Valorous(57)

“Our names?”

“It will be called the Flynn and Natalie Godfrey Foundation.”

“Flynn… I don’t know what to say. Your faith in me is…”

“I’ve found the very best possible person to lead this effort that’s as near and dear to my heart as you are. I think you can make a real difference, Nat. But if you don’t want to take it on, I’d totally understand.”

“I’d love to try, as long as you know I might mess things up before I find my footing.”

“You won’t mess up anything. We’ve got a great staff here at Quantum who will be at your disposal.”

“What if…”

“What if what?”

She looks up at me, her expression filled with uncertainty. “I get my job back in New York?”

“I guess we’ll have a decision to make if that happens. Either way, I want you involved in the foundation, and I feel very comfortable putting you in charge and putting you on salary beginning today. But only if it’s what you want, too.”

“I’m honored by your faith in me, and I’d love to try. Thank you.”

“Then let’s go meet with our new board of directors.”





Chapter 11





This will surely go down as one of the most surreal days of my life. We’re on another private plane heading for Vegas as the sun drops toward the horizon. With Fluff sleeping in my lap, I’m curled up next to Flynn on the sofa.

He shocked the hell out of me by asking me to head up the foundation, but once the shock wore off, I began to feel excited about the challenge. I left the meeting with a three-page to-do list that will keep me busy for the first half of the year.

I have to give Flynn credit for recognizing that I need something to pour my energy into since losing my job. The work we plan to do helping to feed hungry children is an extremely worthwhile cause that needs this kind of attention.

I saw it with my own class, most of them from good families with hardworking parents, and yet from time to time, some of them came to school without having had breakfast and with no money for lunch.

They broke my heart with the kind of quiet shame that no child should ever experience.

“What’re you thinking about, sweetheart?”

“My to-do list from the meeting.”

“I knew I hired the right person for this job. You’re already all over it.”

“So it’s a job? huh?”

“Of course it is. I told you I was putting you on the Quantum payroll. And your first-year salary is the exact amount of your student loans plus fifty percent.”

Laughter bursts from my chest, spontaneous and free. “You’re a smooth operator, Flynn Godfrey.”

“Why thank you, sweetheart. I’m glad you think so.”

“I decline your generous salary and volunteer my time to the foundation. You see, my soon-to-be husband is filthy rich, so I don’t technically need to work.”

“Ohhh, well-played, my love.”

“Why thank you.” I love every second I get to spend in the presence of this extraordinary man. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, he makes me happier than I’ve ever been or had ever hoped to be.

“But that’s not happening. You do a job, you get paid. That’s how it works. And speaking of your filthy-rich husband…”

“You probably want me to sign something. Whatever you need, I’ll sign.”

“No, I don’t want you to sign anything.”

“Flynn, be serious. Anyone with half a brain who has what you have would expect his girlfriend of two weeks to sign a prenup before they say I do.”

“Well, I guess I have less than half a brain, because there isn’t going to be any prenup.”

He’s so emphatic that I begin to question whether he’s already had this argument with someone else. “Is this why Hayden left the way he did other night?”

“What way did he leave?”

“Pissed off. I assumed it had something to do with me, as I have that effect on him.”

Flynn seems to be deciding how much he wishes to say.

“Did your friends tell you you’re a fool to not have a prenup?”

“I don’t know that fool was the word they used.”

I roll my eyes at him. “For what it’s worth, I agree with them. I’d actually be more comfortable if there was something that protects you. Just in case.”