“Oh my God, this tastes so good.”
“It does,” Haley agreed. “Gooey red velvet goodness. The perfect carbs for a long day. Which reminds me... The temp, Stacy, showed me a picture of Joshua DeLong this morning. Does he look as sexy in person as he does in the photos online?”
Becca frowned. “We can’t get the temp to do actual work, but she shows off Josh’s picture with the same amount of dedication that we wished she’d put into her job?”
“Oh, so you’re already on a first-name basis with the Millionaire Mogul?”
Becca laughed. It was a well-known fact that the Prescott George organization was often referred to as the Millionaire Moguls. “Have you read the articles online about Josh?”
“Of course I have.” Haley took a sip of her coffee. “Stacy was eager to have me read a couple articles, as well.”
“Tomorrow I’m calling the temp agency for sure,” Becca said, shaking her head. “Anyway, most of the articles portray him as a cocky, arrogant corporate raider who can somehow ease the worries of even the most skeptical client. Those qualities—combined with his charm—are what make him a force to be reckoned with.”
“Did you get a different impression?” Haley asked. “Was he less impressive than what the articles say?”
Becca thought about the meeting she’d had with Josh, from the moment she introduced herself to him all the way to the moment he walked her back to the gate. “I wouldn’t exactly call the articles false.”
Haley raised an eyebrow. “Okay, bestie, what aren’t you telling me?”
Even now, Becca could feel those vibrant blue eyes watching her walk to her car. “He was exactly how one would imagine Joshua DeLong to be...cocky, arrogant and charming. He spent the majority of the meeting trying to convince me that inviting celebrities to the gala would give our foundation an opportunity to receive even more donations and offer unprecedented media coverage.”
“That sounds awesome,” Haley said enthusiastically. “I knew I had a good feeling about working with the moguls.”
“You would be okay with all the publicity? What if all the media coverage doesn’t truly capture the essence of The Aunt Penny Foundation?”
Haley shrugged. “Isn’t it better to give ourselves the free publicity and take every chance we can to try to save the foundation?”
That was exactly what Josh had said. “If you’re okay with it, then I’ll email you the information he sent me so that you can review it, as well. I’ll admit he has some pretty good ideas. I just want to make sure I understand his angle.”
“I know that look,” Haley said. “You don’t trust him.”
“I barely know him.”
“Exactly. So you don’t trust him?”
Becca thought about his perfect white teeth, soft-looking curly hair and grand yacht. “I’m just skeptical, and Josh is a smooth talker. By the end of our conversation, he almost had me convinced that I should just hand over the reins and let him drive the entire time.”
Haley’s eyes softened. “Listen, Becca, we both know that the past couple years have been difficult for the foundation. We aren’t getting the sponsorships and donations we were before. Economically, we’re facing a crisis, and you and I didn’t both get Ivy League educations and quit our corporate jobs to see The Aunt Penny Foundation fail.”
“We’ll figure something out before it comes to that,” Becca said as she reached across the table and touched Haley’s hand. “Do you remember what we used to say in college?”
Haley smiled. “‘At the end of the day, there’s always chocolate and coffee’?”
Becca laughed. “Not that one. I was thinking about when we used to say that one day, we were going to accomplish something that would change the lives of others.”
“Of course I remember. In college, we were bright-eyed and ready to conquer the world.”
“And now we’re doing just that. After only a few years, we’ve already helped over one hundred students get full scholarships to colleges and universities. That’s not even including partial scholarships. We’re making a difference every day at The Aunt Penny Foundation and we will continue to do so for years to come.”
“Then try to keep an open mind when it comes to Joshua DeLong,” Haley said. “Regardless of how you feel about him, keep your mind on the prize. I know how skeptical you are with men like him, but now is not the time to let your prejudices cloud your judgment. We need this, Becks.”
Whenever Haley used her nickname, Becca knew Haley was nervous or anxious about a situation. In this case, it was in Becca’s best interest to take her friend’s advice and focus on all the good that would come from being Prescott George’s charity recipient.
“Don’t worry, Haley. We have the opportunity of a lifetime right in front of us and I have every intention on The Aunt Penny Foundation reaping as many benefits as we can.”
Even if I have to work with a man like Joshua DeLong.
“It’s about time,” Josh said as he crashed onto the long black sofa in the living room of his condo. He’d been in LA for a couple days, in back-to-back meetings with the shareholders of the latest corporation he’d invested in. Last night, he thought they’d finally reached an agreement, just to be sucked into an even longer debate.
The last time he’d been in several consecutive all-day and all-night meetings that concluded with little solution to the problem had been during the early stages of his career. Josh was usually better at conducting his business meetings, but this tech company wasn’t as agreeable as he’d hoped. Times like this really made his job difficult. Josh didn’t have any misconceptions about the type of work he was in, but in some ways, it still took a toll on him when he least expected it.
Since his meetings had run longer than expected, he’d also missed a call from Daniel Cobb, a Millionaire Mogul he’d been playing phone tag with. He really needed to set up a time to see Daniel in person. Their discussion about the current state of Prescott George couldn’t wait any longer.
Lately thinking about the organization left a bad taste in his mouth. As the Moguls grew across the nation, so did their rigid and old-school values that didn’t allow for much growth within the organization. According to the unspoken rule, a man like Josh would never be chosen as president of the organization. Current president Ashton Rollins—or Mr. Bland and Boring, as Josh secretly referred to him—was just another example of birthright rising to the top. The same affluent families holding the positions of power, subjecting the Prescott George members to the same snooze-fest that was guaranteed to keep the organization stagnant. Josh was ready to change all that.
It was no secret that Josh wasn’t the typical PG member. While most of the men followed the strict dress code and proper forms of speech when attending their meetings, Josh was the complete opposite. He wore what he wanted, how he wanted. Said what he wanted, when he wanted. His actions made many members feel as if he didn’t belong. However,
