“You’ll notice the increase in these sectors,” Donald said as he pointed at a green line.

 

I nodded, “What about the newest sector? Where does that land? It should be part of this quarter’s reports.”

 

“We’ve made a separate info graphic for that one, Mr. Parker,” the senior financial advisor chimed in.

 

“Right,” Donald agreed. “I was just about to move on to that one.”

 

I nodded to the vice president and financial advisor as I turned the page of the printed agenda they set on my desk before the meeting. I ran a finger down to the midway point where I saw a figure for the newest sector. I frowned and Donald immediately scurried to explain why it wasn’t what we had projected. Meanwhile, the second vice president practically jumped through hoops to convince me it wasn’t just okay, it was a good thing.

 

I sat back and listened halfheartedly as I looked around the conference room. It was drab and as straightforwardly corporate as it could get. It made me think of Evelyn and how she mentioned she wanted a homier feel to her restaurant’s kitchen. The two of us were so different where business was concerned. I was proud of my accomplished work with ‘Remi’s Place’ (the name of my gyms). But I didn’t have the passion for my career that Evelyn had for hers. In many ways I felt like I was just doing what was expected.

 

“Of course Ms. Swanson and I have already come up with two strategies to spin this in your favor,” Mr. Hallisay told me. He was referring to his work with the head of marketing.

 

I acknowledged what he said, but didn’t quite care much to hear what they had to say from there. As long as they did their jobs well, that was all I needed to know. Donald stepped in and added some comments about how it was all tied into the success of the newest sector, which caught my interest.

 

I was trying to pay attention, but someone wasn’t letting that happen.

 

Stacy, my cute blonde co-vice president, had been shooting me coy looks and inching closer to me throughout the entire meeting. I was doing a good job of ignoring her, but now she was making it impossible. She was running her foot up the side of my leg underneath the table. I shot her a warning look. She only responded with a wink and a smirk.

 

I cleared my throat, “Ms. Swanson, which of the two strategies do you believe will be the most effective?”

 

She instantly launched into an explanation, but I missed most of it because she had her hand on my thigh and was inching it higher and higher. I shifted in my seat, away from her, and shot her another scolding look. Her smirk didn’t disappear and she only curled her fingers into my thigh. I masked a small groan under a cough, but I knew she’d caught on to it. She shifted in her seat and placed her hand dangerously close to my crotch. Slowly, she inched closer and closer. I promptly grabbed her hand and pushed it away.

 

 “No,” I whispered sternly. I counted down the minutes for the meeting to be over. Thankfully, there wasn’t much left to be discussed and Stacy had stopped her advances. “Please come see me in my office,” I told her as I picked up the agenda and made my way out of the conference room.

 

I saw the look in her eyes. She thought I was calling her in for a ‘special meeting,’ but that was far from it. She scurried to collect her things and drop them in her office before walking quickly over to mine. Without a word, she closed and locked the office door behind her.

 

“You called, Mr. Parker?” She smirked and arched her brow suggestively. I looked her up and down. She had unbuttoned the top of her shirt to show off more cleavage. She was a special kind of evil.

 

“Stacy, you need to cut that shit out.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Nothing will happen between us again. Get that through your head.”

 

“This is what you called me in here for?” She scoffed and turned away, hands on her hips.

 

“Yes, that is exactly why I called you in here. You need to stop trying to make something happen between us again and you definitely need to stop that sort of behavior in the workplace. Remember, you’re just the VP of my company and that’s that.”

 

“That’s that? So you can fuck me once and then be done!” 

 

I shot her a warning look, placing a finger to my lips and shushing her. The last thing I needed was for someone to overhear our conversation. “Look, we were both just having a good time one night and you knew all along it was nothing more than that. I don’t know why you’re acting like this now, but it needs to stop.” I paused and took a step forward, “Honestly, if you weren’t so good at your job I’d fire you for trying to pull shit like that during a meeting. It’s highly inappropriate.”

 

“And fucking your VP isn’t inappropriate?” She spat back.

 

“Maybe, but I didn’t fuck you on the table during a meeting.”

 

“Fine,” Stacy huffed before turning and stomping out of my office.

 

I couldn’t help staring at her ass as she walked out the door and down the hallway. As I saw her turn into her office I recognized just how out of character it was for me to turn down such a hot woman. I closed the office door and sat behind my desk with a heavy sigh.

 

I curled my fist and raised it, ready to slam it on the table in frustration, but instead I took another deep breath. Physical outbursts weren’t going to help me. I stood up and paced back and forth a couple minutes before finally leaning against the desk to stare out the window. In this office building my view was mostly of other buildings; it would have been a depressing view had it not been for the good fortune of being right off the Chicago River.

 

I stared at the numerous windows reflected on the surface of the water and thought of how cold everything seemed in my office. It was sterile, just like what Evelyn wanted to avoid in her dream restaurant. I sunk to the couch against the wall and stared at the ceiling with Evelyn still on my mind. My thoughts kept turning to her for one reason or another. I tapped my leg as I debated what to do with that before standing up and walking over to the desk.

 

I picked up my phone to send her a text.

 

 -Want to go out tonight instead of cooking a meal at the house?-

 

I set the phone down, but then immediately picked it back up. I waited for a reply, which came shortly enough. I was smiling when I saw her name on the screen, until I read her message.

 

-I’m just your chef.-

 

 Even through text she was impossible.

 

“Well, maybe not that impossible,” I muttered when I thought of what we had done the night before. I sat back and thought about her breasts and how incredibly soft her skin was only to be interrupted by my phone buzzing again.

 

-We shouldn’t be going on any dates despite what happened-

 

-Why are you assuming it’s a date?-

 

 I was quick with my response and I could already imagine her cheeks tingeing pink or the tips of her ears turning red.

 

-Let’s keep things appropriate-

 

I stared at my phone’s screen for a moment, mulling over the word ‘appropriate.’ I just had an argument with Stacy over that sort of thing but, in my mind, the situation with Evelyn was completely different. She wasn’t just some hot girl in the office I had set my sights on. She also wasn’t some annoying one-night stand. She was completely different.

 

 I caught myself thinking about her for too long and in too much detail so I straightened up and started to text a reply.

 

-Relax. I just wanted to get out of the condo for a night and thought you’d know a good restaurant to go to with all the best dishes to order.-

 

I sat back in my chair as I waited for a reply. This time it took a little longer, but I didn’t get antsy. I figured she was deciding what to do. To me, that meant she at least had a tiny bit of interest in hanging out with me. My phone buzzed with another alert.

 

-Sure-

 

I smiled. It didn’t bother me one bit that she only replied with a single word. I noticed the funny feeling of excitement coursing through me. It was unfamiliar. I had been with plenty of woman before, but none of them gave me the sense of giddy excitement I had now.

 

There really was something different about Evelyn.

 

Or at least there was something different in the way she made me feel.