“Hey,” I said, trying to play it cool.
A frown appeared on Lucas’s face, but I couldn’t tell what it meant. What I could tell, however, was that the frown was interrupting his perfect features, adding crinkles in his forehead and hiding his chiseled jawline.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but we have a bit of a predicament.”
“What’s up?”
“I just tried to open the presentation Greg prepared for our pitch tomorrow, and the file is corrupt!” His voice contained a mixture of sadness and anger. “I’ve tried everything, but it won’t open. I can’t possibly bother Greg to redo it now. Besides the fact that it’s the middle of the night there, he’s got his daughter to worry about. I don’t want to disturb him.”
I tried to digest everything he was saying.
“I need to start from scratch,” he said. “And I’m hoping you might help me. You’re the marketing expert, after all.”
I felt equally flattered and embarrassed—flattered that he valued me enough as an employee to ask me to help, and embarrassed that I’d assumed that he was here for anything other than work. The obvious stress on his face added an element of guilt into the mix, even though it wasn’t my fault in the slightest that the file was corrupt.
I offered up a reassuring smile. “Of course. I’m happy to help. Come on in.”
Chapter 4
Zoe
Butterflies ran wild in my stomach as I waited for Lucas to take his spot at the podium. All I could think was that he’d better nail this presentation. I’d lost track of how late we had been awake reworking the presentation once it hit two thirty in the morning, but my yawns told me that we’d probably been up even later than that.
An older gentleman with gray hair stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat. “Our next presenter will be Lucas Cadieux, presenting on behalf of Borroni Chocolates by Cadieux. Please help me welcome Mr. Cadieux.”
I clapped alongside several dozen others who’d shown up to watch the presentations and kept my attention on the fourteen potential investors sitting in the row of chairs up front. Lucas had to impress them. It wasn’t just about receiving a monetary investment, given that Cadieux was a multi-billion-dollar operation and had no shortage of capital, but it was also strategic. We wanted to take advantage of every opportunity to get our brand out there, especially with the recent merger.
It wasn’t lost on me that Lucas was focusing much more on Borroni Chocolates than on his other acquisitions. While he’d sent some of his trusted employees to work with his new subsidiaries, he’d made it a point to spend a lot of time ensuring that things would run smoothly at Borroni. I was grateful that he was ensuring the success of a company that I cared so deeply about.
Lucas was his usual charming self during the presentation, explaining our upcoming family-centric marketing campaign in such a way that would have made the investors feel foolish not to invest. We’d started working on the campaign five or six weeks ago, but it had seemed even more perfect with the acquisition, given that it was a family-owned business taking over another family-owned business.
I hadn’t actually seen Greg’s presentation before it had gone rogue, but I was fairly certain, if not a bit biased, that ours was better. We’d struck the perfect balance of data and personality, and Lucas’s delivery was the cherry on top.
“Thank you for your time,” he said when he reached the last slide. “And I’d like to take a moment to thank our Vice President of Marketing, Zoe Green, for going the extra mile in bringing this presentation together.”
I blushed at the sound of my name. He hadn’t had to thank me, but it had been so sweet of him to do so—and it sure made me feel better about staying up all night. More than that, though, the response to the campaign had been overwhelmingly positive. While most other pitches had focused on particular products, ours had been about marketing our products that had already proven to be successful. That seemed to make us stick out among the others.
The room cleared out as everyone got ready for their next seminar. I waited until Lucas and I were the only ones left in the room before approaching him.
“You did great,” I said. “Honestly, it was the strongest presentation I’ve seen so far.”
Lucas smiled. “You’re just a smidge biased,” he replied.
“But I’m honest, too.” I looked down at my watch. “Shoot, we should get going. Our next session starts in ten minutes.”
We walked toward the door of the small auditorium. “I was thinking maybe we should skip the next seminar.”
I stopped in my tracks, confused by the suggestion.
“Skip the seminar?” I repeated.
“Why not? It’s a beautiful day, and the session isn’t relevant to our business anyway. What are your thoughts on lunch at the beach?”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking, but I hoped he wasn’t. It was perfect beach weather.
“That sounds great,” I said. “Are you sure?”
Lucas nodded. “Let’s head back to the resort and change into our beachwear. I’ll ask the staff to prepare us a picnic lunch for the beach.”
I wondered if picnic lunches were actually something that the resort offered, or if it was something Lucas was concocting. I supposed that, when you had as much money as he did, you could request pretty much anything you wanted at a fancy resort like this one. However he was putting it together, I certainly wasn’t about to question it.
We hustled back to the resort like two people on a mission and went to our respective rooms to change. Unsure of how beachy we were getting, I opted for a high-waisted pink bikini, the only swimsuit I’d been able to find in my condo on such short notice, along with a sheer black cover-up. I wanted to look nice, but not like I was trying too hard. This picnic wasn’t exactly business, but it wasn’t exactly pleasure, either.
By the time we settled in on the large picnic blanket the resort had arranged for us on the beach, it hadn’t even been a half hour since Lucas had suggested ditching the conference for some time in the sun. The weather was perfect—sunny and warm without overwhelming humidity—and a picnic basket filled with sandwiches, salads, chips and fresh fruit was waiting for us when we sat down. I couldn’t help but think that, had this been a date, it would have been a damn nice one.
“Wow,” I said, smiling at Lucas in his muscle tank and swim trunks. “Cadieux really pulls out all the stops for their employees.”
“Something like that,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t know about you, but I’m absolutely famished. Let’s dig in.”
I opted for an avocado salad, while Lucas munched on a panini accompanied by the most delicious-smelling fresh pineapple I’d ever laid eyes on. The more we talked, the more I enjoyed spending time with him. I felt comfortable, like I could be myself around Lucas. It didn’t feel like I was sitting on the beach with my boss—or, my boss’s boss, to be accurate—but rather a friend or maybe even a date.
We talked about the presentation before moving onto general small talk about our interests and backgrounds. Whereas I’d grown up in a typical small town in Illinois, Lucas had been in the spotlight as a member of the Cadieux chocolate empire since he was a kid. Our upbringings couldn’t have been more different.
I was struck by how different Lucas was now, without any work pressure or distractions, compared to how he’d been at the office. There wasn’t the slightest hint of the strict, intimidating boss I’d seen that first day after the merger. Instead, he was laughing, smiling, soaking up the sun. We both were. This was far better than any seminar we could have attended.
A baby’s piercing cry cut through our relaxation and into my thoughts. There was something about that cry, about that baby.
Oh, no.
It couldn’t be.
I double-checked my calendar on my phone, and there it was: Ellie’s baby shower. It was today.
I couldn’t believe I’d made such a horrible mistake. I looked back on my phone
to figure out the time difference and realized that there wasn’t even a semblance of a chance I’d make it back in time. I was going to miss my best friend’s baby shower.
“I have to make a quick phone call,” I said to Lucas, standing up and walking away from the picnic blanket before he had a chance to respond.
I walked along the ocean until Lucas was out of earshot and dialed my best friend’s phone number. My heart raced as I waited for an answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Ells. It’s me.”
“Zoe? What’s up?” Her voice was filled with the joy of a soon-to-be first-time mom.
“Ells, I’m so, so, so sorry, but something urgent came up and I’m not able to make it to your shower,” I said, hoping my voice sounded as apologetic as I felt.
“You’re joking, right?”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Look, you know I wouldn’t miss it unless it was something important, but—”
“Let me guess,” she said. “Work called.”
I couldn’t exactly argue with her there. How predictable was I?
“I’m sorry, Ellie. I really am. But I hope you have the best day ever, and I can’t wait to see lots of pictures.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll talk soon?” I half-said, half-asked.
She hesitated. “Sure.”
The phone clicked off. Even though Ellie had sounded more hurt than angry, I knew I’d messed up big-time. She’d been my best friend since we roomed together our freshman year of college, and I’d let her down—again. She’d always been extremely tolerant when it came to me missing parties or canceling plans for work, but now I worried that, this time, I might have run out of second chances.
Chapter 5
Lucas
I couldn’t help but watch Zoe as she strutted along the shoreline, her cell phone glued to her ear. She was too far away to make out what she was saying, but she seemed serious, maybe even upset. I hoped I hadn’t inadvertently done something to upset her. I doubted that was the case, but she’d jumped up to make the phone call so quickly that I supposed anything was possible.
She walked a few paces toward the ocean, then backed up, just to repeat the cycle again. I hoped that, from where she was standing, she couldn’t tell that I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I liked to think that I came across as calm and collected. I didn’t want her to have an inkling that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since we’d bumped into one another in the coffee shop.
There was something about Zoe. She was the perfect combination of sweet and stubborn, and I was finding it harder and harder to keep things professional. Of course, nothing could ever happen between us. Did it matter that I’d met her and been taken by her before I knew she was one of my employees?
One of my employees. The words sounded so weird resonating in my mind. Sure, I’d taken over Borroni Chocolates, but it wasn’t like Zoe was a longtime employee I’d known since I was a teen. She was different.
While most of the other Borroni employees had startled at my initial harsh introduction, Zoe had been one of the few to react calmly. I wondered if that was because she was simply hard to shake, or if she just took that much pride in her work that she knew she was indispensable.
If the latter was the case, one week as her new CEO told me she was right. She was completely independent and competent and offered up some of the best ideas I’d heard from any employees at the companies we’d acquired over the past few years. Beyond that, she hadn’t batted an eye when I’d asked her to help me put together a new presentation. In fact, she’d helped make the presentation even better than it had initially been. She’d proven herself to be a hardworking employee, but, even more than that, she’d proven to be an incredible woman.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent an afternoon with a woman that hadn’t involved sales projections and marketing campaigns. It was nice to be able to let loose a little, and for her part, Zoe seemed to be enjoying our time together as much as I was.
Zoe took her phone down from her ear and stared out at the ocean for several moments before starting back toward me. The closer she got, the easier it became to see the upset look on her face. Even with a frown, she was stunning. Her brown waves perked up in the breeze, moving away from her face to frame her gorgeous freckles.
I stood up from the picnic blanket as she approached. “Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Not really,” Zoe said, and I was immediately struck by her honesty. “I screwed up pretty badly, actually.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I wasn’t sure if the question was even appropriate to ask, given that I had no clue what she was referring to in terms of screwing up. Was it work-related? Personal? Some combination of both?
“It’s my best friend’s baby shower today,” she said. “And I completely forgot about it until I heard that baby crying behind us. I’m going to miss it, and I feel terrible. I just broke the news to her.”
I searched my mind for some way to rectify the situation, feeling awful that I’d been the one to drag Zoe along on this trip.
“I’m so sorry, Zoe,” I said. “This is my fault, and I take full responsibility. I apologize that I dragged you away from your commitments last-minute like this. I can get you on the next flight to Chicago and take care of the rest of the conference on my own. Maybe, with the time difference, you can still make it in time.”
Zoe couldn’t hide the surprise on her face. I was almost certain she’d accept my offer, but then her expression changed.
“That’s sweet of you to offer, but I’m pretty sure the party would be long over by the time I got there.”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to try?”
“It’s too late. Please don’t feel bad, though. It’s my own fault for forgetting about the shower.”
She motioned to me to join her in sitting back down on the picnic blanket, and I obliged. I stayed quiet, sensing that Zoe had more to say.
“Honestly, Ellie wasn’t even that surprised,” she continued. “She kind of knows to expect this sort of thing from me nowadays. I hate that. But it’s also sort of awkward celebrating all of these weddings and engagements and babies, since my life seems to be going in a completely different direction.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
I hoped the question wasn’t too forward. Quite frankly, I was surprised Zoe had opened up to me about her predicament at all. I’d never been the sort of person people turned to for advice, or even the type to have these sorts of serious, heartfelt conversations with. I’d always just been the businessman, the serious CEO.
“I just… Never mind. I’m venting. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. You can vent to me anytime you want. I’m all ears.”
“It’s just that I’ve always put my career first,” she said. “When my friends were fantasizing about prom dresses, I was dreaming up my perfect power suit. I wanted so badly to get out of my tiny nowhere town that I got caught up in my career.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” I asked. “You seem to have done pretty well for yourself.”
She shrugged and grabbed a handful of berries from the picnic basket. “I guess it depends how you measure success. All I wanted when I went off to college was to be successful, and I still don’t know what that means. When I go back to my hometown, they all talk about me like I’m this big city superstar. They say I’m the success story, the girl who went off to college and made a name for herself, but I don’t feel that way at all.”
“That’s sweet that they admire you,” I said. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
Zoe stared out at the ocean and ran her fingers along the sand beside us. It was almost as though she thought avoiding eye contact would make this conversation easier to have. “I have the fancy title and nice condo. I can afford to send my parents nice gifts on their birthday, or go out to a nice steak dinner when I want. But I’m alone. All of my fr
iends are settling down and starting families, and that doesn’t even seem to be in the realm of possibilities for me anytime soon.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“You do?” Her gaze snapped back to me.
I nodded. “My work is my life,” I said. “I hear about this concept of work-life balance, and it seems so foreign to me.”
“That’s exactly how I feel,” she said. “Everyone else has families, and social activities, and hobbies, and I’m just work, work, work, all day, every day. I’d love to have a family of my own someday, maybe a kid or two, but that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.”
I was surprised at the similarities between Zoe and myself, and flattered that she’d felt comfortable enough to open up to me. I knew it wasn’t easy to admit what we viewed as our own faults. I felt equally comfortable reciprocating, especially given that we seemed to be in the same boat. I felt connected to Zoe.
“If I’m being honest, I haven’t had a proper relationship since my college girlfriend and I broke up.”
Zoe glanced up at me. “When was that?”
“Ten years ago.”
We both laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement, more so about how I’d said it than what I’d actually said.
“How about you?” I asked.
“I’ve probably gone on five or six dates since I started at Borroni.”
“And when was that?”
She hesitated then grinned. “Seven years ago.”
Wow. We really were both the type who were married to our work. I found it hard to believe that a woman as stunning as Zoe had trouble finding dates, so I had to assume that she’d been so consumed in her work that she hadn’t sought them out or noticed any potential suitors.
“You know the worst part?” I said, eager to get these pent-up feelings off my chest.
“What would that be?”
“I don’t foresee anything changing.” I drew in a breath. “I don’t know that my schedule will ever open up enough to allow time for dating, or if I’ll ever be able to step back from the company enough to open my heart to dating.”
The Deal With Triplets Page 3