Rebound (Boomerang #2)(33)

“Actually, there’s an HR meeting right now you should sit in on.”

Lie. Rhett texted from the café downstairs, offering to pick up coffees. My “HR meeting” is the delivery of a double-espresso, a latte dusted with cinnamon, and two Danishes. I’m not sure how I feel about the order I put in for Alison now, but whatever. It’s done.

“Oh,” she says. “Okay.” She sits back down, pressing a key on her laptop to wake it back up. “I’ll just power through a few emails until then.”

I look at my email, thinking I’ll do the same. Then I consider wadding up a sheet of paper and throwing it at her, just to get her attention. Fortunately, Rhett arrives with a coffee carrier before I do.

“What’s up, boss man? Hey, Alison.” He sets the drinks down on the conference table. “How’d the boat trip go?”

I take the seat next to Alison. Her face is emotionless. Carefully composed.

“Great,” I say. “I had a great time.” What else do I say? Vivian had a few too many? Graham was pushy as hell? Mia spent most of it cuddling with the toilet? I had one of the best afternoons I can remember until the very end? “The Quicks were generous hosts.”

“We were happy to have you, Adam,” Alison says, with as much feeling as a DMV clerk.

Anger shoots through me, and I stare at her. This is bullshit. I spent all goddamn night reliving it in perfect detail. Then embellishing it. I know she had as much fun as I did. Why are we both pretending otherwise?

A flush of red creeps up Ali’s neck, but there’s no other sign of the girl who imitated grouper for me yesterday.

Rhett looks between us, like he’s seeing everything.

“For you,” Rhett says, handing over Ali’s latte.

“For me? But I didn’t—”

“Adam likes to treat visiting executives when he can,” Rhett says.

A nice warning jab by Orland.

Ali’s eyes cut to me, then back to Rhett. “Thank you,” she says, and I think she sounds a little contrite.

With the coffees delivered, Rhett turns for the door.

“Rhett,” I say, quickly. “Didn’t you want to talk about the retreat? I was just telling Ali . . . son. You were going to give us a quick update on it.”

I’m lying because of this girl and I hate lying. I do too much of it already. Chloe filled up the Lie Reserves for the rest of my life.

“Update?” Rhett says, freezing. He gave me the update yesterday, over breakfast smoothies at my house. His eyes narrow for an instant, then he realizes he needs to cover for me. “Oh, right.” He pulls out a chair beside me and drops into it. “You know the basics, right? About the retreat?”

Ali frowns. “No. I don’t.” I can tell she’s disappointed in herself. Since she’s been here in the office, it’s been less like she’s learning about my company and more like she’s simply verifying what she already knows. Somehow our annual retreat slipped past her, and she doesn’t seem thrilled about it.

“We do a team-building forum every year in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the days right before Thanksgiving,” Rhett explains. “We call it Camaraderie Camp because it’s all in the name of fostering closeness among the team.” His leg starts bouncing up and down as he gets more excited. “We ski some runs. Chill out in hot tubs. Do some trust exercises. It’s a really fun few days, and it always gives the morale a boost—not that we really need it, but who’s going to say no to better morale, right?”

“Absolutely. It sounds like a great event,” Ali agrees.

“It is. It’s the best,” Rhett says.

“Will you join us?”

My question sucks the air out of the room.

First, because my voice came out sounding strangely hushed and private, almost like I whispered the question to Alison alone. And second, because neither Alison nor Rhett was expecting it.

“Oh,” Alison says. She turns her coffee cup in a circle on the glass conference table. “It’s good of you to offer.”

Not sure what to make of that. I focus on Rhett, sending him a pointed look. He’s worried about me inviting Alison for personal reasons and he’s dead-on. It’s exactly what I’m doing. I want her there, and it has little to do with the investment. But he has to back me up.

Slowly, he starts to nod. “Yeah. It’s a good idea. It would give you a chance to get to know people around here better.”

Good enough.

Alison seems to consider it. “Okay. I’ll come.”

“Great,” Rhett says. “We just need to book travel for you and your team.”

“Well, I don’t think Nancy and Simon would want to come along. It’ll just be Philippe. And me.”

“I’ll get on it.”

My attention moves to the commotion in the hallway. Through the glass walls, I see Pippa and Sadie laughing. Today they’ve stepped up their work outfits to heels and body-hugging dresses, which happens every time I schedule a meeting with Brooks. He’s out there with a motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm, telling them something that can’t possibly be as hilarious as it appears to be.

I have no idea how he got the presentation materials here, but I’m not worried. I know he handled it. Brooks might always look like he just rolled out of a bar at 2 a.m., but he’s brilliant, competent, and as motivated as I am to get this film studio online.