I stifle back a small laugh when I remember Kevin Williams telling me he didn’t play in the public relations game, that he had no desire to clean up other people’s shit all day long. No truer statement has ever been made; however, we have celebrity clientele, some of Hollywood’s A-list actors and actresses, athletes, and some of the music industry’s biggest names as our clients. There’s a need for good publicists; it’s an extremely profitable business, and I have the best publicists in the country, including Aaron, so for me, it makes sense to keep the public relations arm of my business operating as is.
I close my laptop, which ends the presentation, and I take a deep breath, finally relaxing as I sense a new energy in the room. “A press release should be in your email as soon as this meeting is over. You are free to share that with your clients. Everything is status quo. Nothing changes. Meetings stand. Also, creatively, absolutely nothing changes. Keep your clients happy. Allow them to ask questions and answer them honestly. We expect zero impact to clients as we merge these companies, other than the name on the check they write to us.”
I get a small bit of laughter from that comment and the tension in the room seems to have dissipated. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s business as usual. I expect you all to continue to deliver the same quality work you always have: on-time, on-budget, and with superior attention to detail. My reputation is only as good as the people who work for me, which is why I agreed to this deal. You’re the best of the best.” I peer around the room at the happy faces and my eyes land on Gracie’s before she looks away.
The room hums with excitement and any nervousness I had about this deal begins to vanish. “I look forward to building an even better combined company with AM Global. Thank you for allowing me to lead you. I won’t take any more of your time, but know that I have an open-door policy. Any questions you have, please come to me and ask. If I’m unavailable in person, please email me.”
With that, the room bustles with people gathering their things and preparing to leave. I clear my throat and make one more announcement. “Grace Morgan, if you could stay, I’d like to speak with you separately.” I grin at my own brazenness.
Gracie freezes in place before offering me a quick nod. The room clears, but she doesn’t move a muscle. She makes no attempt to move closer to me, so I make the move, sauntering across the room to her. Gracie was so very wrong when she thought last night was going to be a one-time deal. I plan to have many more nights like last night, starting with tonight.
Four
I finally get the courage to stand up. I won’t have him standing over me as I sit in a chair; I won’t give him that power. As I hear the conference room door shut, Drew stalks across the room toward me. A lion hunting his prey. Prey that is too scared to even try to flee its predator. The glass-encased conference room makes it easy for everyone to watch us, and I can feel their penetrating gazes.
My legs shake underneath me and I will myself to breathe. Three deep breaths from me and four long strides from Drew before he’s standing mere inches in front of me. Too close. So close, I can smell his sweet, familiar cologne and I see his full upper lip twitch as he holds back a smirk. I swallow hard and my heart beats wildly against my ribcage when he takes another small step forward, close enough I can feel the heat from his body. A power play. I’ve seen this shit before.
“Everyone can see us, and yes, they’re watching,” I manage to muster through my dry mouth.
Drew nods, and then slides both of his hands into the pockets of his suit pants and rocks back on his heels, allowing a small of amount of space between us. A decent, professional distance, but not too much. His head turns and he looks out the glass conference room windows at all of the people pretending not to watch us. In an effort to appear casual, he takes another step back before pulling a hand out of his pocket and gesturing for me to sit.
“Grace.” He says my name with almost a growl. The same way he said my name over and over last night in my ear. The same way he said my name in between kisses and nips . . . and oh, my god, just the mere presence of this man makes my panties wet. I clench my thighs and he smirks. He knows what he does to me. The simple act of saying my name has me damn near ovulating.
I finally sit down in the chair next to him and cross my legs. Tightly. I do my best to think about anything except the throbbing between my legs. He runs his tongue over his bottom lip and rakes a hand over his face. Before he gets a chance to speak, I jump in.
“Last night,” I start, before looking out the glass-lined conference room wall to check again who’s watching us. Jamie looks up briefly from her desk, but when my eyes meet hers, she drops her head and goes back to work. “You said your name was Drew.”
He smacks his lips and tilts his head. “It is. Andrew. I go by Drew.”
I do my best to keep my voice steady and swallow down my anxiety. “You said you were in town for one night to buy a company.”
“And I bought Williams Global.” He says it so matter-of-factly. A confident air to his statement. His crystal blue eyes hold mine, unwavering. He doesn’t look around. He looks only at me, not caring who’s watching us now or what they’re thinking. He’s confident and direct and he owns it. Just like he did in bed last night. Leaning back in the conference room chair, he props a foot on the knee of his opposite leg.
With one hand resting on the large wood table and the other on the arm of the leather chair he’s in, he is a dead ringer for Matt Bomer. Perfectly combed dark hair with just a hint of a wave in it, a chiseled jawline with a sprinkling of rough, dark hair, and those eyes…as blue as the Caribbean ocean. And the package he is carrying between his legs still has me wonderfully sore from our marathon last night.
“I don’t understand what the problem is, Gracie. I’ve told you the truth about who I am and why I was in town.” He smirks, knowing I don’t want him to call me that. He’s taunting me, trying to get a rise out of me, and I do my best to seem unaffected.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, trying to calm myself, but he’s right. It’s not him I’m mad at, it’s me. I’m mad at myself for jumping into bed with the sexiest man I’ve ever met after knowing him for only a couple of hours. I’m mad at how he affects me—still.
I clear my throat and sit up straighter. “We weren’t supposed to see each other again.”
“Who said?” he challenges me. “I don’t remember any agreement, just that there were no strings attached—”
“There was no actual agreement,” I snap at him, hating that he can fluster me so easily. “But last night was just what it was…one night—”
“You liked last night.” He grins at me, clearly amused. “You liked what we did together…when I ran my hand—”
“Stop,” I mutter and shake my head, cutting him off, but he can see right through me. I loved last night. I loved letting go of my inhibitions and the crap that weighs me down for a couple of hours. I loved sharing my body with a man I didn’t expect to see again, yet here we are, seeing each other, again, and I’m turned on all over again.
He exhales before speaking. “Listen, I was just as surprised to see you as you were to see me. But the way your nipples tightened underneath my shirt when you turned around and saw me. . .” I gasp at his brazen observation and he smirks before he leans in and looks me dead in the eyes. “I want them in my mouth again.” I don’t know if I’m more appalled at how direct he is or completely turned on. I cross my legs tighter, hoping to drown out the growing ache. Rolling his fingers on the wood conference room table, he clears his throat. “We had a good time, Grace…and I’d like to do it again. More than just again.” His eyes burn holes right through me.