Yours Truly(25)

Excited energy infused him. He stood from the desk and went to the big window looking out over the city. He wasn’t looking at the waterfront or the tall buildings, rather letting his mind come up with questions to ask E. Ryder and ways to make this idea come to life.

His lips twitched into a smile at a knock on the door. AJ could tell a lot about a person by the way they knocked on his door. This one was strong and confident. AJ found himself liking this E. Ryder a little bit more.

The door opened and AJ turned to greet the person who would hopefully give him a fantastic business proposal.

Except it was her.

E. Ryder was Kat.

The woman he’d spent the last two weeks searching for just walked into his office with an appointment.





14





Kat



It’s him.

Katie’s heart sank with the weight of an anchor into the pit of her stomach and crashed there. Her throat tightened and for a moment she forgot to breath.

It’s really him. Immediately her mind began running at a breakneck pace. This couldn’t be true, no, she was dreaming. Her subconscious forced a momentary blink, only to once more reveal her one-night-stand staring at her not ten feet away.

Her hands clinched into a warm and sweaty fists. No wonder he never called! He’s a freaking CEO! I was in bed with the CEO. If I was a CEO, I wouldn’t call me back either!

Katie swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her. She felt trapped with the big door closed behind her. There was one large window near the back of the room where the shades had been let down, casting a dark and heavy shadow that made the room feel even smaller than it was.

“AJ?” She finally whispered, though it felt like someone else was speaking.

“Kat?”

His words were soft and sounded more like an escaped breath. All professional edict had gone out the window. He moved to his desk and the leather chair squeaked as he sat down. AJ’s fingers were locked together and rested on his desk. He had neglected any motion that resembled a handshake or to offer her a chair. Kat had no idea what to think.

She began searching for the words to her presentation, needing something for her mind to hold on to. Everything in the room was still, though Kat felt as if the ceiling was crumbling above her. Her big break, her big opportunity to make something of herself, and all she could think of was the thrust of hips rather than the words she needed to say.

She tried to recall the introduction and tried to force the words between her lips, but nothing came out. Her mind was completely blank. It had played over and over in her head a million times, forwards and backwards. Kat had practiced and rehearsed this presentation until she was sure she could do it in her sleep. She thought she had prepared for every scenario, every rebuttal to her idea, but she never could have never envisioned this.

Every sentence had vanished. Her bag full of documents now felt like nothing but a hollow and weightless prop. Again, she tried to search for something, anything to bring her back to the moment at hand, but she failed. Her presentation was gone.

The silence was a weight on her as she struggled to find her calm. Kat could feel the weakness in her legs as she stood there. She wanted to collapse, wanted to do like her presentation had done and vaporize into thin air.

She wondered whether she had been standing there for one minute or twenty. The tension in the room had filled like a dammed lake that was beginning to trickle over. Finally, without thinking, she spoke.

“It’s you.” It was all she could muster and it slipped out in a soft whisper.

His eyes remained locked with hers. They were as soft as she remembered and their gray tint seemed to glow against the backdrop of the window.

Slowly, she began to take in the perfection of the rest of his face. His skin was soft. It was obvious that he had freshly shaved and the outline of his jaw stood out because of it. His hair was neatly combed and business-like, far different than she had left it the last time she had seen him.

His shoulders were square and he sat perfectly straight against his throne-like desk chair. It was like looking upon a finely painted portrait that was both beautiful and terrifying. His face was stern. He had appeared happy when she entered and although the outline of his lips had hardly moved, he now looked almost angry.

He moved his hands, shifting the position of his arms and her mind flooded with the memory of his naked body. She couldn’t help it. His shiny red tie and expensive business suit jacket dissolved, exposing his bare chest and sculpted shoulders.

Katie shut her eyes. The world around her was spinning and she fought the nausea creeping up from her stomach. She took a deep breath and began to count to five, centering herself.

How stupid she had been to obsess over getting a call back. He’s the billionaire CEO running your company, why would he call? She should have known he hadn’t called for a good reason. This was as good as any other.