“I did. Several times. I promise you I’m not an asshole. And none of it will impact the way we judge your application. I want you to be certain of that. I’m usually on my best behavior at work. It’s just...very difficult to keep my thoughts straight around you. I don’t know why.”
“Possibly because you saw me in my bra this morning?” She was smiling now. Damn, she was even more beautiful like this. She was far more relaxed than she’d been inside.
“And without it.”
She gasped again before starting to laugh. “I thought you said you didn’t see anything.”
“I was just putting you at ease. Or trying to.”
“You failed. I was on edge the entire time.”
“I could tell that by your body language,” I admitted.
Her eyes widened. She cleared her throat. I leaned in close enough that I could smell her perfume. It was fruity and sweet but also had a hint of something spicy. She licked her lower lip before exhaling sharply. Stepping back, I pointed toward the front door.
“I don’t want to keep you any longer. If all goes well, I hope to see you at the get-together.”
“And you’ll behave there?” she teased.
“I’ll try.”
“Just like you tried to pretend you didn’t see me half naked?”
“I’ll try a little harder. Forgive me if I fail. You make a...lasting impression.”
Her mouth opened in an O, and she shook her head before walking past me. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she left the building. That swing in her hips was going to be the death of me.
Fantastic. I’d come out here to put her mind at ease, and I ended up flirting with her. Way to go, Harrington.
I’d tell myself that I’d do better during the get-together evening, but I didn’t like lying to myself.
Chapter Three
Liam
For the rest of the day, we listened to twenty more pitches while my mind kept wandering to a specific lingerie business. In the afternoon, we headed back to our offices, located in a brownstone we rented on the Upper West Side. We converted the original kitchen into a welcome area. The interns worked in an open office arrangement in what used to be the living room. David, Becca, and I each had a huge office on the upper floor. The meeting room was in the basement.
We all decided to head up to the rooftop, which was the best part of the building, to discuss which of the businesses we’d invest in. Everyone loved to come up here for the fresh air, and since we weren’t on a high floor, there was no wind. This September was chilly, but because of the taller buildings surrounding us, we were pretty protected from the elements up here. Every time I was inside one of New York’s high-rises, I felt like I was suffocating. I didn’t need a great view from fifty stories above. I needed to be able to step out whenever I wanted to clear my head.
Becca, David, and I each had two interns on our teams. One of my interns, Dexter, brought up some refreshments for everyone as well as my stress ball—it’s what kept me sane. When we all sat on the rattan armchairs scattered around, I asked the interns to give us their top three picks. All of them mentioned Soho Lingerie. We only had four other fashion companies in our portfolio, each tackling their market with an innovative angle.
After the interns finished giving us the rundown, they headed downstairs to their desks, but Becca, David, and I stayed upstairs.
They weren’t just my business partners but also my best friends. We all met fifteen years ago when we were interning on Wall Street after college. In our spare time, we worked on an app for personal finance called InvestMe. A huge bank bought it for a lot of money. We held consultant roles on the app’s management team for a while, before it became obvious that we weren’t needed. We created the fund because we had a lot of cash and a burning desire to work with business owners. This fund was our pride and joy, and the three of us worked nonstop to turn it into a success. We’d been doing this for ten years now, though at thirty-six, we were still as motivated and hungry for success as we’d been at twenty-six.
Back then, there had been four of us. We’d taken another of our best friends on board, Albert. He hadn’t had any money to invest, but he was brilliant, a true innovator. So brilliant in fact that it took us years to discover what he was doing behind our backs. Let’s just say we don’t talk about him anymore.
“So after listening to all of them, I still think we have way too many excellent applicants. A good problem to have, but still a problem,” Becca said. Though we were shaded by the taller buildings, the sun shone through the cracks. It was a beautiful day to be outside.
“I agree. If we had enough people, I’d vote we take on all the projects,” I said.
“Maybe we should hire that additional manpower like we talked about,” David said.
I grunted, shaking my head. “No. I like our team. Training new hires takes time and resources, and we have neither.” Although we’d be able to expand, training new members wasn’t easy, and we really lucked out with the group we had.
“Or you’re just a grumpy ass who doesn’t like new people,” Becca said with a devilish smile. I threw my stress ball at her. She caught it midair. “I’m not giving this back to you today. See how you fare without it.”
“Becca,” David practically begged. “Come on, don’t do this to us. We need him to focus.”