9. Grayson

CHAPTER 9

GRAYSON

" H ave you given any more thought to my proposition this morning?" I slide into the seat beside Jade in the conference room, glancing down at the mess she's got spread on the table.

Her cheeks get the pink flush I used to love. "It's a bad idea and one that's just going to end in a lot of trouble for both of us. You know that."

"I know that we have to work together." I fold my arms and lean forward on the table, tilting my head to the side to get a better look at what she's working on.

She leans over to grab a piece of paper and the neckline of her lilac blouse shifts, showing off the mark I left on her skin. "Look, if I was to agree to this — and I'm not saying that I am — but if I was, we would need rules in place."

The corner of my mouth twitches as I shift closer to her. "Does that mean I should be telling you not to fall in love with me?"

Her snort is a stab to my ego. "You don't need to worry about that. I don't have time for emotions, and even if I did, you're the last man on earth I think I would ever be able to fall in love with."

It's another twist of the knife she plunged into my back all those years ago.

I scowl down at the table, pulling one of the papers closer to me. "Yeah, well, you always were heartless."

Jade stiffens beside me. "As long as we're on the same page about what this is, then I'm up for some meaningless sex that ends when I'm not here anymore."

"You're still pretending that you don't want the CEO position?" I shake my head, skimming through the list of ideas she has for connecting with readers. "I have a hard time believing that you would agree to do this if there wasn't something in it for you."

"A massive payday is what's in this for me." Jade pulls the paper I'm looking at to her and writes a couple notes on it. "We need to talk about the app."

"We should scrap the app for the time being and focus on working on a podcast." I sit up straight, crossing one leg over the other, my foot dangling.

Irritation flashes in her eyes. "Did you come in here to make the project more difficult, or are you here to help?"

"I thought that I was going to help. Do you have any idea how long an app is going to take to develop? We could have a podcast up and running by tomorrow."

"A podcast hosted on a platform that isn't your own is only going to cost the company more money."

I scoff, twisting in my chair until her knees are brushing against mine. "And do you think that an app is going to cost any less money? We have a little over two months to turn the ship around, and you think someone can get us a fully functioning app in that time?"

"Yeah. I do."

My eyes roll to the ceiling, and I take a moment to collect myself before responding. Sitting here bickering isn't going to get us anywhere.

I have to figure out a way to get her to see things from my perspective.

For once.

I stand and round the table, grabbing some of the papers with projections on the business and the creation of the app. "According to these quotes, it would take four to six months to get the app up and running."

"It would." She runs her fingers through her hair, the soft waves cascading over her shoulders.

She doesn't look like the woman who just took my cock in my office. Instead, she's sitting here like she's been here all day, polished and put together.

It's as if her time with me doesn't affect her at all anymore, and it bothers the hell out of me.

I push the papers toward her. "All of the numbers are saying that what you want to do is impossible. A podcast isn't."

She leans back, arms crossing as a smug smile spreads across her face. "And what is going to be discussed on this podcast you're planning?"

"News." I say it like it's obvious — because it should be.

"You're going to have two people sitting there reading the news? Or is it going to sound more like a news station on television? Neither of those options is going to have readers interested."

I rap a knuckle against another paper. "You have the podcast charts right here, so don't pretend that you haven't been toying with that as a potential either."

"I have been, but if we were going to do it, we should look at the true crime realm, not just the events that make the daily paper."

I feel like my head is going to explode as I look at her. "We deliver the news as it happens. We don't revisit true crime stories."

"And that's where I'm going to disagree with you." She grabs another sheet of paper covered in bar graphs and points to one of the numbers there. "This is the number of people who are streaming a true crime podcast weekly. This chart over here compares those numbers to the news."

She taps another with her black-painted nail, though it's chipped at the edges.

Like when she used to get stressed out before a big test.

"This chart over here shows how many hours in a week true-crime podcasts are listened to versus the news."

As much as I want her numbers to show that I'm right about the podcast, they don't.

Jade shuffles more papers over. "We would need to look at doing a true crime podcast first, and then once we have people listening to that, we would start branching out."

"And even with this, you still think that an app is better to start than a podcast of any kind?"

"I do." She pulls out her phone, thumbs flying over the screen before she turns it around. "Apps are at your fingertips. I keep all my favorite news sources on my phone so I can look at things while I'm on the go without having to wait for a mobile site to load."

"All right." I sit back down beside her as she tucks her phone away. "Say that I get on board with this idea. What makes you think this is something you're going to be able to pull off?"

"I know a company in France — Pelletier Design — and they might be willing to squeeze us in. I worked with them for both of my own apps, and they were amazing."

My hand drags over my chin as she hands me a sheet with the company's information on it, along with some mock-ups of their app designs. Another sheet is covered in testimonials from people who have worked with the group.

Jade gestures to the papers in my hands. "It's all laid out in that stack, but if we want to work with them, we're going to need to act fast. I don't want to have to worry about someone else coming in and swooping away a spot with them."

"You already booked a spot with them?" My tone is sharp as I put the information back down and turn to her. "This is going to cost a fortune. You can't just go ahead and book this without the board's approval."

"I didn't." She gives me a flat look, implying that I'm an idiot for even thinking she wouldn't follow the right channels to get this project pushed through.

"Then how do you know they have a spot open that works with our timeline?"

"Paloma works for them sometimes. She knows the app designers there, and she said that one of them has some time open on his books. It would be enough for us to get an app up and running — if the board agrees to foot the bill."

My hands curl into fists as I run through all the ways the board is going to say no to this. "This is going to be a hard sell. There are limited funds as it is. Dad might be willing to dip in his personal funds, but I wouldn't hold my breath."

"I think you underestimate your father and what he's willing to do to save the company he built with his own two hands."

"You don't know my dad."

Jade purses her full lips, one shoulder rising and falling as she turns her attention back to the work in front of her.

There's a small sense of satisfaction that comes along with knowing that she's never going to get this project pushed ahead. The board might have agreed to an app, but once they see the expense that comes along with the rush job, they'll turn it down.

Which will then open the doors for me to pitch the podcast.

A true crime podcast will take time to plan for, but I could have it up and running within two months.

Though, it likely wouldn't be making money right away.

But it would introduce more people to LRH Global.

Jade would kill me if she knew that I was even considering going behind her back and presenting her idea as my own.

The thought of doing so gives me a moment of pause, but this could be what I need to finally get the position I deserve.

I've worked too hard to let it slip through my fingers now.