With an opportunity of a lifetime to make her entrepreneurial dreams come true, Thea finds it getting increasingly harder to hide her attraction to her boss, Aiden Steele - not knowing that the man under all the cold layers has a secret worth millio...
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As it turns out, Mr Morgan's favourite colour was red, and I had absolutely charmed his pants off with my smile. I might have overdone it slightly when I made a whole show of Aiden helping me take my jacket off, but Mr Morgan was eating it all up. I wondered how he either had an insatiable sexual appetite or he just hadn't had sex in years but forced my mind to come straight to business. I took notes diligently when Aiden spoke, but anytime Morgan opened his mouth, my pen could catch a break. He'd speak for long, make at least one stupid remark per turn and then end up with two words worth of relevant content.
The meeting was mind-numbingly slow, and I found myself looking through the menu for a drink to order for the second time. I wasn't allowed to drink while on the job, but Aiden was kind enough to get me a glass of wine even when I'd asked for some fruity drink. He wasn't nice in the ways that showed, but Aiden cared and you'd have to see his littlest actions to find out how he showed it. I took a sip of my drink as Morgan narrated a tale about some yachting party, staring at Aiden as he appeared mildly interested. I knew it was all a farce and that the story was all going over Aiden's head.
I had stared at his profile all week long and I was ready to write a thesis. His shoulders were always appearing relaxed, you couldn't make them stiffen no matter what. It was his ears, lips and eyes that gave him away most of the time. Like at this moment, his ears were resting softly on his face, relaxed and not paying attention to whatever was being said, it was all simply background chatter. His eyes were staring straight ahead, looking Morgan in the eye, but not really focusing. To an outsider, it wouldn't be obvious that Aiden had tuned out. Anyone could see Aiden was listening with rapt attention. But while Aiden zoned out, it was my job to pay attention. So, I tried to remember any and every name in his story and see if I could come up with a follow-up question whenever he stopped. He laughed, and I forced a half-smile, Aiden's expression mirroring mine. The joke was horribly sexist, but oh well.
"So did you go back then to check on the poor guy?" I asked, flipping my hair over my shoulder like Hailey. God, I really hoped it was working, because I didn't want to look like a fool.
Morgan, or rather Moron was as dense as a brick apparently, because he launched into another story. The evening was setting in by this time, and winds were picking up. My bare back was not supporting me at all and I shivered slightly, the action not going unnoticed by Aiden. He gave me a slight nod, before sitting straighter in his seat. Morgan stopped his tale mid-sentence, saying, "Never mind, let's continue this some other time. Shall we work on business then?"
They went over the terms of the negotiation, and while Morgan was an asshole, I had to credit him for driving a hard bargain. Even as I noted his offers, I was doing the math in my head, eyebrows rising. He really was trying to undercut Aiden by a lot. If Aiden took up his offer, he'd be missing out on a lot of profits. We'd discussed the lowest deals we'd be willing to take, and Morgan was cutting it in half. Aiden was relentless though. He kept pushing back with sharp remarks and quips that made Morgan reconsider his offer. I noticed Aiden hadn't put his offer on the table yet. Smart fucker.
