Chapter 8
eight
. . .
Maddox
I texted Georgia to let her know I was heading down to the bar and to meet me there. She strolled in wearing a black dress and some hot-as-fuck nude heels.
No booties today.
Her hair was pulled back and tied in some sort of knot at the nape of her neck, and she looked fucking stunning.
Professional. Sexy.
Fucking breathtaking.
I’d kept my face neutral, not wanting to let her see that I was panting on the inside. For fuck’s sake, this was my employee. My assistant.
I was not a cliché—that title had always belonged to my father.
“So, unless he directly asks you a question, just take notes and nod. When we’re dealing with guys like Ted Hagger, the less we say, the better.
Let him do the talking. Let him talk himself into a fucking corner.
We just need a green light that we can sign Mara, and then we don’t say another word. That’s how deals get lost.”
“Got it, Bossman. I’m ready. I’ll be the perfect assistant. You’ll hardly know I’m there.” She chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.
But the smell of orange blossoms and cinnamon was flooding my system, so there was no chance in hell I wouldn’t know she was there.
“There’s my boy.” My grandfather’s gruff voice pulled me from my unprofessional thoughts.
I pushed to my feet, and so did Georgia.
“Good to see you.” I pulled him in for a hug. “This is my assistant, Georgia Reynolds. I told you that she was a big fan of Mara’s work.”
He clasped her hand in his, and he raised a brow as he took her in.
She was stunning, no doubt about it.
“Well, I think you’ll be very pleased to know that Mara Skye is actually joining us tonight,” he said.
Georgia’s mouth fell open. Her plump, pink lips making a perfect O. Thoughts of filling that sweet mouth with—
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I needed to pull my shit together.
I wasn’t that guy. Women didn’t affect me. I was polite enough, a considerate lover who always pleased my women before myself, but I didn’t gape or fantasize or think of anything beyond that moment.
A nice dinner, light conversation, and a great fucking romp in the hay.
That was me.
No attachments.
Ever.
“Mara Skye is coming to dinner tonight?” Georgia whispered and wrapped both her hands around my grandfather’s hand, which he clearly found endearing because he beamed down at her.
“She is.” He smiled before turning when someone called out his name.
Ted Hagger strolled into the bar wearing an expensive suit and waving his hands around, which was impossible to miss because the dude had rings on almost every finger and a fancy watch on his wrist, and he made sure everyone saw them.
He looked like a cheesedick trying to flaunt his money.
I leaned down close to Georgia’s ear as my grandfather extended his hand to Ted.
“Keep your cool when she gets here, Tink.”
She nodded and sighed before Grandfather introduced us. I couldn’t stand the guy, but I’d be polite because we wanted to sign Mara, and we needed him to make that happen.
Of course, the asshole pressed his lips to the back of Georgia’s hand, and it took everything in me not to yank him by his over-gelled, slicked-back hair and remind him this was a business deal.
I didn’t need him panting all over my assistant, for fuck’s sake.
“Maddox, what has it been? A year since I saw you last?”
I wished that were true. But we’d seen one another at a social event three months ago.
“Something like that. Thanks for meeting with us on such short notice.”
“Of course. Mara’s on her way, so we can head to the table and wait for her there. I’m assuming we’ll be ordering the best bottle of wine they have, as I am representing the hottest author out there right now.” His laugh was high-pitched, fake, and annoying as hell.
My grandfather chuckled, as he knew how to play the game better than I did. “Absolutely. Whatever you want is on us tonight. Thanks for giving me the first option to sign her.”
We walked to the hostess stand, and she led us to the table in the back of the restaurant. The place was packed tonight, but it was quieter back here. This had always been my grandfather’s favorite spot, and I’d grown up coming here.
We took our seats and the slimy jackass made sure to take the seat beside Georgia, which pissed me off. I sat across from her, and my grandfather sat at the head of the table. We saved the spot beside me and across from Ted for his client.
“So, Georgia, you work for this guy, huh?” Ted smirked, his eyes roaming her face and chest so blatantly, I cleared my throat to remind him we were all watching.
“I do, yes.” Her face was hard, not something I’d ever seen from her before now. She didn’t like him, that much I could tell, but she remained professional, and that had the corners of my lips turning up just the slightest bit.
“Well, when you get tired of that hokey little town, just know we’re always hiring at my firm here in the city. In fact, I’m in the market for a new assistant.”
The bastard was trying to steal my employee while I was buying him dinner?
The dude went through PAs faster than—well, faster than I did, but for different reasons.
I was a workaholic who demanded perfection, which could be too much for people at times.
He had a reputation for being a womanizer, and there were rumors of multiple women complaining to HR at his firm, but he’d always managed to buy his way out of it.
I didn’t like him sitting beside Georgia.
I didn’t like him breathing the same air as her.
“Ted, I’ll say this once, and I won’t say it again. We’d love to work with Mara, but if you ever try to fucking poach my employee again, I will reach across this table and teach you some fucking manners. I don’t give a shit if it costs us a deal. You got me?”
“Whoa, whoa, big guy, relax. It’s just business, brother. But I can see you’re very attached to your assistant.” He chuckled.
My grandfather glanced at me before turning his attention back to Ted.
“To make sure we’re clear, we aren’t desperate, Ted.
We happen to be the biggest publishing house in the United States, and we already have some of the most influential authors on the planet working with us.
Mara is talented, and we’d like to work with her, but you will not disrespect our employees.
We’ll walk so fast your head will spin.”
“Ah, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see.” He shrugged, completely unfazed. The dude had fallouts with more people than not. This was nothing for him. “Georgia, you’ve got some loyal employers right here.”
“Well, you know… being from a hokey little town and all, I consider myself lucky to be working with Lancaster Press. And us small-town girls are pretty loyal, too, Mr. Hagger.” She smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. She was trying to be professional while sticking it to him as much as she could.
And I fucking loved it.
He nodded. “There’s just something about a small-town girl. Am I right, gentlemen?” He waggled his brows, like this was all just some fun banter, while everyone else at the table was on edge. And then he looked up and pushed to his feet. “Ah… here she is. Mara, thank you for joining us.”
He made the introductions, and I watched as Georgia bit down on her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from reacting too much as she shook her hand. We all took our seats, and Ted ordered two bottles of the most expensive wine on the menu, and we placed our dinner orders, as well.
I got right down to business, telling Mara that we were beyond impressed with the sample that she’d sent over, and we were interested in making her an offer tonight.
“Well, this is fabulous news. I told Ted I only wanted to work with Lancaster Press on this one. Signing a deal with you all has been on my bucket list for a while now. I know you weren’t interested in the last series, but I was hoping this one would pique your interest.” She smiled and then glanced at her agent before turning back to me.
“I told Ted if you passed on this one, I was going to drive to Cottonwood Cove myself and convince you of all the reasons why you should sign me.”
We’d never received a submission from Mara Skye before, at least not in the last decade that I’d been with the company. Professionally, throwing Ted under the bus might not be the wisest move, but the fact that he was licking his lips as he glanced over at my assistant left me with no choice.
“Well, I assure you, we would never turn you down. This is the first time we’ve received a submission, as far as I know, and we jumped at the chance to work with you.”
My grandfather chuckled because he knew what I was doing. We weren’t covering for this asshole. “I’m pretty ancient, so unless you submitted to us at a time that I wasn’t running Lancaster Press, I’d know about it.”
Mara’s gaze narrowed as she looked between us and her agent in confusion.
“Well, no sense getting hung up on the past. We all know that paperwork can fall through the cracks. Let’s focus on the here and now,” Ted said.
He’d only submitted to us this time because she was going to go around him. This guy was a bigger dickhead than I’d given him credit for.
“That’s fine. We can talk about it later, Ted.” Mara’s face did not hide her displeasure. “Tonight, I want to focus on the future. So, you really liked it?”
“We loved it,” my grandfather said. “Georgia, here, is a big fan. She’s read all of your work, and she gushed about this submission.”
Mara clapped her hands together. “Stop. Really? That means the world to me, Georgia. Thank you.”
“Are you kidding? Thank you. You are a one-click author for me. I literally stay up all night when your books release.”
“Well, from now on, I’ll be sending you an ARC for all of my books,” Mara said with a big smile on her face. Advanced Reader Copies were popular in the book world.