She smiled at me.
“Why thank you, Mr. West. It’s ironic that you and I are meeting here like this.”
She put her arm through mine, and then she grabbed my bicep and squeezed. I did give her body a once over, I’m not going to lie to you. If I was single, I probably would have had her in the coat closet already. Yeah, I work like that. But tonight there was only one woman that I wanted on my arm.
“So do you think you’ve socialized enough and would like to finish what we started a few weeks ago?” the brunette said to me.
But I was completely unfocused. I felt her before I saw her. I was about to respond to the brunette, who attached herself to me, when I noticed a few of the sharks in the room sniffing for fresh blood. I followed their gaze and found Maxine standing in the doorway—a vision of perfection. I inhaled deeply and became enthralled, like every woman and man in this room. She was heavenly sinful in that dress, and I couldn’t wait to peel her out of it.
Probably sooner rather than later.
I looked at the brunette and said, “If you’ll excuse me.”
I moved away from her and walked up to Max, never taking my eyes off her. I noticed a few men heading in her direction. But to her credit, she never pulled her eyes off me. She smiled that smile of hers, and I swear I tripped over my own feet.
When I got to her, I drew her in and kissed her lips. Just a quick taste of her is never enough for me. I bent down and kissed her again, allowing our tongues to caress each other quickly.
I said breathlessly, “I didn’t think you were going to show.”
She reached up and raked her thumb along my lips, probably removing the gloss transferred from her lips. But all her touch did was bring my loyal solider to attention. She nodded her head to the brunette.
“So you decided to replace me?”
I shook my head and put her hands in mine.
“Never. There is no woman in this place that could hold a torch to you, baby. You look exquisite, angel.”
She blushed and smiled shyly.
“Well, the dress does make the woman.”
“Oh no, you are clearly making this dress look amazing.” I spun her around to get the full effect. I whispered in her ear, “We will definitely be leaving here as soon as humanly possible.”
I growled in her ear, and she laughed.
“Come on and watch your man make some money.”
We worked the room, and I have to say my ego and confidence went up tremendously since I took her hand. It’s like she gave me a new bolt of energy. I talked to a lot of people. Some were trying to pitch an investment opportunity for me to buy in. But most were trying to either invest in a business themselves and asking for my expertise or they wanted in on whatever I was working on.
Everyone I met had their eyes glued on my date, as they should. I introduced her as Allura Shaw, but I didn’t give her a title. You see, I’m in a room full of sharks. If I would have told them she was my girlfriend, they would have hounded her with questions about me. They knew something was going on, since I never let go of her hand unless it was to shake someone else’s, and she never left my side. But they would never approach her with that much uncertainty.
I have to say though; the woman was remarkable. She smiled her most charming smile and had men around us smitten by her. I whispered in her ear every chance I got how beautiful she was, and I promised to thank her for being here later tonight. I swear when I told her that her eyes lit up with joy.
Okay. Maybe not with joy. But hey, I can dream can’t I?
“So, West, I hear you’re thinking about buying Bernstein’s company. I’m in if you do,” one of the men, that I remembered was named Douglas Paine, prompted me.
“Who told you that?” I said, frowning.
“Your father, actually. He and I go way back. He’s worked my investments for years,” Mr. Paine replied.
I tried to hide my frustration and detestation for the man that was responsible for my existence.
“Hey, I actually thought that was a rumor. West, are you really backing that company?” another one of my top clients, a Thomas Stratford, asked me.
I could tell he wasn’t happy with the news, and he wasn’t the only one. My anger was about to bubble over, but I felt a light hand on my lower back rubbing me underneath my jacket. I took a few deep breaths and plastered a smile on my face.
“Well, Mr. Stratford, you are correct. It is a rumor; a very vicious one at that. I have no interest in getting into bed with Bernstein. So Mr. Paine, if you were waiting for me to co-sign that deal, you’d be waiting for hell to freeze over. As long as I draw breath—and, hell, even way after that—I would not, and my company, West’s Investment Inc., will not be pursuing that venture.”