“Oh, good! You’re here,” said an older, somewhat grizzly gentleman seated behind Robert, dressed in a suit that I was sure cost more than six months of my rent. “Sure, new CEO was kept waiting a bit, but now that you’ve arrived, Madison, I suppose the meeting can commence.”
Most employees would have cringed, cried, or just fainted on the spot, but that was not Madison’s style. If anything, she seemed to miss the sarcasm completely and opted to take him at his word. “Quite right. Thank you, David.” With that self-assured affirmation, she sank into the nearest chair and kicked out the one beside her for me to sit in, never once losing her gracious smile. “I was just getting my new partner settled in. Perhaps you’ve already met.” She turned her eyes to Robert and shoved me forward. “Delilah Jones.”
Heaven curse the man who created hardwood floors, I secretly seethed, because Madison’s push sent me flying forward, with little chance of my heels grasping the waxed surface. I teetered precariously for a second, drunkenly attempting to maintain my balance, but in a blur of humiliation and betraying gravity, the floor flew out from under me. When I landed in a pair of cool arms and looked up into a pair of dark, familiar eyes, only one thought occurred to me: Robert.
Time seemed to suspend as we stared at each other. His arms wrapped firmly around my waist as the tips of my auburn hair brushed against the ground. The ruby he’d placed around my neck sparkled in the air between us, as if it recognized him, too, and for just one weird, random second, I was half-convinced that
he was going to kiss me right there on the spot, right in front of his underlings, if he didn’t preemptively fire me first.
Fortunately for me, he did neither. In fact, nothing really happened at all. Not one ounce of recognition flashed across his face. There was only surprise as he set me briskly back on my feet and stepped back to make a proper introduction while I teetered unsteadily in place, just wondering what to do.
How do I even greet a man who was inside me less than twenty-four hours ago, especially in a conference room full of my new co-workers? Should I simply pretend we’ve never met or—
Fortunately, I didn’t have to decide, because I could take my cue from him as he held out his hand, wore a polite and very business-like smile, and simply said, “Robert Cross. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
My eyebrows lifted slightly, but I reached out quickly to shake his hand. “Della Jones...and the pleasure’s all mine, sir.”
Our eyes locked for a split second, and a cascade of electric chills swept all the way down my body. I searched for some sign of recognition: a wink, a secret smile, or even a hint of that mischievous twinkle that had effectively peeled me down to naked on a rooftop the night before. Still, there was nothing, not one damn clue that man had any inclination who I was.
He released my hand swiftly, then returned to his chair, turning his attention politely to the older man who’d spoken up when we first entered. After a second or two of standing there stupidly, I hurried to my chair as well, fixing my eyes on the table in an effort to hide my burning blush.
How can this be happening? Does he really not remember me? Maybe he was drunker than I thought. Hell, maybe it didn’t really happen at all.
It was impossible to tell at that point. Of course the man was at work, and he just so happened to be a very vital member of his father’s company. Thus, he couldn’t exactly greet me the way he had before, and he certainly couldn’t have a sexy food fight with me at that moment. I had the nagging feeling, though, that there was more to it than that. For all I knew, he was married with kids, and he had hitmen on his payroll who would kill me if he knew I’d even breathed a word of what had transpired between us.
On the other hand, it didn’t feel that way at all. Instead, it was as if he genuinely didn’t remember. There wasn’t a trace of familiarity from him, not a single glimmer of acknowledgment. He looked at me as if he was honestly seeing me for the first time, in a way that again had me questioning just how drunk he was.
No, he couldn’t have been that drunk, I surmised, realizing that if he was that inebriated, he wouldn’t have been able to do half the things he did to me. So what the hell’s going on? Did he hit his head on something and catch amnesia overnight, or...
I felt Madison’s eyes on me but firmly ignored them, angling my body in such a way that I could peer discreetly at Robert out of the corner of my eye. He was definitely the same man, but there was something different about him too. The man sitting in the boardroom was crisp, more refined, a far cry from the casual, devil-may-care man I remembered. His suit was impeccable, every button firmly clasped, and his cufflinks were razor sharp, expensive baubles that glittered as he set his wrists on the table. The man I remembered was playful, into games, and I couldn’t understand why he was not acting the same way.
Because he’s at work, genius.
In spite of the fact that I knew better, I tried to catch his eye by leaning casually forward in my chair as the supervisor droned on with a bland lecture. In a true Sharon Stone Basic Instinct moment, I deliberately crossed my shapely legs as I tossed back my waves of long hair, then sat in a very specific way that would allow his eyes to fall on my jutted-out chest.
Robert just kept his full attention and his beautiful eyes on the speaker, completely immune to all other happenings in the room. Every now and then, he glanced at his pricy watch, as if he was anxious to get to many other pressing engagements, but never once did he turn his gaze to me. Never once did those eyes travel across the table to meet mine, to assure me that he remembered and that everything was going to be okay.
“Miss Jones?”
I returned to the present with a jump and a gasp, mortified to have been caught off guard on my very first day.
Madison kicked me sharply under the table as the old man who had been speaking offered me a gnarled approximation of a smile.
“I trust Miss Montgomery is teaching you well,” he said dryly. “You flew in last night, correct? Isn’t this only your second day in our fair city?”
My mouth went dry even as my forehead moistened with small beads of sweat. “That’s right, sir.”
He nodded robotically and proceeded to recite the normal script. “And how do you like it thus far?”
Without my permission, my eyes flashed again to Robert, only to be disappointed once again. Although he was only sitting a few feet away, he wasn’t following the conversation; rather, he was staring down at a stack of papers in front of him, completely preoccupied and aloof.
“It’s...” I cleared my throat nervously and started again. “London has been great so far. Everyone has been very...welcoming.”
Yeah, so welcoming they like to rip off my panties and fuck me on a rooftop, even if he doesn’t fucking remember it or won’t admit it.
“Good,” David answered flatly. “I am confident that with Miss Montgomery’s training, you will be able to jump right into things.”
I managed to pull myself together enough to offer him a tight smile. “Yes, Madison and I have already gotten started.”