Page 21 of The Meeting
She smiled in appreciation. “Thank you.”
7
Chase sat on his couch, mindlessly flipping through the channels. He was, once again, caught up on his work load enough to take a few hours off. Earlier, he had met up with Kailynn at the coffee shop to discuss her case. He felt bad for the woman. She was in a truly undesirable position.
Position. His face warmed, and he shifted in his chair. He would be crazy to deny the fact that she was incredibly beautiful. And when he touched her hand…
Damn.
He had never felt that way before—had never felt a current running through his body from a mere touch.
She’s a client. You can’t date clients.
He had caught himself looking up the California rules of professional conduct earlier. He knew he wasn’t allowed to date clients or risk being disbarred, but part of him hoped the code had been changed. It hadn’t.
She wouldn’t be a client forever. That was all he could tell himself to keep from being completely bummed. But it was not like he knew how she felt. She might not even like him. She could just be hanging out with him because it was with the rest of her friends. And she was certainly meeting up with him for her appointments, but that didn’t mean she wanted more.
He forced his attention back to the TV. All week, he had to refrain from texting her. He jumped at the chance to meet her today when information finally came back from Drew’s lawyer. He almost felt embarrassed by how eager he was. It had been a long time since he had felt anything toward another woman.
Being divorced, he realized he had thrown most of his attention into work. It had been necessary to get his business up and running, but now that he was as busy as he could possibly be, maybe it was time for him to focus on himself again.
After flipping through every channel at least a dozen times, he switched the TV off. He eyed his briefcase containing Kailynn’s files. He didn’t need to work on them, but there were parts of the file regarding their finances that continued to nag at his brain. Something wasn’t sitting right.
He sat down at his kitchen table and spread the files out. Looking for the folder marked finances, he opened it and pored over the spreadsheet. The expenses for the company had definitely been on the higher side. He was no fashion expert, but it still seemed odd for a clothing company to have high costs not contained within the fabric, labor, and marketing expenses.
The rent account alone was ridiculous. Either they were getting scammed through the building they rented, or there was more to the story. He thought about his company’s expenses and compared the numbers. Based on Kailynn’s description of the space they rented, their rent should be smaller than his, since he had a much larger space and in a more desirable area in town. She was set up in the warehouse district for companies that didn’t necessarily need a storefront. But hers was nearly double his.
He picked up his phone and texted Kailynn.
Could I get a detailed list of the expenses for the company?
Her response was immediate.Drew took care of all of that. He should have it. I wouldn’t even know where to find it.
I’ll ask his lawyer. Thanks!
He refrained from asking her if she wanted to come over to watch a movie. No. He needed to wait until she was no longer a client. Or at least wait for a day when he knew he could keep his hands to himself. Today wasn’t that day.
He made a note to call Drew’s lawyer first thing in the morning.
* * *
Kailynn satat the table next to Logan, who was poring over the financials of her company. She bit at her nails, a habit she had broken as a child, but here it was rearing its ugly head.
Logan stared at the income statement that she had printed out of their accounting software at the office.
When Chase told her he needed the financials for the business valuation, she snuck into their office late one night when she knew Drew wouldn’t be there.
After struggling to figure out how to find the reports, she finally gave up and called Logan. He luckily used the same accounting software for his own business, so he could walk her through it.
She had no idea what she was looking at. Of course, she knew the basics of what the expenses were, but the only thing she ever really cared about was the number at the bottom—the net income. She rarely looked at the other numbers.
Logan’s eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the numbers. The net income had never looked great. It was the income the company had left after they paid all the expenses. She had always known the company wasn’t a huge moneymaker, so the thought of having to pay Drew his half was worrisome for her.
“What?” Kailynn’s knee bounced under the table. She couldn’t help it. All the expressions crossing Logan’s face were about to make her implode.
“Your expenses are really high.”
“Yeah, it’s probably something I need to work at getting a handle on. I think once the company is mine, I’ll just work from home so I’m not paying rent for a place.”
