“No. Lily. That’s not fair.” Noah was quick to step in. “Marcy had you in a corner. Who knew the woman was so obsessed with weddings?” He turned to his brother. “She asked Lily about the date and kept asking until she finally had to give her an answer. I figured that we had to do everything we could to keep the deal together. We didn’t really have a choice.”
Sawyer raked his hands through his hair. “I’m so sorry, Lily. If I would’ve known it was going to get this out of control, I never would’ve allowed this in the first place.”
“Hold on a minute.” The anger in Noah’s voice was so unfamiliar Lily wouldn’t have believed it had come from his mouth if she hadn’t seen him utter the words. “You allowed this? I seem to remember that this was ultimately my call, along with Lily. We knew what we were getting into. No, it’s not what either of us would’ve planned, and it’s certainly less than ideal, but we have it under control.”
Seeing and hearing Noah be firm with Sawyer created a pleasant flutter in her chest. She loved the idea of them as a unified front. He’d been so right two days ago on the dock. They were in this together. “Sawyer, it’s fine. We did what we had to do to make the deal work. We’re a team.”
Sawyer shook his head in dismay. “I hope you two know what you’re doing.”
“We do.”
The fax machine on Lily’s desk sprang to life. She only needed to see a few inches of the letterhead to know who it was from. “We’re getting something from Lyle.”
Noah and Sawyer stepped closer. They all watched the machine chug out the first page. Lily swiped it from the paper tray. Subject: Deal Memo.
“This is it.” Noah leaned into Lily, subtly enough that Sawyer would never notice, but close enough for his body heat to make her tingly from head to toe. Between Noah and the anticipation of the official offer, this was almost too much to take. “We don’t look until every page comes out.”
“Fine,” Sawyer said. “I’ll be in my office. Let me know when it’s all here.”
Lily and Noah stood sentry over the fax machine until all twelve pages arrived. She collected them in her hands and handed them over to Noah. This was his deal now as far as she was concerned. He’d been in it from the beginning, he’d yanked it back from the precipice every time it was in danger of falling apart.
Noah took a step away from her desk and turned back to her. “Coming?” That flash of his eyes turned her knees to rubber.
Lily was so excited and scared she didn’t know what to think. She swiped her notepad from her desk. “Yep. Coming.”
A short ten minutes later, they were all still in shock. Sawyer looked out the window. Noah sat back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. Lily was unsure of the appropriate reaction from her, so she sat perfectly still. This was her first time in on a big deal. She had to tamp down her desire to leap out of her seat and dance around the room. Her nest egg was about to be a lot bigger than first thought.
“We still need to have the lawyers look everything over,” Noah said. “And run everything by Charlotte. She should be able to come by the office this afternoon.”
“Yes. Of course.” Sawyer pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just… I knew Lyle was excited about this deal. But I’ll be honest, I never thought the offer would end up being two times the number we started at.”
“It’s amazing,” Lily offered, still feeling out of her element.
“It really is.”
“We should go out and celebrate, don’t you think?” Noah asked.
Sawyer dropped down into his seat. “Sure. A drink after work? Kendall is still feeling a bit under the weather, so I’m probably not good for much else.”
“Six o’clock?” Noah asked.
“Perfect.” Sawyer picked up his phone.
Noah and Lily took that as their cue to leave. As they reached her desk, Noah put his hand on her shoulder. “This wouldn’t have been possible without you. I want you to know that. And it’s more than the stuff that’s happened over the last week. It’s everything you’ve done for us over two years. We’re both happy to have you here, but I’m especially happy about it.”
Lily didn’t want his words to make her feel the way she was feeling right now—soft and mushy on the inside. It contradicted the strength she needed to convey in business situations. Still, she so appreciated the kind words. “Thank you very much.”
“No problem.” He patted her on the shoulder, almost as confirmation that their relationship had returned to being only about business, exactly what she’d wanted. “Now let’s get to work.”