“A present for Avery.”
“She’s not here. Heather took her out for dinner. You can leave her present, though. I’m sure she’ll be happy.”
I pouted, holding the package to my chest along with the bottle as I stepped inside. “But I like watching her when she gets her presents.”
That was one thing I loved about kids. They didn’t hold back anything. It didn’t matter if they were overjoyed or throwing a temper tantrum.
I gave him the package, though.
“Send me a pic when you give it to her, okay?”
“Sure.” Ryker laughed, guiding me inside the living room.
I toed off my shoes in the foyer before zeroing in on the couch, where Skye was sitting all alone. “And you didn’t bring my nephew?”
“No, I thought we’d need all brain cells to focus on the contract.”
I sighed, resigning myself to getting no cuddle time with Jonas or Avery today. I placed the champagne bottle on the table and sat next to my sister. That was when I realized she was running her hand all over her face and through her hair. She only did that when she was worried or annoyed.
“I haven’t had time to read it. Something wrong with it?”
I’d been elbow-deep in all sorts of duties at the store. Skye didn’t ans
wer. I looked between her and Ryker, who was sitting in the armchair opposite the couch.
“Nothing wrong. I just don’t think you’ll like it,” he said.
My stomach bottomed out.
“Okay, should we go through it, or you want to sum up what I’ll dislike first?” I asked.
“I’ll start with the good points. They don’t ask for a percentage of your company, just a percentage of profits. I don’t think you’ll get a better deal from any investor.”
I frowned. “We knew that already. It’s why we chose them as our potential investor. So what’s the problem?”
“They want a lot of decision power. More than I usually see in this type of alliance. It’s understandable, but it’s unusual. I for one wouldn’t have a problem with it, but I know you two like to be in control.”
That was an understatement. Skye and I both worked full time when we opened the online shop, and we only quit our previous jobs once we opened the brick-and-mortar store. We’d done everything from prototyping to online marketing ourselves.
I looked over Skye’s shoulder at the laptop. Over the next two hours, we dissected every section of the contract. My mood just kept plummeting.
“Liam did say they’re open to negotiation,” Skye said, chewing on her lower lip.
I gripped her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
I’d been the one who convinced Skye years ago to go into business with me. There was a reason my family nicknamed me “the hurricane”: when I put my mind to something, there was no stopping me. I talked Skye into it, and now I felt responsible for making this work. I didn’t know what to say though, because our dream of expanding was slipping through our fingers. No way could we agree to these terms.
“Tess, we have sixty-five points we want to discuss. I don’t see how we can reach an agreement.”
I was tempted to just reject the deal, because these negotiations would likely take time, and we didn’t have any to spare.
“Okay, I’ll send him an email with our comments, asking for an appointment,” I said.
I sent the email right away, keeping my fingers crossed that he would want to meet soon.
“Come on, girls. Let’s go out to dinner. My treat. You two need something to cheer you up,” Ryker said.
“Have I told you I love you recently?” I teased, getting up from the couch and kissing his cheek.