.”
Tanner gave me a weird look. “What are you most excited about?”
“I don’t really know. I’ve always imagined just sitting there like a total boss. But I think the best part will be closing the deal. Being able to make someone’s wildest dreams come true will be such an amazing feeling.”
For a second he just looked…really sad. Which made sense. I sure as hell wouldn’t want someone to make investments withmyhard-earned money.
“Wow, I’m a crazy woman making this all about me. I know that I’m just going to be sitting in the background while you do your thing.”
He cleared his throat. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s adorable how excited you are. I admit, I’m not thrilled by the idea of it. But I’ve always known this would happen eventually. It’s best to just rip the Band-aid off.”
I shoved his arm. “Stop. Seriously…I won’t say a word. I’ll just sit and watch.”
“Let’s just see what happens.”
We stepped off the elevator at the top floor of the building. But instead of walking through a hallway lined with shark-filled tanks, we were greeted by a bubbly blonde wearing whatlooked like a cross between a maid uniform and very colorful lederhosen.
“Hello again,” she said in a weird European accent. “If you need anything, just let me know.” She hit a button and two doors slid open to a hallway. Still not lined with shark tanks.
“Thanks, Olga,” said Tanner like they were old friends. “Ash here is new to all this, so it might be nice if you can walk her through the etiquette.”
