Page 52 of Double

I fell to the side of her, trying to catch my breath. A few seconds later, I pulled her on top of me and wrapped my arms possessively around her. She peppered soft kisses across my bare chest while I finger-combed her hair. Eventually, the kisses stopped, and her breathing evened out.

“We have to figure out a method of birth control, Sweetheart. Otherwise, you’re gonna end up pregnant.”

She snuggled into me, mumbling something incoherent.

Yeah. She was definitely all mine.

Later that day, Tinsley and I ended up at the office. She’d been in America for almost two months, and she still liked going to work with me every day. Most days, we didn’t even stop by the office. My brother and I owned property throughout the city—residential rentals, commercial rentals, and investment property. Tinsley and I spent a lot of time together in my truck, driving from property to property, checking out maintenance needs, progress on work that was being done, and the like. On this particular day, however, we were in the Hill Top Management building. Tinsley sat on the sofa in my office, reading a book, while I went over the monthly report from the accountant.

There was a sharp knock on the open door, and both Tinsley and I looked up to see my grandfather standing there. “Good morning. Is it cool if I come in?”

“What up, Big? Yeah, come on in.” I beckoned him to step inside the office.

“Good morning.” Tinsley made room for him on the sofa.

“I know Saturday night was a lot,” he began, and Tinsley nodded her agreement. “It wasn’t my intention to upset either one of you, but I understand. Grandson, this is your wife. It doesn’t matter how the two of you came together. I raised you, so I know your take on protecting the women in your care.

“Tinsley darling, I’m from a generation where we don’t always sugarcoat words to make them go down easier. I believe that you have to have all the facts to make the decision that’s most appropriate. You needed to know why your money was being held up and how to fix the situation. Now that you and Double have all the information, you can work to together to decide how to best handle the situation.”

She nodded her head. “Yes, of course.”

“But I didn’t come here to rehash Saturday’s drama. I came here to talk to you about an opportunity.”

“Me?” Tinsley’s face showed her surprise as she returned my grandfather’s gaze.

“Yes, you, granddaughter.”

She actually blushed at the term of endearment. I tried not to smirk. My wife was so damn adorable.

“Okay.”

“We, the Passion’s Project Foundation, do a number of events each year. Of course, you know about the two fundraisers we hold—one in the springtime and one in the fall. In addition to those, we have our annual Easter egg hunt; the scholarship and award banquet for the high school seniors in our program; the Juneteenth picnic; the citywide trunk party that helps provide essentials for kids heading off to college; the back-to-school bash; the Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, and the Christmas extravaganza.”

“Wow, that’s a lot. Double didn’t tell me that the foundation had so many annual events.”

“This will be my first year being involved in every event, so . . .” His thoughts trailed off.

“Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed,” Big Hill cautioned. “Lynne will be there to walk you through every step as you learn her role in the organization.”

Tinsley nodded, but her eyes were still a little glossy like she was trying to process all of the information she’d just received.

“We do all of these events, and we’ve never had an in-house event planner. We use a company, Golden Confetti. They’re good, but I would much rather see my granddaughter take the helm if planning events is something she loves and is good at.”

Tinsley’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious, Mr. Hill?”

“I’m serious. And we need to find you something to call me other than Mr. Hill. You comfortable calling me what my other grandchildren call me, Big Hill?”

She seemed to consider it. “Okay, but I don’t have any contacts or even know any vendors here. I don’t know the aesthetic. What if my . . . island vibes are too strong, and they don’t give the vibes that your attendees expect?’’

“According to Deneen, the senior representative from Golden Confetti, good design is good design. It’s universal.” He shrugged his shoulders. “So you’ll spend more time with my daughter, your mother-in-law. Passion always has ideas. Anyway, the events for this year have already been planned. We’re always working a year out because that’s what’s best for us. You would be expected to pick up for next year. You’ll have the rest of this year to see what the current company does with the events. You can ask Passion if she wants to keep it the same or change it up. You two can work together to establish the . . . I don’t know, look of the events in the Passion and Tinsley era.”

She grinned. “Oh my goodness. I can’t even believe this is an option for me.”

“It’s definitely an option. And as far as contacts, trust me, we have vendors. I’ll have my secretary print you out a list of our preferred vendors so that you can begin building a rapport with them.”

“Okay,” she practically gushed.

“There is one thing.” He held up a finger.