Loving Jack by Cat Miller Page A

weigh my options carefully,” Grace explained. Jack frowned.
    Rachel smile widened. “You weren’t kidding when you said she was the best, Jack.” She slapped him on the back. Jack continued to watch Grace with a grimace on his succulent mouth.
    “It will be hard to weigh those options accurately if you don’t at least come have a look at Artifex. We’re offering you a full partnership and very competitive salary. It’s worth your time, Grace.” Jack had put on his game face. Did he think she wouldn’t have any better options available to her? Grace hadn’t been a workhorse in school and at work for nothing. She’d already paid some serious dues in her industry. It was going to take more than a vacation to the west coast to sell her on the move.
    “I’ll email you the details of our offer as soon as we’re done here, Grace.” Rachel was definitely the more business minded of the two. She knew Grace would need to see the numbers and do a detailed analysis of the company.
    Grace rose from her chair and gathered her purse. She promised to contact them when she’d made a decision one way or the other. They would need to move on with the search for a CFO if she wasn’t interested in uprooting her life in New York. Jack gave her his card and she tucked it into her wallet. She needed time to think. If she sat there any longer Jack might convince her to leave Stein and Watson using nothing more than his smile and those ever changing hazel eyes. He wanted to follow her outside but Rachel wisely grabbed his elbow to stop him when she walked away. He wanted to do what Jack did best and steamroll Grace into his way of thinking. Well, she wouldn’t let him do it.  
    By the time Grace made it back to her small but stylish apartment, her brain was swimming with possibilities. The recent unrest in her life wouldn’t be ignored. Her initial reaction to the offer of a junior executive position at Stein and Watson had been less than positive. Her life was a never ending cycle of days and nights spent making other people’s dreams of financial security grow and thrive. Of course, in doing so, she had secured her own financial destiny. She had her own very comfortable portfolio. Could she give up her hard earned position to start over at Artifex? It would be a huge risk but Grace would be a partner in the business. It would be her own dreams she was building on, instead of that of her clients and the company that paid her salary.  
    Grace had not only had her career to consider, but her heart was also at risk. Already the stupid thing was trying to convince her that she and Jack were meant to be and that everything happens for a reason. He hadn’t been ready for a committed relationship when they were in college, but he could be now. She reminded that useless organ in her chest that Jack might already be in a relationship. This was not a choice between Jack and her position in New York. It was a choice between a CFO position and a partnership in a growing company in Seattle, or a junior executive position at a successful investment banker in New York.  
    Luke was also a consideration in her decision. She would be moving to the other side of the country. She would rarely see him, if ever, and she never wanted to lose her best friend. She loved him so much and the idea of moving away from him hurt.
    Grace flopped back on her bed and picked up the phone. She needed someone to play devil’s advocate and she couldn’t call Luke. She needed someone who could be objective. She would find two such someone’s in her friend and assistant, Daniel and his husband Tom. While the phone rang she fired up her laptop. It was time to do some research on Artifex and its owners. Once she had some solid facts, her friends would help her debate the pros and cons of both companies and what it all meant for her future. Clearing her mind of all emotional considerations, she got down to what she did best, figuring out the numbers.

FIVE

    Luke