Any longer, and I wouldn’t have recognized you.”Wes suppressed a smile at the caustic greeting his father shouted through the open door of his wood-paneled executive office.He winked conspiratorially at Kari, the receptionist, as he passed her desk, then yelled back, “I missed you, too, Dad.”Kari clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. His father said something unintelligible—which was probably a good thing, as whatever he said was undoubtedly profane—in response. Wes ignored it and headed for his own office around the corner.Much as he’d wanted to spend the day with Delaney, he could no longer ignore his job as manager of the Barrows empire’s day-to-day operations. God knew what he was going to find on his desk or in his email after almost a week away. His father might be brilliant when it came to dreaming up new ways to turn a profit, but he was lousy at dealing with people.Once a company got to be this big—with over a thousand employees and twice that many contractors and suppliers—the glad-handing, people-pleasing side of the business started to take precedence over pure profit potential.
