It's been over two weeks since I began working for Ryder and honestly it's hasn't been as horrible as I expected. For the first few days, I kept in the back of my mind, Amanda's instructions and keeping to them helped a lot.
But I will be honest, Ryder Stone was no easy man to deal with regardless. Several times I was tempted to give him a piece of my mind but I refrained from doing so, choosing instead to recite in my head the benefits of this job. It had become a mantra of some sort now.
Incredible pay. Great health benefits. Bomb ass office. And now, Brittney.
We had gotten closer in these past weeks so much so that she had been introduced to Meg and Hailey who both liked her, Meg especially, so she was now an added benefit of this job.
Finally, it's Friday so I quickly get out of my bed, before my alarm goes off, and rush into the shower. Ryder has an early breakfast meeting and had asked that I join him and conduct the meeting. No, not asked. Ryder Stone never asks for anything. He had commanded, leaving me no choice.
After my shower, I wear a sheer black low neck lace top paired with red trousers and a black blazer. Once done, I looked in the mirror, satisfied with my outfit. It gave off perfect amounts of corporate and sexy at the same time.
"Damn, Baby." I hear Knox say from the bed. I turn to see him rubbing his still sleepy eyes with the back of his hand which brings a small smile to my face.
"Morning, babe." I greet him, giving him a quick kiss on the lips when I'm closer. He strokes his fingers along my face, lovingly, before I'm forced to pull away by gravity.
"Good morning. You look beautiful." He compliments me eyeing my outfit.
"Thank you." I reply simply before going back to the mirror to apply a matte red lipstick. Once upon a time, Knox's comment would have created a whole butterfly garden in my tummy but now, it didn't affect me that much which was strange. He is after all my husband.
I realized then that I had paused in my actions so I decide to leave Knox out of my mind for when I had the time. I grab my black Chanel purse making sure I had everything I needed before leaving the room.
"Have a nice day." I hear Knox yell.
"You too." I yell back before leaving the house and getting into my grey Camero.
I arrive at The Loft thirty minutes later due to the mild traffic. The Loft is an upscale restaurant in the metropolitan area where rich people go and practically wipe their dishes with dollar notes so it was no surprise that this is where we will be dining.
I hand my keys to the valet before going into the restaurant. I look around trying to see if Ryder had arrived but he hadn't, instead, I spotted Mr Chance Scott, Ryder's potential business partner, sitted beside the window area so I quickly walk to him.
"Good morning, Mr Scott." I greet him as I drop my stuff on the table before introducing myself. "I'm Nicole Smith, Mr Stone's assistant, I spoke with your assistant on the phone." I stretch out my hand which he receives with a warm smile.
"Hello, Miss Smith." He says, I'm tempted to correct him on the title but I decide against it, opting instead to take a seat.
"Have you ordered yet?" I ask him.
"No, I haven't. I was waiting on Stone's arrival." He says, his voice turning rather cold at the mention to Ryder's name. I didn't pay it much attention though. It could just be in my head.
A waitress approaches us for our drink order and while Mr Scott refuses to order anything, I order a cup of coffee because I'm not a robot.
I'm going through the documents with me for Ryder, wondering if I should begin this meeting or wait for him and waste more of Mr Scott's time when the man in question appears.
As usual, he's in one of his many sharp black suits, looking devilishly handsome as he approaches us in long strides. Once he's at the table, his hand goes to unbutton his jacket before he slides into the seat next to me.
"I apologize for my lateness." He says but he sounds the least bit sorry, no, rather he gives Mr Scott a small smirk before continuing, "Shall we begin?"
It is then I realize that his lateness is supposed to be some kind of power move. I mentally roll my eye at that.
"Mr Scott, will your assistant be joining us?" I ask him.
"No, she won't." He replies curtly, his hard gaze stuck on Ryder, who was currently spotting that lip curl thing he did where he wasn't quite smiling, but he wasn't scowling either.
With a sigh, I begin the presentation. Ryder wants to buy Scott's company because it is slowly dying and apparently fixing falling businesses is a past time of his, so, he wants it. But it seemed like there was more to this judging from the obvious dislike both men had for each other and the smug look Ryder had on his face.
The company, Def Tech Industries, has been in the Scott family for ages and naturally Chance was as interested in selling it as he was in declaring it bankrupt. Now, Ryder made it my job to convince him to sell it, something that needed a strong argument which was why I had to go digging into some personal affairs to know just what to say that will make him concede.
After over half an hour, he did just that and finally, the meeting came to an end. I was so happy that it was such a success. Any less and I was sure I would never hear the end of it, that is, if I was still hired.
"Well, I suppose this is it," Mr Scott muses. "I will have my lawyers draw up a contract-"
"No, don't bother. I will do that. You just sign the papers when they appear on your doorstep." Ryder says coldly which makes me fear for a moment that Scott will withdraw his word and all my hard work would have been for nothing.
Fortunately, he just grits his teeth and shakes Ryder's hand firmly, and with a head nod in my direction, he leaves the restaurant.
"You did well." I hear Ryder comment from besides me once Scott is gone, halting me in my movement of packing up the papers.
I look up to see him staring at me. "T-thank you." I stammer a bit, tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind my ear.
He calls the waiter and orders to my surprise. "And what would you like?" He turns to ask me.
"A croissant and some more coffee will be fine." I tell the waiter who writes it down before leaving.
"Was that your first time?" Ryder asks standing up and coming to seat opposite me instead.
I felt uncomfortable under his invasive gaze suddenly watching my every move. We had never had a conversation out of work, during which he was always rude and direct so this was quite foreign to me.
"Yes." I reply after a moment.
He nods. "What did you do before working at Stone Inc?" He asks and just then, thankfully, our food arrives.
I was tempted to say 'it's on my CV' but since he was making an attempt to be nice here, I figured I should appreciate it by not being rude, so I stopped myself from saying what I really wanted to and answered his question instead.
"Well, I worked in the account department of a small firm, which was later closed due to bankruptcy." I tell him, taking a sip of the scalding hot coffee, welcoming the burning sensation on my tongue.
He nods his head before taking his attention to the meal before him.
We finish our food in silence and once done Ryder insists that he pay the bills. I was no match anyway, so I just allowed him. And then something strange happened.
As Ryder rounded the table, I got up carelessly, causing one of the files besides me to drop and as I bent down to pick up the folder, I swear to all that is holy I felt Ryder freaking Stone's eyes on my ass and then my body when I stood up but when I looked up at him his eyes quickly diverted elsewhere.
As Meg would say, you ain't slick, I thought to myself with a small smirk as a strange feeling settled in my tummy. I then had to remind myself that I was a married woman and I shouldn't be happy that my boss was just checking me out, no matter how ridiculously sexy he is.
Yup, I shouldn't care. But, I did.
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Uh oh.
Ryder ain't slick.
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