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He held up a set of keys. “I bought it for you this morning.”
WHAT?I stared at him, shaking my head.
“Happy early birthday, Harlow.”
“Please don’t joke with me like this…”
“I would never.” He pressed the keys into my hand. “You officially own it, and there’s an escrow account set up for the next fifteen years for the property taxes,” he said. “The kitchen equipment should be here next week, but that’s all I’m giving you.”
“That’severything.” I swallowed.
“I thought it was better than my original gift idea.” He pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a diamond cupcake necklace.
He motioned for me to turn around so he could drape it around my neck.
Locking the clasp, he pressed a long kiss against my skin.
“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so fucking much…”
“You’re welcome.” He kissed me again. “Hurry up and open the door so I can help you christen every surface inside…”
FORTY
PIERCE
“So, you’re fine withPage Sixrunning a story about you falling for your nanny?” Brian placed a stack of files on my desk Monday morning.
“It’s just gossip, Brian.”
“But you’re in love with her?”
“That’s not the point.”
“At least I got you to finally admit it.” He laughed. “Months ago, you would’ve threatened to sue if they ran anything about your personal life.”
“People will find out eventually,” I said. “Besides, she won’t be my nanny forever.”
“Fair point. I’ll make sure legal gets an early copy before it goes to print, just in case,” he said. “Speaking of which, please tell me you’ve given Denise a raise for working two positions lately.”
“Yeah.” I paused. “She’s turning into the workaholic I used to be, so hopefully we’ll get a new person onboard to help this week.”
“Let’s hope so.” He sighed. “I’ll be back at lunch with the updated attendance numbers. Oh, and can you please respondto that hiring agency email, please? They’re convinced your million-dollar donation is fake.”
“Tell them that it isn’t.”
“I did, and so did Denise, but they refuse to cash it until they hear directly from you. Something about ‘due diligence’ and ‘personal integrity.’”
“Should I have wired it to their bank account?”
“They probably aren’t used to huge, random donations.” He walked to the door. “Check your email.”
FORTY-ONE
PIERCE
Subject: Donation Clarification + Placement Services
Good morning Mr. Dawson,
