by Krista Lakes
“It was so wonderful that he came,” Renee continued, starting to spin in her chair again as she played with the giant diamond on her finger. “Especially when he’s so busy with all the sexual harassment lawsuit stuff.”
“Yes it was,” Kat agreed. “Although, he isn’t the one with the lawsuit. It’s his business partner. From what I’ve read, Jacobson wants to stay out of the papers and actually seems like a fairly normal guy. They usually don’t even have a picture of him in the articles. It’s always the other guy.”
“A fairly normal guy?” Renee set her feet down hard on the floor to stop her spin. “Katy, he’s a billionaire. He’s practically royalty. I would have married him if I had known he was there.”
“I’m sure Bob would have appreciated that.” Kat smiled at her friend and was rewarded with another exasperated eye roll that just made Kat laugh. “I hope he gave you a nice present.”
“Oh, he did,” Renee assured her. “I wish I would have known, though! I mean, I sent him an invitation but I never expected him to show up! I guess my wedding was a bigger deal than I thought.”
“So you didn’t get to talk to him at all?”
“I saw him in the receiving line, but I didn’t know it was him at the time,” Renee explained. “It wasn’t until Bess told me that he was there and refused to dance with her, because he was too busy with some other girl, that I even put it together.”
“Bess? Steve’s daughter? The one who teaches tennis at your country club?” Kat asked. Steve was one of the managers in a different department, always speaking glowingly about his daughter at the water cooler. Kat had never met her, but Renee was always talking about how pushy the woman was during lessons.
Renee nodded. “He apparently looked smitten.”
“Well, it certainly was a beautiful and romantic wedding,” Kat replied, thinking of her own handsome date. “It was an affair to remember.”
“Thanks.” Renee beamed. “It was perfect, wasn’t it?”
Kat murmured something that sounded like a yes, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She pulled out her phone and checked it. No messages. No calls. She set her phone back down on her desk. She wasn’t really expecting her mystery man to call her right this moment, but she had been hoping he would call her sometime.
But she hadn’t heard a word since she’d left him the note.
Her phone chirped and she nearly shouted with joy. It had to be him!
“You’ve won a free burrito!”
The fact that she had a free burrito was the only reason she didn’t chuck her phone at the wall right then. She didn’t want a burrito. She wanted him to call her. Even if it was two weeks late.
“You’ve checked that phone five times in the last twenty minutes. I’ve never seen you look so hopeful and then deflated.” Renee watched her for a moment, still fiddling with the ring on her finger. “Who’s the guy?”
“There is no guy,” Kat said, putting the phone away in her purse. There was no guy and that was the problem.
“Oh, come on. There’s a guy. No one gets as obsessive about their phone unless there’s a guy.” Renee inched her chair a little closer to Kat’s desk. “Spill.”
“Renee, really…”
“Spill it, Kat,” Renee cut her off. “You know I won’t let this go. Save yourself the pain and just tell me now.”
Kat sighed. When Renee had gossip in her grasp, there was no escape. “I met a guy at the wedding.”
Renee let out a squeaky, happy noise. “That’s so exciting! Who was he?”
“He said his name was AJ,” Kat told her.
“AJ?” Renee looked thoughtful, her perfect pink lips pulled puckered in thought. “I don’t remember an AJ... but there were so many people there. Probably one of Bob’s friends, since I don’t recognize the name. Good for you!”
“Thanks. He was amazing,” Kat said with a shrug. “I thought we had a connection.”
“But, I’m guessing from the look of disappointment on your face that he hasn’t called?” Renee frowned. “You’re still waiting for him to call? Two weeks later?”
Kat’s shoulders sank. When Renee said it that way, it sounded pretty pathetic. Two weeks was a long time to wait for a call.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Renee leaned forward, reaching out a hand toward Kat in a sympathetic gesture. “Not every guy is a winner. If he doesn’t call someone like you back in a week, then he’s probably married or something.”
“Married?” The thought had been skittering on the edge of Kat’s mind, but she’d purposefully been ignoring it. The last thing she wanted to be was ‘the other woman.’
“Can you think of a better reason why he wouldn’t call?” Renee sat back in her chair. “Especially if you two had a connection?”
“Maybe he lost my number?” Kat asked hopefully.
“Maybe you got played.”
Kat slumped in her chair. She hated it, but Renee was probably right. Just because she’d felt something didn’t mean he had felt it, too.
“I’m sorry, Katy,” Renee said.
“You’re probably right,” Kat admitted, taking a deep breath. It was foolish to think otherwise.
“I’m always right,” Renee assured her. “How about this? Bob has this great friend I can set you up with. He goes to the club with us.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Kat told her. She just wanted to go back to work and forget about all of this.
“He’s a great guy, really. Not quite as cute as Bob, but then I’m a little biased.” Renee flashed her flirtatious smile, the one that made guys buy her drinks. But Kat was immune to her charms.
“Thanks, but I’m good.” Kat wasn’t about to take Renee’s charity match-making.
“You sure?” Renee batted her eyelashes as a backup move. “He’d be great for you.”
“I’m sure, thanks,” Kat told her. I can find my own dates, she wanted to add but kept her mouth shut. No need to start a fight with her friend.
I don’t need a date, Kat silently told herself, turning back to the computer. The truth was she didn’t just want a date. She wanted AJ. She wanted that connection again. The fun and the magic that the two of them had together. No random friend of Bob’s was going to give her that.
“Can you get me the spreadsheet for the quarterly projected incomes?” Kat asked Renee, changing the subject back to work. “I think if we add it to page seventeen with another graph, we can make the profit margin more clear.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Renee replied, her mind obviously still on Kat’s love life.
Kat did her best not to sigh. It was time to work. She turned her cell phone to silent and reluctantly tucked it into her desk drawer. It was time to work without distractions and try to forget entirely about a guy that wouldn’t call.
13
AJ
AJ rubbed his temples and considered getting another cup of coffee. He had spent the morning trying to find information on Kat again, and it had gone nowhere. He knew he needed to just accept the fact that he wasn’t going to find her. He had done everything in his power to find the woman, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
He figured that, if he didn’t let this go, it would eventually drive him mad. AJ was a billionaire CEO. He had built a company from the ground up. Now that he was at the top, he was used to getting what he wanted. And he wanted her. Or at least her phone number. There wasn’t a problem that he couldn’t find a solution for, especially now that he had basically unlimited funds.
The fact that he couldn’t even figure out who this girl was seemed to make all of his money and power feel worthless.
The intercom on his desk buzzed, breaking his train of thought.
“Sir, your first appointment is here,” his secretary informed him over the speaker.
AJ scrubbed his face with his hands and tried to clear his thoughts. It was time for work.
“Give me three minutes and then send him in,” he replied, hitting the intercom button with more force tha
n he was intending.
He chugged down half the cup of coffee as he logged into his computer and pulled up the proposal. Usually, he would have already looked over the information on the meeting by now, but he had been up late dealing with lawsuit issues and had never gone back to the email after getting distracted by the ‘Yours Truly.’”
Luckily, his secretary had left him a summary of what the meeting would be about. He made a mental note to give her a raise as he looked over her report. E. Ryder from one of the logistics divisions had a plan to utilize inventory more effectively by renting out items that weren’t selling.
It was a great idea. For the first time in weeks, AJ felt his energy for work coming back. He set his coffee down and re-read the summary. He’d need to actually hear the proposal and have some questions answered, but if it was half as good as he suspected it could be, he’d be happy to have it put in motion.
His brain started coming up with questions regarding pricing, shipping, contingencies and all the other details that would need to be in place before approving a program like this. It felt amazing to be working on something other than the legal issues of his company. If nothing else, this would be a great distraction from the things in his life he couldn’t control.
Excited energy infused him. He stood from the desk and went to the big window looking out over the city. He wasn’t looking at the waterfront or the tall buildings, rather letting his mind come up with questions to ask E. Ryder and ways to make this idea come to life.
His lips twitched into a smile at a knock on the door. AJ could tell a lot about a person by the way they knocked on his door. This one was strong and confident. AJ found himself liking this E. Ryder a little bit more.
The door opened and AJ turned to greet the person who would hopefully give him a fantastic business proposal.
Except it was her.
E. Ryder was Kat.
The woman he’d spent the last two weeks searching for just walked into his office with an appointment.
14
Kat
It’s him.
Katie’s heart sank with the weight of an anchor into the pit of her stomach and crashed there. Her throat tightened and for a moment she forgot to breath.
It’s really him. Immediately her mind began running at a breakneck pace. This couldn’t be true, no, she was dreaming. Her subconscious forced a momentary blink, only to once more reveal her one-night-stand staring at her not ten feet away.
Her hands clinched into a warm and sweaty fists. No wonder he never called! He’s a freaking CEO! I was in bed with the CEO. If I was a CEO, I wouldn’t call me back either!
Katie swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her. She felt trapped with the big door closed behind her. There was one large window near the back of the room where the shades had been let down, casting a dark and heavy shadow that made the room feel even smaller than it was.
“AJ?” She finally whispered, though it felt like someone else was speaking.
“Kat?”
His words were soft and sounded more like an escaped breath. All professional edict had gone out the window. He moved to his desk and the leather chair squeaked as he sat down. AJ’s fingers were locked together and rested on his desk. He had neglected any motion that resembled a handshake or to offer her a chair. Kat had no idea what to think.
She began searching for the words to her presentation, needing something for her mind to hold on to. Everything in the room was still, though Kat felt as if the ceiling was crumbling above her. Her big break, her big opportunity to make something of herself, and all she could think of was the thrust of hips rather than the words she needed to say.
She tried to recall the introduction and tried to force the words between her lips, but nothing came out. Her mind was completely blank. It had played over and over in her head a million times, forwards and backwards. Kat had practiced and rehearsed this presentation until she was sure she could do it in her sleep. She thought she had prepared for every scenario, every rebuttal to her idea, but she never could have never envisioned this.
Every sentence had vanished. Her bag full of documents now felt like nothing but a hollow and weightless prop. Again, she tried to search for something, anything to bring her back to the moment at hand, but she failed. Her presentation was gone.
The silence was a weight on her as she struggled to find her calm. Kat could feel the weakness in her legs as she stood there. She wanted to collapse, wanted to do like her presentation had done and vaporize into thin air.
She wondered whether she had been standing there for one minute or twenty. The tension in the room had filled like a dammed lake that was beginning to trickle over. Finally, without thinking, she spoke.
“It’s you.” It was all she could muster and it slipped out in a soft whisper.
His eyes remained locked with hers. They were as soft as she remembered and their gray tint seemed to glow against the backdrop of the window.
Slowly, she began to take in the perfection of the rest of his face. His skin was soft. It was obvious that he had freshly shaved and the outline of his jaw stood out because of it. His hair was neatly combed and business-like, far different than she had left it the last time she had seen him.
His shoulders were square and he sat perfectly straight against his throne-like desk chair. It was like looking upon a finely painted portrait that was both beautiful and terrifying. His face was stern. He had appeared happy when she entered and although the outline of his lips had hardly moved, he now looked almost angry.
He moved his hands, shifting the position of his arms and her mind flooded with the memory of his naked body. She couldn’t help it. His shiny red tie and expensive business suit jacket dissolved, exposing his bare chest and sculpted shoulders.
Katie shut her eyes. The world around her was spinning and she fought the nausea creeping up from her stomach. She took a deep breath and began to count to five, centering herself.
How stupid she had been to obsess over getting a call back. He’s the billionaire CEO running your company, why would he call? She should have known he hadn’t called for a good reason. This was as good as any other.
She wondered how many other girls had succumbed to his spell. How many others had he seduced and forgotten? And how many others had been as stupid and oblivious as her? Probably not many. Most people at least remembered what their boss looked like before jumping into bed with them.
I’m just one of his flings, she thought. Just another one night stand with some unassuming girl. But this girl is professional and smart. She reminded herself of all the hours spent working towards this moment, this presentation. She was too deserving of this opportunity to let it slip away because of some one night stand. I am a smart, professional adult. I can do this.
Kat allowed herself one more deep breath before reaching to her bag to remove her documents. She was going to give this presentation or die trying. She tossed her bag onto the chair beside her.
“I’m here to present the future of Shoesy.” Her voice came out squeaky, but she was just glad it had come out at all.
AJ reached for the packet of graphs and explanations she’d spent the last month working her butt off on. For a moment she was proud of her new-found bravery, but her celebration was immediately cut short. AJ tossed the packet she had worked so hard on onto the filing cabinet behind him without a second glance.
“You’re not even going to look at it?” she asked incredulously. Fire flared within her. She was awash with a thousand emotions, but she could clearly identify a sense of frustration beginning to erupt. “Do you know how hard I worked on that?”
His lips twitched as he watched her react. A grin slowly started to form. It started in his cheeks but quickly took over the entirety of his expression.
“Just like I remember.”
His sentence took her by surprise. The frustration that had overtaken her face quickly dissipated and she felt herself blushing fervently.
> No! Smart and professional. Focus on the work.
“I’d really like to show you what I’ve done.” She felt herself trying to recover from the flurry of butterflies beating rapidly in her chest. She paused, unsure if it was appropriate but needing to say it anyway. “It’s why I had to leave that morning.”
He didn’t move or react. Heat filled her face. She was supposed to be a professional and here she was bringing up their night together. A night he clearly wasn’t interested in as he hadn’t called her. She straightened up taller. “If you look at the first page, you’ll see our profit margins will increase by a projected-”
He ignored her efforts to control the moment and interrupted her. “Did you leave me a note?”
It took her a moment to respond. “I did.” She felt the guilt of her presentation fighting against the angst in her stomach. But she had to ask. “Did you not get it?”
“No. Well, sort of.” His light blue eyes held her captive. “Someone threw it away before I had a chance to read it.”
“Oh.” It was all she could produce. Her mind was spinning again. He didn’t call because he didn’t get it. He hadn’t received the note. Maybe... maybe he had wanted to call?
“I would have called, but...” he started softly, as if reading her thoughts. He pulled out his phone and began thumbing through it.
“You would have?” she asked, not waiting for him to finish. All thoughts of her presentation were long gone now.
He stood up and walked around the desk before casually leaning against its front. He finally seemed to find what he was looking for. He took a step away from his desk and closer to her. Close enough that she could smell his aftershave. The smell was a siren song that penetrated all the way to her brain and made it impossible to think of anything else.
“I would have called you that very day,” he said softly, his eyes focused completely on her.