Sweet Texas Charm (20 page)

He glanced up at his wall clock. He’d have to come back to that million-dollar question later. Right now, he needed to meet Becca in the boardroom. He opened his desk drawer, placing the photos inside.

Grabbing the proposal Eleanor had left on his chair, he opened the door to his office and let her know he’d be in the Legacy conference room for the next hour. He also asked if she could discreetly set up a bottle of champagne and two flutes in his office. Yeah, he was getting the cart ahead of the horse, but Becca nailing the presentation was a sure thing, even without his alter ego’s help. He wanted to celebrate with her when she did.

And damn it, he was going to kiss her this time. He’d even sent Gage a text earlier to make sure he and Charlotte were on the road back to Houston, since they both seemed to have a knack for showing up at the worst possible time.

He walked down the hallway, saying a quick hello to his senior vice president of finance and vice president of public relations. Even though he wasn’t technically back until next week, it was nice to see everyone.

Turning the corner, he smiled at the sight directly in front of him. Becca leaned against the wall, staring down at their business proposal. His heart picked up speed with each step. She looked even more beautiful than the first time he’d seen her in the suit.

“Morning.”

She glanced over and gave him a short smile. “Hi.”

“You ready to knock us dead?”

“I hope so. I guess we’ll see.” She pointed to the room. “Eleanor said it was okay to go ahead and set up some samples of my dip. I hope that’s okay. I put them along the back wall.”

He grinned, playing the part of a clueless CEO. “Sure, but I didn’t realize your dip was part of this presentation.”

“Yes.” Her lashes lowered. “Actually, it was Coop’s idea. I can take it out if you think it’s not a good idea.” Her voice quavered, and she stepped toward the door.

Becca Nash was not only nervous, she looked terrified. He should have realized what a big deal this meeting would actually be for someone who’d never met his marketing team and certainly had never presented to executives before. He needed to assure her that everything was going to be fine.

“I’m sure they’ll all enjoy it.” He reached out and touched her arm. “Becca, about Coop. I’m real sorry he quit like he did.” He’d thought about a plausible excuse all weekend, but in this moment, staring into her terrified eyes, he was feeling more than a little tongue-tied. “Um … he told me to tell you he’s disappointed that he couldn’t be here, but he knows you can do this.”

“Thanks.” She bit her lip and stared straight ahead.

“Now, take a deep breath.”

She did what he said and let it out through her mouth, her lips forming an O.

“Better?”

“Ask me in an hour.”

She hadn’t lost her sense of humor in her ball of nerves. That was a good thing.

Just then, three of his marketing executives turned the corner, followed by two more. He took a minute to introduce each of them to Becca. She shook all of their hands, offering her own pleasantries. The only hint of nerves was that her voice cracked as she delivered the last “pleased to meet you.”

As everyone began to file into the room, he pulled her off to the side. “Hey.”

“Yes?” She glanced up at him.

“You can do this.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And if I fail, will you double your efforts to get the shares?”

“Probably.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Tell you what. We’ll call a truce in there. I won’t try to backstab you until after the meeting.”

She scoffed at his lame attempt to joke. “Thanks for the reprieve. I just wish Coop was here to help me.” She turned and entered the room.

He is.
Grayson followed her in, shutting the door behind him.

• • •

Becca took her seat next to Grayson, straightening in the black leather chair, her heart pounding fast from inside her suit. She’d never met any of his executives, but she recognized one of the directors as the suit Tangie would sometimes ogle in the parking lot. The two VPs—Bill and Tom—were much older. Then there were the two women, more directors, who had checked out her entire outfit from her jacket to her high heels within two seconds of meeting her.

They now all sat around the table, staring at both her and Grayson, ready to get this meeting started.

“It’s good to see you all,” Grayson began.

“Couldn’t stay away, could you, boss?” Bill asked.

“There’s only so much fun and sun I could take.” He smiled over at Becca. “Plus, if I was still in Cancun, you would have to wait to hear what I’m sure is going to be a wonderful presentation.”

At the word “presentation,” her heart pounded against her chest.
Relax. Relax.
As Eleanor came in and filled all their glasses with water, Becca began to visualize everyone around the table naked, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea to picture Grayson without any clothes on. She reached for her glass and took a sip.

“As you know,” Grayson started, “I wanted us all to get together in advance of Becca coming on board in September. This isn’t her official welcome, and we’ll be ironing out the details regarding her new role later.” He took a sip of his water. “But independent of that, she’s been working on a side project this month with one of her line workers that I found quite impressive. I’ve asked her to share it with us as we continue to expand into new markets.”

He was cool and smooth and
so
confident. Damn, he knew what he was doing. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it. Maybe he was full of BS—he’d only gotten the proposal this morning—but he sounded like he was very supportive of it, and behind her all the way.

“And with that I’ll turn it over to Becca.”

He’s turning it over to me. Oh my God. Breathe. Breathe!

His smile turned upside down. “Becca.”

“Right. I’m sorry. Yes. Good morning,” she started. “So, Coop and I … We had this idea … I mean … he was my line worker, but he’s not here anymore … he, um, quit over the weekend … um …”

“Are those copies of your proposal?” Grayson asked.

“Yes.” She looked down at the small stack, visualizing them going up in flames along with the rest of her presentation.

“Would you like us to look through it while you talk?”

“Yeah, um … yes, that would be great.” She glanced up, and her gaze fell on Jack’s portrait, his smiling face looking right at her. If only it was just him in the room.

Just pretend you’re talking to Jack like Eleanor does every morning
. She took a deep breath and began, “You once asked me what I thought of your dip.”

Grayson picked up the proposals and passed them around the table. “I did?”

“No. I’m sorry.” She stood and straightened her jacket, her gaze not leaving Jack’s. “Jack did. Before he passed away,” she explained. “He asked me, and I told him.”

“That it’s the best dip in the world,” Tom joked, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped behind his head.

“Well, that goes without saying,” she joked back and the tension in her shoulders instantly lifted. Maybe she could do this. “But I did suggest an alternative.” She walked over to the dip display, picking up three bowls and bringing them over to the board table. Grayson rose and grabbed the chip bowls.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“You’re welcome.” He gave her a quick wink and sat back down.

“I’d like to present a different version of Guac Olé’s standard dip used with our avocados,” Becca said, pointing to the spread. “A sweeter dip, made with fresh fruit and less sour cream.”

She held her breath as Grayson and his marketing team each grabbed a blue tortilla chip and dived in. Seconds later, she let it out as everyone vocalized their enjoyment and continued to eat more.

“Not bad, right?” she turned and asked Grayson.

“Not bad at all, Ms. Nash.”

She sat down and pointed to the proposal. “What you’ll find in these pages is a plan to venture out with this dip. There is some preliminary research on selling to restaurants. This product would be perfect for such a venture, as we wouldn’t have to rely on the heavy sour cream mixture that is really only suitable for grocery store packaging.”

The executives sat up and listened as she walked them through the proposal. Grayson added a few points of his own, which she found quite impressive, since he hadn’t seen it before this morning. Either Coop had spilled the beans before he left or the man was good at thinking on his feet.

When she finally finished, she sat back down and braced herself for feedback from the type of people she’d resented for most of her life. But this time she wanted their approval, and that scared her … in those moments when it wasn’t also dangling possibilities.

Grayson escorted a jubilant Becca to his office. The pretty line-supervisor-turned-powerhouse-presenter was so visibly excited he was sure she’d missed Eleanor’s questioning eyebrow followed by her wider-than-Texas grin. “Eleanor, hold my calls, please.”

“You got it, sir.”

He walked into his office and shut the door.

“You had champagne delivered?” Becca asked.

“Consider it a ‘welcome to this side of Guac Olé.’” He popped the cork, pouring the bubbly into two flutes. “It’s not as dark as you thought, is it?”

She laughed and took the flute he offered. “No, not at all.”

“Well?” He shoved a hand in his pocket. “How do you feel?”

“Are you kidding me? Oh my God.” She spun around, one hand on her head in disbelief. “That was so … so …”

“Energizing. Exhilarating. Euphoric.”

“Yes to all.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe they liked the idea.”

“You know, Tom is a hard sell.” Grayson crossed the room and sat on his black leather couch, motioning for her to join him, which she did, relaxing into the cushion.

“He did have the hardest questions,” she agreed, taking a sip of her champagne.

“The fact that he was eating up the proposal is a good sign.” A very good sign. He knew his team. She’d charmed the pants off of all of them with her humor, honesty, and humility.

“I was so nervous at first.” She took another sip of her champagne, pointing to the glass. “What if I had bombed? This would have gone to waste.”

“You weren’t going to.” He chuckled. “But if you did, I’d have been right there, helping you drown your sorrows. That’s what the CEO does for his shareholders.”

She smirked but continued to enjoy her glass.

He knew she’d do well, but he hadn’t expected her to knock it out of the park. Once she got over her nerves, she’d been able to decipher all of his numbers and nail the strategy.

And she had faced the rapid-fire questions from his executives with poise and confidence. Today, she proved she belonged at the table. At some point, they’d need to start discussing what her role would be once her shareholder status took effect next week. He had some ideas, and they didn’t need to decide everything come September first. For now, he wanted to enjoy her moment.

And that started by giving her something. He stood, walked over to his bookcase, and grabbed his hourglass, flipping it over. He’d stared at this token his father had given him when he was twenty-one every day for the last eleven years.

Eleanor had told him once that his heart was in there. If so, it was time to take a chance and give it away.

He came back to the couch and sat down, handing Becca the hourglass. “For you. This is the sand that was made from the core and skins of the first avocado my dad ever peeled. I think he’d have liked you to have it.”

“Oh, Grayson.” One hand covered her mouth. She set her champagne down, and took the tiny hourglass, and flipped it over and over. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“You’re wel—” He didn’t get to finish that sentence because Becca’s lips were on his, their tongues tangling as she scooted onto his lap.

He cupped her face and stared into her beautiful caramel eyes before resuming their kiss.

“Grayson,” Eleanor’s voice came through his speakerphone. “I’m sorry. I know you said to hold your calls, but Gavin is here.”

Of course he is.
Gage probably sent him to interrupt. “Tell him to get lost.” His lips traveled to the slope of Becca’s neck as his hand ran up her nylons.

“I heard that,” came his brother’s voice from the speaker.

Grayson leaned back on the couch. “Give me a minute.”

Becca giggled and moved off his lap.

He stood and walked over to his desk, making sure the phone was off. “I’m sorry. He’s not going to leave until I see him.”

Becca joined him and straightened his tie. “We probably shouldn’t be doing this in your office anyway. And during business hours.”

He grabbed her hands, bringing them up to his mouth and kissing her soft knuckles. “I’m on vacation,” he said. Gavin could wait all afternoon as far as he was concerned.

“Well, I’m not.” She wiggled out of his embrace but kissed him softly on the lips. “I really should get back to the plant. Without Coop this afternoon, Franco is going to be a chicken running around with his head cut off. That man’s not going to have a heart attack on my watch.”

“What can I do?” He reluctantly moved away from her toward the door, resting his hand on the doorknob.

“Find me a line production worker, preferably one who’s not going to be a flight risk.”

“I’ll speak to Roselyn before I leave.” Right now he needed to make plans with the woman he wanted to see later. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

“Are you asking?” She grinned and batted her lashes.

“Yes. How about my condo at seven? I’ll text you directions.”

She moved her hands up and down his chest, which he hoped was her reply that she’d be there.

“I’ll see you at eight.”

He laughed. Seven, eight … hell, 1 a.m. He’d wait for her all night. “I’ll see you then.”

“Have a good day, Mr. Cooper.”

That he intended to do, and he’d have an amazing night, too. Not that he’d rush anything with Becca, but he was pretty sure there would be more kissing involved.

He opened the door and she breezed out, saying a quick hello to a grinning Gavin.