“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I hope you have a proper reward planned for this activity.”
I rolled my eyes, even though my burning cheeks probably gave away that my thoughts hadn’t been totally pure. “Helping me outisthe reward activity. Speaking of which, are you done downstairs? We need to talk about a few things.”
“Yeah, I remember.” He was still grinning. His gaze raked across the guys and what they were busy doing before he brought it back to mine. “Get settled in. I’ll be in my office when you’re ready. Seriously, though, it’s rude to make someone sweat without giving them at least a little reward in return.”
The asshole winked, then lifted his hands in a surrender motion. He backed away from the door before turning around and taking off. The guys guffawed while I stood there staring, not knowing whether to just give in and laugh or whether to storm after him and point out that he’d agreed to at least try to take things more seriously.
In the end, I just exhaled heavily and left it. If my gut feeling was correct, Parker and I were going to go toe to toe regularly enough over that issue. I didn’t need it to start before I’d even unpacked my things.
Thankfully, the guys were more mature about it than he was. Once they’d stopped laughing, they moved the last few things and were happy with a simplethank youbefore they went back to the gym.
Taking Parker’s advice, I got settled in before I went to find him. When I did, he was where he’d said he would be. Seated in his office, he was facing the windows when I walked in.
“Hey,” I said, shutting the door behind me. “Are you ready to get started? It shouldn’t take too long for us to get these first things hammered out.”
He turned, his expression contemplative before he schooled it. He smiled and waved me into a seat. Clearing his throat, he rolled himself back to his desk and gave his head a little shake, like he’d needed to do it to put whatever he’d been thinking about out of his mind.
“I’m ready,” he replied, shaking his computer mouse to wake the machine up. I briefly noticed how big his hand was over the mouse and how surely and deliberately he moved, but then I remembered that I had to keep my eyes to myself.No good would come of him catching me staring time and time again.
“Okay,” I said. “So today, I’d like to start by talking about you and how you’ve been approaching meetings with potential investors. You’re the face of this brand. Your name is literally part of it. Which means that, at this stage, you’re much more than just a representative of the company. Youarethe company.”
“Uh huh.” He nodded, but his gaze was firmly fixed on the computer screen and I wasn’t even sure if he’d heard what I’d said.
Choosing to believe that he was just looking for the email that I’d sent with the agenda for the meeting, I decided against calling him out on his apparent distraction. “Therefore, it’s really important that you project the right image when you walk into any meeting that you’re hoping to walk out of with a signed deal in hand.”
“Hmm, okay.”
As I continued, it became clear that he was distracted and not just looking for the email. He was barely paying any attention at all, which annoyed the hell out of me.
“Parker, are you even listening to me? Making a good first impression is vital. You have to walk the walk and talk the talk. Be the guy who doesn’t make them feel like they’re taking a chance on him, but rather that it’s a bet on a sure thing.”
When he didn’t make a joke out of him being a sure thing, I knew that my suspicions were correct. His mind was a million miles away.
“You sound like a high school guidance counselor,” he said. “Are you going to lecture me about what to wear for interviews next?”
“If I have to,” I retorted. “Do we need to talk about your wardrobe when you go for pitch meetings? You don’t wear shorts and a T-shirt, right?”
“No. Actually, I go without the T-shirt. I figure that if they see how well my methods work, they’re sure to give me the money.”
My eyes bulged. “You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you don’t really go topless to meetings where you’re asking people to take you seriously.”
“Of course, I’m kidding,” he said, not entirely convincingly. “I know how to dress, Isabella. That’s pretty much the only thing I feel like I do know right now.”
I stared at him. “Okay, let me have it. What’s wrong with you? We can’t work if you’re going to act like a pouty, argumentative teenager. Don’t even try telling me there’s nothing going on. I’m not going to spend the next hour dragging it out of you.”
“Fine.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair, finally looking at me instead of his fucking screen.
Jeez. This must be what parenting a tween feels like these days. Is the screen really that interesting?
“A bunch of my friends from college have weddings coming up. Meanwhile, I’m still as single as I was the day we arrived on campus, but I have to be the best man four times over.”
My brows swept up. “That’s what you’re pouting about? Seriously?”
“Seriously.” He gave me a mournful look. “I don’t even have a date. Do you have any idea how sad that is? I’ve been trying to tell myself that it’s because I’ve been so focused on work, but my thoughts keep going back to how pathetic it is that I’ll be showing up alone to every single wedding. I’ve been so careful about not getting involved with anyone that I don’t even have a person I see casually to ask to come with me.”
Translation: he’s one of those guys who never sleeps with the same girl twice, lest she takes him fucking her more than once as a sign that he wants to date her. It was such a cliché, but I supposed it was effective. At least women knew what they were getting into with him before they got into it.
“If I get you a date right here, right now, can we get back to work?”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “I don’t see how you’re going to do that, though. There are no women in here.”
“I’ma woman,” I said emphatically. “If you’re this distracted over it, I’ll be your date to those weddings, provided that we can work now and that you agree to find time to work during them. Too much time off will derail our brand relaunch date.”
Shit. I couldn’t believe I’d really just suggested that, but I was desperate to get his head in the game. If this was what it took to get it there, then I’d dust off a cocktail dress and go with him. Besides, it had been a long time since I’d been to a wedding.
It might just be a tiny bit of fun.