Arrogant Playboy(7)

“Last night didn’t happen.” She types into the screen of her propped tablet, her nails clicking and her eyes glued to the screen.

“Excuse me?”

“If this is going to work, if you’re going to respect my opinions and ideas, you’re going to have to forget…what we did.”

“Already forgotten,” I lie, sinking into my chair and propping my hands behind my head.

“Good.” She drags a slow breath across her full lips and sits straight, pressing one final button on her device and lifting her gaze across the desk.

“I’m not calling you Sam.” I meet her stare straight on. “You’re still Odessa to me.”

She pauses, head cocked, and says nothing before returning her attention to her screen.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to find that the girl I hooked up with last weekend sent me another topless selfie. Fourth picture this week. I don’t respond. It’s not like I’m going to see the fifth one and suddenly decide she’s girlfriend material, but I’m sure I’ll get another two days from now.

“Why are you smirking?” Odessa jerks my attention from the picture of the big-breasted blonde smiling in front of a bathroom mirror with a fingertip in the corner of her mouth.

“I’m not.”

“Please, Beckham. Let’s focus.” Her fingers rap against my desktop. “Your company. Tell me about it.”

“We have a website.” I sit back in my chair again, folding my arms across my stomach. My brother scolds me for being too relaxed. I feel it makes people more comfortable around me. I’m a man with more money than God, and I’ve got more game than the New York Knicks. “All that information is there.”

“Yes, but I’m more interested in how this company is described by its own Chief Branding Officer.” She adjusts her posture, tilting her head. “What do you do here and what’s so special about Townsend Energy Holdings?”

I release an inconvenienced sigh and sit up. “For starters, we’re innovative. Cutting edge. Progressive. Future-focused. Our biggest initiative involves working with national power co-ops to make alternative energy mainstream and affordable. By farming things like wind, we can bring sustainable, environmentally friendly sources of energy to homes and businesses all across America, working to reduce greenhouse gasses and limiting the need for oil drilling also benefits wildlife and climate change. Our ten-year plan includes bringing alternative energy sources to third world countries with a focus on sustainable agriculture. I can get into the global economics of alternative energy savings as well if you’d like.”

Her brows raise, and ripe satisfaction swells me from the inside.

“Smarter than I look.” I slip my hands behind my head as if my chair has just morphed into some Bahamian hammock. Speaking of which, I’d give anything to dig my toes into some white, sugary sand with an icy Corona in my hand. “I know.”

“Nah. You’re just a good bullshitter.”

I lean forward, my hands falling into my lap like dead weight. I can’t win with her. Any other woman would be drooling over some handsome asshole in a three-piece suit spewing words like “initiative” and “global economics.”

Odessa sits there, less than impressed.

“Anyone can memorize a script,” she says. “You sound like you’re reading off the About Me page of your website.”

“I wrote that page.”

“My point exactly.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“You’ve used those words so many times they’ve lost their meaning. I don’t feel any passion from you when you talk about your company. There’s your first problem.”

“The passion’s there. Believe me.”

Her brows rise as her lips press into a straight line. “I don’t.”

My head angles. I’m way too blown away by this woman’s audacity to remotely consider firing her.

And she’s lucky because cutting ties with people is what I do best.

“It’s not there just because you say it’s there,” she says. “I need to feel it. Every word you speak needs to convince me you eat, sleep, and breathe this company. When I spoke with Dane, he mentioned that you were essentially the face of the T.E.H. He said you handled networking and partnerships, that your sole focus was projecting a very specific image of the company.”

“Right.”

“What is that image?”

“We’re making alternative energy sexy.” I adjust the knot of my tie. “Isn’t that obvious?”

Her green eyes roll. Any harder and they’d be in the back of her head. “I need you to be serious.”