She waved her hand. "Who's this? You're pretty. Why are you so pretty?"
I shifted in my seat. The way Lila Kensington was staring at me like I was lunch made my stomach heave, but I held her gaze. “I’m Rian Beaumont. I’m new, but I’m familiar with the workings of the Kensington account.”
She lifted a brow. “Well, isn’t she eager?”
“Tell me about it,” Ollie muttered.
For the rest of the meeting, the two of them chatted, more than happy to ignore me. There was something else too. There was a tinge to their chatter. Something in the way she cocked her head when Ollie was speaking.
He provided Lila with all the information she needed with me trying to interject things like current costs, projections, even the fun bubbly stuff like marketing, but she was more interested in Ollie and his weekend plans.
She only had eyes for Ollie, questioning where he was from, where he'd gone to school, etc. Yes, yes, fine. He was very handsome. I had eyes. It wasn't that I couldn't see how gorgeous he was. I could. But I could also see the boy I used to know. The one I knew better than to trust. I could see all of it. All of him.
"Miss Kensington, perhaps if you could just look over the projections we have, you would understand that we need—"
She held a hand up. “That is enough. When can you provide me with the new budget?”
That was when Oliver set his jaw. “The budget remains the same. Before we can move forward, you’ll need to review it with a fine-tooth comb.”
When the meeting ended with Lila not bending an inch and barely taking a glance at the reports I'd painstakingly put together, I was in a mood.
So when we went down to wait for a taxi, I didn't say a word. Ollie just chuckled. "Oh, come on now, you're not going to be upset when I got the client at least willing to look at your dumb reports, are you?"
"Is this a joke to you? I’m trying to learn."
He shrugged. "This is deadly serious. What you will learn is that in the end, Lila isn’t running the show. Her father is. But he sees her as a gatekeeper. Now that we’ve chatted with her, we’ll finally get to deal with the old man. He’s making all the decisions."
"You could have told me that.”
"Where would be the fun in that?” he said with a smirk.
Five
Rian
Miriam stared at me as I recounted the story of my day. "Wait, so you know him from your past?"
I took a large gulp of my wine. "Yup. And to make matters worse, he’s just as good looking as I remember. He’s more arrogant than he ever was, and now he’s a total dick. Though, if I’m being fair, that means he was a total dick then. I just didn’t know it until later."
Miriam was parked cross-legged on my mustard yellow Moroccan rug right in front of me. " How do you know him again?"
I sipped the rest of my wine until I drained my glass. "I used to date his brother."
She lifted a brow. “And...”
Her voice trailed. “And nothing. That's it.”
“That’s a load of shite. No one has that kind of visceral reaction to someone unless they used to shag them.” Her gaze narrowed. "Oh my God, you boned your boyfriend's brother."
A wash of heat crept up my neck. "No, I did not bone my boyfriend's brother. It's just... We…had this moment once."
Her jaw hung open. "No way! You are a dark horse, and I think I'm living for this. He sounds super sexy."
"He is not sexy. God. The fact that I ever pegged him as sexy makes me want to throw something. Forget breaking your heart, he’s the kind of guy you end up in jail for.” I didn’t elaborate.
She practically hugged her glass of wine to her chest. “Those are the best ones. My mum used to say every woman needs at least one of those in her life. A sexy bad boy who could blow it all up. To love and be loved that way is the thrill ride of a lifetime. Granted, she also says you can't keep those kinds of blokes. You eventually marry for more enduring love because that kind of fire will incinerate you or burn out quick.”
I poured myself another glass of wine. “Your mum is right about the incineration part.”
"Okay, so you emotionally banged once. Which meant that you probably were emotionally banging long before that."
"No, we were not. He hated me. I’d walk into a room and he’d leave. He was so bloody hostile all the time. Always watching and judging. But that night I needed a rescue. I’d broken up with Max and he abandoned me in the rain with no way home. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do, and then Ollie showed up.”
Miriam’s mouth hung open. “Oh my god. This is so hot. He just turned up?”
“Yeah. He was worried. Picked me up off the Highstreet. Saving me from bad decisions. Took me home, dried my hair. He was campaigning for knighthood or something. He made it seem like he’d always wanted me but couldn’t show me. And then he kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before or since.” I glanced down at my hands, remembering how firm his had been. Strong, but capable. Had I ever felt like that again?
“That is so sexy. I swear you are like my walking, talking soap opera.”
"I’m not trying to be I promise you. Except today, I started my new job and he’s the one training me. And let me tell you, he looks just as good now as he did then.”
Miriam leaned forward. “Talk to me. Like how hot is he?”
I considered this as I took another sip of my wine. I had to get the description just right. “He’s like Henry Cavill and Theo James had a baby.”
“Good Lord. Isn’t that kind of good looking too much to bear?”
“No. Because I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was more reeling that he pretended not to know me, then dragged me into the supply closet to tell me to go back to America.”
She lifted a brow. "Wow, that is an extreme response."
"Yeah, you think? And then he kissed me."
Miriam settled her glass on top of the coffee table and then sat back, full proper yoga pose, and stared at me. "Wait a minute, you're telling me this hottie from your past, whose brother you just happened to shag, kissed you? Again? As in just hours ago?"
"Actually, we never shagged. Me and Max, I mean. We did other stuff, sure. But I was only sixteen then. We didn’t really go all the way."
"How old was he?"
I winced. "Twenty-one."
She blinked. "You must have been really good at the other stuff, because what kind of bloke would have kept you if you were just doing other stuff, you know?"
I covered my face as I howled with laughter. "Yeah well, that's not the point. I need your help staying focused on the Wexler boy in front of me."
"Okay, so tell me what happened in full detail. Leave nothing out." She grabbed a handful of popcorn and munched loudly.
"Okay, I was leaving a meeting, and out of nowhere he snatched my arm and pulled me into a storage closet."
She moaned low. "Hot already."
"Then he's all angry in my face, saying we should pretend to not know each other which, yes, is sort of bullshit because he’s the one who ruined my life."