My hand almost went limp inside his, and I could feel the sweat starting to form. Oh God, this was awkward. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Weiss. I’ve enjoyed your daughter—I mean, having her as an assistant. She’s very good.” Fuck. Goddamn it. Now was not a good time for a Freudian slip.
He pulled his hand back with a nonchalant shrug. “Well, she’s not going to be an assistant for the rest of her life, so it doesn’t really matter if she’s good at it.”
I laughed. “True enough. She’s destined for greater things, for sure.”
David looked us both up and down. “So, you two are looking awfully formal for tech geeks.” I was grateful for the change in subject. “Those boys at Facebook wear t-shirts to work. And I don’t believe I ever saw Adam wear a tie in the two years he worked for me.”
“We have a photo op later this afternoon,” said Adam. “All the press stuff for the IPO.”
David’s eyes gleamed shrewdly. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with why I’m here, would it?”
Adam looked at me for a minute before turning back to David. “It might.” He checked his watch. “I know you’ve got things going on today, but do you have time for me to show you around?”
“Sure. I’d like that. I’d also like to steal my daughter for lunch, if that’s possible. I didn’t tell her I was coming and I’d like to surprise her.”
As the two men talked, I tried to wrap my head around the ramifications of his presence here. I suspected Adam wanted to make him an interim chairman to organize a new board of directors, which was necessary once we were a publicly traded company. I cursed myself that I was just now seeing this, at the exact moment it was dropped in my lap like a load of bricks. Adam had had his own reasons for moving April into my office—reasons he hadn’t cared to share with me.
But I knew now this was all part of his master plan to bring David in to help with our IPO. I sent a heated glare at my best friend, resentment bubbling up. I was pissed that he’d withheld this information from me until now. It was so typical of him to behave this way.
And yet, had I known from the beginning, would it have changed anything? I’d known April was off-limits before I’d had my way with her—half a dozen times or so.
Even if I had been tentatively planning on pursuing a relationship with April after her internship, that would now be impossible. As an officer of the company, there was no end to the potential disasters that could occur if I dated—and subsequently broke up with—the board director’s daughter. My gut tightened.
But my brain was telling my gut to shut the fuck up. Bringing this guy on was good business. He had experience in the industry and was an executive at a competing company. This opened up possibilities for Adam—and possibly even me—to serve on his board, as quid pro quo was common in business. Beyond that, Adam trusted the man and he had apparently helped him out early on in his career. How could I go against all that?
Putting David Weiss on our board would be a smart business move. I couldn’t deny it.
But…
No, there were no buts. This thing between April and me had to be over. For good.
Adam and David were discussing where to start the tour when movement at the periphery of my vision caught my attention. April stood at her desk beside Susan staring wide-eyed at Adam and her father. She looked at me and our gazes locked. I swallowed, shaking my head. The color drained from her already pale face. She really was the color of snow—or as close as she could get to it. I let out a breath and motioned for her to join us, but she shook her head stiffly.
David must have seen my gesture because he turned to see who I was motioning to.
“There she is!” he said, walking toward her. She walked around the desk, casting a self-conscious glance at the people around the atrium.
“Dad. What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too,” he said, landing a peck on her cheek, which, judging from the flash of her blue eyes, she barely tolerated. “How was Canada?”
“Good. I was very busy.”
Yeah, busy with me between her luscious, soft legs. I swallowed again, loosening my suddenly tight tie.
Adam watched the two with a frown. When he turned to me, I sent him a pointed glance, hoping we could just get on with this hot mess and get it over with as soon as possible.
“Let’s start over in development, maybe?” I said when the uncomfortable father-daughter greeting didn’t seem to getting any less awkward. “April, you can come along too. I’m sure your dad would like that.”