Boss Me - Page 156

“Plan?” I ask, confused.

She leans forward, all her attention on me. “Your plan. You have this career path you want to pursue. You’re training under some very brilliant minds, but you can’t remain their assistant forever, so what’s the plan? Five years? Two? Ten?”

My mouth opens and closes. Leave them? How could I ever leave them? But she’s right, to pursue my dream, I’m here to learn and then move on. “At least two years, I think.”

I don’t look at any of them. We haven’t really talked about a future together. Do I assume they’ll still be in my life then? I want them to be, but I can’t remain their assistant and be someone else’s boss.

Will they want a new assistant? With the same contract? Or will we stay together?

Coop squeezes my hand. I meet his soft eyes full of encouragement. I take a breath.

“Ideally, I’ll find something that I’m as passionate about as you are, Dee.” I smile. “Being able to bring so many people joy would be amazing. I still need some actual experience to get me there. And time to pay off my college debt. But I’ll find my niche.”

“Good.” Her smile grows. “Gentlemen, I have to get back to work. I’ll expect your proposal next week sometime?”

“Of course.” Seth stands and pulls her chair out.

She takes his hand and shakes it. “I think we’ll do great things together.”

“We’d be honored to help you out.” Blake steps in to shake her hand.

Noah and Coop follow Blake before I step up.

She takes my hand between hers.

“Madison, I hope you get to achieve your dreams. You remind me a lot of myself at your age.” She reaches into her purse and draws out a card. “Take this. If you have questions or need advice, you call me. Woman to woman. Sometimes we need to give a hand up to the next generation. Someone helped me a long time ago.”

I slip her card into my purse, feeling like she just offered me a golden ticket. “Thank you. I’m honored.”

She glances around at the guys waiting for me by the door. “Honestly, I don’t know how you’ll ever leave those guys.”

I smile as my gaze meets each of theirs. “I know.”

Blake

Coop and Noah take off with Madison, but Seth and I wait with Dee for her car to arrive.

“You know, I’m a grown woman and can wait for a car by myself.” She arches an eyebrow at us.

“We’re waiting for our car as well.” Seth smiles, like he didn’t tell the driver to wait around the block for us.

“Wherever did you find that young lady?” Dee gives us a searching look.

“She applied for the position out of college. Tons of internship experience. We thought she’d be a good fit.” I can feel the tips of my ears burn, thinking of how perfectly Madison fits us. We needed a self-starter, but we got a lot more when we hired Madison.

“Hmm.” Dee’s gaze is sharp. “If I thought you were wasting her talent, I might try to poach her from you. I need someone young and hungry at my company.”

“Madison is quite happy in her current position.” Seth leans against the valet stand, but I can tell he’s tense. Is he worried she’ll take Madison away from us?

A black car pulls up. Her gaze takes our measure. “I’ll be in touch.”

Seth steps up to open her door for her. “We look forward to hearing from you.”

We back up as the car drives away. That conversation with Madison about her future made my gut tighten. It’s something that seems far off. But the more time we spend together, the tighter I want to hold on to her.

“Come on. Let’s walk to the car.” Seth gestures to where we told the driver to park.

I shrug. It’s not far. As we walk by a passageway between buildings, I hear someone call out. Seth keeps walking while I pause and stare down the shadowed path behind a chain-link fence.