10. Noah
10
NOAH
“ I have to say, the numbers look good. Much along the lines of what we discussed weeks back.” Arthur Pine glanced across the table toward his brother, Jim, who nodded his agreement. A pair of ridiculously wealthy, middle-aged tech gurus looking to diversify their investment portfolio and branch out into real estate. “And you’ve secured a development partnership with ZF Construction?”
Working with the Barrett Black construction company sweetened the pot, no doubt. I told myself they were more interested in his name than in the idea of him legitimizing the deal. I didn’t have to worry about the article. Things were looking up—no more phone calls or texts from members of the press, nobody waiting for me outside my apartment building in hopes of getting a picture or a quote they could use.
“Yes, Mr. Black is eager to collaborate with us on developing the parcel once the sale has been secured.” We were looking to develop a piece of land on the north shore of Long Island, the idea being to build a townhome development along with an adjoining upscale shopping center and dining for the convenience of the residents.
“We’ll take these final figures back to our team, but from what I see here, I’m satisfied.” Jim finished what was left of his coffee, then dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “We hate to run like this, but we have a meeting across town at the top of the hour. You understand.”
“Of course.” Standing, I shook their hands, assuring them I would cover our brunch bill. Considering this was my first major win in weeks, I would’ve covered just about anything. We made plans to connect by the end of the week, and I looked forward to sharing the news with Maxim once I reached the office. He needed a win too.
What a shame I couldn’t tell my PR manager about it and thank her for the work, which must have contributed to the deal advancing. Two weeks ago, the Pine brothers were practically ducking my calls, playing phone tag with me. Rather, their assistant was, since I couldn’t get them on the phone. After the donation to the housing foundation and the goodwill that had been stirred up after that, along with my unequivocal denial of the charges in that bullshit article, it seemed I had regained a little trust.
It was then that I checked my emails. One came through from Momentum Public Relations, Sienna’s PR company, but it wasn’t from her.
I scanned it, some bullshit next-level instructions from someone I’d never heard of. It made my blood boil. Had she seriously ghosted me completely and washed her hands of me?
When I wanted to speak to Sienna about my morning win, I get this? She’d been MIA since the interview at my place, and part of me was relieved she’d left when she did. But another part of me, the part that couldn’t shake her from my mind, wished she hadn’t gone. It was a dangerous game, being near her. She was like a flame, drawing me in despite the risk of getting burned. Her absence only intensified my desire, making it hard to keep myself away from thoughts of her. Like it or not, she was pretty damn irresistible. I was only a man, flesh and blood, so it wasn’t surprising for a beautiful woman to affect me.
I did not, however, take well to being ignored. The email made me change my plans out of nowhere, walking to her office rather than heading back to my own. She couldn’t avoid me if I were in her face.
However, as it turned out, I wasn’t in her face when I arrived at her sleek headquarters, where a dozen employees tapped rapidly on their keyboards as I stepped off the elevator. Blowing past the receptionist, I strode smoothly toward the opposite corner of the floor.
Sienna’s assistant spotted me and almost jumped out of her chair before I reached her. “I’m sorry, Miss Black is at a meeting in Midtown. She has another appointment after that, and she was going to let me know if she’d come back to the office afterward or if she would finish out the day at home.”
I thanked her assistant, whose name I still didn’t know and didn’t care to, before asking, “What about her partner? Jules something? Is she around?”
“My ears are burning.” I turned at the voice over my shoulder and found myself face-to-face with a petite, curly-headed blonde. Normally, a person had to know me before looking at me with so much wry uneasiness etched on their face. Considering we have never met, I had to assume Sienna told her about me.
“Jules Sherman.” She extended a hand, offering a firm shake. “I guess she didn’t tell you. ”
“Tell me what?”
“She’s left the work in the capable hands of our senior staff.” She was quick to tell me while I tried to process the news. “If I understand correctly, she’s handling the setup for the sports clinic on her own, as it’s a bit more complicated to work out the scheduling. You’ll be posing for photos with star athletes and smiling kids within the next couple of weeks, though, rest assured. Was there something you wanted to discuss?”
So this was how it would be, getting the brush-off. She didn’t have the balls to tell me to go fuck myself. Then again, she had told me in her own way by walking out on me after the interview. Only, I’d figured she was bluffing.
Nobody walked away from me.
“Jules?” A girl on the other side of the floor called out, waving an arm over her head. “Your eleven-thirty call.”
“That’s right. Be there in a second.” Jules offered a tight, professional smile. “Don’t worry. Everything’s looking up. We’ve got plenty of goodwill flowing your way.”
I’d had the same thought on the way over, but it wasn’t enough. Standing alone in the middle of a hallway, surrounded by young women at tastefully decorated desks, it was then I realized all of the employees were female and may as well have been alone.
How could she leave me floundering like this? Was I supposed to accept this bullshit at face value? She didn’t know me at all if she thought I would accept her ghosting me without explanation.
A switch flipped in my head, and when I turned back toward Sienna’s assistant’s desk, I had a plan in place. “Excuse me,” I offered, wearing my most charming smile as I approached her like a man without a care in the world. “Any chance you can tell me where I’d find Sienna? ”
She peered up at me over the rims of her glasses. “Excuse me?”
“Miss Black. You said she was at a meeting. She left something at my apartment during the interview with Gretchen Harris on Monday. I’ve been wanting to get it back to her.”
“You could leave it here,” she offered, nodding toward Sienna’s office door.
“I would rather hand it directly to her if it’s all the same. It’s been weighing on my conscience for days.” Winking, I added, “I’ve already been accused of being no good, filthy scum. I don’t want to add thief to the list.”
I knew her smile. I had seen it so many times on the faces of so many women. She knew she should resist but couldn’t find it in her to do so. “Okay,” she whispered, tapping on her keyboard. “Don’t tell her you found out from me.”
“I would never,” I assured her.
The restaurant was bustling with the early lunch crowd when I arrived.
“Can I help you, sir?”
I barely noticed the voice of the chipper girl at the hostess stand while scanning the dining room, searching for a familiar brunette. “I’m looking for someone having lunch here,” I explained without looking her way.
Sunlight gleamed off rich, dark brown hair by the window, looking out over Park Avenue. Across from her sat a vaguely familiar man—an actor in town from Hollywood, working on a new play, if memory served. The closer I got, the less I liked how he was looking at her. And the way she smiled at him.
Everything in the room went red, my head pounding harder with each step. They looked a hell of a lot more like a date than a business meeting. Whatever it was they wanted to call it was about to come to an end once I arrived at their table.
“Sienna. And there I was, thinking you dropped off the face of the earth.” I took a second to enjoy her flustered surprise—mouth falling open, eyes going wide before her gaze darted toward the douchebag sitting across from her.
“Noah Goldsmith, what a surprise. Have you met Jacob Dalton?” She recovered quickly. Ever the professional.
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure.” And I wasn’t looking to have it, either. Rather than acknowledge him, I maintained focus on her. “There’s something we need to discuss.”
Her brittle smile threatened to shatter her teeth. “I’m busy at the moment.”
“Get unbusy,” I muttered.
“Yo, do you need a minute?” Jacob asked.
Sienna and I were locked in a staring contest. She blinked first, something murderous washing over her face before she nodded. “Yes, I need to step outside for a minute. Sorry about this,” she told him, and the sight of her simpering smile felt like a knife to the chest.
Why? I wasn’t sure where it came from. Probably the fact that I’d spent days on her pay-no-mind list, only to find her flirting with this asshole.
She managed to wait until we were outside before whirling on me, folding her arms over a painfully hip jeans-and-tee outfit, very much unlike the suits she wore when we met. It was as if she wore a costume depending on the sort of client she was handling. “I am not going to do what I want to do right now,” she gritted out, glaring at me. “Because we don’t need any negative press, and dozens of people inside the restaurant could look out and see us. But please, don’t take that to mean I don’t want to kill you right now because I would like nothing more. What goes on in your head? How dare you?”
“It’s my fault you pushed me to this point?” When she scoffed, it was my turn to grind my teeth. “For days, you’ve been ducking me. I want an explanation.”
“And I want a house in the Maldives, but that doesn’t mean I’ll snap my fingers and get it. Things are moving fine. I am not going to hold your hand every second of the day. If that’s what you want, find yourself a babysitter.”
I barely heard her over my pounding heart. “And then! I find you sucking up to some skinny jean-wearing asshole with a man bun.”
“That asshole happens to be a client,” she hissed. The look she shot toward the windows made me roll my eyes. He couldn’t hear us out here.
“Do you flirt with all of your clients?”
“Do you?” she fired back. Of all times for my dick to wake up and pay attention. It had to be the anger and the energy being created. Otherwise, this was the least likely time for me to get a hard-on. She tossed her head, sending a wave of scent my way, distracting me from why I was there.
Her hair smelled like vanilla and some flower I couldn’t identify. I would gladly have buried my nose in those luscious waves to drink in the smell.
“Well?” She prompted, and I realized I’d been drifting off.
Nope. Definitely not the time to get confused by sweet-smelling hair. I clenched my jaw before growling out, “You will not ignore me from now on. Understood? ”
“And you will not tell me what to do, nor will you tell me how to run my business. Understood?” She tossed her hair again when a gust of wind stirred it, making me groan softly. “I’m doing the work I’m contracted to do. Your article is coming out tomorrow, and it’s a goddamn love letter. What else do you want, Noah?”
My mouth opened and closed. What was it about the question that made it impossible to think? I want your attention. No, that didn’t sound right. What did I want? “I want my messages acknowledged, at the very least. I am not the man you ghost. Get it?”
“I’m trembling,” she deadpanned.
My fists clenched when a wave of rage tried to knock me on my ass. “Fuck off.”
“Is that any way to talk to me when I’m saving your ass?” With a withering look, she breezed past me on her way inside the restaurant. “Now, excuse me, I have another client whose hand needs to be held at the moment. If you want to talk to me, make an appointment.”
The only thing that kept my temper in check was knowing I was out on the street. I couldn’t have all of Park Avenue witnessing me throwing a fit. I doubted even someone with Sienna’s connections could help me out of a disaster like that.
My feet pounded the pavement while a burning sensation spread through my chest. Something about the way I walked or the look on my face made a pair of women step aside, almost flinching away from me. I must have looked like I was ready to commit murder, which wasn’t far from the way I felt.
Why did she have to be so fucking impossible? Why couldn’t she meet me halfway? Everything had to be a goddamn fight .
It would be different if she fell for my charm.
And that was the problem. Block after block, I walked, turning it over in my mind. I couldn’t charm her. It was impossible. She hated me too much to bend an inch, and I wasn’t used to that. I didn’t know how to deal with a woman I couldn’t work around. Hell, even my mother was a sucker when I turned on the charm.
But not Sienna.
I couldn’t let it go more than I could let go of wanting her approval for some unknown reason. Another first, giving a shit what anybody thought of me, man or woman.
I was no closer to calming down when I reached my office, where I once again parted crowds and silenced chatter simply by walking down the hall. I caught more than one worried look on my way to the solitude of my office.
How was I supposed to get anything done when the only thing on my mind was tracking down that actor and using that man bun of his to slam his face into a table?
I needed a release. I needed to forget everything for a little while.
I needed a night at Dante’s club. Whether or not the pink-haired woman was there didn’t matter. I would find some willing body to take out my frustrations come hell or high water.