Brett would try to help as much as he could. “That’s probably not something we need to be discussing at this point.”
“It most certainly is,” Silvia would disagree. “We need to know how willing they’d be to adjust to our brand before we even consider working with a company.”
And so it went. I could hardly get through one slide before the diversions would start. Twenty-five minutes in, I was just moving to the second charity. While Anthony and Paris argued about the relevance of a newly founded charity versus an older one, I checked the time and panicked. There was also a text notification from Brett.
Don’t worry. You’re doing fine. This is par for the course.
I looked up from my screen to see Scott glaring at the phone in my hand then down at the phone in front of Brett. Maybe he was a no-cells-at-work kind of guy. I hurriedly turned it on its face and didn’t check it again.
Even without the clock, I knew I had to start cutting things short. If I could quickly get through the second, I decided, I’d skip to the DRF and hit it hard. I sped through my script, and despite the continued interruptions, I managed to feel like I was making progress when I wrapped it up and flipped forward through my slides.
“I’m going to change direction here and jump to the charity that I really think is best suited—”
That was as far as I got before Scott cut me off. “I think this is a good time to break for today.”
“But I still have six charities to present!” I exclaimed, in a much less professional tone than I would have liked. Then, getting a handle on myself, I said, “Is it already four?”
“It’s about eight to,” Scott said, without checking his watch. “Certainly not enough time to move on to another charity. I already feel we’ve rushed this as is.”
This was rushed?
“Here’s what we’ll do,” he continued. “We’ll meet each day this week for a working lunch and go over one charity each session. In fact, let’s start with the two we went over today in tomorrow’s meeting. I feel like there is plenty we didn’t touch on that should be considered before moving to the next vetting stage.”
He didn’t ask if anyone had any conflicts. Didn’t ask if I had any conflicts, and I wasn’t even his employee. He just made the declaration, and while there were some words muttered under the breath of some of the team members, not-a-one of them protested. They just pulled out their devices and entered the new information in.
In other circumstances, his ability to command would have been super fucking hot.
In these circumstances, I was too distracted by my dread. I wouldn’t get through these until the middle of next week at this rate. And then there’d be a next stage of vetting? My stomach felt like it was reaching for the floor.
If he hadn’t told me he wanted this completed before Kendra came back, I would have sworn he was dragging this out on purpose. And what point would he have in doing that?
I considered cornering him to remind him of the rush goal, but he was out of the room before I could take a step. Without any sort of acknowledgement. Without so much as a glance in my direction.
That almost bothered me the most.
“Is that workable with your schedule?” Brett asked as the others cleared up their belongings and made their way out of the room. At least he had some sense of courtesy.
“If it wasn’t, would it matter?”
He smiled sympathetically. “You’re free to object. You have no obligation to do things on his timeline.”
I heard what he didn’t say—if I did object, I might lose the contract. No wonder Brett had called him difficult.
Then again, Scott hadn’t been obligated to give me the time that he had. If he was always this thorough, he could have spaced these meetings out for months. Instead, he’d given me every day of the week.
“I can make it,” I said to Brett. Because I had the time, and I wanted the job. Not at all because I hoped that Scott Sebastian had just done me a favor.
Nine
The meetings didn’t get any better from there. Each dragged on as the team dissected every facet of the day’s proposed charity. Each time, the dissection was led by a man I was truly beginning to think of as an enemy. I wasn’t giving a presentation so much as leading a discussion, and I certainly wasn’t in charge, so I no longer stood. Instead, I sat at one end of the oval conference table, directly across from Scott, and hoped it was far enough away that he couldn’t feel the extent of my loathing.
The worst part of it all was that I was certain I’d feel completely different about the whole thing if Scott looked at me like I was more than a representative of Conscience Connect.
Which meant I wasn’t only hating him but also myself. Why did I even care? So he was stupid hot, insanely rich, and knew how to use his tongue. That didn’t mean his opinion mattered.
Of course, his opinion did matter. Because he was the one in charge. Because he was the one who would ultimately decide how this whole charade played out. Because I was a representative for Conscience Connect.
I just rarely had business in mind when I sat longing for his attention.
By Thursday, the longing and the hating and the boredom made me feel like I was about to burst out of my skin. The hour was already up, and I’d yet to get through my first page of notes about the Environment Conservation Fund. The discussion had gotten wildly off task, and to top it all off, Scott had spent most of the lunch stabbing at his phone.
He was a busy man, I reminded myself. He could be making lucrative trades or handling a PR crisis. He could also be playing Clash of Clans, and no one would be the wiser.
Unfortunately, I was in a mood that assumed the worst, but even my best shot eye-daggers didn’t pull his head up from the screen.
With a sigh, I tried to turn my focus back to the discussion.
“I don’t know why it matters what percentage of their funds are spent in the States versus globally,” Silvia was saying. “Environmental concerns are worldwide.”
“Because we’re primarily based in the U.S.,” Matthew argued. “And if we’re taking on a sponsorship in order to boost our image with people in the U.S., it definitely matters that the charity appeals to people in the U.S.”
“Don’t people who care about the environment care about it as a whole?” Paris asked.
I didn’t hear who answered or what they said because suddenly the only thing I was aware of was how close Eden was standing next to Scott as she refilled his coffee.
Like, ridiculously close. I was ninety-nine point nine percent certain her arm was pressed against his back.
It made me more happy than it should that he didn’t look up from his phone for her either.
God, I was so petty. I didn’t own him in any way. In fact, she probably had more of a rightful claim on him than I did, considering what I’d witnessed on the roof. It wasn’t her fault that she was attracted to an absolutely breathtaking man-whore. I couldn’t resent her for wanting whatever he’d give. For wanting it so badly, she’d steal it as she served him unnoticed.
I related way more than was healthy.
I was also raised in a society that pitted women against each other when a man was involved, and though I wanted to be someone who could rise above that, I was also human.
I picked up my phone and sent a text.
What’s the deal with Eden and Scott?
Brett’s phone vibrated in front of him. He shot a glance at his boss before picking it up, a habit probably so drilled into him that he might not have even been conscious of it. He considered for several seconds before typing anything.
Why do you ask?
His suspicious answer reminded me that Brett had a bit of a crush on me. I’d have been an idiot not to notice his frequent and prolonged stares and the banter that bordered on flirting. Plus, he’d basically stated his interest at our first interview.
The man was admittedly attractive. Enough so that I might have found myself in his bed, if the situation at the party had gone dif
ferently.
But he wasn’t Scott.
He didn’t make my heart trip or my skin burn. He didn’t make the space between my legs pulse. He didn’t steal my gaze every time he walked in the room.
Not that I’d ever let on to Brett. Especially because I suspected he had a bit of an inferiority complex where Scott was concerned, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings with my catty jealousy.
Because office gossip is more interesting than the dumpster fire going on around us, and she’s obviously into him. So spill the tea.
His reply was quicker after that. She’s into him.
I glared at him down the table, giving him a look that said, Is that all you got?
He chuckled then typed more. He dicks her over like he dicks every woman. She keeps going back. Not sure what she sees in the guy, honestly. He’s just going to keep breaking her heart.
I was impressed Brett knew that much about the situation. I wondered if it was common knowledge, or if he had a vested interest. Did Brett possibly have eyes for Eden as well?
The sound of a throat clearing loudly and pointedly drew my eyes up from the screen and smack into Scott’s scornful scowl. Instantly, I put the phone down and my hands in my lap and tried to hide any guilt from my expression. I could have been just as busy as you were, buddy.
But Scott’s scowl darted to Brett, and it was evident he knew exactly what was going on.
He opened his mouth, and I prepared to be lectured. Well, I’d wanted his attention, hadn’t I?
But when he spoke, it wasn’t about me. “We have a global presence. Our charity should have a global presence as well. Having said that, we aren’t going with an environmental cause. Too political. My father would never support that.”
It threw me to think that there was someone higher up than Scott Sebastian. He carried himself like he was the man on top. I couldn’t imagine how much more commanding his father had to be.
I might have dwelled on that more if Eden wasn’t currently bending over to whisper something in Scott’s ear and if the other thing he’d said hadn’t just pissed me the fuck off. “You knew all along that an environmental cause was ineligible, and yet you let me spend this entire hour presenting a foundation that’s entire mission is to help the environment?”
The normally restless room went still. I probably should have tried harder to hide my irritation.
Scott frowned, and I got giddy because something I’d said had impacted him enough to have a reaction. Didn’t even care that it was a negative one.
Then I realized the frown was for Eden and whatever she’d said to him. “I’ll call him later. He can wait.” She scurried off to deliver his message, and he turned his focus to my outburst. “You’d already done the prep. I didn’t want that time to go to waste.”
His inability to see the irony in his statement was maddening. Time was against me. I didn’t have the luxury of spending a single minute discussing any charity that wasn’t a viable partner, and here I’d spent fifty-two minutes doing just that.
The only thing that kept me from going full-out Vesuvius and exploding was the realization that he’d done me another favor. “I’m glad I know now. I’ll cut the other two environmental charities outlined in the booklet. That means we only have four more instead of six.”
“Good call,” he said. I felt the but coming before he said it. “Since we already have the time dedicated to it, you can replace them with two other options.”
While I’d never seen Kendra give one of these presentations, I knew what she’d do. She’d put on that winning smile of hers. She’d agree to whatever was asked. She’d do the dance. Then she’d complain and rant about them later behind their back as all professionals should.
But I wasn’t Kendra. And, no matter how much I wanted to be professional, my patience had been worn thin. “There really is no reason to do that,” I said, pouring on as much sugar to my tone as I could muster. “I’ve already pulled the top eight charities seeking big sponsors. Anything else I’d show you would be subpar.”
“By your standards.” The condescension in his tone was evident.
In my periphery, I saw a text message flash across my phone screen. I didn’t have to look at it or at Brett holding his own cell to know it was from him. A warning, probably. Step down, Tess.
I didn’t step down. “Yes, Mr. Sebastian. By my standards. But that’s my job here. To use my knowledge to narrow down the cream of the crop. If you don’t trust my expertise, then I don’t know what we’re even doing here.”
I smiled as I spoke, but still my words came out clipped, and when I’d finished speaking, I could feel everyone’s eyes move from me to him, waiting for him to counter.
He didn’t bother with a smile. “It’s also your job to give us a sufficient number of charities to choose from. You indicated we’d see eight charities. I expect to see eight charities.”
“And I expected to be given parameters before I wasted my time delivering a pitch that you weren’t even planning to consider. Or perhaps you didn’t realize I was even talking about the environment today until the entire hour had passed because you were too wrapped up in your goddamn phone.”
Now he smiled, when the tension in the room had reached a peak, the kind of smile that could only be delivered by someone who held all the cards. Someone who had nothing to lose.
“We’re done here today,” he said, the control in his voice a stark contrast to the rage that had been in mine. Too cool to be anything but unnerving. “Tess, we’ll discuss this in my office.”
Not Tessa.
That he hadn’t used his preferred name for me disappointed me almost as much as my impending dismissal.
“Yes, sir,” I said timidly. He was out of the room before I had a chance to remind him I had no idea where his office was.
Even though the boss was gone, the rest of the team cleared quickly. Except for Brett, who stayed and helped gather my belongings. Thankfully, he didn’t try to chasten me for my outburst.
“Well. Nice knowing you,” I said when he handed me my briefcase.
He gave me a sympathetic smile as he walked me to the door. “I’ll show you where to go.”
But Scott was waiting on the other side of the threshold. “I’ll show her there myself, Brett. Thank you.”
A familiar look passed between them, one I’d seen before when I’d been out at the club and two men were fighting over who would get my attention. Usually without any regard to who I wanted to give my attention to. Men and their cock fights. It was sweet coming from Brett.
Scott, though, only proved he was the worst of the players. The kind who didn’t want the toy for himself but didn’t want anyone else playing with it either.
Fuck him.
“Sure thing, boss,” Brett said with not-so-veiled animosity.
Not that Scott cared or even noticed. He was striding away before the words were out of Brett’s mouth, obviously expecting me to follow.
Stupid me, I did. Like a trained puppy. His footsteps were so quick, I had to hurry to keep up. I didn’t even dare throw a last look over my shoulder at Brett, who I was pretty sure watched after us the whole time.
He wasn’t the only one. Heads turned as we passed other employees; whispers followed behind me. Either the word had already gotten out about our standoff—not unlikely considering how fast the team had left the conference room—or it just wasn’t often that Scott marched women to his office, which was clear at the other end of the hall. A corner spot, of course.
The long walk should have given me time to pull myself together, to come up with an acceptable apology and save my ass. Instead I used the time to validate my anger. After coming on to me at our first meeting, followed by a full whole week of ignoring me, after his complete disregard for my time or my agenda, after his constant scrutinization of my presentations, after he’d patronized me and played on his phone and probably fucked both Eden and Kendra, he was lucky I hadn’t made more of a scene
than I did.
I wouldn’t be as nice when it was just the two of us behind closed doors.
He knew it too. He ushered me into an office the size of my entire apartment, and I could feel the tension between us as I walked past, a thread strung so tight it was bound to break.
And break it did when the doors were closed, and suddenly I found my back pressed against them with Scott caging me in. In shock, I dropped my briefcase to the floor. His face was inches from mine, his blue eyes dark as they pierced into mine before drifting down to my lips.
“This is your fault,” he said, and the weight in my stomach dissolved into a hundred butterflies as his mouth crashed over mine. His lips moved hungrily. Tasting me first, then devouring me. As soon as my own lips parted, his tongue licked greedily inside.
And this was why I was doomed.
Because even though I was trapped between his body and solid oak, I was pretty sure he would have let me go if I’d pushed him away.
But I couldn’t push him away. I couldn’t make my hands do anything but grab onto his lapels and pull him in. I moaned as he deepened the kiss, his palms coming up to my face so he could direct even more than he already was. My hips arched into him. My pussy ached with jealousy. She remembered these lips. She knew what this mouth could do.
My mouth was just discovering, and I was already sure I never wanted to stop.
In the back of my head, a voice of reason shouted the alarm. What are you doing? You. Must. End. This. Now.
Sanity returned, and I forced myself to push him away.
Sort of.
My hands were still wrapped in his jacket, so I was completely aware that I was sending mixed messages. I searched his face, trying to understand him. Trying to understand myself. Why did I want him so very, very much?
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whispered, hoping I could urge his resolve to be better than mine.
“Maybe that’s why it’s so fun.” He leaned in again, and I turned my head so his lips met my jaw. It didn’t deter him. “You taste so good, Tessa Turani,” he said between kisses trailed down my neck. “Everywhere. I can’t get enough.”