Chapter Ten
Mason
I watched as Saylor walked away from me and out of my office. I wanted to stop her and demand that she tell me what in the hell was going on in that pretty little head of hers. But I already knew.
There was no denying we were attracted to each other. I also knew Saylor had just gotten out of what seemed like a bad relationship and the last thing she probably wanted was to jump into one with a guy who didn’t do relationships.
Wait. What in the living fuck? I’m not interested in a relationship. I’m interested in Saylor, yes. But dating?
I laughed out loud.
“Fuck that.”
Sinking down into my chair, I let out a groan.
Who in the hell am I kidding? I couldn’t stop thinking about Saylor. From the first moment she ran into me, spilled her damn hot tea all over, she was pretty much all I thought about.
I loved her smart-ass mouth and how she treated me like an equal, yet respected my position as her boss. She was smart and not afraid to speak up when she thought something was off or she had an idea. And damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell.
My head fell back against the seat. Why did Saylor come into my life now? When I’m right where I want to be career-wise. When I need to be focusing on said career and helping to build Tate and Cane and make it the best it can be.
Turning my chair, I stared out over the city I had only just recently moved to. I had been to New York City plenty of times for work and to visit Sterling and my brother. It was one of my favorite places to be. The hustle and bustle of all of it was like a cheap thrill.
So why, all of sudden, did it feel like I was completely and utterly alone?
***
“Mr. Quinn? Your meeting is in fifteen minutes.”
Hitting the button on my phone, I replied, “Thank you, Ashley.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
I leaned back in my chair and tapped the pen on my desk as I let my thoughts move to the meeting I had in a few minutes. It had been over a week since I had taken Saylor to the housewarming party. She hadn’t tried to avoid me during the week, but something was clearly off. She seemed distracted.
My cell buzzed to remind me of the meeting. Saylor was presenting her campaign for the Jameson people, and I knew from reviewing what she had sent over earlier that she was going to knock it out of the park. Maybe I needed to put her on the damn protein bar account.
Picking up the file folders on my desk, I headed to the conference room. When I walked in, I was surprised to see Olivia sitting there.
“Olivia, I’m glad you’re able to sit in on the presentation.”
She nodded and gave me a polite smile. “I’d like to see Saylor in action.”
Great. Now Saylor was going to think I had something to do with Olivia being here.
Next through the door was Saylor. Her smile never faltered as she made her way into the room.
“Mrs. Tate, I’m so glad you were able to accept my invitation to join the presentation today.”
I was positive my eyes popped out of my head. Saylor had asked her to be here? What in the hell for?
“Before the Jameson people get here, I wanted to speak with you both. I know I’ve only been at Tate and Cane for a few weeks now, but I’ve noticed something that I think needs to have both of your attention drawn to it. As you both know, before I came to Tate and Cane I worked in the same position as Mr. Quinn, so with that being said, since I’ve come to Tate and Cane I’ve probably gone above and beyond trying to get to know everyone. In the process of doing so, I’ve discovered something disturbing.”
Olivia and I glanced at each other and then back to Saylor.
“I believe Jenn Peterson and Robert Lang are purposely sabotaging some of your accounts.”
“What?” Olivia asked in a surprised tone while leaning forward.
“What makes you think that?” I asked, just as surprised.
Saylor checked her watch then cleared her throat. “That first meeting where you called them out on the presentation is when I first noticed. When I saw the work they presented, I was just as stunned as you. I didn’t expect something like that from a team of such experienced people. So I started to dig around a bit and after a few phone calls and favors asked, I found out Jenn and Robert are looking into starting their own marketing firm.”
My blood instantly started to boil, and for one brief moment, I thought Olivia was going to jump up and search out Jenn and Robert to strangle them.
Instead, she leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Is that so?”
Saylor nodded.
“Those motherfuckers,” I said, not so quietly.
The phone in the conference room buzzed, and Lynn informed us that the Jameson people were here.
Clearing her throat, Olivia looked my way, “We’ll discuss this later, for now, let’s get our rum hats on.”
And did we ever get them on! Saylor presented her marketing plan for the brand, and I could tell by the smiles on the faces of the Jameson people that she had knocked it out of the park. Not only was the old man and CEO of the company here, but his son, Joshua Jameson, was as well. He was slated to take over the company in the next few months when the father retired.
“Well, Ms. Night, I have to say I think this marketing campaign is fresh and new. I can picture these ads now, and I have to say, we’re excited about this joint venture with Tate and Cane.”
Saylor smiled. “And we’re just as excited Mr. Jameson. It’s been a pleasure and an honor.”
Oh yeah, she knew how to work these men. It was then I really looked her over. I started at the red high heel shoes and then let my gaze move slowly up her perfect legs. Next, came the sleek black dress that hugged her hips in the most delicious way. My dick jumped as I thought about running my tongue over her hardened nipples. Moving my gaze up more, I swallowed hard. There was the perfect hint of the swell of her breasts showing. Enough to make my cock rock hard, and it left me wanting to see more. My eyes snapped up to see her smiling as she spoke with Mr. Jameson. She had a very light shade of pink on her lips. The rest of her makeup was how she always wore it: light and natural looking. The whole package was finished off with that blonde hair pulled up into a stylish ponytail, a few loose strands curled and framed her face.
Fucking hell. She was breathtaking.
“Quinn?”
Olivia’s voice pulled my eyes away from Saylor.
“Yes.”
She stood there smiling at me. “I’m impressed. Your call on hiring Saylor was spot on. Good job.”
I forced a grin. “I’m glad we were able to convince her to join Tate and Cane.”
Olivia nodded. “So am I. I have another meeting to get to, tell Saylor I said good job.”
“Will do,” I said as I walked Olivia over to the door. “Tell Noah I said hi.”
She simply smiled and slipped out of the conference room after telling the older Mr. Jameson she was glad to see he was pleased with the ad campaign.
When I looked back over to Saylor, I froze. Joshua Jameson was standing practically on top of her, his eyes looking into hers with the fakest smile I’d ever seen spread over his face. He said something that made Saylor laugh and my fists instinctively balled together.
What was this asshole playing at? If he thought he was getting in Saylor’s panties, he had another think coming. Saylor causally took a step back and glanced my way. The last thing I wanted her to see was me pissed off because another man was hitting on her. I smiled and gave her a head nod as if saying well done.
Saylor turned back to Joshua, and her smile grew bigger. Turning to the old man, I extended my hand to his. “Mr. Jameson, I’m glad we’re going to be working together.”
He simply grinned. “As am I young man. I see my son is a little taken by Ms. Night.”
Glancing that way, I forced a smile.
“I’m sure Joshua will want to work closely along side Ms. Night to make sure the ad campaign stays on track.”
I swung my eyes back to the old man. “I’m sure we’ll be able to handle that just fine without Joshua having to get too involved.”
The old man hit me on the shoulder and gave me a wink, “Let’s call a spade a spade here son, shall we. She’s pretty. He noticed. Let’s hope he behaves himself.”
My mouth dropped slightly open. This man was actually going to allow his son to hit on Saylor. The man who currently sat under the CEO of their company.
I forced a smile. “I believe you’ll find Ms. Night to be very professional and deserving of the utmost respect.”
The asshole chuckled. I knew a lot of men like this. The older suits who believed that the women working alongside them were not as qualified to even be in the same room as them, let alone running the show. To them, they were nothing but a pussy waiting for them to have fun with while their poor wives sat at home thinking they were in a late-night meeting. “Working overtime” when what they were really doing was fucking the receptionist and making plans to screw some other woman in the office.
“I’ve found, in my experience, most of these women use their bodies to get what they want.”
My anger was growing. Usually, I would ignore these types of comments and change the subject, but like everything else that had to do with Saylor, I wasn’t acting like my normal self.
“Are you saying you only liked the ad campaign because of Ms. Night’s nice body?”
Shit. I just treated Saylor exactly like this fucker.
“No, no, of course not, Quinn. This one actually has a head sitting on top of that nice body.”
For Christ’s sake.
“Dad, I’d like to formally introduce you to Ms. Saylor Night. Saylor, this is my father, Dudley Jameson.”
Saylor reached her hand out to shake Mr. Jameson’s when he took it and kissed the back of her hand.
“Well, I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Saylor responded.
I glared at the old man and then at Joshua. His hand was resting on Saylor’s lower back. I wanted to grab him and pound his fucking face into the ground for touching my girl.
My girl? What?
All the air in my body left at once and I took a few steps back to steady myself.
Holy shit.
I was falling for Saylor. Lacing my hand through my hair, I dragged in a deep breath. Then I felt it. An instant bolt of energy ripped through my body when Saylor touched me.
“Mason, are you okay?”
I couldn’t speak. Hell, I could hardly breathe. When my eyes met hers, I forced air in and out of my lungs.
There was no way I was falling for Saylor.
No. I’m attracted to her, and I know I can’t have her. That’s all this is.
Her eyes looked worried. “Mason? What’s wrong?”
“I am, I haven’t eaten since early yesterday and haven’t gotten a lot of sleep. It’s caught up to me.”
Her brows pulled together as she continued to study me.
“So I guess you won’t be joining us for dinner later then?” Joshua said, wearing a smirk on his face.
“No. I won’t.”
Saylor’s expression turned sad. As if she was disappointed I wouldn’t be joining them later.
“We’ll miss you,” she softly said.
Finally getting my damn wits about me, I flashed her a smug grin. “I’m sure you won’t even notice I’m not there.”
Turning to Joshua and his father. “Gentlemen, it was a pleasure. If you’ll excuse me, I have other meetings to attend to. Saylor will make sure you’re seen out.”
Not bothering to look back at Saylor, I walked out of the conference and stalked back to my office.
Walking by Ashley, I said, “I don’t want to be disturbed by anyone.”
Nodding, she replied, “Yes, Mr. Quinn.”