The Boss Project by Vi Keeland

“Did you break up with him?”

“No.”

He smiled. “Then why not take it as a parting gift?”

“I can’t do that.”

“It’s not refundable. The guy signed an electronic contract, and it’s only cancelable for three days. New York requires a three-day right of recission. That was up yesterday. Trust me, the company I work for doesn’t let anyone out after that, so you might as well use it.”

My forehead creased. “The contract was signed three days ago?”

He looked down at the paperwork once more. “Order was placed four days ago. It was a rush request. This is the first day we would do an install since customers have the right to cancel the full contract within three days.”

That made no sense. Merrick and I had broken up more than a week ago. “Could this date be wrong?”

“I don’t think so. Everything gets printed the date the contract is signed.”

Greer came to the door. “What’s going on?”

“It’s an alarm company coming to do an install. Merrick prepaid it for three years.”

“Nice. At least he did something right before he broke your heart.”

“Actually, that’s the strange part. It seems he placed the order after we split up.” I thought back to the other day at the office, to the conversation I’d had with Andrea in the break room. “Now that I think about it, his assistant asked me if I was working today. I thought she was just making conversation, but I told her I’d be home unpacking all weekend.”

“Awesome.” My sister smiled. “You should have an alarm on the first floor anyway. I didn’t even think of that.”

“But I can’t let Merrick pay for an alarm. I wouldn’t have let him even if we were still together.” I shook my head at the installer. “I’m sorry you wasted a trip.”



• • •



The next morning, I went to the office early so I could speak to Merrick about the alarm, but he wasn’t around. For the rest of the day, he was in a meeting whenever I was free. Then he was out of the office Tuesday and Wednesday. When he returned on Thursday, I was determined to get in to see him at some point, because the alarm company had called me twice to follow up after I didn’t allow their installer in. At six, I’d just finished up with my last patient and readied myself to go by his office when my phone rang. It was my lawyer, so I swiped to answer even though anything to do with Christian’s lawsuit gave me an instant headache.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Evie. It’s Barnett Lyman.”

“Hi, Barnett. How’s it going?”

“Good. Listen, I just wanted to check in to see if you’ve given any more thought to Christian’s offer.”

“You mean his ridiculous bribery attempt? That if I have dinner with him, he’ll drop the lawsuit?”

“I know it’s ridiculous. And I’d never advise a client to meet with someone who is actively suing them. But his lawyer says they’ll put it in writing so he can’t back out.”

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “Can’t we just tell the judge what he’s trying to pull to prove Christian’s acting in bad faith?”

“We can. But we’d have to file motions and take more time in court, and there’s a good chance the judge won’t kick the case even if he doesn’t like it. But the bottom line is, I’m five-fifty an hour, and I don’t like to waste a client’s money. Filing a motion is an hour prep, then going to court… That easily racks up to a few thousand dollars. I’ll do whatever you want, but if you can save all that and get rid of it, why not try? Let me ask you, are you afraid to meet with him?”

“You mean like in a physical sense?”

“Whatever.”

Christian was the world’s biggest jerk, but I wasn’t afraid of him physically, and he couldn’t hurt me emotionally anymore. I shook my head. “No, I’m not afraid of him at all.”

“I could try to negotiate it from dinner to a lunch, if that would help.”

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but Barnett was right. I didn’t have thousands of dollars to waste, and all I really wanted was to put the last of it behind me. I hated it—but it was the right move. I sighed. “Okay. If you can get him to agree to a lunch, that would be great.”

“I’ll get back to you soon.”

After I hung up, I sat at my desk for a while, staring out the window. A knock on my office door interrupted my thoughts. Merrick stood in the doorway.

“My assistant said you came by and asked if I was in?”

He looked only minimally better than he had the day he dumped me. His naturally tanned skin was still sallow, and dark circles remained below his green eyes. But I couldn’t let that affect me. Especially not after the call I’d just finished. So I took a deep breath and exhaled. Just as I was about to speak, a trader walked down the hall behind Merrick, so I motioned to the door. “Could you come in and close that? I’d prefer we discuss this in private.”

“Of course.”

He shut the door, but stayed on the other side of the room. Which was just fine with me.

“An alarm company showed up at my house the other day. They said you pre-paid for service and the installation.”