“China?” I repeat.

“Or the Philippines. Great reviews of a place out of Taiwan,” he adds. “Either way, it’ll cut your costs way down.”

I shake my head and push the papers back. “Thanks but… I want to keep things local. Create good jobs here.”

They exchange another look. “That isn’t really going to work.”

“For who?” I can’t help snapping. “Sorry,” I add quickly, “I just thought I was clear about the mission of the company. To empower women—”

“—at every stage of the process,” Julie finishes. “Yes, we read the memo, very touching.”

“It’s how I want to build my business,” I say firmly. “Here, in the States, with employees who need a second chance.”

More looks. I sigh. “Let me guess, you don’t want me to do that, either?”

“Hiring here, even at minimum wage, significantly eats into your profits.” Ed says gravely.

“Then that’s just the price I’ll have to pay for treating my employees like actual human beings,” I reply. “Just out of curiosity, have any of you worked minimum wage?”

I look across the table. Silence.

“I thought not.” I gather my things and stand. “Thank you for your time, but it feels like we’re not seeing eye to eye here about how I want to do things.”

They get up, looking shocked. “Look, we’re trying to help you here,” Keith says, frowning. “Mr. Dashford has an excellent investment record, and if your company can’t even get off the ground—”

Dash?

I stop. “Wait, did he put you up to this?” I ask, looking around. “Has he seen your plans?”

“Well, not exactly,” Ed admits. “But he trusts us to look out for his interests—and so should you.”

“I prefer to trust my instincts.” I say, and then walk out the door.

I don’t want to spend another minute of them telling me how my values are stupid and doomed to fail, but as I exit the building and hit the sidewalk, my indignation falters, and insecurity bubbles to the surface again.

What if they’re right?

What if my plans are just that: Big dreams that will never become reality. Dash’s investment is the one break I’ve had in years of trying, I don’t want to fail now, but I don’t want to give up my integrity, either. I want this company to be building something good, not just shipping in boxes from some other part of the world. It’ll be worth it, doing things the right way.

It has to be.

With everything whirling in my mind, I almost forget about Dash’s mysterious invitation. I don’t have time to go home and change, but I figure my business-casual getup will be just fine. It’s only Mavericks, after all, so I head to the bar to see what he needed to talk about so bad.

Hopefully, not more fake relationship shenanigans.

Now I see why Charlie’s cousin runs that agency: It’s like I need a handbook and etiquette guide just to navigate what’s real and what’s pretend. I thought it would be simple once we got back to New York, but it’s only grown more complicated. And with Zelda in town?