5. Stephanie
STEPHANIE
Back at the bar, Stephanie ordered a second drink even though she was already feeling the effects of the first one. She thanked the bartender and stood with her back to the wall, eyes closed, sipping slowly until the heat faded from her cheeks.
The audacity of that man, trying to get her to leave the party with him after one conversation and one dance!
Did that usually work for him? It probably did, she thought wryly.
Guys like that were too used to getting what they wanted all the time.
After all, he was the son of one of the most influential men in southern California.
Who was going to say no to him? He had seemed genuinely shocked that she would.
Probably thinks sleeping with me would be doing me some kind of favor. What a jerk.
She had liked him, though. That was kind of the problem.
She had found him genuinely engaging—fun to talk to, a good dancer, a lively presence at a party full of people who were kind of dull.
In a room full of app developers, he had at least been something different, and that was refreshing.
And yet, she had allowed herself to spend too much time talking to a single person, to the point where he had believed it might actually be plausible that she would consider coming home with him.
It was more an indictment of the way she was spending her time than anything else, she decided.
She had come here for a reason, and that reason had nothing to do with meeting cute guys.
All right, back to business.
Putting Elijah out of her mind, she scanned the room, looking for the next person she needed to talk to.
Though she’d had a variety of conversations with these people, she hadn’t found anyone she thought would be able to help her.
And yet there had to be someone. Someone here either wanted to invest in SilkSoft, or they would know somebody else who would.
It was just a matter of finding the right person, having the right conversation.
And she hadn’t done it yet, and it wouldn’t happen standing here by the wall.
Get back in there—and this time, don’t waste time talking to any men about anything other than business, no matter how cute they are.
She set her sights on a man in a tan suit standing on the far side of the room with a glass of wine in his hand. He wore wire-rimmed glasses, and something about that suggested seriousness to Stephanie. Maybe he would hear what she was saying.
She never found out.
Before she was able to reach him, she was stopped by a man stepping in front of her. At first, all she registered was the form of him, tall and broad and in her way. Then she looked up to see who had waylaid her—and gasped.
Oliver Norcross.
Her heart dropped. He would no doubt realize that she wasn’t supposed to be here at all, and it was anyone’s guess what he would do about it.
Maybe he would order her out. Maybe he would tell someone.
Maybe he would simply figure out what she was doing here and laugh at her for it, which would honestly be just as bad.
She would be humiliated. The mere thought of it made her want to turn and run, but he was already right in front of her and there was no saving herself from embarrassment now. She had to face the music.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked her.
She wondered what would happen if she tried to tell him no. “Sure,” she said awkwardly, taking a step back. Their proximity was uncomfortable.
He pointed to a door in the back of the room. “Maybe we could step out for a minute? I’d like to do this privately.”
Oh, he had definitely realized that she wasn’t supposed to be here. He was about to read her the riot act. She swallowed hard. “Lead the way.”
He walked past her without looking back. Once more, she was tempted to take advantage of his momentary inattention and flee, but she would only make herself look worse if she did that. Instead, she followed him out of the ballroom and into a quiet hallway.
“Stephanie Vincent,” he said. “You’re more of a go-getter than I gave you credit for. You weren’t on the guest list tonight, were you?”
She refused to hang her head. “I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who weren’t on this list,” she said.
“People who can’t seem to break into the business world, no matter how hard we try, because there’s just something missing in our approach.
Because we can’t seem to crack the code on how to impress the people who have gone before us and paved the way.
Because we don’t seem to know the right thing to say when we’re lucky enough to be in meetings with people who might be able to help us advance. ”
“All right, all right,” Oliver said, raising his eyebrows. “Shameless, aren’t you?”
“I don’t think shame is going to do me any favors,” she said. “I admit I snuck in here without an invitation. But no, I’m not going to stand here and pretend that I feel badly about that, or that I wouldn’t do it again.”
“Well, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “I respect it. There’s a little more to you than I realized when we first met.”
Stephanie was confused. Was he impressed with her for sneaking in? That wasn’t what she had expected, and she didn’t know what to say. She said nothing at all, waiting for him to make the next move.
And he did. “I saw you with my son.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “We just met over dinner and he asked me to dance. There was nothing else to that. I don’t know that I’ll ever speak to him again.”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Oliver said. “I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to spend a little more time with him.”
“I… don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Could she tell him absolutely not? “We didn’t really get along that well.”
“Oh, I know that,” he chuckled. “I saw what happened. I couldn’t hear everything that was being said, but—well, let me guess. He tried to get you to come back to his place with him.”
Now she did look away.
“And you refused him,” Oliver finished. “Which is the part that interests me most, Ms. Vincent. Do you know how rare it is to see anyone tell my son no? I was impressed by it. And… I’m going to ask you to reconsider.”
She couldn’t possibly be hearing this correctly. “You’re asking me to go home with your son?” Was she supposed to sleep with him? There was no way Oliver Norcross had the audacity to ask her for that… did he?
Men like this do make a habit of asking for what they want… and they usually get it.
But Oliver held up a hand. “Of course you don’t have to go home with him,” he said. “All I’m asking is what I already said—that you spend a bit of time with him.”
“But why would you want that? Can’t he make his own friends?”
“Oh, all too easily. The friends he chooses are people who get him into trouble. And I can see that you’re not like that,” Oliver said.
“You avoid trouble. I can tell by the fact that you were so reluctant to get involved with him in the first place—you have a nose for trouble and a desire to stay away from it.”
“And your reaction to noticing that about me is to ask me to immerse myself in trouble?” She shook her head. “I don’t know why you thought I would agree to this, but it sounds like a terrible idea. I’m not going to have anything to do with your son.”
“Wait a moment.” He held up a hand. “Before you turn me down, please at least hear me out. There’s something I can do for you too, you know. I can make it worth your time to help me out.”
The penny dropped. “You’re saying you’ll give me the financing I asked for if I spend time with your son?”
“It’s just until my bank’s next project launches,” Oliver said.
“We’re putting out a new app, and I need to keep control of the narrative about my family in the press.
I can’t have Elijah creating all kinds of scandal and stories that’ll make us look bad, and that’s exactly the kind of thing he does when left to his own devices.
If he spends time with a woman who has a good head on her shoulders, he’ll stay on the straight and narrow, at least for the next few weeks. ”
“I see. So what you’re really looking for here is a babysitter.”
“After a manner of speaking, I suppose. But he does like you. I think he’ll be happy to have the company,” Oliver said.
“And look—this is what’s best for you, isn't it? I can tell by the fact that you showed up here at all that you aren’t the sort of woman to just let go of your dreams. This is how you achieve them, Ms. Vincent.
This is how you get the funding you wanted.
Show me you’re someone who can be counted on, and I’ll return the favor. ”
“This is… awfully unconventional,” Stephanie said slowly.
He shook his head. “It might seem that way to you, but you’re young,” he said.
“This is the way business is done, Ms. Vincent. Two people connect because they have something they can offer each other, and they agree to work together for mutual benefit. I have something you need, and you have something I need. The only thing that remains to be answered is this: are we going to help one another out or not?”
Stephanie took a deep breath.
Was this really the way things were done? Could it be that her chance would come for reasons that had nothing to do with merit—that it would simply be opportunity?
And if that was the case, was it really such a problem?
She wanted this chance. She wanted to be able to fund her company.
Oliver Norcross was offering that, and in exchange, all she was going to have to do was hang around with his son for a few weeks.
Elijah was annoying, to be sure, but he was a little bit exciting too.
She had been willing to hang out with him tonight for no real gain at all.
This is crazy—but maybe it’s what I need to do.
She sighed. “All right,” she said. “I’ll do it.”
“I thought you would.” Oliver smiled. “You’re exactly what I thought you were—sensible. I knew I made a good choice when I decided to approach you.” He paused. “Do you have a business card? A way for me to reach out to you?”
Stephanie opened her clutch bag, fished around for a moment, and found a business card. She passed it over to him. “The best way to reach me is by email,” she managed.
He nodded. “I’ll do that. You’ll hear from me in the next day or so. And in the meantime… it was a pleasure doing business with you. I wish you every success in the promotion of your skincare line. I’m sure you’ll be able to find the niche you’re looking for and move the product forward.”
He offered her a smile, then turned and disappeared back into the ballroom, leaving her standing there to contemplate what had just happened.
She had agreed to his ridiculous proposition—she could hardly believe it.
And yet, already, she could see the future taking shape.
Her products on department store shelves, her online shop doing huge numbers.
Developing the new products she had been dreaming about.
Finding testers who could try them so she wouldn’t have to try everything herself.
It would be revolutionary. She would be able to put money into marketing.
She would be able to get her name out there in a whole new way.
And all she would have to do would be to spend some time with Elijah Norcross. Things could definitely be worse—and maybe, just maybe, her luck was finally beginning to turn. Maybe this was going to be the start of something amazing.