“Can you get me the spreadsheet for the quarterly projected incomes?” Kat asked Renee, changing the subject back to work. “I think if we add it to page seventeen with another graph, we can make the profit margin more clear.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Renee replied, her mind obviously still on Kat’s love life.
Kat did her best not to sigh. It was time to work. She turned her cell phone to silent and reluctantly tucked it into her desk drawer. It was time to work without distractions and try to forget entirely about a guy that wouldn’t call.
13
AJ
AJ rubbed his temples and considered getting another cup of coffee. He had spent the morning trying to find information on Kat again, and it had gone nowhere. He knew he needed to just accept the fact that he wasn’t going to find her. He had done everything in his power to find the woman, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
He figured that, if he didn’t let this go, it would eventually drive him mad. AJ was a billionaire CEO. He had built a company from the ground up. Now that he was at the top, he was used to getting what he wanted. And he wanted her. Or at least her phone number. There wasn’t a problem that he couldn’t find a solution for, especially now that he had basically unlimited funds.
The fact that he couldn’t even figure out who this girl was seemed to make all of his money and power feel worthless.
The intercom on his desk buzzed, breaking his train of thought.
“Sir, your first appointment is here,” his secretary informed him over the speaker.
AJ scrubbed his face with his hands and tried to clear his thoughts. It was time for work.
“Give me three minutes and then send him in,” he replied, hitting the intercom button with more force tha
n he was intending.
He chugged down half the cup of coffee as he logged into his computer and pulled up the proposal. Usually, he would have already looked over the information on the meeting by now, but he had been up late dealing with lawsuit issues and had never gone back to the email after getting distracted by the ‘Yours Truly.’”
Luckily, his secretary had left him a summary of what the meeting would be about. He made a mental note to give her a raise as he looked over her report. E. Ryder from one of the logistics divisions had a plan to utilize inventory more effectively by renting out items that weren’t selling.
It was a great idea. For the first time in weeks, AJ felt his energy for work coming back. He set his coffee down and re-read the summary. He’d need to actually hear the proposal and have some questions answered, but if it was half as good as he suspected it could be, he’d be happy to have it put in motion.
His brain started coming up with questions regarding pricing, shipping, contingencies and all the other details that would need to be in place before approving a program like this. It felt amazing to be working on something other than the legal issues of his company. If nothing else, this would be a great distraction from the things in his life he couldn’t control.
Excited energy infused him. He stood from the desk and went to the big window looking out over the city. He wasn’t looking at the waterfront or the tall buildings, rather letting his mind come up with questions to ask E. Ryder and ways to make this idea come to life.
His lips twitched into a smile at a knock on the door. AJ could tell a lot about a person by the way they knocked on his door. This one was strong and confident. AJ found himself liking this E. Ryder a little bit more.
The door opened and AJ turned to greet the person who would hopefully give him a fantastic business proposal.
Except it was her.
E. Ryder was Kat.
The woman he’d spent the last two weeks searching for just walked into his office with an appointment.
14
Kat
It’s him.
Katie’s heart sank with the weight of an anchor into the pit of her stomach and crashed there. Her throat tightened and for a moment she forgot to breath.
It’s really him. Immediately her mind began running at a breakneck pace. This couldn’t be true, no, she was dreaming. Her subconscious forced a momentary blink, only to once more reveal her one-night-stand staring at her not ten feet away.
Her hands clinched into a warm and sweaty fists. No wonder he never called! He’s a freaking CEO! I was in bed with the CEO. If I was a CEO, I wouldn’t call me back either!
Katie swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her. She felt trapped with the big door closed behind her. There was one large window near the back of the room where the shades had been let down, casting a dark and heavy shadow that made the room feel even smaller than it was.