"What's her name?" Nicolaas asks.
"She's listed as Francesca Santiago."
Stone's already flipping through the pages as I speak, and after taking a look at my friend's profile, he hands it to Nicolaas, saying dryly, "I'm guessing I already know whose team she'll be under."
Oh no.
It's only when I hear Stone's words that I realize how badly I screwed things up.
My friend is exactly Nicolaas' type.
Petite, curvy, and to cap it off, she even has long, silky black hair.
She's practically custom-ordered according to Nicolaas' tastes, and when I look at Zee...
Shiiiiiit.
I just want the ground to swallow me up at the way Zee's smile wobbles when she sees Nicolaas still staring at my friend's photo.
Please God.
If You're listening...
Can You please make sure sparks don't fly at all between Nicolaas and Francesca?
Nicolaas
I don't normally attend in-house marketing events of our company. There's just too much ass kissing, which eventually grates on my nerves.
But today I'm making an exception, and it's all because of her.
Francesca.
I've been watching the entrance like a hawk, so I know the second she enters the premises, and damn if she doesn't look even hotter in real life.
She's tiny, with the top of her head unlikely to even graze my chest. But what she lacks in height, she makes up with her incredible figure, with curves that would make a Coca-Cola bottle look shapeless.
And those breasts...
They're so mouthwateringly ample I have a feeling even my hands, big as they are, won't be enough for them, and the rest of her is just as perfect.
Small waist.
Long shapely legs.
And last but not the least, an ass that's so peachy-damn-perfect it's practically begging for a spanking.
I want to make her mine.
Right here.
Right now.
But unfortunately, there's another person in the room who's also been watching the entrance like a hawk. And the moment Mary, the assistant that Stone and I share between us, sees her friend walk in, she immediately turns my way and shoots me a deadly glower.
Don't even think about it, buster.
I let my lips curve in a polite smile. Noted. But it's just lip service, and we both know it.
In the years Mary's been working for V&V, it hasn't escaped my notice that she tends to act one way with me and another way with Stone.
I could be wrong about this, but I'm thinking our prim and proper secretary has the hots for my friend.
If it's true, well...I wish her luck. Stone is pretty much what his name implies; in lieu of a heart, there's nothing but cold, hard rock behind his chest. The thing that used to beat was lost years ago, with his first love taking his heart with her to the grave.
I feel bad for Mary and Stone, but...a man's gotta have priorities. So I set all thoughts of them aside to concentrate on what matters: Francesca, in my bed, and my dick inside her pussy.
Francesca
"You made it!"
I'm in the middle of filling out the registration form when Mary reaches my side, and I quickly scribble my signature so I can exchange the form for my goodie bag.
Once I'm done, I turn to my friend, saying cheekily, "You did promise there'd be free food, right? That's the only reason I'd leave the lovely comfort of my house."
Mary rolls her eyes. "I knew it."
"And this—-" I flaunt my gift bag with a little shake for emphasis. "—-is just much-welcomed icing on the cake."
"Just don't forget our deal about product placement," Mary stresses, "and I want at least five vlogs—-"
I pretend to choke with indignation at this.
"—-covering this event, and you gushing all over it like our cameras are God's greatest gift after the Nintendo Switch."
And of course there's mention of her favorite gaming console.
Same old Mary, I think fondly, and that's probably why she and I have remained friends over the years.
As the highly paid and much-envied executive assistant to two of the world's most eligible billionaires, Mary has certainly earned the right to act a little uppity, but she never has.
The geeky and occasionally snarky thirteen-year-old hoyden I used to know is still very much evident in grown-up Mary; only difference is how adulting has forced her out of her shapeless sweatpants and pushed her into equally shapeless office wear.
When an anxious-looking V&V employee pops up from nowhere, asking my friend about this and that, I make a shooing motion so Mary knows I don't require babysitting.
My friend mouths 'thank you' and as soon as she leaves my side, I slowly look around to study my surroundings.
V&V has done a great job transforming the hotel ballroom into a party scene straight out of The Great Gatsby, and I'm impressed at how every square meter of the venue is Instagrammable.
The music playing in the background is also on point, and with everyone around me clearly having fun, I quickly take out my new V&V camera and alternate between taking photos and recording footage.