“I didn’t know,” he said and sounded surprised. “I assumed you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
“A lot of people do, and I don’t bother to tell them any different because I don’t care what they think about me. Who I was twenty years ago isn’t who I am now.”
“So, you’re a self-made man. Congrats.”
I looked at him. “I am a self-made man. When these guys come in here sniveling and bitching, I don’t care. I don’t have any sympathy for them. Try harder. Do better. Think smarter.”
He winced and pulled back. “Damn, you are one harsh dude.”
I shrugged. “I just don’t care for excuses.”
“Don’t I know it,” he muttered.
“One more. Then I am heading home.”
“Bobby was in here earlier,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. “I hope you didn’t serve my driver alcohol. That would defeat the purpose of me hiring a driver so I can drink.”
“You hire a driver because you’re too lazy to drive your royal ass around.”
I frowned at him. He seemed to be extra insulting today. “I hire a driver because I work while he’s driving, and I usually drink before I leave the building. It’s called being responsible.”
He smirked. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“I say give me another drink.”
Chapter 3
Saige
I stared at the screen and then the paperwork in front of me. Something wasn’t adding up. “I don’t get it,” I said aloud. I was speaking to myself but my employee sitting in the chair across from my desk didn’t know that.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know how I screwed up so badly. I swear I put everything in correctly. The numbers aren’t adding up.”
I looked up at Jody. She was fresh out of school and reminded me a lot of myself at that age. “It’s here. We just have to find it. When this happens, you just need to comb through every line. We’ll find it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Jody, don’t be sorry. I’m glad you caught it before we pushed this through. Taxes are nothing but numbers, and when they are this complicated, it only makes sense there are going to be numbers transposed or entered wrong. It happens.”
“Do you think our new boss is going to be good?” she asked.
I flinched but refused to show any emotion. I was supposed to be a leader. I could not disparage the new owner. It put my job at risk and would only lead to problems in the office. I had to pretend all was well. I didn’t want everyone to panic.
“I think we are going to keep doing our job to the best of our ability,” I said.
She snorted. “That sounded like a politician answer.”
“I am trying to be politically correct,” I told her. “I want us all to keep our jobs and I want to make George proud. If we fail or look like we don’t know what we are doing, that makes George look bad.”
“And you,” she pointed out.
I nodded once. “And me. A new owner doesn’t mean anything. He won’t be involved in our day-to-day operations. We all need to keep working like we always have.”
Jody nodded but I could tell she wasn’t completely buying into my story. That was okay. I just needed to keep up a good attitude. I had to be strong for my people. If they panicked, their work would suffer, and they would absolutely end up on Nash’s chopping block. The guy was ruthless and would not hesitate to cut anyone he thought wasn’t pulling their weight.
“I’m the lowest on the totem pole,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll be the first to go.”
I stopped looking at the screen and stared at her. “We have all been the new guy. You can’t let that define the work you put out. You have every opportunity to be better than the top guy. You can decide to be better than me. You can’t hold yourself back just because you’re new.”
“You did that, huh?” she said with a hint of admiration in her voice.
I didn’t necessarily need her admiration or want a pat on the back, but it was true. “I worked hard to get to where I am. Very hard and I never let anyone tell me I couldn’t or that I wasn’t good enough.”
She smiled. “You should totally take over.”
“What?”
“You are such a good boss. I wish you could have bought the company.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m not aiming that high. I like my job and I like the people I work with. I’m okay with it staying like that.”
“I bet you could own a place like this one day,” she said.
“Maybe, but that is not today.” I returned my attention to the forms and it was like a beacon lit up. “Found it!”
“No way!” she exclaimed.
“Line nineteen,” I said and quickly adjusted the number in the program, saved it, and sent it back to her email. “I just sent it to you. I’m glad you took the time to review this before pushing it off. That’s a sign of good workmanship and I truly appreciate it. The client will as well.”
“Thank you, Saige. I really appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
Everyone was on edge. I was doing my best to carry on like tomorrow wasn’t happening. I knew Nash, and I was almost positive we would be losing a few people in the coming days and weeks. Nash only knew numbers and money. He didn’t care about the people that produced those numbers or the money they made him.
I thought it was an asshole move to wait a full week before showing up. He was making the people sweat. His people. It pissed me off that he was lording his power and his money over good people that didn’t deserve to be treated like crap. A real man would have shown up on Monday and made the announcement with George. But not Nash Aarons. He was going to hide in his little ivory tower and do whatever pleased him.
I wasn’t going to give him a reason to fire me or anyone else under me. I spent the week dotting every single “i” and making sure all the “t’s” were crossed. If he wanted to fire one of us, he was going to have to look damn hard to find a reason.
When I got home that night, Joss was just serving the kids ice cream. I raised an eyebrow and checked the time. “It’s seven thirty,” I pointed out.
She grinned. “They were so good today. They deserved a treat.”
“But ice cream an hour before bed?”
“They were really good,” she insisted.
“All right, guys, go play,” I told them. “Run off some of that energy.”
“I’ll pour you a glass of wine,” she said, immediately knowing what I needed.
I kicked off my heels and ran my fingers through my short dark hair. I rubbed my scalp and tried to release the tension that had been building all week. “Thank you.”
She handed me a glass before we both moved to sit down at the kitchen table. “What happened?”
I had been busy all week and working late, making it impossible for me to tell her the big news. “Monday, it was announced our company had been bought out.”