Love & Warwick

By Rand Gilbert

A business romance 20 years in the making... When Anne Warwick prepares for a meeting with a potential new business partner, the last person she expects to see is Samantha Schiffer, the girl she hasn't seen since that one fateful day in high school. Samantha had only been 15 when she fell for 18-year-old Anne Warwick, but her heart was broken when Anne left school the day after Samantha confessed her crush. She'd harbored that crush for 20 years, and now that her company was considering a collaboration with Anne's, she knew they would inevitably run into each other.

 

But do they still have feelings for each other, two decades later?

 

And can a relationship that never started possibly have a future? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rand Gilbert
• Release date: Aug 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393246329

Rand Gilbert

Rand Gilbert (she/her) is a queer author originally from New England. She primarily writes romance, and her books can be found on many outlets. She presently lives in California with her wife and two cats. 

Book preview

TW: mentions of violence, homophobia.

1.

It was 4:15 in the afternoon, and Anne Warwick was pissed off. She knew when she told Ken she’d take this meeting, so close to her 7 PM flight, she’d somehow get screwed for time. But this was the only time Sam Matthews could meet that week, and Ken was at his son’s soccer game, and there simply wasn’t a way around it. She decided she’d give the guy 10 more minutes, and then she’d go – she had places to be.

Anne had been running Warwick Enterprises for the past 12 years, and she was good at her job. The last year had been all about expansion – finding new regions to open factories or distribution centers. Finding more department stores that might put their products on the shelves – even if they didn’t normally sell tech.

A demonstration usually helped. When they saw that her products were more than just another computer or another phone, but would integrate seamlessly between your schedule and the needs of your home and daily routine, they were intrigued. When they learned the TimeSav would make follow-up appointments for you or reschedule something based on priority – well, the home organization or office supply section of a lot of those stores ended up stocked with their latest models.

Anne used the TimeSav products herself – it was exactly the kind of thing that would have helped with this meeting, actually. If she told the TimeSav that she needed to be out of the meeting by 4:45, in about 15 minutes, the TimeSav would email Mr. Matthews’ assistant to reschedule. It would include a number of different times she was available, and leave a message on his phone to let him know she wouldn’t make tonight’s meeting.

It was all pre-existing technology, she’d just merged all the busy work she didn’t want her secretary to have to do. Why should Marge have to schedule Anne’s yearly physical, when she could be actually learning the work of the company? She didn’t want her workers to feel overused for personal chores. They didn’t join Warwick to make sure she got to the dentist on time, after all. They joined Warwick because it was one of the leading tech companies in the world, and had been for 5 years.

Anne was riding high on that success, which was why expansion had come into play. With 5 years of rather steady growth, she knew she had the means and should take the opportunity the board wanted – and land those worldwide deals.

Which is why this meeting was taking place.

Ken, her COO, had been meeting with other companies for the past three weeks, all to discuss the idea of incorporating efficient, green energy plans into their expansion model. Anne knew a green energy plan might be more expensive up front, but would ultimately pay off with great press and a lot of savings down the line.

Plus, it was good for the environment, and while no one would accuse Anne Warwick of being soft-hearted, she didn’t want to make things worse, if she could improve things instead. That was her whole outlook – how to make things better, even if it cost a little more up front. If you could improve someone’s life, they would become a return customer. She knew that about herself, and she knew that about her customers. And it showed in company growth.

But... what she didn’t tolerate, and everyone knew it, was lateness. That was part of the whole point of TimeSav. If someone was running late, you would know. Or they could auto-cancel, to not waste your time. Or you could set it to auto-cancel, if they were running late. She’d saved herself so many wasted minutes of texts, emails, and phone calls, by just setting her TimeSav to cancel for her, if she was running anywhere over 10 minutes behind.

She figured this man either didn’t have a TimeSav, or didn’t know how to use it properly. She might see about changing that. If he ever made it to the appointment.

Anne ran a frustrated hand through her dark hair. It was a little shaggy these days – she probably needed to make an appointment with her hairdresser, though, checking her calendar, it looked like she had one set for tomorrow morning, after she’d gotten some sleep, but before her first meeting of the day. And she’d remembered to give herself an extra 30 minutes with Lana, which was even better. They needed to catch up.

Anne caught her gaze drifting to a picture of her with Lana, sitting on her desk. It was taken 8 years ago, on their wedding day. They’d long been divorced, after they realized they were better for each other in bed than in the rest of their lives. And when Anne came to town, Lana would cut her hair. And spend a few minutes reacquainting herself with the rest of Anne’s body, while she was at it. Anne felt a slight grin cross her face at the thought. She could use a chance to de-stress. Seeing Lana tomorrow couldn’t come at a more perfect time, all things considered. They’d ended on good terms, which is why