I arrive at the Union Airlines office at 10 am sharp, taking the elevator straight to the floor where the CEO is. A spindly blonde secretary smiles as she sees me coming, and then she steps apologetically from behind her small reception desk.

"Ms. Kane will see you in a minute. She’s just wrapping up the first meeting of the day," she tells me in a happy tone, and then waves me to one of the plush chairs lining one of the walls. "If you’d be so kind to wait for a few minutes… Would you care for a coffee, Mr. Blake?"

"No, thanks. I’m fine," I tell her with a quick nod, and I’m about to sit down on one of the chairs when the door to the CEO’s office swings open. My blood freezes in my veins as I see a tall shadow reaching for me, its owner staring me down with a look of disdain.

"What the hell are you doin’ here, Lucas?" Ares breathes out, walking toward me with one arched eyebrow. "Did they hire you to fire everyone in this building? That’d be a shame…" he trails off, his eyes shamelessly tracing the contour of the secretary’s slender body. She flushes in a heartbeat, her white cheeks suddenly turning a violent red, and sits behind her desk as if she’s trying to hide from Ares’ piercing gaze.

"I can ask the same of you, Ares. What are you doing here? Trying to make a score with Union Airlines? I doubt the banks would loan you enough money to buy them out. There’s only so much debt you can take before you’re hunted down for fraud, you know?"

"Fraud?" he laughs, stuffing both his hands in his pockets and walking past me, his shoulder bumping against my own. "There’s only one fraud in this room, and it goes by the name of Lucas Blake."

My hands ball into fists of their own accord, but I just grit my teeth and let the anger wash over me. Our little stunt on live TV has already cost me more bad press than I care for, and I sure as hell won’t jeopardize a possible deal with Union Airlines just because I want to ram my fist into his face. Although, I’ll admit, I’m kinda tempted by it.

"You won’t get Union Airlines," I merely say, and Ares just offers me a sly grin that I can only translate as we’ll see about that. Yeah, he’s after the same thing I am—Union Airlines itself. It seems that we’re destined to cross paths.

We look into each other’s eyes for a long moment, but then I look away from him. I sigh as I hear his footsteps echo down the hall, and I try to push him out of my mind. I need to be on top of my game right now. Daphne Kane has built a name for herself in the industry, and I have no idea how she’s taking the latest news concerning her company. If I were in her shoes, I’d be fucking pissed right now.

Without a glance back at Ares, I straighten my tie and head into the CEO’s office, ready to start the negotiations. I close the door behind me and, the moment my eyes meet Daphne’s, I feel like I’ve been hit by lightning.

"Mr. Blake, is that right?" Daphne Kane asks me, sitting behind the huge oak desk that dominates her office; I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out of it. I knew that the CEO of Union Airlines was a hot young woman, but I had no idea how much better she would look once I saw her in the flesh. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman this beautiful.

Her hair cascades over her shoulders like golden silk, framing the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Her crimson lips are like rubies on her skin, and I can’t help but wonder how it’d feel to kiss them.

"That’s me," I finally manage to say, and she places both her hands on the desk and stands up to her feet. I stop breathing as my eyes go down her curves, her tight dress tracing the contour of her hips in such a way that I feel my cock twitching inside my pants. For a fraction of a second I imagine bending her over the desk while I pull down the zipper of her dress, baring the skin on her back while I reach for her breasts and --

Get a hold of yourself, Lucas, I chide myself, and then take one step forward and offer Daphne one hand. She shakes it—more strength in her grip than I expected—and then waves at the chair right in front of her before she sits back down.

"So, your plan, let’s hear it," she starts with a casual wave of her hand. Straight to business; I like that. It seems that there’s more to Daphne than just her looks. Although, if she’s as shrewd as she’s beautiful, buying Union Airlines might prove to be more of a challenge than I anticipated.

"Your little PR situation created a shit storm, as you’re well aware, and your profit margins have been taking quite a beating," I respond, trying to outline a coherent strategy while, at the same time, I try to pull my mind out of the gutter. "What I propose might not be easy, but it’s the long game I’m talking about in here. The way I see it, Union Airlines has to reduce all non-essential activities, go back to core routes and revamp its whole image; only then can it start thinking about building up its profitability again."

"Seems like you have it all figured out, Mr. Blake. Just like my last visitor said you would," she smiles, and I notice a provocateur edge to her words. No wonder, she just dropped Ares right in the middle of our conversation.

"I can assure you, whatever Ares has just told you, you can dismiss it. He only cares about lining his own pockets, and all he sees in Union Airlines is a buy-it-and-flip-it opportunity." Or worse—if I’m having this knee-jerk reaction to Daphne, I can only imagine how he felt when sitting across from her. If I know something about Ares it's that things tend to get messy when there’s a beautiful woman involved.

"Well, we’re too big for that. I figure Mr. Strong hardly has pockets deep enough to buy us out. And the same goes for you. Things might be bleak right now, but it’s not like our demise is so imminent that we’ll allow ourselves to be sold on discount. But, I’m curious, why do you see yourself as a good fit for Union Airlines?"

"I like challenges. And you sure as hell seem to have quite a tough one on your hands."

"My hands can handle quite a lot, Lucas," she says, casually lowering her voice and offering me an easy smile. She locks her hands together in front of her face, and my heart skips a beat as I imagine just exactly what her hands can handle.

"Maybe your hands will be too full with this particular challenge," I shoot straight back at her, leaning back against my chair and running my fingers down the length of my tie.

"No challenge is too big for me," she continues, that smile of hers driving me completely mad. Are we even talking about business anymore?

"I like a woman who talks like that," I reply, placing my elbows on her desk and leaning forward. "But more than just talk, I appreciate a woman who acts."

"Lucky for you, Lucas," my name slips out from between her lips like honey, and I find my cock twitching inside my pants once more, "I’m exactly that kind of woman."

One thing I can say for sure—she’s telling the truth. She’s the kind of woman who walks the talk.

And that means she’s trouble.