1. Before You Judge

1

BEFORE YOU JUDGE

T wo Years Later

“So what is this new business you’ve got me working on now?” Laken Carlisle asked her brother, West. It felt like she spent more time in a plane than on the ground.

As Vice President of Acquisitions, it was her job to get all the new investments that her brother took part in up to speed with the way he ran things.

“This one is going to be a bit different,” West said.

She frowned. “Different how?” she asked.

“First off,” West said, “the business itself hasn’t started production yet.”

“What?” she asked. “You never buy startups.”

“Then maybe it’s time I do,” West said.

“Easy for you to say when you aren’t the one doing the work,” she said.

She liked to give her brother crap on principle. Being the third oldest of eight kids and the oldest girl. The only other girl was Talia, who was twenty-two. Their nine-year age difference didn’t give them a lot to talk about.

West smirked at her. He didn’t often smile. Or hadn’t until the past several months when he found love on a forced vacation.

“I do plenty of work and you know it,” West said. “This is one I handled myself, if you must know.”

“Ohhhh,” she said. “You got your hands dirty in negotiations in person. Has to be something good, not just it being a startup. What’s the product?”

“Baby soap,” West said.

She burst out laughing. “Be serious.”

“I am,” West said. “Dead serious. It’s not a market we are in. Nothing really with kids. This is more than soap. It’s all natural liquid soap that is squeezed into animal-shaped sponges by tubes shaped like baby bottles, sippy cups or straws.”

She was laughing so hard she couldn’t stand it. “You’re pulling my leg. I thought it was serious until you got to the baby bottles and straws.”

“Don’t forget sippy cups,” West said.

“How could I?” she asked.

“I am serious,” West said. “Do you know Jamie Wilde?”

“No,” she said. “Should I?”

“Considering you don’t watch sports, then I’d have to say no. He’s a retired quarterback and a Fox Sports analyst on Sunday mornings.”

“Okay,” she said. “What does that have to do with children’s soap?”

“He and I are business partners now. It’s his idea.”

“Idea but no product? Nothing at all?”

“There’s a product. One he’s used personally. It’s an old family formula. I like what he’s trying to do and where he is going with it. With his name behind it, it’d take off.”

“What does he need you for?” she asked.

“He knows nothing about running a business.”

She felt the dread fill her stomach. “Then this really is a startup. I mean like from the ground? They have no staffing?”

“Nope,” West said. “That is where you come in.”

“I don’t hire people,” she argued.

“You’re not hiring everyone,” West said. “We need to get some key people hired and then they will go from there. I’ve got a building for manufacturing. Jamie knows what he needs for the most part.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said. “Where is he going to have time to do any of this?”

“He broadcasts on Sunday mornings and only during football season. There are just about two months left of the regular season, then playoffs. It’s going to take time to get this up and running, but he has more work to do than you do.”

“How much do you own of this company?” she asked.

“Sixty percent,” West said.

“And how much of that sixty am I getting?” she asked, crossing her arms.

She and Braylon always got a few percent of every company if not a bonus. But since this company had no revenue, there would be no money for a bonus.

And considering the amount of work she had to do, she’d like some equity in the game.

This was well outside of her scope of responsibilities.

“Five percent,” he said.

She lifted an eyebrow. She didn’t normally get more than two percent tops and that was generous and she knew it. She’d never asked what she was getting before but was more annoyed over the work he was putting on her that she threw it out there.

“Now it got interesting,” she said.

“Good,” West said. “Why don’t you reach out to him and set up a meeting? I’m going to let him tell you how this all came about. You need to hear the story from him.”

Her brother was good about that too. He never wanted someone to form an opinion based on his opinions.

When West’s secretary knocked on the door and told him there was a call he needed to take, she did a quick search on her phone for Jamie Wilde.

Her eyebrows rose over his picture.

Oh boy. Talk about a sexy athlete.

There were plenty of pictures of him in a uniform, then in a suit on the broadcast stand.

He had dark hair that was cut short and stylish. His eyes were light blue and stood out as the strongest feature of his face.

There were pictures of him clean-shaven or with a close-cut beard. Both worked well on him. Along with his body.

Damn!

Then she switched over to see some articles about him from his forced retirement to his playboy ways.

A few more about how difficult he’d been to handle before he was traded to The Jets.

He was cocky, arrogant and always had to be right.

She wanted more than five percent if she had to deal with that .

“I’m upping my percentage,” she said when West hung up the phone.

Her older brother laughed. “You’ve been reading things, I see.”

“Of course I have. I do that with everyone.”

“But this is different. That is the media and we know what the media writes isn’t always the truth.”

She didn’t need her older brother to say that.

West had been in the media plenty in his life.

Laken tried her hardest to stay out of it unless she was getting her picture taken with him for some business, and even then, rarely wanted to be quoted. She liked doing her work behind the scenes.

“I guess you’re right,” she said. “But he looks like those things said about him might be true.”

“Could be years ago, but he’s not twenty-five anymore. I’m sure a lot of people would say those things about me at twenty-five.”

“They say those things about you now,” she said, smirking.

“And not much of it is true,” West said. “My family knows the truth. I believed Jamie when I talked to him. It’s not like it was just one conversation either but many of them over the past few months.”

“How come I’m just hearing about this now?” she asked.

“Because there was a lot to work out.”

“Braylon has to know,” she said.

Braylon was an attorney for West. Not the lead attorney, but he’d get there at some point. She knew that. Everyone did.

“Of course he does. It was finalized on Friday. As I said, reach out to Jamie. Get it set up and then we’ll go from there.”

“You mean I’ll go from there, not we, because you aren’t going to get your hands dirty hiring staff.”

“No,” West said. “Neither is Jamie. He’s the name behind the brand.”

“What is the name of this?” she asked. “You didn’t say.”

“Penelope Plush Soap.”

She snickered. “It’s cute and funny and not something I’d expect him to have or name. Nor you.”

“As I said, ask him about it before you judge.”

“You’re not going to tell me?” she asked.

“No,” West said. “And your curiosity will keep you from dragging your feet to make contact.”

“I don’t drag my feet that much,” she said. “I’m busy. I’m going to have to rearrange my schedule as it is if I’ve got to travel. You didn’t tell me where this was all taking place.”

“Less than an hour from here. Jamie lives just outside of Union City and we are finalizing contracts for a plant space close by. The only traveling you’ll be doing is through the Lincoln Tunnel.”

“That’s something,” she said.

“See,” West said. “Not all bad news.”

“Nope,” she said. “Six percent is awesome news.”

Her brother laughed. “Deal.”