Reunited in Love

Chapter Twenty-Two

ETHAN FINALLY CAME INSIDE, looking displeased. Some of the windows had been open, and the whole family had heard his and Jacob’s argument, the horrible indictment of what Jacob thought of Meredith and the awful things he said about his wife Catherine.

Kerri pressed her lips together. Only if the ground would just open up, or some angel would swoop in and spirit her away!

She felt so out of place, her skin prickly and hot. She just wasn’t used to this kind of family drama. Her people were more…somber. And if the house she grew up in occasionally seemed like a mortuary, at least there had been no shouting matches.

All the color from Meredith’s face had vanished, and she looked about ready to faint. Jacob’s words would’ve cut deeply even in private. But now, even the neighbors probably knew his opinion of his sister.

Ethan looked at Meredith, and his expression immediately changed. “Let me guess. Everyone heard what my asinine older brother said.”

Most of the people in the room looked everywhere but Ethan and Meredith. Kerri retreated half a step, not wanting to get further involved in the family conflict.

“Is Kerri going to take over TLD?” Meredith asked suddenly, her voice hoarse. Unshed tears stood in her eyes.

“We haven’t talked about anything like that,” Ethan said.

Kerri’s mouth dried, her hands suddenly clammy. She didn’t want to take over The Lloyds Development. The company was headquartered in Houston, and there was no way in hell she was moving to the city where her family lived. The whole point of her leaving Hong Kong and her investment banking career had been to avoid her family!

“One of our own always heads the company,” someone said.

“There’s that, too,” Ethan conceded.

Kerri let a breath out. Of course. TLD was a family business. Besides, if Ethan ever asked she could just say no. It was a free country.

“Then I want to do it,” Meredith said.

Gavin walked in just in time to hear this, and he and Ethan exchanged a quick look.

Meredith marched up to the two of them. She made a tiny figure next to Ethan’s bulk, but her voice rang through the room. “Don’t you dare! You think I’m stupid like Jacob?”

“Absolutely not,” Ethan said. “But Meredith, you don’t have the experience.”

“I know that!” she said. “I didn’t say I’d do it all by myself. There’s a whole board full of advisors, right? And you and Gavin can help when you have free time. Kerri, too.”

Kerri’s attention had started to wander, but now it snapped back. What?

“She helped you find out what’s wrong with the company, so she can help me make it profitable again. She has the experience, right? And she’s smart too.”

Ethan raised a hand, palm up. “Meredith, hold on. Kerri’s—”

“My position is temporary,” Kerri said quickly. Leaving her fate up to a couple of emotional siblings would not be a good move. This was her life.

“So?” Meredith turned to Kerri. “Don’t you want a permanent job?”

“I do, actually, but not in Houston.”

“What’s wrong with Houston?”

“Just…not where I want to be right now.”

“Fine. You can live in Virginia and advise me over Skype or something. You don’t have to move to do this job. This is the twenty-first century.”

Meredith thought there was more to Kerri and Ethan’s relationship than actually existed. But the only thing they’d ever discussed was when their relationship would end, not how they wanted to make it permanent. And it’d be unimaginably wrong for her to become Meredith’s advisor, because when you came down to it, Jacob was correct. When Kerri had first taken the job with Ethan, she hadn’t quite realized the enormous conflict of interest it would create. She’d thought it’d be a small way to pay Barron back for making her leave her old job.

But things were more complicated now, especially since Jacob had made the accusation, and the company wasn’t doing well. If it didn’t come out of the hole as quickly as the family wanted, they’d suspect she was sabotaging TLD or something.

Her own family had rejected her for being born and taking away their males. What would the Lloyds do if they thought she’d sabotaged their company?

She shook her head. “It’s not that simple. Meredith, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re going to be better off with someone who can be with you in person in Houston…and for a long time at that. The executive team is going to need some continuity, and I’m just not going to be able to give the results you want in the timeline you want.”

*



Ethan clenched his jaw. Meredith was talking about a job, but he knew Kerri was talking about their relationship. Clearly, she was still thinking of their deal as being good only for the short term.

It was as though the temporary nature of their relationship was some kind of lifeboat she was clinging to. But why? Their chemistry in bed had only gotten stronger, and they’d spent enough time together now that it was clear they had common interests, similar senses of humor. All the elements were in place, and yet she apparently had no faith that they’d stay that way.

She would never go to Houston, where the Sterlings and Wilsons lived. Ethan knew that her family was anathema to her. He’d brought her to the party to show her that she could be included in his family instead.

What a mistake. Everything had backfired spectacularly: Gavin had been rude, then Jacob had showed up and, as usual, been an outright a*shole. And then Meredith had to start talking about a job—in Houston! It was like the universe was conspiring against him.


“No one’s going to fire you for not being able to help me turn the company around fast enough,” Meredith said. “I can’t do it alone.”

Kerri rubbed the back of her neck. “Let me think about it.” But Ethan knew there was nothing for her to think about. “And if I can’t do it, I’ll give you some other possible candidates for the job,” she added.

Bitterness gripped his heart. Ethan could see what was going to happen. Kerri would go home, contact a few highly qualified people—any of whom would do a spectacularly competent job at TLD—and send the list to Meredith with her regrets.

Would she do the same with him? Bye-bye, Ethan. Oh by the way, here is a list of possible replacement girlfriends. I think you’ll find that they’re all quite attractive.

Being good in business required one to be a realist. And Ethan was very good. Hard as it was to acknowledge, he’d fallen for a woman who wanted a definite out in her relationship with him. He’d had a glimmer of hope after the fiasco of her birthday party, but maybe the emotion had all been on one side: his.