Chapter 3: THE OTHER GIRL

Fabian.

“Until next time?” George asked, a look of confusion in his eyes. George wasn’t what I, or anyone else for that matter, would call sharp. Or quick-witted. Or anything else like that. What George had, however, was a great mind for numbers and the fact that he was one of my oldest friends. Take those things away and his ass would have been fired years ago.

Fuck that, I never would have hired him in the first place.

“Just do it, Georgie,” I said, trying not to let the frustration and annoyance escape into my voice. I kept things calm and collected for a reason. It was a great tool in negotiations. “Remember, they’re going to room 501. Got that?”

“Yeah. Sure thing,” George answered. “I got it.”

“501?” a woman’s voice rang out. It sounded shocked. Awed even. I turned and glanced toward where the sound came from and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find it belonged to Ms. Sofia Moore, marketing and content specialist for my company. She was a mid-level manager, if I remembered correctly. She was a pretty enough woman, I supposed but it was the woman next to her that drew my attention.

Myla Carter.

It was hard to not look directly at her. So much of me wanted to drink in every part of her. Her silky, brown hair. Her stunning lips. Those gorgeous, blue eyes. I’d be a fool not to want her but it went deeper than that and for much longer. All the way back to high school, in fact. Thoughts of her back then were suddenly replaced with other images. Images that were much more recent and incredibly distracting. They stampeded through my brain and seemed to flood right into my cock. I could feel it wanting to get hard but having a raging boner in the middle of the hotel lobby in clear view of everyone wasn’t exactly a great look for Fabian Ness, millionaire CEO and ice cold businessman of the cutthroat, corporate world. With a lot of regret, I forced those images out and tried to focus on the upcoming meeting.

Myla will be there, my brain whispered as if taunting me.

I gave Myla one last, lingering look and enjoyed the way she stared back at me. Then I left the lobby and found myself in the humid, summer air. A driver and car were waiting for me so I quickly got inside.

“Roseforce’s headquarters, Stefan,” I said and the driver gave me a curt nod. I leaned back in my seat and blasted the air conditioning across my face. The rest of my people rode together in other vehicles. I preferred to ride alone. It gave me time to gather my thoughts and mentally prepare for the upcoming meeting.

I hated merger meetings. They were excruciatingly boring. The fact that I was able to stay awake during them was a testament to my exceedingly rare willpower and fortitude, not to toot my own horn. There’s a trick to it. It’s hard to perfect at first but once you get some real practice in, it’s like riding a bike. To stay engaged in dull, boring meetings, I would visualize myself as the person talking. It always helped me to really take in the information. Again, very difficult to master but it’s been a useful tactic.

Stefan followed his GPS to the letter and eventually, we came up to a tall skyscraper in the downtown area. He pulled his car up to the curb, got out, and then walked around to my door to open it for me. I got out, adjusted my suit a little and then reached back inside for my briefcase. Behind us, other cars had pulled up to the curb as well and my people started to get out. George and some of my other close executives got out of the car directly behind me. Some other people I couldn't readily identify in the car behind that one and then, in the very last car, I saw her again. Myla.

Damnit, she was so…distracting.

I had to force myself to look away from her or my cock would start trying to get hard again.

“Mr. Ness,” a woman in a pantsuit said, drawing my attention to her. “Welcome. My name is Grace Steyner. I’m the Vice President of Public Relations. If you follow me, the board is ready for you.”

She moved to one side, giving me an opportunity to walk next to her. There was a pleasant, alluring scent wafting off her. Some kind of perfume that gave hints of vanilla and something vaguely floral.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Steyner,” I said.

She held up a hand, showing off an impressive diamond and wedding band set and smiled.

“It’s actually Mrs. Steyner,” she explained.

“My apologies,” I offered.

“Quite all right,” she returned, smiling again. “There are refreshments available in the conference room. I personally took the liberty of stocking some of the brands you tend to favor. Fiji water. The Tootsie Roll fruit chews. An assortment of bagels from Asta’s Bakery over on Montgomery Avenue. As well as a few other things.”

“I feel honored to have someone of your caliber express such an interest in my personal likes,” I told her.

“We at Roseforce Inc value the connections of other impressive companies. I like to go out of my way to make sure that mentality really shines,” she responded.

I couldn’t help but notice the way her hips moved as she walked or the way her caramel-colored hair swayed back and forth. Maybe a different version of myself would have appreciated that, but my night with Myla had awakened something else inside me. Something that wanted her and only her. I did notice, in a weird way, that Grace actually kind of looked a little bit like Myla. If I didn’t know any better, they could have passed for sisters.

“I personally want to thank you for going above and beyond, Mrs. Steyner,” I said, making sure to emphasize the Mrs. part.

“That is completely unnecessary but you are most welcome, Mr. Ness,” she said, her eyes finding mine for a few seconds. “We are all excited for the opportunity to collaborate with Golden Time and have been eagerly awaiting this meeting.”

“Well, let’s go see if I can live up to the hype,” I replied.

She smiled at that and we kept walking. There was a bit more small talk as we headed into the building, past the security terminals, and over to the banks of elevators. Grace was really good at holding a conversation, which made talking to her so easy. She really was an impressive woman. I couldn’t help but notice that. But looking at her, and the fact that she looked so similar to Myla, kept making the memories of our night together pop into my head. That, inevitably, would make my cock start to twitch.

Concentrate on the merger.

Focus on sealing this deal.

Don’t think about Myla. Or about her being naked.

The twitching started to become more pronounced.

Damnit. Normally I kept myself under better control. My night with Myla must have been messing with my head. Getting that text and realizing what she was asking for had been a clear mistake. I’d known that and shouldn’t have gone to her room. Booze really had nothing to do with it either. Sure, I’d been drinking but not enough to impair my judgment that badly. I just knew I wanted her. Had wanted her for so long. Getting a chance to finally fuck her was way too tempting to pass up. The problem was the night had been so good, my body was telling me it wanted more.

No. That was wrong.

My body was telling me it NEEDED more.

“Is everything alright, Mr. Ness,” Grace asked, interrupting my vivid fantasies.

“Just running through some of the final discussion points in my head to make sure I don’t forget anything,” I told her, lying completely through my teeth. The lie came out natural and effortless. I was a practiced hand at that. In my business, I needed to keep everything about myself (especially my inner feelings and private life) secret. Horrible, evil people often liked to use those types of things against people of my status and position. I decided early on that I would never give anyone an excuse to use my secrets against me.

“Excellent,” Grace said.

The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened to reveal a luxurious office space full of modern interior design aesthetics, plush furniture, and high-end decor. The color palette of the place was done in subtle peach, rose gold, and black with accents of white. They were Roseforce’s colors and I respected the dedication to the brand.

“Right this way,” Grace told me, guiding myself and the rest of my group through desks with the most up-to-date computers on them, offices with glass walls and doors, and finally over to an elaborately appointed conference room fully stocked with the refreshments Grace mentioned.

“Ah, Mr. Ness,” a balding, plump man in a dark suit said as soon as I and my people entered. He rose from his chair, others from Roseforce doing the same, and held out his hand for me to shake.

I didn’t hesitate.

I grabbed his hand in mine, offering a firm, powerful grip and then shaking up and down a few times before letting go.

“Mr. Rose,” I said. “It’s great to finally meet face-to-face.”

“Indeed. I’ve heard good things.” He gestured toward the seats. “Please, have a seat.”

“Bill, let’s get right to it, shall we?” I said, sitting down and pinning Bill Rose with my eyes. Bill was a nice enough guy but I didn’t come to Roseforce to play nice.

Bill, to his credit, kept whatever surprise he might’ve felt from his face. The room, which had been full of separate, quiet conversations, suddenly went dead silent.

“I suppose we can,” he replied. “Like I and other members of my company have expressed, we are excited about the possibility of merging with Golden Time Consortium.”

“Yes,” I said, leaning back somewhat in my chair. “About that. You see, I and some of my executives feel a merger is no longer the ideal road to follow.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Bill said but judging by the shrewd, unhappy look in his eyes, I knew he understood very well.

“I’m talking about acquisition now,” I said plainly. “I’m here to buy out Roseforce and absorb it fully into my company.”