Nick held his palms up. “What? The company doesn’t allow you to have feelings either?”
“Feelings are distractions. They cause us to take our eye off the ball.”
“Please don’t tell me you believe that.”
“Sadly, I used to. Not anymore, though.” I squeezed his arm.
“My stocks are rockin’ right now,” said another man walking by while on the phone. “I think I’m going to buy another boat. I’m telling you, they’re chick magnets.”
Nick shook his head in disgust. “A boat he’ll never use . . .” He took a swig of his beer. “Is it time to leave yet?”
“No. Maybe you’ll enjoy the evening more if you put all your focus on me. I guarantee you that I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all.”
“I don’t have a problem with it either, but he might.” He motioned behind me with his chin.
I turned, just as Mason stopped in front of me, crossing his arms. “Ruth.”
“Mason.”
“Gary’s looking for you. There’s an emergency staff meeting tomorrow with all the partners.”
I glanced around for Gary. “Do you know why?”
“I guess you’ll find out soon, won’t you?” Mason walked away, looking satisfied as he gave me one of his go-to lines.
One of these days I was going to use that line on him and see how he liked it.
Nick watched Mason and then turned back to me. “What a jackass.”
I nodded. “Good eye.”
“What’s his problem?”
“That’s what you would call a bitter partner who can’t handle that he wasn’t the one being groomed to become managing partner.”
“But why would he act that way with you if he knows you’re the one who will be managing him soon?”
“The one thing he has going for him is that he’s a partner, which is essentially part owner of the firm. Unless he does something that’s strictly against company policy or illegal, he’s protected, even when he’s being an idiot. It would take a lot of legal action and a recommendation from a disciplinary committee to have him removed. But hey, don’t worry about Mason. I can handle him. And he’s nothing compared to some of the men I’ve had to deal with in my career. The one thing I won’t do is take crap from any of them.”
Nick grinned. “Well, he’s a jackass, but you are a badass, Ruthless. With all this testosterone around, I’m impressed with the way you handle yourself.”
I clinked Nick’s bottle. “Thank you.”
A waiter stopped in front of us with a tray of shot glasses filled with something that wasn’t liquid. I had no idea what they were.
I pointed to them, curious. “What are those?”
“Shrimp cocktail shooters.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. You have to try one.”
Nick and I both grabbed a shot glass, clinked them, and sent the shrimp cocktail shooter down the hatch.
I set the empty shot glass next to other empties on his tray and grabbed another. “You’re right. Delicious.” I slammed the next one and nodded. “Mmmm.”
Nick laughed. “I agree. One more for me, too.”
After that, we sampled crab cakes, pork pot stickers dipped in soy ginger sauce, and tandoori chicken skewers. Then we grabbed a second round of beers.
“I’m stuffed.” Nick pointed to the door. “Okay, I guess we can go now.”
“Behave. Especially since my boss is coming this way.”
Gary approached and held his glass toward me, smiling. “Ruth. Congratulations on the acquisitions. You’re having a banner year.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to Nick. “Gary Stansfeld, managing partner.”
“Nick Morris. A pleasure to meet you.”
“And you as well.” Gary shook hands with Nick and then turned back to me. “You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”
I had no idea how to respond to that.
I smiled. “I was planning on sending a company-wide email in the morning to let everyone know I’m dating.”
Gary laughed. “Good one.” He glanced at Nick. “She’s a keeper.”
Nick grinned. “I can’t argue with you there.”
“Speaking of the morning, we have an emergency staff meeting with all partners first thing tomorrow. Eight o’clock. You need to be there, of course.” He glanced at Nick and then got his eyes back on me. “I can fill you in on what’s going on before you leave tonight.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Nothing you can’t handle.” He turned to Nick. “A pleasure meeting you. Enjoy the evening.”
After Gary walked away, Nick turned to me. “He seems like a decent guy.”
“We don’t agree on everything, but Gary is honest and plays by the rules. I can’t ask for much more than that. How are you doing? Are you bored yet?”
“I’m hanging in there, but . . .” Nick placed his beer bottle on the cocktail table next to us. “I need to go find the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Sounds good.” I watched Nick head back into the hotel, grateful he’d said yes and came with me to the party.
He didn’t look very happy to be there, and I really couldn’t blame him. If it weren’t for the food, the beer, and Nick’s company, I would have been bored myself. Maybe we could stay just a little bit longer and then sneak out to do something more exciting.
Another partner, Steve, placed his beer on the cocktail table next to me. “Was that Nick Morris you were talking to?”
I was surprised by the question. “Yeah.”
Steve looked impressed. “Wow. He looks good. How do you know him?”
“I hired him to design my new backyard.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes. In fact, he’s almost done with the project. How do you know him?”
“Well, I don’t know him directly. I know of him. He was hired to design the courtyard and employee area for a company I worked for a few years back before I came to Stansfeld.”
“He’s got a great eye for design and detail.”
“That’s an understatement. Nick has been compared to Frederick Law Olmsted.”
“Who?”
“He’s the guy known for helping design Central Park. He also designed Stanford University and the University of Chicago. Nick used to be a big deal.”
“Used to be?”
Steve frowned. “Well, yeah . . . Our company hired him, but he never actually ended up starting the job he was contracted for. We had to hire someone else to take over.”
“That’s odd. I wonder why.”
“We found out he’d had a heart attack. I heard he ended up selling his company for over twenty million dollars. That’s why I was surprised when you told me he was working for you. The man doesn’t have to work. He’s loaded.”
I tried to play off my shock. “Some people work for fun, because they love what they do.”
“Right! Good one!” Steve laughed, grabbed his beer from the table, and waved goodbye, walking away.