August: Calendar Girl Book 8 by Audrey Carlan Read Free Book Online

there’s always the activists that want to protect the Earth. I get it, but that doesn’t change our need for natural resources.” His tone was soft, not at all damning, simply matter of fact.
    “Do you get a lot of issues running a business like this?” I asked, looking out over the vast landscape.
    He leaned against his desk and stared at the view alongside me. “We get our fair share. There’s always the need for transparency, accountability, sometimes issues with conflicting materials.”
    “What’s that?” The rest I understood, but the material thing, not so much.
    “Supply sources dealing in gold, copper, tin, tungsten, and tantalum are often essential to use in production or functionality of the products. There’s always the energy and environmental policies to deal with in our government and that of our plants in other countries.”
    I nodded. “You’re global?”
    “Yep. Remember, we employ over seventy-five thousand people. They’re not all in the US. Though I have people to run each branch. My cousins as well as some executives we’ve hired. In every branch, there is a Cunningham in top tier management ensuring the family’s stake.”
    “And the investors?”
    “We have plenty of those as well, but they don’t own pieces of the company, just interest in it. The more money we make, the more money they make. Unfortunately, that’s part of why you’re here.”
    I turned and took a seat in one of the leather lounge chairs. “Explain that to me.”
    He sighed and sat down in the chair opposite me. A glass table with the bottom made of what looked to be dried out wood from a dead tree comprised the base that separated us. The table added to the rustic western appeal of the space. I liked it. Suited the man that worked there. “Well, in Dad’s will, he left forty-nine percent of the company to my sister.”
    “The one you haven’t met yet.”
    He looked away and responded. “Er, yeah, you could say that. Basically, he left this woman close to half of the company and has given me a year to find her. I’ve been looking for months.” He laughed. “This is going to sound so ridiculous, and you’re probably not going to believe it, but I heard your name in the entertainment news my wife watches. They mentioned it tied to man I met a couple years ago. Friends of ours, so I asked them about you.”
    “And who is this friend?”
    “My friend is Hank Jensen. He’s our neighbor, and his wife…”
    “Is Aspen, who’s friends with Weston Channing. Am I getting warm?”
    His mood shifted again, like a wave crashing over him, and the melancholy I’d felt before left completely. “Yes, exactly! Met the fella at their wedding on the ranch a couple years ago. Nice guy. Movie man. Anyway, saw your name on the entertainment show and then confirmed it on a tabloid at the supermarket. So I uh, had you investigated.”
    And there it was. Honest. Simple. There was nothing nefarious lurking in the corners ready to bite me. He’s just a guy looking for his sister who just happened to share my name. “Imagine my surprise when I found out you were an escort. I will say that shocked me a bit.” The words came out grumbled, almost angry, not at all matching the man. “Why are you an escort anyway?”
    I held up my hand. “Wait a minute. Don’t try to change the subject. You had me investigated, and what did you find besides the escort part, which you know to be true?”
    “A little of this, little of that. Know your dad is in the hospital in convalescent care. Know you worked a string of waitressing jobs in Vegas and in California, where you also did a small stint in acting. Saw a couple of your commercials. You’re really good.”
    Aww, he saw my acting. “Thank you.” I smiled and then realized I was getting off the subject. “What else?”
    “That you now work for Exquisite Escorts and you were noted in the smut mags for being the girlfriend of Weston Channing. But then a month later, you were