Harper's face turned hot when she realized that her boss was talking about her Bryce. The guy that she met the other night.
“You know of him? He's pretty famous.”
“Yeah, we actually met the other night at Lola's album release party.”
“We have a meeting with him on Monday morning. You need to analyze all the financials – make sure everything is ready for a deal to be made.”
So much for going to that party at Telah's beach house this weekend, Harper thought to herself as she crossed her arms. “I can do that. I'll be in the office in a half-an-hour.”
As Harper sped away in her Mercedes, the thought of seeing Bryce again seemed too bizarre to be true. He was just a pipe dream – a silly crush that would never amount to anything. She never expected that he'd come back into her life so suddenly.
But would he feel the same way for her as she did for him? Or was she simply imagining the chemistry that she felt? The delusions of a woman who had been single for way too long.
She took a deep breath as she pulled into her designated parking spot at the firm.
I need to keep this professional, she thought to herself as she walked into her office moments later. I can't try to get with a guy who I'm doing business with. Not only would I embarrass myself in front of the firm, but I could lose my job.
But Harper still couldn't wait to see him.
CHAPTER FIVE
She had been busy all weekend reviewing for the upcoming meeting. The meeting to discuss the sale of the record label to Bryce.
But so many thoughts zoomed through her head that she had a hard time focusing on the work at hand. Would he remember her? Did he have a girlfriend? Was he really hitting on her when she was at the party or was it just in her imagination?
Come on, girl. Get a goddamn grip on yourself, she thought, sitting at the desk in her opulent office within the firm.
It was 8:30pm on a Sunday night. She had so much more to review, but she just couldn't concentrate.
Her friends were probably all out – yes, even on a Sunday – partying and having a good time.
And here she was. At work. Obsessing over a guy she had met for maybe 30 seconds, at the most.
What's wrong with me? She thought.
She took a deep breath. She had an urge to fire up Google and cyber stalk him. Look up all the details of his life. He was a shipping heir, of course. He probably made it onto the front pages of all the gossip blogs at some point.
Harper bit her lip as she typed his name into the search engine: Bryce Petros.
Her heart started racing as she immediately clicked on the “image search” feature and started scrolling through all the beautiful pictures of him: on the red carpet, at a fundraiser, on the beach.
She couldn't help but drop her jaw at the site of him shirtless on some beach in Hawaii. His body was a light bronze from the sun, his hair slightly longer but so seductive in its nonchalant male elegance. His six-pack – Oh, God! - his six-pack was enough to make her start feeling a little...excited.
She imagined his body on hers, on top, feeling his full weight as his lips brushed against her neck, sending her to ecstasy.
Harper shook her head. She couldn't let herself get distracted. If she could negotiate this deal in a way where everyone benefited , it could help her get her name on the door. She could become partner.
She couldn't get distracted by the fact that the man she was negotiating with was as gorgeous as a Greek demi-god from the myths she learned about in elementary school.
She leaned back in the chair. Her manicured fingers gripped the armrests tightly. She willed herself back to the present moment. She couldn't get lost in fantasy.
If she did, she could lose it all.
What meant more to her? The chance at a guy who was totally out of her league? Or to advance in her career?
She had sacrificed everything to become a lawyer. When she was in high school, she studied her butt off so she could get into a good college. When she was in college, she studied her butt off so she could get into a great law school. And after she graduated law school and got a job at a top 5 law firm, she worked her ass off to get those promotions she so desperately craved.
Now was not the time for her to lose her focus. Her edge. Her desire to prove to the world that she was an excellent corporate lawyer.
Harper was pulled back to reality by her phone ringing.
“This is Harper Jackson.” She said in a professional voice.
“Hello, Ms. Jackson.” A cutesy female voice answered. Harper didn't recognize the voice. “This is Victoria Mason, Bryce Petros's personal assistant. I just wanted to confirm that the meeting is still on at 9:30 AM tomorrow morning at your office?”
“That's correct.” Harper said. She thought it strange that his assistant would be calling her this late, the night before the meeting was supposed to happen.
“He's flying in from New York. Well, we both are.” Victoria said. She giggled slightly. Harper narrowed her eyes. Was Bryce doing his assistant? It wouldn't be the first time that a powerful man slept with his female staff. “I just wanted to make sure it's still on.”
“We'll be here waiting for Mr. Petros.” Harper said.
“Great, thanks!” Victoria chirped as Harper hung up.
Harper sighed and sat down. She couldn't help but feel jealous.
CHAPTER SIX
Harper felt a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach that morning.
When he came into the meeting that Monday morning, Harper almost felt paralyzed by his electric charisma. He had smiles for everyone and he was even more attractive than she remembered. She assumed that the tiny blonde that tagged after him with a briefcase was Victoria. That woman she spoke to on the phone last night.
Harper's feelings still hadn't changed about her. Without even meeting the woman, she didn't like her one bit.
But Bryce...Bryce was still everything she remembered and so much more. In daylight, he was even more magnificent. It almost seemed as though he was taller. His shoulders broader. He looked even hunkier than he had in that dark night club.
Harper tried to control herself, but she felt her body react. She couldn't help it. She smelled his scent – a deep, masculine, slightly spicy cologne or shampoo – she couldn't tell, but it was delicious and so manly. He looked so healthy. Like he just came from the gym after a work out.
She was mesmerized as she watched him make his rounds, shaking everyone’s hands and acting jovial. Her heart started beating faster than ever. She was transfixed by him. He cast a spell on her but he didn’t even realize it.
Unless he did. A guy that was that handsome, that rich, probably knew that every woman wanted him.
But Harper usually wasn’t that type of woman. She wasn’t the type of woman to fall for someone based on their looks.
Or was she? Could someone’s physical appearance really have that much of an effect on her? Something as trivial as that?
He shook Marty’s hand, then Robert’s…and then it was her turn.
She bit her lip as he turned to her. Being in his gaze was almost too much for her. She almost felt like she was going to pass out. It was too intense. The man she had been pining over and thought she’d lost for good, never to see him again, was here - right in front of her.
She didn’t know whether to blurt something out it being nice to see him again. Her mind was a mess. A hot mess.
But when she shook his hand, it was as if he didn't remember her. At all. She searched his face for an indication of recognition when he saw her. But she saw nothing. Just a blank yet pleasant expression.
No, of course she didn't bring up the fact that they met at the party. She didn't know why – it probably would have triggered a memory of his.
But a man like him – he probably met so many woman. Why would he remember her, she thought to herself as they stood in the boardroom.
“So we're here to talk about buying a record label.” Harper's boss sai
d, taking the lead in the meeting. They all sat down around the conference table. Harper busied herself by pretending to take notes on the legal pad that she had brought to the meeting.
“I think it's a good investment. Plus, I have an interest in making sure that it succeeds.” Bryce said in his deep, authoritative voice.
“How can we be sure that you won't drop all the artists and just try to milk the copyrights? That's pure revenue right there.” Harper said without thinking. She'd seen business taken over and stripped of everything just so the buyer could get richer.
“Don't answer that.” His attorney said.
She almost shuddered. That would ruin Lola.
“They don't want to let it go for cheap.” Greg said, leaning back in his chair like the boss that he was.
“I”m willing to pay a competitive price.” Bryce answered.
The negotiations went on the rest of the day until they broke for lunch. Harper mostly listened. This wasn’t her area of expertise, but her boss wanted her there just in case. Harper tried to stay involved mentally, but she couldn't help but be distracted and drawn to the man who she had become so enamored with.
Her eyes would linger on Bryce's studly frame as he sat across from her. He'd talk so eloquently in that deep, dark voice that was so seductive. Strong, yet soft as velvet. She wanted to wrap herself up in that voice. She imagined him saying her name, in the way that lovers do...she tried to shake these feelings, but they permeated her very being.
Was it possible that one could become so...obsessed...with someone after so little time? Harper wondered to herself as she stared at his thick, luscious lips. She imagined them on hers. She imagined her mouth opening slightly to allow him entry. Their tongues touching so softly.
And she had met him under such different circumstances. He hit on her at a party. And now here he was, a man who could potentially ruin her best friend's career. Or take it to unparalleled heights.
“You seem distracted,” Greg said to her as they met in his office after the round of negotiations were over for the day.
“It's a hard case. One of my best friends is signed to that label.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Do you want to sit this one out?”
She shook her head in response.
“I don’t want out of this at all. In fact, I want to be more involved.”
Greg smiled. “That’s my girl,” he said. Harper would be offended by a man saying something like that to her, but her relationship to Greg was different. He was like a father-figure to her.
“So what can I do to help?” She asked.
“We need to find out what his real motivations are. Does he want to do what you said? Strip the company of all its assets and put those recording artists out to pasture? Or does he want the artists to succeed and continue to sell albums?”
“Why isn’t the owner involved? Brian Washington. That’s his name, right?” Harper knew that there was something going on. Why wouldn’t the owner of the label be involved in the negotiations.
“That’s something we’re trying to keep under wraps. Brian is very sick.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Harper said. This was the first she was hearing about this. “My friend who’s signed to the label hasn’t said anything about that.”
“He doesn’t want anyone to know. They’re afraid that it will limit his ability to negotiate.”
“Doesn’t he have a succession plan? Every good business does.”
“He still wants to have a hand in the going-ons in the label. He can’t run it by himself anymore. It’s becoming too much of a task for him. That’s why he wants us to be very careful. He wants to make sure whoever buys up the company still has a place for him there.”
“I understand,” Harper said thoughtfully.
“So you think you can handle this? You think you can find a good buyer for the label?”
“Definitely.” Harper said, putting her hands on her hip and narrowing her eyes at her boss. “I’m your girl.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Harper went to the lady’s room and went into a stall. It was a relief to be away from Bryce. He was magnetic in a certain way, but it was almost too much for her.
She could only imagine his strong, beautiful hands touching her. Caressing her.
But that’s so foolish, she thought to herself. She had to be on her A-game. This deal was important to her. Both her career and Lola’s.
I can’t let her down, Harper said as she stood in front of the mirror. She sighed and looked at her reflection. She looked every bit the consummate professional. But could she really hide the feelings she had? Was she that good of an actress?
If he only knew what I felt inside, she thought. He’d probably think I was weak. An idiot. Someone who was there simply to be taken advantage of.
Men like him use their looks to manipulate women, Harper fumed. That much she was sure of.
She looked at her watch and realized she should head back to the meeting room. She turned around and gave herself one last look over in the mirror. Just as she was about to head out the door, she noticed a cell phone laying on the sink.
Hmmm, she thought, walking over. She picked it up and realized that it wasn’t hers. Nor was it the typo of phone that the firm gave to each of the attorneys.
Harper bit her lip. She didn’t know what to do. There was only one other women in the office today — Victoria, that assistant of Bryce.
She held the phone to her chest. She knew what was the right thing to do. To give it back. Find that assistant that she so detested and give her back her phone in good faith.
But her curiosity was piqued. But looking at the emails would be corporate espionage, wouldn’t it?
She could go to jail for that. Or if her boss found out, she could lose her job. Or could she? Or perhaps she’d be lauded for going that extra mile to get the information they needed to make sure a deal was struck that was good for both the firm and the record label.
Harper gasped as the phone started ringing. And she gasped even harder when she saw that the name “Bryce - boss” lit up on the screen. And she almost fainted when she saw the picture on the screen that went along with the caller idea - it was a picture of Bryce shirtless on the beach, wearing nothing but very revealing swim trunks. Harper then noticed that Victoria was right next to him, wearing huge black sunglasses and a Missoni bikini with a huge sunhat on her head.
Harper threw the phone back on the sink counter and started for the door. She didn’t want anyone to assume that she was trying to look in Victoria’s cell phone.
She raced towards the door, flustered as all get out. But then the door swung open and she was face-to-face with the last woman she wanted to see at that very moment.
“Ms. Jackson.” Victoria said with a cold smile. “Everyone was wondering where you were. We were beginning to think you fell in.” Victoria’s eyes looked over Harper’s shoulder, locking on the cell phone that was vibrating on the counter.
Harper turned and looked back. “Oh, I was just coming to try to find out. I thought you left you cell phone in here.”
Victoria narrowed her eyes at her but then put on what seemed to be a very unconvincing smile. “My boss was just calling it so I could find out where it was.” She sauntered over and picked it off the counter. Harper couldn’t help but be impressed by Victoria’s slim yet athletic physique. She was in head-to-toe black and looked effortlessly elegant. That “New York City rich bitch style” that Harper tried but never felt she could pull off. She wore a black, beautifully tailored suit jacket with a diaphanous yet sparkly shirt underneath. Her skirt went to her knees and was met with knee high black leather boots that looked exquisite and very expensive.
Victoria noticed her gaze and smirked.
“That’s a nice outfit.” Harper said pleasantly as she held the door for Victoria. “I wish I could pull something off like that.”
“I’ll take you shopping one day
. Whenever you’re in New York. Just call me up. Sure, we may be on opposite sides of the table during this deal, but it doesn’t mean I can’t introduce you to my personal shoppers and stylists.”
“Personal shoppers? Stylists?” Harper shook her head. “That might be a little…out of my price range.”
“Aren’t you partner?” Victoria said, cocking her head. “We were told that this was a high-level meeting.”
“Well, no.” Harper said. She felt slightly embarrassed but could tell at the same time that Victoria knew she wasn’t and was trying to make her feel bad about herself. “I’m still working towards that goal.”
ROMANCE: His Ebony Blood Jewel - A Novel (BWWM, Paranormal, Vampire, Billionaire New Adult Romance) Page 3