“You know everything you need to,” he snapped. “This is my company, not yours.” His expression softened. “You just focus on getting more customers. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“I’m all over the customer strategy.” I decided not to argue with him anymore about Ronan’s offer. It wouldn’t go anywhere. I reached over the table and took his hand, which was cold and clammy against mine. “I know I’m much younger and you always felt like you had to take care of me, but I’m an adult now. I can help.”

He smiled tightly. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” He disentangled his hand from mine. “You’re very sweet.”

I stood, recognizing a brush-off when I heard one. He was done talking. But I’d noticed that he hadn’t given any indication of how he might get us out of our predicament. He had no ideas. No backup plan. And as I strode down the corridor, I knew I had to accept Ronan’s offer. Otherwise, Tom would dig us deeper into trouble as he tried to bail water out of our sinking lifeboat.

I stepped inside my office, closed the door behind me, and withdrew my phone from my purse. Then called the number Fiona had used earlier.

“Ronan King’s office. Fiona speaking.”

“Fiona, it’s Willow. Are you able to put me through to Ronan, please?”

“Ronan is on another call, but I’ll send this one through to him as soon as the other has ended. He should be free shortly. Is that okay?”

“Perfect, thank you.” I switched the phone to speaker mode and got to work while hold music played in the background.

Before long, the music cut off and Ronan’s deep timbre came down the line. “Have you made a decision?”

Biting my lip, I prayed I wasn’t doing the wrong thing. “Yes. I accept your offer. I’ll hand in my resignation later today, serve out my two weeks’ notice, and I can start with you after that.”

He hummed approvingly, and the sexy rasp did all kinds of things to my insides. “You’re making the right choice. But I don’t want to wait two weeks. I’ll give you a signing bonus if you quit, effective immediately.”

My eyes widened. Wow, he was committed to seeing this through. Or did he just want to minimize delays and maximize the disruption at Lennox?

“I can’t do that.” I curled my fingers into my palms, hoping he wouldn’t rescind the deal. “I have a contract, and I’ll abide by it. I’m not going to leave them in the lurch. Two weeks, take it or leave it.”

He chuckled, and I felt it to my core. “You’re more stubborn than I would have thought.”

I smiled to myself. I could hear the grudging respect in his voice. He may not like me sticking to my guns, but he admired it.

“Okay, two weeks.”

A breath whooshed from me. “Thank you.”

“No problem. And, Willow?”

“Yes?”

“There will be a confidentiality agreement. You won’t be able to pass anything you learn along to anyone else, including your brother. Will that be a problem?”