It was clear that Meara was the object of affection. Sam could very well harbor resentment toward all of us. I didn’t want that to be the case. There had to be a way to resolve the conflict in a friendly manner. Maybe Sam would accept a referral to another agency or a pay raise or some other mutually beneficial arrangement. Maybe she would be cool with it after I explained. All I knew was that problem had to be dealt with, although not right at that moment.
I stood up, allowing Sam to resume her spot in her own cubicle. Looking down at Meara, I gave her a smile. She couldn’t argue with me about money with an intruder in the room. She would just have to accept the dress I’d bought for her and wear it like I asked her to. We both knew I’d won, and even though I couldn’t celebrate, I walked out of the office feeling ten feet tall.
That night, I knew I’d made the right choice. I was the first to arrive, followed by Kent and Sean. We had less than a minute to ourselves before the clients showed up. Sean and I both congratulated Kent on his successful mission with Meara.
“Was it everything you expected?” I asked.
“Everything and more,” he said with a grin.
Sean slapped him on the shoulder, and that was as far as we got. Our original client walked in through the door, bringing the fresh meat with him. They were both good ol’ boys, chunky and sunburned. They looked like Texas oil barons, out of place in Chicago. I didn’t care; all I could see were dollar signs.
We stood up to welcome them to our table. There was a wealth of hand shaking and laughter. It was a good start to the evening, although I knew that it could take a wrong turn any moment. Based off first impressions, I thought Kent would probably be the right person to handle this new account. It was a lot of responsibility to give him and that made me nervous. Maybe we should take charge of this one together. That way if anyone ran into trouble, the other would be there to bail him out. That was if the client gravitated toward either one of us. He could very well decide that Sean was the man for him, throwing all of my careful calculations out the window.
We wasted no time asking for the waiter, but when Meara made her entrance, all extemporaneous activity ceased. She was stunning. The dress I’d picked out for her was the perfect size. It hugged her curves and accented her hips and her breasts. Every single inch of her looked dazzling, set off by the perfect color and cut of the fabric.
The new client sucked breath through his teeth, appreciating the vision. Jealousy flared in my vision. Oddly absent when it came to my partners, seeing another man lay eyes on her was almost too much to take. I wanted her to look beautiful for me, Sean, and Kent, but as far as the clients were concerned, I didn’t need their approval.
I stood up to usher her to the table. The rest of the men stood as well, watching with envy as I pulled out a chair for her. It was all I could do not to touch her. The butter-soft way the silk draped over her skin cried out to me. It promised hours of pleasure and would have been much better suited to a date night rather than a business dinner.
She’d brought a little clutch purse with her and set it on the table. No one offered her a hand to shake, but I could see that Sean and Kent were torn just as I was. If we weren’t in the middle of a fancy restaurant, I could easily see the four of us getting it on right then.
“This is Meara.” I cleared my throat. “She’s the one who got us this reservation.”
“You keep these three in line?” the new client asked her with a knowing smile.
“I try,” she answered.
“She makes coming to work a dream,” I said, giving away as much of our arrangement as I was comfortable doing.
“I’ll bet,” the client replied.
“Down to business?” Sean suggested.
We all took our seats, five wolves and one angel in our midst. It was the longest dinner ever.