Best Friends, Secret Lovers. Jessica Lemmon

want my father back. They want a ruthless, impersonal asshole to sit in this office and deliver their bonuses.” Flynn sat down in his chair and spread his arms. “I’m filling the ruthless, impersonal asshole part of the request and they’re not appeased. They’re like...like an active volcano that needs a virgin sacrifice.”

      She lifted an eyebrow at the metaphor.

      “Know anyone?” His lips twitched at his own joke.

      She smiled and the tension in the room eased. “I’m sorry to say that my V-card was awarded to Bennie Todd our freshman year in college.”

      “Your first clue that was a mistake was that his name was Bennie.”

      “Yuck. We’re not talking about him.”

      His eyes flickered playfully. The Flynn she knew and loved was still inside the corporate mannequin she was currently addressing. Thank God.

      He’d always sworn he’d never turn into his father. And yet after his father’s illness and subsequent death, after finding out Veronica had screwed him over, Flynn had devolved into a close simulation of Emmons Parker.

      His face drawn, he stood and gestured for her to take his chair. “Have a seat. I want to show you something.”

      She sat in his plush, ergonomic chair and he leaned over her, the musky smell of him familiar and not at the same time. He’d been this close to her a million times, but this was the first time she noticed her heart rate ratcheting up while he casually tapped in the password on his laptop. What was with her today? Had it really been that long since she had male attention?

      Yes, she thought glumly.

      “Read this.” He opened an email addressed from Mac and backed away, taking his manly scent—and her bizarre reaction to it—with him.

      “They’re threatening to leave,” he said.

      She read the subject of the email aloud. “Tender of resignation?”

      “Yes. From our CFO, director of human resources and vice president. They’re going to start a new company and take most of our office with them. Or at least that’s the threat. If I agree to Belinda’s suggestion and take an extended break, they’ll stick around and give me a second chance.”

      “It’s mutiny.” She could hardly believe this many bigwigs at Monarch would agree to such an insane plan.

      “To say the least. If we were to attempt to keep Monarch afloat after they left, I doubt we’d be able to stay open while we trained a new...everyone.” He gestured his frustration with a sweep of his arm.

      He was right. Hiring that many new executives would take months. Monarch would fold like a pizza box.

      “I’m not backing down.”

      “What do they believe will change if you take an extended break?”

      “They think I’m burned out and need to take some time to reflect.” He said it like it was a swear word.

      “Well...”

      How to agree and not side against Flynn? That was the question...

      “Is reflecting so bad? You didn’t take bereavement after your father passed.”

      His face hardened. Even twenty-three years younger than his late father, Flynn was a picture-perfect match for dear old Dad.

      The execs were used to the way things were, and when Flynn implemented new things—good things that the company needed—the change hadn’t gone over well. Flynn was the future of Monarch and had always been more forward thinking than his father.

      “It’s a bluff,” he said.

      She wasn’t so sure. Mac was powerful. Both in position and in his ability to convince his colleagues to go along with his scheme.

      “Would a monthlong sabbatical be that bad?” She turned in her chair and met his gaze, which burned through her. Eyes she’d looked into on many occasions, and never failed to make her feel stable and like she mattered.

      “If I leave for a month, God knows what those dinosaurs would do to the place.” Flynn would never voluntarily abandon ship—even if it was for a break he was in desperate need of taking.

      “Reid’s here. Gage is here. They wouldn’t let Mac ruin your company.” And neither would she... But she wouldn’t be here once she convinced Flynn to take a hiatus. Belinda had plainly told Sabrina to “get him out of here” and Sabrina wouldn’t leave him to his own devices. Without work distracting him, she knew he’d be unpacking some hefty emotional baggage.

      She refused to let him go through that alone.