THE CLIENT

RYAN

Several weeks later ...

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I could still smell the sweet scent of champagne in the boardroom when I walked by a few days later. My board members had spent all night celebrating the end of my successful press tour, and I’d surprised them all by leaving early.

Of course, my excuse to them was that I was “tired,” but I’d spent my night in the same way I’d become accustomed to in the recent weeks. With Penelope.

Her firm’s initial contract with us ended today, and not a single person on the board objected to extending it for another six months. They even offered to increase the amount by more than triple.

There were just a few things I needed to personally amend before we pursued the deal.

“Okay, lay it on me,” my brother said as soon as I stepped into my office. “I’ve got three meetings today and I’m hoping I can make two of them less than ten minutes long. Where are we with the contract extension with Penelope Lauren and Associates?”

“Everything is set, but I’d like us to amend the fraternization clause.”

“Amend it or end it?”

“End it.”

“Why?” He shrugged, laughing. “Are you going to sleep with Penelope? I can’t imagine her ever doing that with you. She’s too classy, too smart, too—” He immediately stopped talking as if the truth was dawning on him. And then he began to pace my floor. “Please don’t tell me that you have fucked Penelope ...”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Are you shitting me?” He paced even faster. “Just when I thought you’d changed, just when I thought, ‘He finally gets it,’ you find a way to not get it. No wonder you were doing so well on your press tour ...”

“I like your rants better when you prepare them in advance,” I said. “They sound less juvenile that way.”

“Have you two been fucking this whole time?”

“Not the whole time. We didn’t fuck at all yesterday.”

“Be serious with me.” He stood still, looking concerned. “Is this a fling that could come back to bite us in the form of a sexual harassment lawsuit, or is this an actual relationship?”

“The latter.”

“Okay, that’s a start.” He plopped down on the couch, holding his hand over his heart. “That’s a very good start. For covering your ass purposes, when did this begin?”

“Before she started here. She was the reason I missed the ribbon cutting ceremony at Oasis. We met at a club and had a one night stand, and I saw her again when I showed up to her firm. The irony in that is that I might’ve pursued her anyway if that hadn’t been the case.”

“You really expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t have a reason to lie.”

“True.” He sighed. “Continue.”

“The sex didn’t start until thirty days into her contract,” I said. “And even then, sex with her wasn’t like it previously was with other women.”

“You mean there were rainbows and butterflies?”

“There were feelings. Small feelings, but feelings nonetheless.”

He raised his eyebrow, looking as if that was the most shocking thing I’d ever said. “So, you want to end that clause so you can continue sleeping with her?”

“I would prefer the term dating.”

He stood up and walked over to me, placing his open palm against my forehead. “Are you sick today?”

“I’m very well, thank you.” I ignored his laughter. “Just say you’ll agree to end the clause.”

“I’ll definitely agree to it,” he said, looking at his watch. “But we’re going to discuss this—thoroughly, and I’m going to be sure there won’t be any legal ramifications from her or objections from the board.”

“Sounds fair.”

“It’s more than fair.” He headed toward the door. “I’ll call you tonight.”

I took a seat at my desk and wrote the number twenty million in place of the six million for Penelope’s pending contract. Then I began masking the fraternization clause with a tube of white-out.

“Mr. Dalton?” Linda’s voice came over my speakers. “Miss Lauren is here. Shall I send her in?”

“Yes, please.”

The door opened and Penelope walked right over to me, looking as if she wasn’t sure whether she should kiss me or not. It’d become a habit to do so when we went out on private dates or met up at each other’s places, but there was still that awkward ‘pause and deflect’ reflex when we saw each other at work.

“You can have a seat, Miss Lauren,” I said.

“Miss Lauren?” She sat down, looking slightly confused. “I thought this was supposed to be a personal meeting for us.”

“It is.” I pushed the contract across my desk. “I want you to consider an extended contract with Dalton International. You are undoubtedly the best publicist I’ve ever worked with, and my board can’t sing your praises high enough. I made a few amendments to the contract, more importantly the amount we’re offering and the fraternization clause.”

She picked up the contract and glanced at it. “That’s a huge increase, Mr. Dalton.”

“I’ll be sure there’s enough work to go with it.”

She smiled, but it quickly faded. “So, you amended the contract so we can publicly tell people that we’re fucking?”

“I’m sure certain people already assume that we’re fucking, but yes, this is a way to confirm it. And to also protect us both legally.”

“This is ...” She crossed her arms, and I braced myself for a rant of epic proportions. “This personal meeting you’ve been telling me about all weekend was just a ruse for you to ask me to sign an extension?

“It was a ruse to ask you to be my girlfriend.”

She pretended to look upset, but her cheeks gave her away. “You could’ve asked me that over the weekend.”

“You would’ve said no.”

“No.” She smiled. “I would’ve said that the only reason you’re asking me to be your girlfriend is because you think we might possibly have more sex that way.”

“We’re definitely going to have more sex, but if that was my reasoning, I would’ve just amended the fraternization clause in your contract and left it that. I’m asking you to be my girlfriend because I think I might actually like you.”

“You might? How compelling. If that’s any indication of how you’d write a love letter, I don’t think I’ll ever marry you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever ask you to.”

She laughed and I couldn’t help but break into laughter with her.

“All jokes aside, are you being serious with me, Ryan?”

“About the girlfriend part, yes. About the marriage part, it depends on if we’re still together in a few years.”

“I see.” She stood up and walked behind my desk, sitting in my lap. “Well, I accept the offer to be your girlfriend, but I would like us to discuss the terms.”

“What is there possibly to discuss about this?”

“You committing to being a better client. That, and us finally having sex in your office.”

“I can commit to the first part.” I covered her lips with mine and unzipped the side of her dress. “There’s no need at all to discuss the latter part. That’ll be happening every day ...”