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If looks could kill, I’d be dead and buried.
“I get that. I do. But not everything is about you, Bryce. I’ve worked hard to get where I am. And I need to throw it all away because why? Because you can’t keep your dick in your pants?”
Ouch, that hurt. But she wasn’t wrong.
“I know, Reyna,” I said quickly, reaching out for her hand as she immediately pulled it back. “I’m not saying you should stop working. I have a proposal. I actually think it would be a better opportunity for you, anyway. My family has the Taylor Foundation. It’s the charitable arm of my dad’s company and my mom leads it. I think you could really flourish there. It would also help build your network before you start your own company. You'd be putting your name out in that echelon of businesses and connections. The foundation partners with almost every major company in the Atlanta area and many more nationwide.”
“I’d have to work with your mom?” She looked a little uncomfortable and I couldn’t blame her.
“Yes, but it would be really great for your resume. My mom’s so well-respected and has so many connections. And honestly, she’s pretty easy to work with.”
“I don’t know, Bryce.” I could see on Reyna’s face that she wasn’t sold. “I really love my job at Raven. Why can’t I just keep it?”
“How about this: just take some time to think about it and I can arrange a meeting with my mom and you can meet her.” She took a sip of coffee and looked at me with narrowed eyes above the rim of the cup. “I mean, you’re gonna have to meet her at some point, anyway. She’s been pushing for a dinner and I’ve held her off, but I can only do that for so long.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it and I’ll meet with your mom.”
“Thank you.”
Reyna looked at me again for a long moment and it had me squirming in my seat.
“Do they know? Your parents, do they know about the fake engagement?"
“Yes, but they’re not a problem. They know that I need to handle my business and that sometimes creative solutions need to be found.”
“So, they know I’m in this to advance my career?”
“No. You’re just an employee playing her part.” She didn’t like that answer either, but she nodded once and dropped the subject. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“What should we do today?” Reyna’s eyes were brighter already, and I perked up in my chair.
“What do you usually do on a rainy day?”
“Um, I read, watch TV. Sometimes I bake if I’m in the mood.”
“Do you want to teach me?”
Reyna paused, hand poised over her coffee cup.
“Teach you what?”
“How to bake.”
Reyna quirked an eyebrow and her lips tugged into a smirk.
“Bryce Taylor wants to learn how to bake. What, cookies or something?”
“Sure. Anything. What do you like to make?”
“Well, let’s see what you’ve got here in the cabinets and go from there.”
Reyna hopped down from the chair and started sorting through all the random stuff I didn’t even know I had stuffed in there. Sometimes, I had a local private chef come when I had a group of friends up here and they must have left the bags of flour and sugar.
“Shockingly, it looks like you have everything we need to bake some simple chocolate chip cookies. Which, I have to admit, are probably my favorite. My mom and I used to make them together all the time and I know the recipe by heart.”
“Those sound delicious. How can I help, chef?”
Reyna’s laugh bounced off the stone, wood, and stainless steel, filling the room and made the sun shine on this gloomy day. I couldn’t help but beam back my own smile.
