THE WRIGHT SECRET (Wright #4)

1 Morgan I was going to do it. I was going to ask out my brother’s best friend. Patrick and I had known each other since we were kids. But I was far from the doe-eyed fifteen-year-old who had fallen head over heels for him all those years ago. I was the CEO of Wright Construction. It was a position I had been working toward my entire life. Now that I was here, I wanted the other thing I’d been waiting for. “Paging Morgan,” David said, waving a hand in my face. “You in there?” I cleared my head. “Yes, I’m here.” He c****d a half-smile in my direction, dropped the pen in his hand, and leaned back in the plush leather conference chair. Everyone else had already disappeared for the afternoon. Even my brother and the former CEO, Jensen, had left a half hour ago. Only me, the workaholic, and my new CFO, David Calloway, were still hard at work. “I think we should call it a day,” David said. “You go ahead. I’m going to stick around for a couple more hours to look this over.” I gestured at the stack of paperwork in front of me. “And I thought I worked too much.” “You do.” “What does that say about you?” “I work an obscene amount.” David laughed. “I’m not used to having a boss who works more than me.” “Well, get used to it. Expect early mornings and late, late nights.” “My favorite.” He shoved his laptop into his messenger bag and straightened out his suit. David had recently moved from Silicon Valley to our humble town in Lubbock, Texas, for the job. He was still adjusting to the flat, dusty, and dry place I called home. I loved the idea of trees and hills and oceans but maybe for vacation. David would come to love Lubbock, too. It just usually took a year. “Don’t work yourself to death,” he said. “Can’t make any promises.” David waved as he breezed out of the conference room. I liked him. He was funny and charming and easy to work with. I couldn’t imagine walking this new road with anyone else. I was in a transitional period, moving into CEO, while Jensen started his new architecture company. Since I had moved up from CFO, I was working with David to get him acquainted with the company. He had been here a couple of months now, and we were both ready for the training wheels to come off. I knew Jensen was gun shy by nature about these sorts of things, but I was ready. I was so f*****g ready. A fact I’d relayed to him more than once this week. I wasn’t going to sit on my hands much longer, and he knew it. I turned back to the paperwork, trying to return to the right headspace to work again, but it was impossible to focus. My anticipation over what was to come with Patrick kept slipping into my mind. I was going to ask him out. I’d put it off long enough. He couldn’t possibly see me as the baby I’d been when I first crushed on him. A four-year age difference had been a lifetime in high school, but it was next to nothing at twenty-seven and thirty-one. A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I pushed the papers away from me again with a huff. This was hopeless. “Come in.” I whirled my seat around and watched in a daze as my daydreams were conjured from thin air. “Patrick,” I muttered. My mind went blank for a split second before recovering. I crossed my arms over my chest and eyed him skeptically. “Hey, Mor.” I liked the way the nickname only my family used sounded on his tongue and the shape of his perfect lips when he said it. It was way better than the other nickname he liked to use—Mini Wright. I might still be small, but I was a force to be reckoned with. There was nothing mini about my personality. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” “Came to give you this.” He handed me a piece of paper. I took it from him but kept my eyes on him for a second longer, admiring his crooked smile and the baby blues that were my undoing. “What’s this?” It took me a full minute to process what I saw on the top of the document. Then, my head snapped up at him. I jumped out of my chair. “You’re quitting?” I gasped. “Nah. I just handed you my two-week notice for no reason.” “Don’t be a shit.” “Me?” I rolled my eyes at him and glanced back down at the paperwork. I straightened my shoulders and tried to relax. God, Patrick was the only person who could get me to lose my composure. But Patrick quitting Wright Construction could be a blessing in disguise. Not that I was going to let him know I thought so. “Outside offer?” I guessed. He shrugged. “Yeah.” “And you’re not even going to let me counter?” I asked with an arched eyebrow. I tossed the paperwork back at him. “How much?” He caught it and then set it on top of the paperwork I’d been ignoring. Then, he placed his hand on my shoulder and looked down into my dark brown eyes. It was that look. That one I couldn’t shake. I swore he saw me in those moments. When it was just me and him and not my family or friends. Definitely not his best friend, my brother Austin. But then the moment broke, like it always did, and I was just his best friend’s little sister again. “I brought this to you before I told everyone else, Mor, because I know you don’t like to let people go.” My mouth popped open, and I quickly recovered. “Well, I’ve let enough people go in my life.” Both of my parents had died before my sixteenth birthday. Two out of three of my brothers had moved out of state at one point. I didn’t like change. Not like that. “I know.” He ruffled my hair. I ducked out from under his touch. “You’ve always been like that. Loyal. I like it.” I swallowed. “Well, I’m a Wright through and through.” “Most of the time, I feel that way, too. But Tech made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and it’s not about the money.” I exhaled in relief. Okay, so he wasn’t leaving, leaving. Just working at Texas Tech, which was near the Wright building. “And I can’t change your mind?” “You know I’d do anything for you,” he said with that same grin. My heart skipped a beat. “Anything, huh?” “Oh God, what have I promised?” He laughed. “Come on, Mor. Let’s get out of here. I’ll drop the paperwork off at Julia’s office on the way out.” Julia was the head of HR and also Austin’s girlfriend. I adored her and everything she had done to help my brother. “I can’t,” I said reluctantly. I glanced at the hours of work I still had ahead of me. “You work too much.” “You’re not the first person to say that today.” “Oh?” he asked. “David says it all the time actually.” “David,” Patrick said, his voice flat. “Yeah. He’s a great guy. I’m glad we hired him,” I rambled on. “But I’m behind because of all the training. So, I can’t really leave.” Patrick’s eyes slid to the paperwork. “It’s Friday. This will all be here on Monday morning.” “Monday,” I scoffed. “I’ll be working from home all weekend.” “You give me a headache.” I laughed. “No, I don’t. I’m awesome, obviously.” “Obviously.” I took a deep breath and debated on what I should do. I knew this was my chance. We were alone. We were bantering. All I had to do was open my mouth and ask him to go out with me. What’s the worst that could happen? He could say no. Yeah, that was the worst, most humiliating thing I could imagine. I hated to think that things would get awkward between us because I loved what we had. But, at the same time, could I continue pretending like I didn’t have feelings for him? I’d been doing it long enough. And I was pretty sure he was the only one who didn’t see it. I opened my mouth to finally do it. I looked up into his bright blue eyes and conjured all the confidence I had in my work. He looked at me, as if waiting for me to complete the thought written on my face. But nothing came out. I glanced away from him, and my cheeks heated. Fuck, I’d choked. What the hell? Why couldn’t I go after him? “You forgot, didn’t you?” Patrick asked. “Forgot?” I asked in confusion. “Steph’s party tonight.” My eyes cut to my computer. “Fuck.” “I thought so.” “I didn’t exactly forget. I just had my dates mixed up.” I tried to cover. I cringed. “Don’t tell Steph.” Patrick laughed and nudged me. “My sister comes in from San Francisco for her birthday, and you forgot? No way you’re ever living this down.” “Ugh! She’ll skin me alive if she finds out,” I said with a laugh. “That sounds like Steph. Why don’t you come over early with me and get some food?” I inhaled sharply at the casualness of the conversation. Of course, Stephanie and I had been friends since we were toddlers. We’d cheered together in high school back when I had real friends. She’d gone off to Berkeley for music while I’d stayed in town and gotten my business degree at Texas Tech. We still saw each other whenever she was in town and chatted and liked each other’s statuses. So, it was perfectly normal that Patrick had invited me to hang out before Steph’s party, but somehow, my mind strayed right to being with Patrick and how I’d totally choked. “Oh…I couldn’t impose.” “You’d hardly be imposing,” he said. “And, really…when was the last time you ate?” “I ate…today,” I muttered defensively. “What? Kale and Skittles?” “Don’t act like you know me!” Because, yes…that was what I’d had. A kale smoothie of some variety and a bag of Skittles to get me through the following couple of hours. Food was kind of lost on me when I got into a project. “Psh. I do know you.” Patrick reached for my arm to guide me out of the conference room. “That’s why I am making you leave work. You’re a human, not a robot. Someone needs to remind you of that.” “I know I’m not a robot,” I said with an exaggerated eye roll. I gestured to the conference table and shuffled all the paperwork together. I stuffed it into a folder and carried it with me out of the conference room. “I haven’t seen proof of that. We’ll feed you and see how it goes from there.” “What if robots could eat regular food?” I countered. “I could be a very advanced robot.” “Of course you would be an advanced robot,” he drawled. “What other kind of robot would we hire as our CEO?” I guffawed. “Nothing less than the best for Wright Construction.” “Basically.” From the conference room, Patrick veered me toward my office down the hall. “Now, let’s head to my parents’ house. They’ll feed you. If you’re lucky, I might even whip up those mashed potatoes I know you love.” “All right.” A pang hit my chest at the thought that he remembered I loved his mashed potatoes. I was such an i***t. I snatched my purse out of my office, stuffed the leather folder into my purse, and then followed him toward the elevator. Patrick got off on Julia’s floor and placed his two-week notice on her desk. Then, we took the elevator down to the bottom floor. My black Mercedes was parked in its designated spot. I could see Patrick’s Lexus SUV three rows behind mine. “I’ll follow you,” I told him. “Let’s take mine. There’s not much parking, you know.” “True.” I hopped into the passenger side of his SUV and took a quick glance over at him. It seemed my luck had held out for the day. I hadn’t worked up to the nerve to ask Patrick out, but we were still together. Not that it was a date or anything. My eyes shifted back up to his, and I licked my lips. His eyes flickered to my lips for a split second before facing forward. It was so fast that I swore I had imagined it. Patrick had never looked at me like that before. My hope for our future was just that—hope. But, tonight, I was determined for him to see me. Not just his best friend’s little sister.