Chapter 4
Ian
“Yeah, I’m not touching that.” It took a second for me to realize the gorgeous woman who had just walked up behind Stacy was actually talking to me. Touch what? Oh, my hand. I lowered my arm back to my side and tilted my head, studying her face and trying to get a read on whether or not she was joking. She wasn’t smiling and her stance was pretty rigid, so if she wasn’t being serious then she had one hell of a poker face. She turned away from me to look at Stacy. “Are we done here yet, Stace?” she asked Stacy impatiently.
Well… that’s certainly a new reaction. Not every woman I flashed my smile at fainted at my feet, begging to have my babies, but certainly none of them have ever looked at me like I’m insane. Or refused to shake my hand as if they might catch some kind of disease from touching me.
Her clothes were wet from being out in the spontaneous rain storm we’d just had. Her thin shirt clung to her body, defining the lacy bra she was wearing and giving me a good visual of her hard nipples. Her flat stomach tapered into low rise, tight fitting jeans that hugged her in all the right places. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, showing off her slender neck and her beautiful face. Her hair was still dry, probably the only part of her protected by the umbrella, and it looked amazingly soft. I wondered what it would feel like between my fingers, wrapped around my fist as we kissed.
“Excuse me,” I spoke up, shaking the naughty fantasy that was progressing in my thoughts before I did something to embarrass myself, like get a hard on in front of the woman standing before me who was, hands down, the most beautiful woman I’d ever met. She whipped her head back towards me and narrowed her eyes.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll wait for you outside, Stacy.” She gave me a once over, but not in an appreciative way. In fact, she was looking at me like she found me to be repulsive.
What. The. Fuck. Did I slip into some alternate universe where women suddenly hated a man in an expensive tailor made suit and a two-hundred-dollar haircut? Those things didn’t really matter to me, it was just part of my persona, a part I was playing when I had to be in business owner mode. But in my experience, those things were important to women. Well, except for this one apparently.
“No, I apologize, I wasn’t implying you were interrupting. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Ian Drake, and you are?” I asked as nicely as I could while being stared down by the she-devil herself.
She snorted then rolled her eyes again. Had Stacy been talking shit about me or something? Were there rumors circulating about me that I was unaware of? How could someone I’d never met have so much disdain for me.
“Eh hem.” Stacy cleared her throat and took a step closer to me, making herself somewhat of a physical barrier between me and her friend. “Anyway, Ian this is Adalyn Montgomery. She’s the one I told you about that might be good for that position that’s open at your office. Although, if the past few minutes are any indication, I’m thinking you two are better off staying far away from each other.”
“Adalyn! She has a name. It’s nice to meet you, Adalyn.” I smiled sweetly at her and held out my hand again. She still didn’t take it. Instead she turned to face Stacy again, her face turning red and her knuckles white from clenching her hands into a hard fist.
“What the hell, Stacy,” Adalyn growled between clenched teeth. “You didn’t tell me anything about recommending me for a job, and besides, why would you think I’d want to work at a place like this?” She gestured around the room with her hand.
“It’s a good job, Addy. You should at least hear him out.”
“No, no way. I’m not working at this...this...this...place. I just won’t do it,” she huffed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt this private conversation you two are having in public, but what kind of place do you think this is, Adalyn? I may be a little biased seeing as how I own this company, but I can assure you it’s a great place to work. I would love for you to come in one-day next week to discuss the position we are looking to fill. Stacy has assured me you would be a great fit.”
“Screw you,” she spat back at me. I just stood there, blinking at her, jaw dropped, gaping like an idiot. I must have misheard her. Considering how incredibly rude she had been in the five minutes I’d known her, the fact that I was still willing to consider her for the position was pretty generous, I thought. So surely I had heard her wrong.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Screw you. I’m not desperate enough for a job to work for a cocky, egomaniacal asshole like you. From the past few minutes alone I can already tell that you are arrogant and boring.”
“Boring?” I didn’t mean to smirk. It was just such an odd accusation. I really didn’t think I was any of those things, but boring was an especially interesting choice of insult in that moment. I wasn’t some cut throat business mogul, working my employees to the bone and treating them like crap. It was actually a really fun, laid back place to work.
“If your building is any indication, yes. Everything in here is cold and hard. Devoid of any personality what-so-ever. Which I take to mean you expect your employees to fall in line and march to your orders, and that will NEVER be me. I can assure you of that. So why don’t we cut the bull shit and I’ll just lay it out for you. I don’t want the job and I’m not going to buy your act so you’re wasting your time.”
Feigning injury and covering my heart with my hand, I stumbled backward, pretending as if I’d just taken a hit. “You wound me, Adalyn. And here, I thought we had a connection. I may have to cancel tonight Stacy since I’ll be too busy licking my wounds. Unless, of course, you’d like to lick them for me,” I said to Adalyn with a wink. That earned me an eye roll.
“No, you’re going to spend all night partying your ass off with me. You had better be there tonight, Ian, or I will personally kick your ass. And you know me, that is not an empty threat,” Stacy chimed in as she smacked me on the arm.
I chuckled. “As bossy as ever, Stacy. Yes, I will be there. Unfortunately, though, none of my single friends were available to tag along so I won’t be able to provide your entertainment for the evening.”
“Dammit,” Stacy said, pouting and stomping her foot.
“Great. As if tonight wasn’t going to be bad enough….” I heard Adalyn mumble under her breath.
“Don’t worry, sunshine. I’ll keep you company. I’ll bet I can even get you to loosen up a bit.”
“Ugh, so full of yourself. Like I would ever want your company. I’d rather be groped by a gang of greasy, fat bikers than spend any amount of time with you.”
And with that, she turned and marched right out the door. I should have been offended. I had every right to be pissed off at how she’d spoken to me when I’d been nothing but nice. But there was something about her, something I couldn’t put my finger on, that told me I wasn’t getting to see the real Adalyn.
She had put on a good front, but there was something hidden in her eyes that gave her away. Maybe tonight I’d get a chance to find out what that was.