Page 7 of The Encounter
“You can thank me now for your costume idea.” A bright smile lit her face, and he laughed.
“Thank you, Brianna, for such a genius idea.”
“You’re welcome. So, are you going to see her again?” She double-jumped two of his checkers and swiped them off the board.
“I’m not sure.” The truth was, hewantedto see her. He even found out her name from one of his security officers, who had been dancing with her friend. Maddie Carter. The beautiful red-haired goddess who had left a ring of red lipstick around his shaft. Just the thought had his dick jerking in his pants, but he immediately shifted his mind to think about the checkers game at hand. The last thing he needed was to get a stiffy in the children’s ward of the hospital and deemed a sex predator in the tabloids.
“Oh please. Don’t give me that,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
Brianna had always been a firecracker. It’s one thing he enjoyed most about coming to the hospital to visit. He didn’twanther to be there since it meant she had relapsed, but he enjoyed her company.
“I’m working on it,” he said.
“That’s better.” She smirked and ended the game by claiming his last checker. “I win.”
“Per usual.”
She shrugged. “Not a lot of things to do in the hospital.”
He put the board and checkers away before leaning forward and resting his hands on the rail to the bed. “I know that feeling all too well.”
She gave him a small smile. “So tell me about the gala. Have you come up with a theme yet?”
“I’m thinking a Christmas theme is a must.” The gala to raise money for the hospital was approaching quickly. He spent all year nailing down donors for items to auction. He always had his regular donors, but liked to find a few new ones each year to add to the appeal and getting new people to attend in the process.
The children looked forward to the gala every year. It was the one thing they could do while staying in the hospital that involved gettingoutof the hospital for a few hours. Jace put money in a fund to have stylists go to the hospital and let the kids pick from outfits that he purchased. The few children who still had hair had their hair styled. The girls also had the option of having their makeup done and could pick from some fun headbands or wigs for the evening. It was the highlight of the year for most of them.
“Yes! Please do that and have ice sculptures everywhere!”
Jace made a mental note to add that to the list. He would do pretty much anything for the children. The sky was the limit. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
“You should just put me on your payroll.”
He chuckled. “Tell you what. When you turn eighteen, I’ll give you a job at one of my companies.”
She tapped her chin. “What if I want to work at the bar?”
“Then come on in when you turn twenty-one.”
She seemed satisfied with that answer. “It’s a plan.”
“It’s a plan.”
3
The next day, Maddie knocked on the door of her boss, Kailynn’s apartment. Kailynn’s small clothing company designed and shipped different items to customers. Recently, she was trying to expand the line to be picked up in different stores around the area.
Maddie had majored in marketing, so Kailynn hired her after going through a legal battle with her ex-boyfriend Drew, who owned half the company. When Kailynn broke up with Drew, she hired Chase, a lawyer, to help split the company. Chase had discovered that Drew had been paying additional money to two women he had been cheating with. Kailynn ended up getting the company without needing to pay Drew for much of anything.
Now, with Maddie on top of the website and marketing, she was looking into different options for Kailynn to expand. Despite Kailynn being her boss, they got along well and were more friends than anything. It was an incredibly relaxed atmosphere.—Much more relaxed than the positions she used to hold in New York before she moved back to California.
Kailynn pulled open the door to her apartment, which doubled as their office.
“Good morning! It’s so good to see you!”
Maddie smiled and stepped in, handing Kailynn a coffee she grabbed at a local stand down the street before pulling Kailynn into a hug.
“It’s good to see you! How was Italy?”
