Chapter 1

“Robert, you know you could have handled this without me. I trust you.”

Drake had rushed from his house into the office mainly because of the panic he heard in Roberts' voice. It wasn’t very often that Robert lost control like that and Drake didn’t want to sit at home and try to figure out just what Robert was trying to say.

But once he got into the office, Drake realized that Robert was throwing a giant fit over an international client who had refused to deal directly with Robert. Clients were fickle creatures and especially the ones who were about to be taken over. They wanted to hold onto the last bit of control they had and if that meant they weren’t going to finish a deal unless Drake was in the room; that was exactly what would happen.

Drake had spent years dealing with people in the eleventh hour before a takeover and they always panicked and tried to exert their right to take up as much of his time as they possibility could. He wasn’t angry about it, but he wasn’t happy about it either.

“The client said he wouldn’t deal with me, only you. I’m not going to throw away a multi-million-dollar client without talking to you first. I would hope you wouldn’t do that to me either,” Robert said when he had finally calmed down.

“Alright, I’ll talk to the client. Get me a video conference going and the notes on his company.”

Drake was a professional and he knew that some other CEOs were not interested in dealing with anyone except him when they talked about contracts and deals. It was ridiculous though, because Robert probably knew more about the contracts than Drake could ever know. But it was all about the face of the organization and Drake was certainly the face of Leblanc Enterprises.

“Hello Mr. Sukimoto, it is nice to see you,” Drake said into the large television in his conference room.

“Mr. Leblanc, it is a pleasure to see you too. I have concerns about your buy-out contract and I would like to address each of them with you.”

Drake took in a deep breath as he looked at his watch, it was almost two in the morning and he was looking at a long night of contract negotiations. He wasn’t about to get stuck going through the whole contract alone.

“Certainly, Mr. Sukimoto, I’m going to invite my partner Robert to sit in with us on this. He was the one who drew up the contract so he will be best to answer any of our questions. Let’s get started.”

Robert came into the room and sat next to Drake, he made sure to flash an apology smile at Drake as they started to work on the contract. Robert knew Drake wasn’t the type of boss to get upset about things like that, but Robert still hated that he had called Drake all the way into the office in the middle of the night just to go over the contract that Robert had written.

“Item number one,” Mr. Sukimoto started. “I’d like to add a clause that states my name will be removed from all business identifications.”

“Of course,” Drake said as he looked at Robert and waited for him to write down what needed to be changed.

Contract negotiations were one of the things Drake dreaded the most. He had always thought email was a much better way to do the negotiations. The client could simply submit the changes they were requesting and then Robert would make the changes and get back to them if they had any other concerns.

Obviously, there were times when the clients wanted changes that Drake wasn’t willing to agree to and during those cases a teleconference was the perfect way to settle things.

But even then, Drake preferred in-person meetings when it came to contracts. It was much harder to argue about a small point if Drake was right there in the room with someone. He just had the ability to put people at ease and they wouldn’t argue with him very much.

Drake, Robert, and Mr. Sukimoto spent the entire evening together as they went line by line through the contract. There were some areas where it was important for Drake to be there so they could negotiate, but most of the changes were simple things that Drake and Robert didn’t have a problem with changing.

As other office employees started to arrive in the morning, Mr. Sukimoto noted that it was getting late for him and he would have to leave for the evening. It hadn’t occurred to him at all that Drake and Robert had just stayed up all night long to talk with him.

But they were buying his company so Drake was going to make any necessary concessions to make sure the deal went through without a hitch. Buying Textron Industries out of Tokyo was going to be a huge deal for Leblanc Enterprises. Drake was going to have a footprint in Asia and that was a big start for his company over there.

“I’m sorry Drake,” Robert said as they hung up the conference call.

“It’s alright. It isn’t like I have seven beautiful women at my home just waiting for me to spend time with them or anything,” Drake laughed.

“How is that all going? Have you found one that you like the best?”

Drake had to think about the question a little bit. He liked them all for vastly different reasons but he wasn’t sure he had found one that he liked so much more than the rest. It was going to be a horribly difficult job when he had to decide on just one girl at the end of the week.

“Man, I really don’t know who I’ll pick. Every girl is better than any other woman I’ve dated before. You guys did a really good job picking them.”

“It was mostly Samantha. She knows you very well.”

“Speaking of Sam, I better get my ass back over to the house before she gets here,” Drake said as he started to pack up his laptop and notes so he could head back over to his house.

But just as he was leaving the conference room Drake ran into Samantha as she came in to work. Her short skirt and hi-heels still made his heart flutter, even after working together for years. It was a real shame that she continues to deny him his desire to have her.

“What are you doing here!” she exclaimed as she walked toward her desk.

“Robert needed me, I’m just leaving now.”

Drake always laughed at the serious nature by which Samantha always took things. She was so by the book about rules and work, but every once in a while, Drake got a glimpse of her when she relaxed. Man, oh man, did he love to spend time with Samantha when she let loose and actually relaxed.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Drake. You are never going to learn work/life balance if you keep coming into the office or doing work. Take a vacation, damn it.”

As much as Drake loved Samantha, he didn’t like when she yelled at him like he was some sort of child. He ran a multi-billion-dollar company; he didn’t need her telling him what to do. She was wound up too tight and he wasn’t going to let her tight-ass attitude rub off on him. Plus, she needed to know that it wasn’t alright to talk to him like that. He didn’t care if they had been together for years; she needed to respect him.

“Samantha, I understand what you’re saying but please remember that I’m the boss around here and if I need to come into work, I’m going to come into work.”

Robert looked away as the intensity in Drake’s eyes made it clear that he wasn’t joking around.

“Don’t be a jerk, Drake. You have women that stopped their lives to come stay at your house with you and see if you were a match. Did you bother to tell any of them you were here? Did you tell Allison? It’s almost nine o’clock in the morning. She’s probably been waiting for you for hours. Get back home.”

Drake took a step toward Samantha and placed his hand on her arm. He always felt more effective with her when he touched her. Plus, she was damn nice to touch; even if it was in an appropriate work manner.

“If you order me around again, I’ll fire you.”

Samantha looked shocked at the words that came out of Drakes' mouth. It wasn’t normal for him to be so short with her and usually didn’t mind when she took control of things and told him what was going on. But Samantha knew right away she needed to back down. Whatever was going on with Drake wasn’t worth her losing her job over.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “Do you want me to call the house and let them know when you will be there?”

“No need to call them. They can wait,” Drake said and then made his way out of his office and down to his car.

By the time he reached his vehicle, Drake felt bad for the way he had talked to Sam. He knew she just wanted what was best for him and that she was looking out for the best interest of the women at his house.

Drake didn’t know if it was because of the business deal or just all the craziness that had been going on at the house, but he needed to take a few minutes to himself. He felt his blood pressure boiling up and his head pounded with a headache. Things certainly had not gotten off to a great start that morning.

As he left his office, Drake made his way down to the beach and slipped his shoes off to go for a walk. He had a lot of life decisions that needed to be made and things were piling up in his head.

Not only would he need to choose one of the girls that were in the house, but he was also going to have to tell the other ones that he hadn’t chosen them. That was going to be the hardest thing for sure.

He thought about all the women and which one he might be willing to let go. The problem was, he wasn’t sure he would be willing to let any of them go. When he had started the whole process, Drake was positive there would be one woman that would stand out above all the others, unfortunately; that had not been the case so far.

Every single woman was significantly better than the women he had dated outside the house. They were funny, independent, and great to be around. Each had their own unique personalities that Drake was attracted to as well as unique bodies that he was also attracted to.

Victoria had been his first date, she was a Harvard professor; there was no one smarter in the house. Emily was young, but she worked for Playboy and had brought Drake there for their date. Sophia was playful and sexy, she had kept Drake occupied and exhausted on their date. He couldn’t believe there were still four women left to spend time with. It was overwhelming to think about all the greatness that he had in his home waiting to spend time with him.

He decided to stop wallowing in his thoughts and get his ass back home. Allison was his date that day and he had been really excited to spend the day with her. Drake made a conscious effort to get the negative thoughts out of his mind so he could go on his date with Allison full of enthusiasm and excitement; she deserved that.

As he pulled up to his house and started to walk up toward the front door, Drake glanced down at his watch and realized that it was almost noon. He felt a pull of guilt in his stomach as he walked through the door and made his way to the kitchen to see who was around.

“Do you know where Allison is?” He asked Scarlett.

She made a funny face and then pointed outside.

“She’s been waiting a long time,” Scarlett said sweetly.

“I know, she’s probably angry.”

“Nope, I think she’s fine. Probably the best one of the bunch if you had to pick one of us to stand up.”

“I didn’t stand her up. I was working,” Drake said as he grabbed the sandwich out of Scarlett’s hand and took a big bite.

“You’ll be alright. Allison’s a pretty cool chick.”

Drake gave Scarlett a wave and then turned to go out to the back yard while he finished chewing the sandwich he had in his mouth. She was such a beautiful woman and it was hard to pull himself away; but he knew he needed to see Allison.

Scarlett was a pretty cool chick as well, Drake thought as he made his way outside. She could have said any number of things that would have had Drake worried about being so late for his date with Allison, but instead, talking to Scarlett had eased his worry.