The easy way with which he dismissed my ideas made me angry. My arousal washed away beneath my cold fury. Maybe he would never be interested in me as a woman, but he was damn well going to learn to respect me as a colleague, no matter how young I was.
“When are you going to set me up to meet with some clients?” I asked.
He shrugged. “When I think you’re ready.”
“And when will that be? I know all the markets and all the strategies. Why did you even hire me if you didn’t actually want my input?”
His eyes narrowed. “I hired you for your potential. But I don’t think you have what it takes to work with clients. Not yet anyway.”
“How am I ever going to be ready if you don’t give me a chance to actually work with clients? I’ll never learn anything just sitting in this cubicle.”
He seemed to consider it for a second. I sat watching him, my heart fluttering in my chest. I couldn’t believe the way I’d just spoken to him. It was so unlike me, but dammit, it was tired of not being taken seriously. From the other people in the office, I could bear it, but from my uncle who I cared so much about, it was too much.
“You’re right,” he said finally. “Maybe it is time for you to get some field experience.” He tapped a finger to his lips. “I think I know just the client. He’s a mean son of a gun and a tough sell. He will not go easy on you. I’ll set it up for tonight.”
Excitement rushed through me. “Trial by fire, huh?”
He grinned. “You have no idea.”
***
I looked at myself in the mirror, holding up different outfits that I thought might work for tonight. Nothing seemed right.
I wanted to look professional and more mature than my youthful looks suggested, but I also wanted to dress a little bit sexy. Any advantage in a business situation would help, and there was nothing wrong with charming someone with my physical appearance.
I would dazzle him with my looks and then knock him out with my business savvy. It was a one-two punch that would get any client thrilled to work with me. I figured it would be a nice change from the stuffy middle-aged men that filled the halls of Blake Financial.
Of course, I didn’t want to dress too sexy. I wasn’t a slut trying to sell my ass on the street. The outfit had to look classy, too.
I finally found just the right dress. It was the perfect little black dress that would look at home in the board room or the ball room. It showed off just the right amount of cleavage and clung to my hips suggestively without being too tight.
***
My hands were shaking as I rode the elevator up the to penthouse of a swanky downtown building. The doorman had called ahead to announce my arrival, and my mystery client had him send me up.
Alexander had told me it was going to be a business dinner at the client’s home. I knew we worked with some high class business types, but I never expected my first client to be someone so obviously wealthy.
I was starting to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew. My first client pitch should have been for a middle of the road investor, not someone like this.
But Alexander had said it would be a trial by fire. If I had to prove myself to him the hard way, I would do it. Nothing was going to stand in my way tonight. Not some mean old bastard or the fear gnawing at me.
This was my night to shine.
The elevator doors slid open, but instead of a hallway, it opened up directly into a stylish living room dripping with luxury. I stepped out onto the marble floor, my heels ringing out loudly in the silence.
The client was nowhere to be seen.
“Hello,” I called out, hating the nervous tone in my voice. This was no way to make a good impression.
A deep, baritone voice called out to me from somewhere out of sight. “I’m in the kitchen.”
He didn’t sound like a mean old man like Alexander had described. To be honest, he sounded young and kind of hot. Maybe tonight would go better than I expected.
I followed the voice through a doorway and my jaw dropped at what I saw when I entered the kitchen.
Chapter 3
Alexander was standing there looking at me. Just Alexander.
Just my uncle, looking mouth-wateringly sexy in an expensive tailored button shirt that hugged his broad shoulders deliciously and form fitting slacks that highlighted the bulge in his crotch.
He was older, but he wore those extra years well. The streaks of gray in his dark hair made him look regal and refined. He looked confident and in control as he gazed at me. His eyes roved over my body, seeming to approve of my choice of outfit.
“You look stunning,” he said.
I blinked in surprise. Did he really just say that to me?
The whole scene distracted me for a moment. Seeing him standing there in the soft light of the fancy kitchen was like my earlier fantasy come to life. I felt a warm tingling in my core, and my thighs slickened with lust.
The arousal I’d felt earlier was back. With all my excitement about getting a chance to meet with a client, I didn’t have time to take the edge off my raging sex drive. Of course, the whole things had been some kind of cruel trick.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, the anger clear in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“This is where I live,” he said with a smirk on his face.
“No it isn’t. I’ve been to your house before.”
“You’ve been to one of my homes, yes.” He gestured around him at the lush surroundings. “This is where I stay when I have to work late.”
“Fine, whatever,” I said. “But where’s the client? Is he meeting us here?”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “I am the client.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “You’re not a client. You’re… well… you’re you.”
“Yes, I am,” he said. “But like I said, you’re not ready to meet a real client.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “This is bullshit. Why did you have me come here if there’s no meeting?”
“There is a meeting. With me. Tonight, I don’t want you to think of me as your uncle. Tonight, I am your potential client. I’ve been looking for some new investment options, and I heard that you had some good ideas.”
“I didn’t come here to play games. This isn’t funny.”
“Do you see me laughing?” he asked. His face was dead serious. He was definitely not laughing.
“Now, are you going to sell me or not?” he asked.
My blood boiled. So this is what he brought me here for. A test. A stupid roleplaying scenario that we could have just done at the office.
Why all the mystery? Why all the theatrics?
He could have saved me all those hours of nervousness and anticipation if he’d just been honest with me.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to swallow my outrage like I always did. I was the good girl. I didn’t make waves. I didn’t complain, even when someone close to me tricked me for no reason.
But my rage would not disappear.
Fuck that, I thought. I should be angry. I was sick of being the good little girl. That was the reason he still saw me as a child who couldn’t hold her own in the big leagues.
Well, if he wanted to play games with me, I could play right
back. And I was going to play to win.
I stalked over to him, swaying my hips like an angry jungle cat. I closed the distance between us and stood with my face just inches from his.
He looked down at me with his eyebrows raised in an unspoken question.
“Well, Mr. Blake,” I said. “It’s a pleasure to meet such a handsome new client.”
He backed away from me until his hips banged against the counter behind him. “Carol, what are you doing?”