9. Sienna
9
SIENNA
“ D o yourself a favor and at least try to relax.” I checked my phone to be sure the reporter hadn’t sent a message saying she was running late while Noah paced like a restless animal, crossing his SoHo penthouse living room for approximately the hundredth time since I’d arrived early for his interview.
“It had better not be a hit job,” he warned in a growl while adjusting his large, flashy, probably worth-a-mint watch. He was pulling out all the stops today to look impressive.
“Am I supposed to be intimidated right now?” I asked with a sigh. “Because really, you should be practicing what you’re going to say.”
“Why do I need to practice when you already have a list of talking points for me?” he retorted. This again. He’d been complaining about my preparation for the past two days since I sent the questions and answers over to him.
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re not grateful for all the work I’m putting into this,” I said with a sigh. “For what it’s worth, this is a play from the same playbook I’ve used a thousand times. It works.”
“I’m not a child. I can speak for myself.” He turned to face me, his hands on his slim hips. With the light from floor-to-ceiling windows hitting him from behind, he made a pretty impressive picture. I had to remind myself not to stare at his body for too long, the way I’d avoid staring at the sun for fear of getting burned. His crisp, white button-down was open at the collar, making him look roguishly sexy.
Why did he have to be so damn sexy?
More importantly, why did I have to notice?
It didn’t help that we’d spent more time alone since the article was published than we had in the past ten years combined. Until now, I’d been able to avoid him. The force of his magnetism had no chance to affect me. But there was a flip side to that. I had no means of resisting him. I hadn’t been able to build up a tolerance to the potent combination of looks, body, and confidence that was damn near enough to rock me back on my heels, and that was while he insisted on acting like a spoiled little bitch. Maybe it was better for him to keep whining, or else I might’ve had no choice but to jump him to get it out of my system.
“Remember, this is what I do.” It was safer for me to switch into professional mode, babying my client like I’d babied so many others. “This is all about making things as easy for you as possible. I’ve already gotten some positive feedback after your appearance at the fundraiser.”
“Give me a fucking break,” he growled out, running a hand through his dark hair and sighing like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Your people planted all that positive shit online.”
“Of course, that’s how it’s done,” I sighed. “But there have been positive comments made from people outside my company. The social media team for the foundation reposted photos of you and couldn’t have kissed your ass any harder. This is positive progress.”
His head dropped back so he could bark a bitter laugh at the ceiling high above our heads. “They kissed my ass because I gave them a lot of money.”
“I never took you as na?ve.” Something about the way I said it cut off his snide laughter. “What, you don’t think that’s the way it works? Money erases a lot of sins.”
He checked his watch again, frowning even though we had a few minutes before our scheduled time. “Well, hell, I could’ve done this on my own if that was all it took.”
“You know, you are more than free to get rid of me if that’s what you really want.” I met his hard stare without blinking, without so much as flinching, while he tried to stare holes through me. “By all means. See how far you can get on your own. I really wish you would try.”
It would mean going back to normal—avoiding him, pretending he was a bug under my shoe and not a ridiculously hot man with a dangerous effect on my lady parts all of a sudden.
“And deprive you of the pleasure of making a horse’s ass out of me?” He arched an eyebrow, a smirk beginning to stir.
“Oh, Noah. You’re doing an excellent job of that on your own.” I had the pleasure of hearing the growl he couldn’t hold back before the intercom buzzed. That sound felt oddly familiar, like an echo from the past. He crossed the room in a handful of long strides and pressed his finger to the speaker button. “Yes?” he barked out, making me cringe. It probably was not the best idea to get into an argument with a reporter on the way, but he had a way of making me forget what I knew to be true .
One of us had to be the bigger person, and it would have to be me.
“You have a Gretchen Harris down here to see you, sir,” the front desk manager reported.
“Send her up.” With his back to me, his shoulders rose and fell. “This had better not turn into a disaster,” he muttered.
“That’s up to you,” I reminded him, more gently this time. He needed to cool off before Gretchen arrived, and the elevator was awfully fast. “I’ve given you everything you need to make this a success. Trust me, okay? I do know what I’m talking about.”
“So long as it’s over fast. I still have a company to run.” He shook his hands and rolled his head from side to side. “And you say you’re friends with this girl?”
“We’ve worked together before.” I looked him over, admitting to myself, if not to him, that he looked damn good in his perfectly tailored navy suit. “Don’t worry about that. You are Noah-fucking-Goldsmith. You’ve got this. It’s time to have your side of the story heard.”
His brows drew together when he looked my way. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you meant that.”
“I do.” I didn’t. I had spoken those words to more people than I could possibly remember. Countless clients who had ended up appreciating my expertise. I could rattle them off the way I rattled off my own name. “Gretchen will do right by you. I trust her.”
As if on cue, she knocked on the door. I made it a point to answer, greeting her with a hug and kiss on her cheek. Before releasing her, I whispered, “Go easy on him. He’s got an ego the size of his penthouse.” She laughed softly, nodding in understanding when she pulled back.
I wasn’t more than three strides from the door when I realized this was a mistake. It wasn’t that I lacked faith in Gretchen. Not even close. She was the best, a pro at wording a story so it came off well-balanced and fair, even if it was nothing but a carefully orchestrated fluff piece, the way it would be today.
The petite, adorable Gretchen wasn’t the problem. On the other hand, the six-foot-three tower of hormones was currently sizing her up? My heart sank when I caught the whiff of desire in the air, but I forced my way through it rather than slapping him upside the head. I couldn’t have reached it if I tried not unless I jumped. “Noah Goldsmith, meet Gretchen Harris.”
“Gretchen. Such a pleasure.” Oh, this pitiful jackass. A sour taste flooded my mouth as he engulfed her outstretched hand with both of his, his voice deeper and warmer than anything I’d heard so far. “I’m sure you must be busy. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me today.”
Would it come off the wrong way if I burst out laughing? I decided not to take the chance, ushering Gretchen to the leather sofa positioned opposite a flatscreen television that was more like a movie screen. “Would you like anything to drink?” I asked her, eyeing Noah warily as he sank to the other end of the sofa, his body angled toward hers.
Please, do not screw this up . I made it a point to seek his gaze and hold it as I perched on a chair, glaring at him while Gretchen was getting settled in. His lips stirred in the beginnings of an arrogant grin, and something told me I was fucked.
She tucked a strand of strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear, clearing her throat before tapping her phone and setting it between them. “Okay, Mr. Goldsmith, I’m going to record this if you don’t mind, so I can go back and review things. It’s a lot easier to be accurate if I have a recording to go from.”
“By all means.” He stretched one long arm across the back of the sofa, the picture of casual grace as if he hadn’t finished pacing around like a nervous child only moments before she arrived, complaining about his precious time being wasted. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
She might not have heard the meaning behind his words, but I sure as hell did. He didn’t bother hiding it. Either she wasn’t picking up on it, or she was too much of a professional to let it show. The girl was no idiot, that much was for sure, and I doubted she was a stranger to being hit on by random men. Why did men always think they were the first to invent flirting?
“Mr. Goldsmith, tell me…” Turning his way, she offered a warm smile. “What made you decide to strike out on your own when you could have taken a leadership position in your family’s company?”
He lifted a broad shoulder, chuckling. “Where is the fun in that?”
I would kill him. I would absolutely fucking kill him. That was not the response he was supposed to offer. I cleared my throat so loudly he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t heard me. As soon as our eyes met, I shook my head. Do not screw this up.
He chuckled softly, shrugging again. “At the end of the day, what I wanted more than an easy position was something I could call my own. I was inspired by my great-grandmother’s legacy, not to mention my mother, Olivia, both strong women and entrepreneurs. They showed me what it meant to build something lasting. I’m forever indebted to them for that.”
Thank God. I released some of the breath I was holding but was not exactly relaxed. We still had a long way to go before we were out of the woods.
“What made you choose real estate?” she asked, and he rattled off the prepared response. Another relief, enough to let me lower my shoulders from up around my ears.
Before she could ask another question, Noah leaned closer. I watched, holding my breath, while he squinted. “Sorry, but I can’t help noticing your earrings. They’re very pretty.”
“Oh, thank you.” She touched her hand to the pearls dangling in a teardrop setting from both ears. “They belonged to my grandmother.“
“No offense to your grandmother, but I can’t imagine them looking any better on her than they do on you.” They shared a quiet laugh while bile rushed into my throat. It wasn’t so much the fact that he insisted on flirting, even if his compulsion sickened me.
She was into it. Her soft giggles, the way she bit her lip after breaking eye contact. I wasn’t blind. I’d watched more than one woman melt under the charm of this man, and she was no different.
“I’m going to grab a bottle of water,” I announced much too loudly. What the hell did I care? He was determined to turn this into something it wasn’t supposed to be, and she was all too happy to follow along. It was enough to make me consider something much stronger than water.
On my way past Noah, I leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Remember how you ended up in this position,” I warned, continuing to the kitchen.
It was an open floor plan, so there was no hiding my growing irritation. I could only turn to face the refrigerator, grab a bottle, and take a deep gulp of the icy cold liquid. It was a startling contrast to the heat threatening to burn me alive.
Where the hell did he get off? What was wrong with his brain? Of all times for him to resist his nature, yet all he could do was salivate over a pretty girl.
Maybe it was better for me to keep my distance. I lingered in the kitchen, my back against the quartz countertop, sipping water as they went back and forth. “I’ll have to keep you in mind if I ever look for a new place,” she promised, laughing softly before tucking her hair behind her ear again. “Though I don’t think I could afford the sort of properties you specialize in.”
I turned to watch as Noah pursed his lips thoughtfully. “You never know,” he drawled with a grin, even I could admit would melt my panties if he turned it my way. “I’ve been known to make a good deal in my time. I might be able to help you find something for a steal.”
Was it my imagination, or had he inched closer to her side of the couch? What made it so much worse was how she now mirrored his body language—leaning toward him, her legs crossed in his direction. Every filthy thought running through his head was written plainly on his face. It was enough to make me wonder if I should leave them alone.
My stomach sank like a rock. Sure, it seemed like things were going well, but for how long? He couldn’t possibly keep this going without finally saying something hopelessly stupid or worthy of a sexual harassment accusation.
Only if she considers it harassment and not an invitation at this rate.
I set my water down on the counter, and the sound was loud enough to pull Gretchen’s focus back to the interview. She sat up straight, looking down at her notes, clearly flustered. “I understand you recently made a large donation to a foundation devoted to providing quality housing to low-income and disadvantaged families. Can you tell me more about that?”
He easily launched into his prepared statement, adding enough of a personal flourish that a stranger might think he meant every word of it. Well, I couldn’t get on his case for that. He was doing what I had asked him to do.
But I had not asked him to flirt shamelessly. I should have known better than to think he was capable of forgetting about his dick for even an hour.
At the end of the hour, Gretchen offered a regretful little sigh and ended the recording. “This is going to make a terrific article,” she assured him as she stood, smoothing out invisible wrinkles in her tight skirt. And, of course, what was he doing? Watching her. It would be a miracle if I did not kill him before this was over. I started to think Jules had been right all along that this was a bad idea. It had been fun at first, imagining how he would squirm, but it wasn’t worth putting myself through the grief of watching him undermine what I had put in place.
I went through the motions of promising to follow up with Gretchen and even entertained the idea of getting together for brunch soon—at least, I pretended to. The sooner she was out of the penthouse, the better. I didn’t need a member of the press witnessing me tearing Noah’s head from his neck.
“Well…” He sounded surprisingly lighthearted when he turned my way, grinning from ear to ear once Gretchen left. “I have to admit, that wasn’t so bad. You didn’t tell me she was hot.”
Wrong move.
So very wrong .
“And in what world does that make a damn bit of difference?” I snapped, throwing my hands into the air. “Goddamn you and your libido.”
“Grow up,” he chortled. “You know what I meant. It was easy to talk to her. You could take lessons.”
The man was determined to say the exact wrong thing. “You must have a death wish,” I muttered, shaking my head. “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”
“Come on.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Lighten up. That’s all I was trying to say.”
His attitude set my teeth on edge. If this kept up much longer, I’d commit my first murder. “Let’s call it what it really was.” My heels clicked against the floor as I followed him through the living room while he walked around, grabbing his keys and phone. “You were hitting on her, and she was too busy giggling and blushing to remember she was here to do a job.”
“Try not to sound so jealous.” He shot me a snide look over his shoulder, telling me he had no idea how close he was coming to his last breath. “Admit it. The interview went even better than you imagined, and you’re pissy over me getting along with a hot girl.”
No. That wasn’t it at all. Was it? Resentment threatened to choke me by the time I found my voice again. “So if she had been unattractive, you would have clammed up? Is that what you’re saying? This entire thing rode on whether or not you could imagine fucking her?”
“Give me a break!” Of course, he had to play dumb as he turned my way, rolling his eyes and sighing like he was a victim. “Could you take the stick out of your ass for a minute? Why does everything have to be a fucking fight with you?”
“Why does everything have to be an opportunity for you to get your dick wet?” Was I screaming? Not exactly, but I was damn close. It was either that or hit him at this point. “What is it going to take for you to understand? You ended up where you are now because of shit like what you said to Gretchen during that interview. ‘I could get a deal for you,’” I quoted, deepening my voice and puffing out my chest. “Maybe you can come sit on my lap, and we’ll discuss specifics.”
“I didn’t say that,” he growled out, lowering his brow before he began to slowly advance. I didn’t like the light in his eyes. There was something dangerous in them. Foreboding.
Holding up my chin, I laughed bitterly. “You didn’t have to! It was obvious that was what you meant!”
“It wasn’t.” He blinked rapidly, scowling while searching my face. “I’m serious. That was not what I meant.”
“You could have fucking fooled me, Noah. There is your problem in a nutshell. You don’t stop to think about how people might take the things you say, which is why all the PR in the world isn’t going to help you. This is a mistake.” The words fell from my lips before I knew what I was saying. By the time I realized what I’d said, it was too late. I had to follow through.
And it wasn’t like I was wrong—quite the opposite. There was no hope of helping him if it meant witnessing his casual, careless attitude and arrogance toward women. I thought I hated him before this. It turned out I had barely scratched the surface of what was possible.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he demanded when I turned, marching toward the door.
“Figure it out,” I snapped. To hell with this. It was a mistake from the beginning. “I am not going to sit around and watch you sabotage yourself. Manage this on your own because I can’t help you.”
“Are you serious?“ Damn that long stride of his. He made it to the door a split second before I did, slamming his hand against the surface, making it impossible for me to pull it open. Leaning over me, he growled out, “We have an agreement, you and I. You don’t get to walk away.”
“Read the contract,” I suggested, turning around with a sigh that I hoped would cover up how nervous he made me, being so close. The intensity behind his stony glare lifted the hair on my neck. “You’ll find I can do this. You’ve only paid me a nonrefundable deposit, and either party is free to walk away at any time. Or does the big, bad businessman not bother reading contracts before he signs them?”
He snorted, shaking his head. “I didn’t know you were a quitter.”
A laugh bubbled out of me before I knew it was coming. “Please. Are we children? You think it’s that easy to goad me into doing this?”
Looking me up and down, he snickered, shaking his head. “Call it what you want, but I know a quitter when I see one.”
“And I know a stupid, scared little boy when I see one.” He didn’t want me to leave? That was fine. Then he would have to hear what was on my mind. “You’re too scared to sit through an interview without falling back on what you do best… trying to charm and seduce your way out of it.”
“Is that so?” Instead of backing off, he leaned in until I was trapped between him and the door. Dear God, he was overwhelming. “Tell me more about myself,” he murmured in a deceptively soft voice. I felt his breath on my face and shivered, then hoped like hell he didn’t notice. My body didn’t know what to do any more than my overheated brain did.
One thing I was sure of. No way was I going to back down now. Not even when his nearness left my knees trembling and my heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings. “You can’t help yourself even when the fucking answers are handed to you. All you had to do was play along, but you couldn’t. I can’t trust you. I don’t work with people I can’t trust to act like adults.”
His head bobbed slowly while a snide smirk twisted his generous mouth. “Right. Keep telling yourself that’s why you’re too chickenshit to see this through. Or too bitter.” At least he backed off, allowing me to breathe. It was easier to keep a grip on myself when I wasn’t battling the tantalizing scent of his spicy cologne.
Yet another reason why this was a doomed arrangement. “Good luck clawing your way out of the hole you dug.” I yanked the door open before he could stop me and walked out without looking back.
I had never quit anything in my life, but there was a first time for everything. At that point, it was either walking away and absorbing the blowback or sticking around and associating myself with what would inevitably come crashing down.
All the while, wondering why I had never wanted to kill him more than I had when I saw him smile at Gretchen.