3
PARKER
Sitting in my office above the gym, I still had a pretty good view of the floor below. When we’d done the renovations, they’d installed floor-to-ceiling windows for the admin wing on the mezzanine level. I fucking loved it. Being able to watch the members do their thing from up here kept me motivated.
Feeling a little like a king overlooking his kingdom, I smiled before looking back down at the numbers in front of me. On my computer screen was a spreadsheet that gave me a snapshot of the state of the company.
Things were definitely looking up, but if the business kept growing, I wouldn’t have the infrastructure in place to handle the growing numbers much longer. I’d had two more franchise applications this week and three the week before.
At this rate, I was headed for an inevitable implosion. It was what I’d been scared of right from the start. I hadn’t made any moves until I’d thought I was ready, but it seemed I’d miscalculated. Mostly because I’d expected to have an offer on the table by the time I got to this point.
Sighing, I shut my eyes and dragged in a deep breath.I need to sell and soon.
If I didn’t, that implosion would almost certainly take out the entire franchise. Unless I could find a way to pull up on the reins and stop the growth from happening, but that felt counterproductive in its own way.
It was a catch-22. If I deliberately slowed the trajectory we were on, the company wouldn’t be as attractive to potential investors. If I didn’t, I risked wiping it all off the map before any of said investors ever took me seriously enough to give me an offer I deserved. Not even deserved but needed.
Ever since Nash had mentioned that consultant, I’d started pinning more and more of my hopes of survival on him. I hadn’t even met him yet, but I was already banking on him having the knowledge I didn’t to somehow make this work.
Crystalizing a brand.I still wasn’t entirely clear on what that meant, but I’d been doing some research to prepare for my meeting with the consultant later today. As I glanced at my phone, the appointment reminder popped up.
Ten minutes.
A shot of adrenaline raced through me. I hadn’t realized it had gotten so late.In ten more minutes, I’ll get to see whether I was right to have counted on this guy for a way out.
If I hadn’t been, I was fucked. I wouldn’t give up, but I had no idea where I’d go from there. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
Nash seemed to have a lot of confidence in this guy, and he wasn’t the type to try to blow hot air. If he had thought the consultant could help, I doubted my faith in him was misplaced. All that remained was to see if he would be able to help me achieve my goal and bank a billion.
My thoughts were interrupted when my assistant did a double-tap at my door before opening it. He peeked in and gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry to disturb, but your two o’clock is here. She’s a few minutes early, so I can ask her to wait if you need to wrap up first.”
She? My brows twitched up in surprise. I didn’t mind, obviously, but I’d assumed Nash’s friend was male for some reason.
Shaking my head, I rolled away from my desk and stood up. “We’re all good. Show her in.”
He nodded, pulling away from the door to do as I asked. I heard his voice from the other side of the door, telling her that I was ready and that she could come in.
A few seconds later, I did a double-take when the door opened wider and a stunning woman appeared at the threshold. I’d been surprised to find out the friend was a girl, but it was nothing compared to how I felt now that I was seeing her.
Red-gold hair tumbled to her waist, the front bits secured away from her gorgeous heart-shaped face by two neat rows of plain black clips. She was taller than most women I knew, but she was still under six feet. Since I was six-four, the first place my mind went to was that we’d fit together well for kissing purposes.
Which was ridiculous but she was hot. I would never apologize for noticing a beautiful woman.
Bright blue eyes stared back at me, taking me in the same as I was doing to her. They weren’t just blue, though. They were sharp, intelligent. Immediately creating the impression that she was here for a job and that she knew how to do it.
Maybe Nash had been right to be so confident in her abilities to help me.
Despite her height, she stood tall and didn’t try to cower to make herself seem smaller. She even wore heels, which I liked since most taller girls I’d known tended to avoid them. Her chin was high and proud, her spine straight, and her navy jacket and pencil skirt on point.
Without her even saying a word, I knew she was a consummate professional. Probably painstakingly so. The only hint that she was as human as the rest of us was a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
They were cute, not that I’d ever tell her that. If there was one thing I was good at, other than my job, it was reading people. And this girl might be gorgeous, but I knew instinctively that she was the type who preferred to be noticed for her brains over her looks.
Since she was here for work, that was exactly what I needed. I couldn’t help but wonder about her as a person, though. Who she was when she wasn’t being a corporate warrior. My best guess was that she was nice but guarded. Friendly but not overly so.
Realizing that we were venturing into the territory where things would start getting awkward if neither of us said something soon, I stepped forward and offered her my hand. “Parker Holmes. Thank you for coming in, Ms. Atkins. I appreciate you taking the time.”
For some reason, she seemed mildly surprised by me. Shaking it off, she reached out, placed her hand in mine, and shook it. “Isabella, please. It’s nice to meet you, Parker. I must admit, Nash didn’t give me a lot of details about what it is you need. You’re going to have to fill in a whole lot of blanks for me, if you don’t mind.”