“I’ll be there.” But I couldn’t promise anything more than that. We hung up after that, and the morning flew by.
Before I knew it, it was time to get going or risk being late for meeting with him yet again. I had half a mind to be late just to prove a point, but I happened to agree with him that it was unprofessional.
When I arrived at the restaurant five minutes early, I wasn’t surprised to find him already taking a seat to wait for me. He spotted me instantly when he looked up, seemingly surprised to see me, even if I hadn’t been to see him.
“You’re early,” he said as I got to the table.
I parked my hands on my hips and arched a single eyebrow. Archer laughed and held his hands up in surrender, emphatically saying, “Kidding.”
As he laughed, a dimple appeared in his left cheek. Oh for crying in a bucket. Did he have to have a dimple too? Dimples were a weakness of mine. I hadn’t noticed it on him before, but that was probably because he definitely hadn’t smiled properly in our previous meeting.
“For the record, I’m almost always early. Wednesday morning was an exception to my very strict rule.” I still wasn’t going to blame Bonnie, though. “Why did you want to meet with me again, Archer? I’m still going over the information you sent me. I don’t have a plan for you yet, and while you know as well as I do that I’m probably going to say yes, I don’t have a concrete answer for you yet either.”
“Look.” He threaded his fingers together on the antique wooden table between us, genuine regret darkening the blue of his eyes. Almost like what happened to the sea before a storm. “I can come across as being a little harsh sometimes. I get that.”
My eyebrows jumped up. “A little harsh?”
A sheepish smile I wouldn’t have thought him capable of spread on his lips. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, okay? I’ve been told I can get a little alpha sometimes.”
“There’s a big difference between alpha and bastard,” I retorted before I could stop myself. I froze because even though I’d meant it, it was a pretty big slip of my own professionalism.
Surprise flashed in his eyes. Then his head fell back as he laughed. “Fair enough. Could we start over please? Come back to the office with me tomorrow and we can talk about what can be done, not only what I want done?”
“I don’t know.” I wasn’t being coy or trying to play hard to get. “I may have another potential client for New Year’s Eve and their party will be pretty lucrative too.”
“But it won’t be mine,” he replied imploringly. He leaned forward across the table, the intensity in his gaze almost lighting me on fire. “Whatever your usual price for a request like mine is, double it. I’m willing to do whatever it takes, but I need you to help me with this. It’s also recently been pointed out to me that I wouldn’t be able to organise a piss up in a brewery. My employees need you to throw them a proper party, Heidi.”
I was speechless for a moment, but then a laugh that I couldn’t quite hold back slipped out. Bonnie had mentioned to me that she’d read he could be very charming, but I hadn’t believed her until that very minute.
It didn’t mean that I’d forgotten the way he’d treated me, however. Or that I’d forgiven him for it. “Okay, I’ll come meet with you.”
He was already starting to grin when I held up my finger. “On the condition that you don’t talk to me like I’m one of your lowest employees and that the bastard doesn’t overpower the alpha again.”
Something that looked very much like respect passed through his eyes as they looked into mine. Another smirk tugged at his lips then, but it was more playful than arrogant. “We can take baby steps. Now, can we order? I’m starving and I really did mean that we should eat when I asked you to meet me for lunch.”
The transformation between the guy I’d met and the one sitting across the table from me was almost unbelievable. I didn’t trust it for a second, but I was starving too, and there was no way I was going hungry because of this guy.
“Let’s order then. I love the burgers here.” I felt an actual smile inching up on my own lips when his did the same.
As the lunch wore on, I realised how bizarre it was that I was having lunch with Archer Lee. But it happened, and the most bizarre thing of all was that it didn’t totally suck.
Chapter 9
Archer
“You’re early again,” I said when I arrived at the office to find Heidi already waiting for me the morning after our meeting. I had been surprised to see her early for lunch, but I’d assumed it was the money that had changed her ability to be on time.
Maybe I’d been wrong, though. She’d told me that she was almost always early, and at the moment, she was two out of three. I didn’t say anything more about it.
The narrow-eyed glare she gave me in return to my comment was enough to make me keep my mouth shut. Our lunch had been pleasant enough, but I was clearly still skating on thin ice.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” she shot right back at me without hesitating for so much as a beat. The more time I spent with this woman, the more I realised that I liked her defiant fire.
She didn’t have two fucks to give about who I was or how intimidated most people were by me. She gave as good as she got, if not better, and she always seemed to have a comeback.
Hell, she’d even made me wait on the phone the other day. It was a tactic I was used to employing, not having it used on me.
Everything about her was surprisingly refreshing. I knew she wasn’t looking forward to working with me, but I was kind of looking forward to working with her for the next six weeks. It was going to be like a bit of a break.
“So, where’s the mute this morning?” I asked as I led her into my office.
“The mute?”
“The other girl who was here with you last time,” I clarified and rounded my desk, turning to face her to motion her into a seat.
When I saw her glowering at me, I wondered what I had done this time. “I’m not going to entertain you calling my friend names. She’s not a mute. She just didn’t want to say anything to interrupt us. If you can’t agree to not treating her with the necessary respect, I can’t work with you.”
Jesus. This woman really wasn’t going to take any shit from me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise she was your friend.”
“Whether she’s my friend or not shouldn’t matter. You shouldn’t go jumping to conclusions about anyone given the way you behaved.”
“I thought we were past that.” Rolling my chair out from under my desk, I took a seat and waited for her to do the same. She hesitated, and it dawned on me that she was waiting for me to agree to her latest term. “I won’t call her a mute again, I promise.”
“Or any other names?”
I nodded. “No name-calling.”
“Good.” She finally lowered herself into the seat across from me and pulled a spiral notebook out of her handbag. “How about we get to work, then? You said you wanted to discuss what could work today. Do you still want to do that?”
“Absolutely,” I replied. “You’ve seen the space. Do you have any thoughts I should hear before I give you mine?”
Heidi’s eyes widened ever so slightly, like she hadn’t been expecting me to ask. But then she gave me a quick nod. “Assuming that we’re going with all the traditional trimmings, I’m thinking we should hire a Bedouin-style stretch tent to provide shelter from sun and possible rain. If we keep checking the forecast in the week leading up to the party, we can always add smaller tents as well, but for now, I think we should rent one that would cover about half the space.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said, my tone earnest. “I liked what you did with all the lights at John’s party.”
“We can recreate a similar effect to that.” She made a note in pencil, her eyes almost going out of focus as she talked. “We’ll also need to rent a bar and the staff to go with it. My preferred supplier is the one Mr. Parker used. I can find out if they still have anything
or anyone available. We’ll also need cocktail tables, stools, cutlery, crockery, and to talk about a menu. Once I have an idea of what kind of food you want, I can get in touch with the caterers I use.”
When her focus returned to me, she tipped her head to the side. “Unless you had caterers in mind already, that is.”
“No, you can go ahead with yours.” The atmosphere between the two of us was still tense, but it was starting to look like we’d be able to have a decent professional relationship. “I do have some thoughts on the kind of food I want, though.”
“Okay.” She lifted her pencil again and tapped it against the paper. “Shoot. I’ll see what I can do, but again, I’m not making any promises. A lot of people will already be fully booked.”
“That’s fine. I don’t want anything too outlandish anyway. I was thinking of using local produce, though. Hopefully, we can find someone who can create beautiful traditional dishes using our own fresh produce.”
Her hazel eyes strayed to mine again, a little dazed again. I could almost see her mind running away with ideas. “That’s great. We can definitely do that. I know just the company to call for it, too. They’re small, but it was started by two young locals who source all their ingredients themselves from farmers in the area. What you’ve described is exactly what they specialise in.”
“If you trust them, they’re in,” I said. “Do you think we could arrange a tasting for us? I would like to get an idea of what our options are before we finalise a menu.”
“Of course.” She nodded and made another note. “There is a crew included in our price to help set up on the day of and to clean up the day after, but if you’d like staff on hand during the party, we need to look into hiring people for that too.”
Once she had the main information down, she began asking me questions about the tiniest little details I’d never have thought of. All the way down to the colour I wanted the serviettes to be or if I preferred cloth napkins.
My head was spinning by the time we got up to visit the space on the roof again. If this was what it took to organise a proper party, I was glad as hell I’d smoothed things over with her.
Heidi came to stand next to me once we were on the roof, her fingers on her chin and her eyes narrowed as they darted around the space. Since she seemed to be distracted by whatever plans were flying through her head, I took the time to study her.
I wasn’t perving on her or anything. I just couldn’t deny that she was beautiful. In the sunlight outside, I could see that her hair wasn’t just dark brown. There were natural streaks in it that were lighter, even if it was pulled up into a high ponytail today.
She was wearing a royal-blue sundress with a bright yellow sunflower on it that brought out the blue around her eyes. Golden studs sparkled in her earlobes and a thin golden chain with a small heart pendant rested right above her neckline.
I didn’t let my attention linger on those tits for too long, though. The swell of them was enticing beneath the tightly fitted bodice of the dress, too enticing. She already thought I was an arsehole. No need to add pervert to that list if she caught me staring at her chest.
On the other hand, I probably wouldn’t be much better off if she caught me staring at her perfectly round ass. It was a lot harder to stop my eyes from roving back to it, though. Her dress wasn’t short, but it also didn’t hang all the way to the floor.
The thought that I could just lift some fabric to get a good look at it wasn’t easy to ignore. It was going to get me in trouble if I kept thinking about it. There was nothing up here to hide behind if I was to have to conceal the enthusiasm of certain parts of my anatomy at what her body might look like underneath that dress.
“Okay,” she said eventually, snapping me out of the trance I’d been getting into by merely looking at her. “All of the ideas I’m about to give you are tentative, but from what I see, they could work.”
She took a few steps forward and motioned to the far side of the room. “The main bar could go over there. It’s the only place where the wall is high enough behind it for us to be able to erect the necessary shelves.”
Why was it that the word erect coming out of her mouth sounded so damn dirty? Because you were already having dirty thoughts, idiot.
Thankfully, Heidi didn’t notice that I wasn’t totally focused on what she was saying because she actually was. She was being the consummate professional while I was getting tripped up by her saying an everyday word and wondering what she’d sound like if she were to say it in the heat of the moment.
Then again, if someone said the word erect in that moment, it probably wouldn’t be so heated anymore. Also, I had to grow the fuck up.
“Okay,” I said, forcing myself to pay attention to the suggestions she was making. “So the main bar there and two more in each of those corners. What else?”
“Would you like a dance floor?”
“Yes.” I didn’t even have to think about it. I definitely shouldn’t be thinking of her on it. “But it needs to be off to one side.”
“Why?” She frowned, surveying the space once again before pointing to a spot off the centre of the roof. “Usually dance floors aren’t hidden in corners.”
“Yes, but we’re going to have kids here. Best whatever stuff we bring in for them can be as far away as possible from the bars and dance floor.”
Heidi blinked rapidly, her chin tucking in closer to her chest. “Excuse me, did you just say we’re going to have kids here?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?” I could see why she’d be surprised, but I was curious to know her thoughts anyway.
“These types of events just don’t usually include children.” Her hand flew up to her ponytail, her fingers twisting her hair around them. “I’m not even sure what kind of activities we could hire in for them to do.”
“Face painting, maybe a jumping castle. Definitely some kids’ tents with mattresses in them for the younger ones. We should probably also hire a few nannies for the night, for the parents to know their kids are playing somewhere safe while they’re dancing or whatever.”
She breathed in deeply through her nose, hesitation clouding her eyes. “Are you sure you want kids to come to this thing? They’ll be knackered before the sun even sets, and honestly, I’ve planned plenty of children’s parties, and none of them have been on a rooftop.”
“It’s a safe rooftop,” I said. “I wouldn’t have suggested it as a venue otherwise. But yes, I am sure I want the ankle biters to come. It’s an important part of it for me actually. I don’t want to exclude anyone just because they have kids.”
I didn’t tell her that I had a daughter of my own just yet. We weren’t anywhere near sharing details of our personal lives and Millie wasn’t a subject I liked discussing with virtual strangers. Too much of my life had become fodder for public consumption. I wouldn’t allow Millie to become a topic for people to gossip about.
“Okay,” Heidi agreed after a few minutes of looking around all over again. “Let me come up with some plans for you. I’m not going to lie. Adding the children is going to put a whole different spin on the party. I’ll come back to you next week, but it’s also going to add extra costs to hire everything we’d need for them and more people.”
“That’s no problem.” Whatever the extra cost, it would be worth it to see Millie’s face when I told her she would be coming to the company’s party with me. “Let’s make it just as much as a ripper for the kids as we do the adults, yeah?”
Heidi gave me a strange look but then nodded slowly. “Sure. Yeah. We can try.”
Chapter 10
Heidi
“Can you believe he wants kids at a New Year’s Eve party?” I raised my eyebrows and widened my eyes at Bonnie over lunch. “Like, he doesn’t only want them somewhere nearby or to set up a babysitting service at a hotel next door or something. He wants them to attend the party. He wants activities for them and even tents for the little ones to go to sleep in.”
Bonnie stuck out h
er lower lip. “I can’t believe that, but I also can’t believe you met with Archer without me. I could have used another few hours to check him out.”
Setting my rye sandwich down on the plate in front of me, I let my arms rest on either side of it as I leaned forward. “I’m sorry. I just needed to talk to him alone. I needed to see what he was going to say and he and I needed to sort a few things out if we’re going to be working together.”
“I understand.” She sighed and took a sip of her water. “I’m just a little jealous that you got to look at him for two more hours and I didn’t.”
“I also had to talk to him for two more hours,” I reminded her. “If only we could have looked at him without having him open his mouth, that would have been perfect.”
“True.” She laughed before tearing a bite off her sandwich and popping it in her mouth. “What did he want to talk to you about anyway?”
“He wanted to apologise.” Bonnie’s eyes grew wide, but I had been there, and I still couldn’t quite believe it had happened. “He said that he has a tendency to come across a little harsh sometimes and that he didn’t want that to stop us from taking the job.”
She took another bite of her sandwich, eyeing me curiously while she chewed. Once she had swallowed, confusion knitted her brow. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad he apologised. He owed you at least that much, but he really didn’t seem like the type to do it.”
“He’s in a bind.” I picked up my sandwich again, relishing the smoky flavour of the roast beef and the tangy mustard as I tried to formulate my explanation. “I think that he realised too late that he hadn’t organised anything for his employees for the end of the year. I know it’s not a must to have a party for them, but it’s so common that it’s pretty much expected. The morale of his company wouldn’t have been great at the start of the new year if their boss hadn’t recognised their hard work this year.”
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