Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2)(44)

It was like a trade, she supposed. Now that he was upset, her own ire deflated. “It is unfair,” she agreed. “But that’s how it’s going.” Her smile was wobbly. “One superpower my brain gives me is that I’m always low-key prepped for the worst. This scenario wasn’t one I considered, but it’s not the absolute worst.”

He growled.

“To be honest, I truly expected them to go on television and rattle off my name and Social Security number.” Katrina winced. “He gave the internet my nickname, so, like, not great, but it really could have been worse.” She rose and dared to place her hand on Jas’s arm. “You know what? Next couple of days, let’s try to focus on other things. Not stress too much until we have to. It’s okay. We can handle this.”

He looked down at her hand. “You’re right. We can handle it.”

She let her lashes conceal her eyes as she turned away and picked up their plates, Doodle coming to her feet, tongue sticking out in anticipation of returning to the kitchen.

It had sounded a little too much like a vow, those words coming from him. We can handle it.

She’s a client.

She’d take her own advice and stay focused on other things, like enjoying this time, tucked away in this adorable little farmhouse, with her dear friend.





Chapter Fourteen


IF JAS DIDN’T leave the house soon, Katrina was going to kill him.

Okay, kill was, perhaps, too strong a word.

Tap, tap, tap.

Katrina’s eye twitched. Or not strong enough.

Doubtful anyone else would be annoyed by Jas tapping a pen on the table while he worked on his laptop, but repetitive noises made her head ache. Especially since he’d been doing it for the last two whole hours.

“Katrina?”

She refocused on the computer, where her two employees were gathered around a conference table. Being an investor wasn’t easy when one didn’t leave one’s home, but it was made simpler with a small staff of people she trusted implicitly to handle the face-to-face interactions and judgment calls that were necessary in this game. She leased a small, ridiculously expensive office in Silicon Valley for them.

So far, the system had worked. There was some speculation, but no one closely questioned who the wizard was behind the curtain of the KA Fund. Entrepreneurs were happy to get money, they rarely cared where it came from so long as they could keep building. “I’m sorry, Akash. Can you repeat that?”

Akash fiddled with the precise knot in his tie. He was her newest hire, and happened to be Rhiannon’s assistant’s cousin. Katrina trusted Lakshmi and Akash had struck her as clever and quick. He’d only worked for her for a year, but he’d done well in scouting out some good opportunities. They were working on his impulsiveness. “I was saying I think you ought to reconsider the handbag start-up.”

Carol was already shaking her head before Katrina could respond. She was in her fifties, and had been Katrina’s agent’s assistant many years ago. She was solid and cautious, and possessed an uncanny ability to suss out diamonds in the rough. “There are a million sustainable purse companies out there now. There’s nothing special about this one.” She grimaced. “Their samples are hideous, too.”

“It’s not about the company, it’s the people behind it,” Akash argued. “Two Stanford Ph.D.s.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Katrina glanced at Jas. He wasn’t using the pen anymore, but he was typing. Loudly. Was it his keyboard that was loud or his fingers? “Carol?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What do we say?”

“Just because Google was founded by two Stanford Ph.D.s doesn’t mean we hand out money to every Stanford Ph. Dick, Tom, and Harry that walks in our door,” Carol intoned.

Akash adjusted his glasses. “Of course, I wasn’t suggesting that.”

“I read an article that the 3-D printing company this start-up uses to make their purses shut down under some shady circumstances. They’re having severe issues sourcing the product.” Katrina read a lot of articles. Sometimes the information came in handy, and sometimes it was useless. She was happy this was a handy time. “It’s not worth the risk as it stands right now.”

“I missed that article.” Akash nodded, once. “I won’t bring it up again. I’m so sorry.”

“Please don’t be sorry. I’m fine with you arguing with me. Carol and I have had some epic arguments over the years, haven’t we, Carol?”

The lines around Carol’s light blue eyes crinkled. “Epic.”

“Sometimes she’s in the right, sometimes I am. I want you to feel free to air your opinions.”

Akash perked up. “Yes, ma’am.”

Click, click, click. That stupid pen again.

She gritted her teeth, then remembered her employees could see her. “Why don’t we pick this up later?”

“Sure.”

“No problem.”

“Is there anything else urgent you wanted to talk to me about?” She held her breath. She’d been holding her breath for the past hour, waiting for one of them to bring up CafeBae, but they hadn’t and they didn’t now.

She supposed there were still some people in the world who didn’t know she was trending. Or, they were too polite and kind and in love with their jobs.