I start to complain but shut my mouth before one syllable emerges. Maybe she's right. Maybe I do have a responsibility to seem less...reclusive. Celeste had told me from the beginning our partnership would require I make some changes, in my company and myself. I assumed she meant I would need to attend board meetings, not that she would instruct me to find a girlfriend.
But I signed the contract. I knew what I was getting into. Mostly.
"Fine," I say. "You pick someone, and I'll go out with her."
"I don't run a dating service." She tilts her head to the left. "Though maybe that should be the next addition to the Bonsoir ensemble. Well, at any rate, I cannot find you a girl. You need to do that yourself."
"How am I meant to meet a woman? You've got me scheduled for so many meetings I barely have time to drink my coffee."
"I know, darling, but you're a smart, capable man. You'll figure something out. And do it fast."
"How fast?"
"This week would be best. Honestly, it shouldn't be that hard for a gorgeous, charming man like you to meet a woman. She doesn't need to be the love of your life." Celeste stands up. "I have another meeting to get to."
"What?" I stand up too. "Was this meeting strictly a chance for you to order me to get a girlfriend?"
"Yes." She leans across the desk to pat my cheek. "See? I knew you were a smart boy. Oh, by the way, how are those two new devices coming along?"
"Very well." It's bollocks, but I can't tell her the truth. I haven't come up with a single good idea for a new device since the day Bonsoir swallowed up my company, and I've had no ideas at all since the day Celeste commanded me to design something new.
Celeste pats my cheek and leaves.
And I drop onto my chair again. Find a girlfriend? How the fuck am I meant to do that? I'm living in a strange city, for two months, and I don't know anyone here. My brother Chance lives in New Hampshire. My brother Reese alternates between New York and England, but he's over there until later this week. Besides, I can't ask my brothers for recommendations.
Chance, could you ask around for me? I need a woman, immediately. Doesn't matter if she likes me, just that she's pretty and willing to hang on my arm like a bloody ornament.
No, I'm not saying that.
Reese, you used to shag every woman in the UK. Could you loan me one of your ex-lovers?
That's even worse.
I have a week to find a girlfriend. Though I'm not as popular with women as my brothers used to be, I'm not completely incompetent. Even Celeste called me charming. Yet lately, I feel like I have no idea how to speak to a woman, much less convince one to date me. Working too much has left me...out of practice. It doesn't help that the last woman I took out on a date had wanted to go home with me only because she hoped I'd use my devices on her. She wasn't the first to want that, but she also seemed disappointed that I'm not "kinky."
In my mind, I hear the last words she said to me. Why can't you be as exciting as your toys?
A knock at the door alerts me to the fact Rika is about to enter my office. She's very polite, always knocking before entering and saying "please" and "thank you." Her politeness makes me want to bend her over my desk and do things an employer should not do.
I sit up taller, straighten my tie, and clear my throat. "Come in, Miss Solberg."
Rika sashays into my office.
Christ, she's beautiful. Long, chestnut hair that glistens in the sunlight coming through the windows. A perfect mouth, made scarlet red by the lipstick she wears. Those breasts, that arse, the way her hips sway when she walks. And the high heels she has on...
She walks up to my desk and offers me a folder. "Celeste wanted me to give you the latest projections for sales in the first month after the re-launch of Dane's Delights."
My name will be on every package that's sold. My name. Fuck, it's embarrassing. Do I really want women thinking of me and the word delight while they're using my devices?
I'd love to hear Rika Solberg whisper my name and the word delight in my ear. I'd love to watch her availing herself of my devices too. An image of that explodes in my mind, and blood rushes to my loins.
Rika always has that effect on me. She is the sexiest woman I've ever seen. For some reason, I can do nothing but stammer and splutter in her presence. I can't make myself look her in the eye either. She has the most beautiful eyes, pale brown with flecks of brilliant green. As soon as I think about her eyes, I can't stop myself from gazing into them.
I really should know better by now. Meeting her gaze makes my cock ache and my mouth spew nonsense.
"M-Miss Solberg," I say, sounding like a ruddy moron, "please---I mean, thank you. It---yes, I needed this."
I snatch the folder from her and pretend to be obsessed with its contents, though I have no idea what the papers inside it say. I expect her to leave.
She doesn't. Instead, she says, "Can I get you more coffee?"
"No. No, I---" Shut up, you idiot. But my mouth has other ideas. "I'm fine, thank you."
At least I managed a complete, if brief, sentence that made sense.
She still doesn't leave.
The woman smells like...I don't know. Something delicious. It reminds me of the sweets my mother used to make for us, but it smells even better wafting off Rika Solberg's body. Why does she smell that way? I've never heard of perfume scented like baked goods and candies. Is Rika trying to drive me insane? Maybe I should order her to wear loose-fitting clothes and some of those horrible sensible shoes. And I should tell her to stop brushing her hair. No more makeup either. Definitely no lipstick. And stop smelling so good too, please.
"Celeste told me to stay until you've gone over those numbers," Rika tells me. "Then I'm supposed to get you to sign off on it and send all of it back to her."
"Oh." I flip through the pages, not seeing a single number or letter that's printed on them, then I sign the last page and hand the folder back to Rika. "Here it is."
Her lips pucker just a little, and her brows tighten. "You looked at the numbers so fast. Are you sure you don't want to take more time?"
Not with her in the room. Watching me. Smelling so fucking good.
I wave her away, though she doesn't move. "It's fine. Thank you."
"Okay, if you're sure." She bites her lip, which makes me want to sink my teeth into every part of her body. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
Those innocent words trigger something in me, like the switch that keeps me from saying insane things has been flipped, and my mouth wants me to sound like a lunatic. Celeste's command that I find a girlfriend replays in my mind.
And I have the worst idea. But it sounds like the best idea, like my only option, like the sort of thing I shouldn't do but want to do, badly---for reasons I can't explain. Rika is beautiful. And sexy. And clever. She would make the perfect ornament for my arm, when I'm forced to attend public events related to the re-launch. But I can't. She works for me.