“You’re incorrect. I do love what I do. I’ve always loved business,” Hunter said.
“You love business, but you don’t love reporting to a committee of pompous, snooty types, isn’t that right?” Mike leaned forward so he could see Hunter around me.
Hunter chewed, looking straight ahead. He didn’t respond.
As if Hunter’s silence was answer enough, Mike nodded. To me, he said, “Hunter loves to build, too. He loves to take a company that’s faltering and make it into something slick and shiny. You know how I know this?”
Mike looked around the table. All eyes were on him. “He came to buy out my company when it was in the worst shape. Mismanaged, tons of problems—hell, I didn’t know what I was doing. I’ll admit it. He saw the potential, saw what it would take to get it on the right track, and wanted to push up his sleeves and get to work. His sales pitch?” Mike’s gaze went around me to Hunter again. “‘Let me build your company the right way so you can build your dream.’ Well, he was talking about high rises. That was always my dream—build a grand high rise in a bustling city.”
Mike leaned back and wiped his mouth. He gave a smile as he continued. “I wouldn’t sell. I was just about bankrupt, but it was my company. I wanted to see it through, right or wrong—I was a bit stubborn back then…” More than a few people snorted at that. “That was when I realized Hunter was more like his mother than his father. He helped me anyway. As a family friend, he rolled up his sleeves. He got into the trenches with me without ever asking what he would get in return. He gave me advice a young man shouldn’t know, not even with another twenty years’ experience. He showed me the right path, and he helped me stay on it. Still does, as a matter of fact. He owns a quarter of the company now, but if I’m honest, he should get credit for half.”
“My advice wasn’t insightful, it was logic. You were just too busy with your hammers and nails to realize it,” Hunter said in a soft voice, laying down his fork on an almost empty plate.
Mike scoffed. “Yeah, right. You don’t have to pretend to be humble in front of your girlfriend…”
Hunter’s lips threatened a shy smile. He slipped his hand back onto my thigh.
Mike watched the server deliver the next course before he said, “When he finally does get to build his dream company, watch out, world. That thing will take off.”
“So when Olivia’s hard work takes off, Hunter can step in and build her an empire.” The woman with red lipstick smiled. “I miss the days of young love, when you had your whole lives ahead of you.”
“What are you talking about—you still look sixteen!” the graying man said in a booming voice.
“Oh!” The woman with the red lipstick touched her hair with a delighted smile. “Don’t I wish.”
“I don’t. I was poor and clueless.” Mike laughed.
Everyone laughed as the conversations broke up, people turning to talk to those closest. As I took a bite of my lamb, I noticed Blaire’s eyes on me, burning with hatred. Her plans to ostracize me from the group had failed.
For a woman that liked to win, she didn’t do it very often…
I’d probably see her wrath eventually, but right now, I just wanted to enjoy Hunter’s family and friends. He was opening up another little part of himself, and I was eager to become a part of it.
Chapter Thirteen
The rest of the dinner party went surprisingly well. Trisha’s friends were cordial and polite, easy to talk to and always friendly. They were never once snobby, and no one seemed to care about my background. Aside from Blaire constantly trying to be wherever Hunter was, and always trying to butt into his conversations, I had a great time.
The next week went quickly, with a haze of work blending the days together. It turned out Bruce and I were a lot closer to launching the app than I’d originally thought. We had a few tweaks and some coding problems, but a beta test had actually gone out to a select group of computer geeks. They’d be harder on our game than normal people, but they’d also find ninety-nine percent of the bugs.
This meant, of course, that Bruce was more hyped up and anxious than normal, sending me fixes and issues throughout the day. I took lunch breaks just to work on his notes. The moment I left Hunter, I was working for Bruce. It was brutal.
When the next Saturday rolled around, I was in my home office with the stack of boxes, staring at the computer with puffy eyes. I entered the last few lines of code, tried to think of anything else I could possibly have to do, and then fell back in my chair with a huge sigh.