Page 84 of Riding High

Mick and Justin both looked at Troyden.Mick hopped from foot to foot, the same way Liam did when he was excited.Or needed to pee.‘I want you to run my foundation,’ Troyden calmly stated.

Eden narrowed her eyes.‘You don’t have a foundation.’She knew this because his donations were funnelled through the Bancrofts’ foundation.And that couldn’t happen anymore.

‘Alistair is setting one up,’ he replied.‘But we need someone to run it and grow it.Someone we trust.You’ve done a marvellous job setting up today’s event, but that isn’t why you are getting the job.’

Confusion trickled through her.‘It isn’t?’

Troyden’s phone beeped and he picked it up to read the text message, before typing a reply.

‘I’ll explain…’ Alistair leaned back and folded his huge arms, and Eden knew what it felt like to be a bug on a researcher’s slide.‘I did some digging into you, and I discovered that the Bancroft Foundation really took off once you came on board.You brought order, stability and consistency to the foundation.You worked behind the scenes, but you made a massive impact.’

Eden blinked at him, trying to make sense of his words.He sounded impressed.Was she imagining it?‘I’m seriously impressed with your work, Eden.’

Not imagining it then.Wow.Okay.Eden placed her bent fingers against her cheek, feeling the heat.To get a compliment like this from Alistair, so quiet, so broody, so difficult to impress, was…everything.

‘I want you to run the Castle Foundation,’ Alistair said.

‘I think that’s my line,’ Troyden said, smiling, putting his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket.

‘Say yes, say yes,’ Mick muttered, her hands in a prayer position, her fingers resting on her lips.

Oh, it was one hell of an offer, but she couldn’t accept it, not yet.She couldn’t discuss working for Troyden’s foundation until she’d had a conversation with Jed.While she wouldn’t stay or go on his say-so– this wasn’t the 1950s– she wanted to hear what he thought and where they stood before she made any decisions about her career.

There was more at stake than just her career.Jed hadn’t been up to the big house for the past week, and she didn’t know how he felt about Troyden’s offer to run the foundation.If he knew of their plan to offer her the job and objected, would her working with Troyden and Alistair cause a rift between Jed and his family?His family was everything to him, and she didn’t want to be an obstacle between them.He was just starting to reframe his relationship with them into something healthier, and she didn’t want that to be jeopardised because he was avoiding her.

All she wanted was for Jed to be happy.He only had one family.

It’s your family too…

Eden tensed, as the words rolled around her mind.Historically, everyone who was supposed to love her, including, sadly, Jed, had never put her first, and by putting Jed’s needs before hers, she was doing the same thing.To herself.

Jed’s needs weren’t more important than hers.Even if Jed told her they were done, that didn’t mean she had to fade away.It was Jed’s choice to love her or not, just like it was hers to accept or reject a job offer.She didn’t have to sacrifice an opportunity,herfamily, because having her around would be uncomfortable for him.She owed it to herself to do what made her happy, to put herself first.

Oh, a life spent with Jed would be more fun, but if that wasn’t what he wanted, they’d have to find a way to negotiate sharing the Castle clan.That was non-negotiable.

‘What do you think, Eden?’

Troyden’s question pulled her back to the kitchen, and she took in their expectant faces.‘Can we talk about this later?’she asked, biting the inside of her lip.As exciting as this offer was, she had work to do, people to check on, and a giant event to oversee.

‘Noooo!’Mick wailed.‘Just say yes, Eden, you know you want to.We can do more events like this?—’

We?Since handing over the files, Mick’s role had been bringing her tea and introducing her to the villagers, and millions of her horsey, country and school connections.Important, but not the beating heart of the event.

Eden placed her hand on Mick’s shoulder.‘Mick, I need to have a proper chat with Troyden and Alistair.Preferably around a table, and not in the kitchen while I’m rushing out the door.’

Mick pulled a face.‘I know we can’t discuss your salary here, or your perks.But I–we– just need an idea of whether it’s something you’d consider.I know it’s not London, but maybe you could be happy here, with us?’

There was something vulnerable in her expression, and Eden knew this was how Gemma would look on Christmas morning as her biggest wish was granted.She’d thought that, of the two of them, she, Eden, was the more ‘needy’, and that Mick, with her contact list of millions, considered her simply another of her many friends.It was touching to realise how much Mick valued her, and it was obvious she wanted her to stick around.

She wouldn’t give them up.Not now.Not ever.Not even for Jed.

She gave Mick a quick hug, wondering if she knew it was the first time she’d hugged a girlfriend.‘I need to go,’ she said.‘I’ll catch you later.’

‘If you do take the job, I promise to buy and pay for BTS tickets whenever they next come to London,’ Mick told her as she was halfway out of the kitchen door.

Eden couldn’t help messing with her.It was what best friends, and sisters, did.She braked, turned and raised her eyebrows at Mick.‘I’ll think hard about it if you make them VIP tickets.And you need to buy meallthe merch.’

As she expected her to, Mick gulped, turning a little pale, obviously thinking about how much she’d have to shell out.Then she narrowed her eyes at her.‘Do you think you are worth VIP tickets?’she asked, lifting her nose.The affection in Mick’s eyes was in direct contrast to her snotty tone.