Chapter Three
Kaitlyn
What the hell was she supposed to say to that?
“To the United States?” she asked, breathing out slowly. “For a business deal? I’m flattered, but I’m not a salesperson or a director, Aric. There are plenty of others who deserve this opportunity. I wouldn’t know the first thing about what I’m doing there.”
It hurt to tell the truth. Nobody enjoyed admitting that they were unqualified, or not adequate to the task at hand, but Kaitlyn wasn’t naïve. Something large enough and important enough for Aric to go and visit to sign the deal was way above her paygrade. The last deal she’d helped him close, she’d barely been one step above intern. It had been her job to create the reports he needed. That was all she’d done, if she was honest. Now he wanted her to come in effectively as his equal to close another deal? It was flattering, but preposterous.
She pondered it for a moment. It was flattering. Almost too flattering. That brought up another unpleasant notion. What if he didn’t actually want her along for business purposes? What if Aric was trying to recreate what happened between them, but this time on an extended trip?
Kaitlyn wisely held her emotions in check, not letting the burst of fury show. If she wanted to keep her job she would have to be professional about it. Aric was one of the senior directors, and it was rumored he was next up for a job on the Board of Executives that oversaw the entire banking system for the little country. If she denied him it would be a trivial matter for him to dismiss her.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done something like that either. None of it had happened during her time at the bank, but the rumor mill never stopped. Several people had offended Aric in the past, and all of them had abruptly left their positions a short time later. According to the rumors they’d never held a high-level job again. He was ruthless, and not the sort of person she wanted to get on the bad side of.
Now, the stories she’d heard were all about men who had done something wrong, lost a deal, refused to do as he said, things like that. Kaitlyn was, as far as she knew, the only woman who he’d slept with in the office. That sort of thing made its way around very quickly most of the time, but she’d not told a single soul about her night of excess with the lead director. Hopefully he wouldn’t have her dismissed for saying no, but she was glad she’d stood her ground.
“You’re the perfect person for this deal, actually,” he said, leaning back in his chair to study her. “I have been directed to take one person of my choosing. And I’m choosing you.”
Kaitlyn shrugged off his commanding tone and stared right back at him, evaluating the director, his words, and his intentions.
There was little to be revealed in his face. His lean face appeared to have been angular in the past, but the sharp edges had been dulled slightly to produce an interesting look of defined features with no sharp edges. The skin was smooth. He detested facial hair she’d been told, though it looked like he could pull off a goatee or short beard if he chose.
The nose was very aquiline in keeping with stereotypical European aristocratic looks. His eyebrows looked artificially shaped, the curve just too perfect. They were full, but not bushy. Soft, was the best word she could think of, and it was almost a necessity too, because they rode atop a pair of cool, penetrating eyes that radiated the blue of the ocean depths. It was the eyes that made others fear him, though having seen them grow wide with pleasure Kaitlyn had a slightly different view of him.
She started to protest. “I don’t know. What about the others? They’ll be mad at me for leapfrogging them for no reason.”
On top of that, she was pregnant, and morning sickness could happen at any time. How was she going to hide that from him? It was a rather obvious sign, and something that she just couldn’t control. She couldn’t go, and she couldn’t tell him the truth about why either. Hopefully he would accept this reasoning.
Aric shifted in his chair, the custom-tailored pinstripe black suit pulling taut over his broad swimmer’s shoulders. “Then that is their problem.”
Kaitlyn laughed. “No, that is distinctly my problem. All of these people are more senior to me, and have the ability to make my life a living hell if they choose to. Just because you don’t have to deal with it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I’m not willing to put myself in that position. I’m sorry. I like my job, and I want to continue feeling comfortable coming to work every day.”
His jaw worked back and forth, strong and chiseled and just another feature of his that made him gorgeous to the naked eye. “They won’t bother you. If they do, you tell me.”
“I’m not playing office politics, Aric. Nobody likes a tattletale.” Hearing herself speak and the way she was standing her ground stunned Kaitlyn. Where had this spine come from? She’d never considered herself weak, but standing up to someone as powerful as Aric should have had her quaking. Instead she felt comfortable and at ease with it.
“You should really reconsider,” he said coolly, sitting upright, his eyes growing harder, the blue in them compressing until it sharpened into something fierce. “This could be a life-changing deal for you.”
Kaitlyn almost laughed out loud. Life-changing? She was pregnant! That was life-changing. Not some offer to go be his playtoy for a week under the pretenses of “business.” How much more life-changing did she want her life to get anyway?
Maybe, she thought, maybe it’s time that his life changed. Knowing he was a father might shake things up a little bit.
That was it. She was going to tell him. It was going to happen. Kaitlyn was going to open her mouth, and spit out the words that would clue him in to his new situation. Easy. It was easy. Just speaking, something she did all the time. Do it. Tell him.
“If you agree, your cut of the deal will be six-figures.”
Her jaw clacked shut audibly as he dropped his ace. It wasn’t fair. There was no way she could turn down that sort of money. That would go a long way to looking after the child in the years to come if she spent it wisely. Potentially enough that she would never have to tell Aric that it was his child. She could raise them on her own, without his interference.
But only if she agreed to his deal. Kaitlyn still wanted to say no, to decline, but Aric was right. It was life-changing, and it came along at the right time. Could it be more than a coincidence?
No, she decided, that was all it could be. Nobody else knew. She hadn’t told a single soul. Unless Aric was spying on her in her washroom at home, he couldn’t know either.
Aric cleared his throat. “Well, what will it be, Kaitlyn?”