Pushing through my storm of emotions, I knocked on Ronny’s door and waited for his answer. The two seconds I stood in silence, inches away from the Patterson brothers, were agonizing.
“Come in,” Ronny called.
I let myself into the office, Devon and Aaron following close behind. “Mr. Pace,” I said as though I hadn’t been on a first name basis with Ronny since pre-K. “Aaron and Devon Patterson are here to see you.”
Ronny had pulled himself together and was the epitome of professionalism. He smiled as he stood and gestured to the two chairs in front of him. “Welcome, gentlemen,” he said. “Please, have a seat. Can my assistant get you anything? Coffee, water?”
Maybe a swift kick to the balls …
“No, thank you,” Aaron declined.
It was the first time I’d heard his voice since he’d arrived, and it sent shivers down my spine. He had the same commanding tone that had made me weak in the knees. My experience with him last night, and my knowledge of his reputation as a relentless negotiator, told me Ronny would need every ounce of self-confidence he had to keep from folding like a card table under Aaron’s demands.
I backed out of the room, eyes still on Aaron. He didn’t look at me again, only took one of the seats in front of Ronny’s desk and leaned back in it. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until I left the office and shut the door. I let out a shaky exhale and tried to still my racing heart.
Aaron Patterson had flirted with me. No, flirted was too soft a word. He had done much more than flirt. He had propositioned me. Even more than that, he had touched me. And I had let him. I had shamelessly flirted with the wealthiest man in New York. More importantly, I had almost slept with the man who could destroy my cousin’s career.
I had work to do, but I couldn’t bring myself to focus. As the meeting dragged on, I sat at my computer, blankly staring at the screen. I tried to think about what I would do or say when Aaron came out of that office.
So far, silence had worked in my favor, and maybe if I pretended last night hadn’t happened, he would forget about it. I was out of my element here. I had no idea what I should do in this situation. I had no idea what I wanted to do. All I knew was that he would be standing in front of me again very soon.
“Hey, girlie, you okay?”
I looked up to see Caroline standing by my desk. She had been the first person I’d met when I started working here, and we had become close friends. In fact, I’d called her and told her what had happened last night as soon as I had taken care of Ronny. Caroline had been ecstatic. She had even tried to convince me to go back to the bar, but I had refused.
“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” I told her. “Just feeling a little … off.”
“Are you sure?” Caroline asked, hopping onto the edge of my desk and crossing her long legs. She was wearing a skirt that was definitely too short for the office, but she had paired it with a fuzzy cream-colored sweater to tone down the sexy. “You seem a little pale, and I don’t think you’ve blinked in thirty seconds.”
“No, I’m fine,” I insisted. “Just zoned out for a moment.”
“I don’t blame you,” Caroline said. “I zoned out when he walked in, too.”
Alarmed, I kept my voice cool. “What do you mean?”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “A hot man just walked by, that’s what I mean. I’ll have some of that, yes, please!”
Paranoia gone for the moment, I allowed myself to laugh at her rampant thirst. Caroline was unrepentantly man crazy, and it was endearing on days when she hadn’t set her sights on a target I was more tangled up with than I would have liked to be.
“You do know who that is, right?” I asked. “Aaron Patterson? The man who owns our largest competitor?”
Caroline didn’t seem to care. She shrugged, gnawing on a thumbnail painted the palest petal pink. “That makes it better.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “You should get back to your desk.” I laughed. “If Ronny catches you hanging around my desk again, he’ll throw a fit.”
“I see what you’re doing,” Caroline accused with a smirk. “You want him all to yourself.”
“Ronny doesn’t play for our team, Care. Also, he’s my cousin. Gross.”
“Not him.” Caroline waved away my teasing, her long nails glinting in the fluorescent light. “Patterson. The first truly magnificent specimen to step foot in here in months and you try to shoo me away. I see what game you’re playin’.”
I tried to keep my face neutral. She was teasing. Of course she was teasing. She had no idea he was the one I’d met last night, and, at that point, there was no way I was going to tell her.
“You know if I wanted to call dibs, I would tell you to your face,” I teased. “Trust me—this is purely work related.”
Caroline chuckled as she hopped down from my desk. “I swear, you’re part machine,” she said. “Even you have to admit you’d take a piece of that if you had the chance.”
She had no idea how close I had been to doing just that the night before. Well, she did on some level.
“If I’m part machine, I don’t need a man,” I shot back. “I already have all the tools I need.”
Caroline laughed and walked away, hips swaying. Her appreciation of my joke made me shake my head, an affectionate smile on my face. Caroline was something else.
I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice the door to Ronny’s office open.
“We need to talk,” said a deep voice.
The lingering smile from my conversation with Caroline was gone in an instant. I swiveled around in my chair and looked up into Aaron’s dark eyes. He was looking at me as if he had every right to be there, as if he was doing me a courtesy by speaking to me.
I pursed my lips. “I’m working,” I said in a low voice. I wasn’t on the fence about what to do about Aaron and my near tryst anymore. His attitude had just decided for me.
“I didn’t ask.”
“You’re right, you didn’t. But that’s beside the point. Even if you had asked politely, the answer would still be no.”
Aaron didn’t seem amused. He glanced around, almost as if he were checking to see if we were being watched. Thankfully, we weren’t. Everyone’s cubicles prevented them from seeing me unless they tried, and Caroline had already disappeared into the elevator. It was just the two of us.
Aaron moved closer to my desk, resting the fingertips of one hand on it. It was a small, possessive gesture, one that irritated me all the more. This was my space in my office at the company I worked for. He had no right.
“We … need … to talk,” he said slowly as if I hadn’t heard him the first time.
“I don’t think we do, actually.” I kept my voice icy and professional. “There’s nothing to talk about unless you, Mr. Pace, and Mr. Patterson require my services for the meeting. That, I would be happy to help you with.”
I was a liar. There was a lot to talk about, and there was no way I would help him with anything—even the meeting. But, I didn’t want to make a scene in front of my coworkers. I certainly wasn’t going to talk to him because he demanded it—I could be just as stubborn as he was when I put my mind to it.