Now that he’d had her, he couldn’t stop reliving it. The erotic way she’d given herself over to him and trusted him. The feeling of her body coming apart around him, lush and wild and wet. The way she was bold enough to demand that first kiss. Vanessa challenged him and surprised him, which didn’t happen often.
Jeremy slipped on his suit and tried to snap himself out of this distraction. He needed to buckle down and concentrate on what had gotten him here and what it would take to stay here. He’d need to sell Yessir Unlimited the story of how X Enterprises had been built and how it would continue to grow. His business was his legacy—his girlfriend and his muse—the pinnacle achievement he aspired to. No matter which tabloids cast him as a single-minded villain, no matter which woman or parent or stranger he’d let down, he had done this one thing right in his life. He’d dreamed nothing into something, breathed an idea into a reality that put food on the table for himself and over a hundred employees. He could not fail now. It was inconceivable.
As he looped a tie around his neck, his phone pinged with an email alert. Jeremy opened the message with tense fingers, but it was only Amy’s assistant, sending over a Google map and directions to the office. As if he could ever forget the address.
He dropped his hands from the unknotted tie to tap out a quick confirmation.
A text from Amy followed. See you soon, Stud.
The smile on his face reassembled into something closer to a frown. The message was a reminder to separate what happened last night from what was going to happen at Yessir today. It was all so fucking ironic, given that he’d built his business on pleasure. He hadn’t realized he’d have to sacrifice his own enjoyment to succeed. Because that was the sticker—Jeremy may have known what was coming, but Vanessa was unprepared to walk into the lion’s den, and he wouldn’t be able to warn her. If Amy caught a whiff of what he and Vanessa had been up to last night, she’d tear Vanessa apart. Since there was no contract on the table, she and Piers could renege on the deal. He didn’t think the millions of dollars X Enterprises had to offer would count for nothing, but stranger things had happened.
A deal wasn’t a deal until it was signed.
For now, Jeremy needed to keep his options open and get something in writing showing Yessir’s intent. And to get the offer, he’d need to keep his distance from Vanessa this morning. Nothing more than a professional look could pass between them. Which might be the most challenging part of his day.
Jeremy returned his attention to the unknotted tie. He reached for it with expert fingers and tightened the noose around his neck.
Chapter 31
A flash of gold caught Vanessa’s eye as she stepped into the lobby of the Yessir Unlimited Van Nuys facility. She strode forward a few feet and confirmed—the statue was the same shape she recognized from the display cases at X Enterprises.
“Guess they’ve won their own awards, huh?” she asked, turning to Jeremy. Mid-morning light streamed through the lobby windows and cast him in a golden glow. He wore a custom suit and a silk tie knotted at his throat, and his dark blond hair waved away from his face. He’d shaved the stubble from last night, but even with a smooth jaw, his face screamed sex and lust and virile, powerful male. He looked like what you’d imagine a CEO would look like if a CEO could step from the pages of a fashion magazine with the body of a Greek god and the seductive good looks of the devil.
Instead of smiling back with all the heat of last night, Jeremy slid his gaze away from hers. “Yes, Miss Reese. Yessir is an influential company.”
Miss Reese? Not Heart. Not even Vanessa.
Her chest tightened. It was going to be like that, then. This was all because of what she’d blurted out last night—keep me. Like she was a prize in the bottom of a cereal box, a toy she knew would get thrown away.
Who said that?
She harbored no illusions that whatever had happened with her and Jeremy was more than a one-time thing. She hadn’t come to his room looking for a relationship—certainly not with the man who could drive her so crazy—no matter how tempting that might be. That’s why her whispered request had been so profoundly dumb.
She needed to forget it, and judging from Jeremy’s cool exterior, he already had.
For a second, when he’d spotted her in the hotel lobby in the blue dress she wore the first time they’d met, she would have sworn he would say something sordid. He’d stopped on the tile floor with his eyes flashing full of heat.
“We should talk about last night,” he’d started, and her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest. “But today is not the time.”
“Right,” she had agreed. But it didn’t make her feel any better. Because then Jeremy had pulled a mask back on, and now that gorgeous face held no hint of the sin of last night, no inkling of the way he’d looked as he’d buried himself between her legs.
Vanessa had thought things were good—great, even—and that they were in this together. But it seemed like she was massively wrong. Because now Jeremy played the role of the CEO perfectly, his face impassive, giving nothing good away.
Fine.
She stepped closer to Jeremy and forced her voice to stay light. “Well, they still don’t have as many awards as X Enterprises.”
His jaw tightened, and he ground out a noncommittal, “Hmm.”
Her heart didn’t just fall—it took a swan dive off the top floor of Two Union Square. How had this crashed to pieces so fast? “Jeremy, what’s going on?” But the sharp ring of footsteps on the tile floor sounded at their backs, and Jeremy flinched away.
Dammit.
Vanessa sighed, pausing to smooth the front of her dress and pull herself back together. She was being stupid. She was her projecting her feelings about last night onto a business meeting, and she needed to suck it up. If Jeremy was going to pretend last night didn’t happen, then she was, too. After all, he’d hired her to do a job, and no one was ever going to say Vanessa Reese didn’t come through for her obligations.
“Jeremy and Vanessa, nice to see you.”
Vanessa turned at the sultry voice and froze. The woman in front of her could have been a model, there for a catalog shoot. She was built like she was born to walk at Fashion Week—tall and thin, with high cheekbones and an amazing tan. But then the woman offered Vanessa her hand.
“Amy Vanderbilt, VP and head buyer for Yessir Unlimited.”
Vanessa’s gaze dropped to her Seattle-pale hand in Amy’s. Gah. Was everyone in LA beautiful? “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for the opportunity to show you our newest products.”
Amy smiled at her, flashing perfect white teeth. “It’s always good to have X Enterprises come to visit.” She turned to Jeremy, and instead of the same handshake she’d offered Vanessa, Amy leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Vanessa’s stomach dropped. It wasn’t just a friendly, “how do you do” kiss—it was more. She didn’t blame Amy—after all, it was impossible to look at Jeremy and want to be professional—but her heart still squeezed in her chest.
Jeremy caught her eye over Amy’s shoulder and gave a slight shake of his head. For what—to say he didn’t want that kiss? To say she shouldn’t react?
Vanessa turned away, blinking up at the lights, ignoring Jeremy and her stupid, insistent heart. She had no right to be jealous, and yet she was. In the middle of a sex toy distributor in Los Angeles. She’d signed a deal with the devil when she took this job, and now he was going to make her burn.
Amy spoke before Vanessa’s thoughts could spin into a full-fledged panic. “Vanessa, since you’ve never been here, would you like to start the meeting with a tour? Get an idea of what we do here?”
She blew out a breath of air. “That would be great.” If she stayed in this lobby too long, she might combust.
Instead of following them to the warehouse attached to the main office, Jeremy paused in the lobby. “I’m going to track down Piers.”
Amy nodded, and Jeremy disappeared into the offices. Guess he didn�
�t need a tour guide after all.
“Just this way.” Amy led Vanessa through the warehouse doors and into a world of sin. The building was filled—floor to ceiling—with rows and rows of shelving. Each shelf held bins of various products, a barcode and a photo attached to the front of each one.
Vanessa looked at the bin nearest to her and came face to face with a hundred boxes of black anal plugs.
Well then.
She bit her tongue to keep from laughing, and her mood lifted slightly. It turned out that going to Yessir Unlimited was like going to Costco, but for vibrators. The building was huge and intimidating, but also kind of awesome.
Amy gestured around the warehouse as she talked, explaining the way Yessir purchased wholesale inventory from brands like X Enterprises to sell the products to large retailers. “We provide drop shipping services, so when a customer orders an X Enterprises product from, say, Adam & Eve’s website, Adam & Eve just orders through us.”
Vanessa was beginning to understand. “So Adam & Eve doesn’t have to hold the inventory.”
“Exactly.” Amy cocked her head to the side, and Vanessa tried not to fidget under her scrutiny. “Didn’t you say you were pretty new to the industry?”
Vanessa shifted, her high heels pinching her feet. The bin over Amy’s shoulder held a wedge-shaped piece of foam covered in a silky black material. Sex furniture, Vanessa realized, a blush spreading down her cheeks.
“I started a few weeks ago.”
Amy nodded. “Well, I’m glad Jeremy hired you back.”
“I’m glad, too.” She didn’t mention that this was a short-term assignment, that she’d be gone again in just a few weeks. She tried not to let her face give anything away, but there must have been something there.
Amy pursed her lips before speaking. “You like working there? Is Jeremy treating you right?”
Nothing like a loaded question. Yes. No. Maybe. All of the above.
Her face heated as she tried to come up with something to say. “I—yes. Yes to both.” What was Amy getting at?
“Good. Well, he definitely runs an impressive company.” Amy crossed her arms over her chest, her chin held high. “You seem like a smart girl. Just remember, in this industry, it’s easy to get caught up in the charms. Especially his.”
Too late, although Vanessa wasn’t sure she’d call it charm. More like chemistry. A series of reactions that caused a fire. She’d already started to burn.
Amy looked around the room as if suddenly remembering where they were. She pasted a smile back on her face, the ice in her eyes vanishing in an instant. Maybe she was an actress after all. “Ready to finish up the tour?”
Amy moved away before Vanessa could respond, and Vanessa watched her disappear between the aisles. Amy’s warning rang in her ears as she hurried through the warehouse to catch her.
Chapter 32
Piers looked over Jeremy’s shoulder and whistled under his breath. “That, my friend, is a fine-looking woman.”
Jeremy stiffened, knowing if he turned now he’d see Vanessa and Amy heading out on their facility tour. Surely Piers wasn’t talking about his own daughter that way. Which left Vanessa.
Jeremy clenched his hands. Was this a test? Say yes and play the part of the good protégé? Say no and be a liar, pretending that he still carried a torch for Amy? What did the man want?
Instead of answering, Jeremy invited himself into Piers’s office. If Piers wanted to stay ahead of the game, he’d have to tear his eyes away from Vanessa. The move worked. “You didn’t ask me here to talk about women, did you now?” Jeremy said it mildly, with a smile, feigning an indifference he didn’t feel. He dropped into one of the guest chairs across from Piers’s desk, forcing Piers to take a seat.
“Cutting to the chase, I see.”
He spread his hands and shrugged. “What can I say? You left me in suspense.”
Piers’s face cracked, the leathery skin around his eyes crinkling as he smiled. “I’m sure you can understand, I couldn’t say anything until I spoke with the Board.”
What Jeremy was sure of was that it had been a deliberate move in this game. By making Jeremy wait, Piers had tried to position him as the one who wanted something. But Jeremy still had the upper hand. He wouldn’t be here if Piers didn’t want his company. Still, negotiations weren’t about one side winning or losing. They were about coming to a mutually satisfying conclusion.
Speaking of mutually satisfying conclusions…
No. He couldn’t let his mind wander now. Vanessa was pissed that he’d been silent today, but it was a problem to fix at a later time.
Jeremy lifted an eyebrow. “I assume you’ve spoken to the Board now?”
Piers nodded. “About some things, yes.” He tapped his fingers on the desk, drawing Jeremy’s attention to a stack of papers on the surface.
Jeremy froze. There was his contract, an offer to purchase X Enterprises. He was so sure of it he could taste the champagne he’d bought to celebrate.
“Yessir Unlimited would like to propose an acquisition,” Piers said. “Your share of X Enterprises and the chance to take this public. We’ll keep you on board as CEO with a two-year contract, with performance bonuses, of course. Make things a smooth transition.”
A smooth transition for Yessir, maybe. But two years with them? It would be doable, but wouldn’t be washing his hands of them.
His stomach tightened in anticipation as Piers continued. “You’ll operate the company day to day the same as always, but you’ll be under the Yessir portfolio.”
The words sank in slowly, with a delicious warmth, like slipping into a bath. Yessir Unlimited wanted to buy X Enterprises. It wasn’t just talk. This was what Jeremy had been waiting for. But he knew how to be patient, how to wait for everything to arrange itself just right. He wasn’t about to come in his pants just because some pretty girl had suggested they hop into bed together.
“What’s your vision?” he asked. What he really meant was, Can I trust you?
“We’d probably fold some of the companies together under Yessir’s corporate umbrella. We’d supply direct to the warehouses and still partner on distribution.”
Jeremy tried to hide the way his body stiffened. When he said he was responsible for the livelihood of all his employees, it wasn’t just a platitude—it was the truth. A hundred people could be rocked by the decision to sell, a hundred people who could lose their jobs if Yessir decided to absorb redundant office departments. It wasn’t just Vanessa—who’d barely had a chance to start—but Ramon, too. Ramon who Jeremy needed to look out for, whose daughter was as good as family to him.
Jeremy kept his voice even. “If this sale goes through, I’m going to require some protections put in place for my employees.”
Piers leaned an elbow on the desk. “Like healthcare guarantees?”
“Like a hiring and firing freeze at X Enterprises for an established period of time.”
Piers barked out a laugh. “A bleeding heart, are you?”
A bleeding heart. Just like Vanessa. Maybe he was.
“It’s standard practice for companies to freeze headcount in the case of acquisitions.” Jeremy had done his research. He offered Piers a smile. “Just doing things by the book.”
“If you say so. I’ll note that in the file.”
“How does this potential plan affect Yessir Unlimited geographically?” Jeremy asked.
“Ah. Good question. The Vegas manufacturing plant is centrally located for shipments, so that would stay. But Yessir is already bicoastal, so having an office in Seattle is superfluous. We might move some of the operations closer to either our New York or Los Angeles facilities.”
None of this was bad in theory—it was the way businesses worked. But the idea of having built X Enterprises just to have it torn down made Jeremy’s chest constrict. He thought of the view out his office window, with all of Seattle spread out as an offering, waiting to be conquered. In theory, Yessir could really operate from anywh
ere—it did operate from anywhere—but Seattle was home. And Seattle was also home for all the people Jeremy employed.
He gritted his teeth and nodded. He needed an offer first, something in writing. They could hash out the details later.
He eyed the stack of papers on Piers’s desk. “Let’s talk about next steps.” Show him the contact, dammit.
Piers bobbed his head. “We’d like you to turn over your books to us.”
As a privately-held company, Profit & Loss statements and net earnings for X Enterprises weren’t publicly available. It was like that for a reason.
Jeremy shook a finger at Piers. Having Yessir in his books would be like having a fly up his ass. Messy. Annoying. Not something you’d agree to unless the payoff would be huge.
“The numbers come after you put something in writing for me. I don’t drop my drawers before the first date.” In business, at least. In Jeremy’s personal life, well. They both knew that was a different story.
Piers’s voice grew firm. “Any deal would be contingent upon those numbers, Jeremy.”
He nodded. “My numbers are solid. I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.”
Piers leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on the stack of papers. He gave Jeremy a long look, a smug smile on his face. “Okay,” he said at last.
Jeremy was tired of playing this game. Every minute Vanessa and Amy spent alone together was a moment on the verge of disaster. Piers had the damn contract in his hands. There was no reason to drag this out any further. “Okay what?”
Piers pressed his lips into a tight smile. “Okay, I’ll talk to the Board, and we’ll get back to you.”
What? Not after all this. Jeremy rubbed a hand over his chin, hiding the muscle that pulsed in his jaw. At last, he nodded at Piers. “You said you already talked to the Board.”
Piers shrugged. “Initially. We needed your input before we firm anything up.”
“So that’s not an offer letter on your desk right now?”
His Distraction Page 17