12. Jensen
Chapter 12
Jensen
“C ’mon. Hurry up!” Jensen’s throat tightened while he jabbed the button for the doors to close. The last rider vacated the elevator, turning the once-packed carriage into a ghost town.
The last thing he needed was to be late for his meeting, especially one called so suddenly before work hours.
Jensen lost the middle weeks of July amid paperwork in the post-retreat catch-up. His focus on the business filled every hour with emails, calls, and endless questions about the future of Hidden Oasis. Even when he left the office each day, he couldn’t escape work unless he opened himself up to a much-needed distraction. His favorite one at the moment happened to be blonde with a penchant for bickering as foreplay.
Jensen’s hands ran down the length of his shirt, pressing out any wrinkles his fingertips grazed. He had enough wits about him to smooth over his rough, slightly disheveled appearance.
He overslept that morning.
The tap of his foot impatiently counted each floor he passed without incident. Yet, Jensen held his breath, waiting for someone to get on the elevator and slow him down. With less than a minute until Kenneth expected him, his nerves shot through the roof.
What could be so urgent to call him in so abruptly? Something had to be wrong.
Jensen’s luck hadn’t run out yet, reaching his floor without further interruptions or stops. He sped through the doors before they fully opened, beelining to the conference room.
The conference room sat closest to the elevator, right before the start of the narrow hallway. Jensen vaguely recalled the reasoning being "increased productivity in the office composition." He suspected it was actually more out of convenience.
And its location was convenient for him today.
Jensen ducked into the conference room, greeted by an empty table and chairs undisturbed since the last department meeting. Relief replaced the dull headache stretched tight between his temples.
He earned himself an extra-large coffee for his suffering and an hour where he avoided calls like the plague.
Jensen leaned against the windows overlooking the Beverly Hills streets, arm propped against the glass with a perfect view of his watch. The slow ticking of the hands passed the stated meeting from Kenneth, interrupted only when Jensen’s eyes dropped to the morning traffic starting to gather below.
Sighing to himself, Jensen's eyes fought against his exhaustion. "The meeting couldn't be that important if Kenneth isn't on time. I'll give him five minutes."
The moment he mumbled those fateful words, the door swung open. Jensen snapped to attention as all exhaustion exited his body as if someone had injected caffeine directly into his veins.
Jensen cleared his throat, “Good morning, Kenneth. . . and gentleman.” Mid-turn, Jensen noticed several pairs of footsteps shuffled into the room. He stared into the expectant faces of Kenneth and two more shareholders, known to all as the Clements Brothers.
No one knew their first names, not even Daisy, since the two brothers rarely spoke. At all. Jensen would never say it aloud, but the Clements gave him the creeps.
"Good. You're here." Kenneth hobbled forward. Despite the heat already brewing outside the office, he brought out his favorite brown suit—one in a worn taupe and made from the style of an era long forgotten. "We'll get started right away."
“Forgive me if I sound uninformed, but I don’t know why I’m here. Your message was a little vague, Ken.” Jensen tried to keep it light as Kenneth shuffled toward the chairs.
Instead of sitting down, Kenneth grasped the back of a chair and remained standing. His usually affable demeanor appeared in short supply, exchanged for a stern and hardened frown.
“We need to talk about the future of this company. The CEO race has me concerned.”
“Shouldn’t Daisy be here, then?”
“What?”
“If we’re discussing an issue regarding the CEO position, shouldn’t Daisy be here?”
Kenneth’s eyes met Jensen’s, and the anger within them knocked the breath out of him. In all the years Kenneth knew Jensen and his family, Jensen couldn’t recall a single time where the old man raised his voice or demonstrated such ire.
Kenneth spat, “She’s the problem we need to discuss, along with your failure to contain her.”
“I’m sorry?” Jensen stepped forward, finding no glint of humor in the stony expressions between Kenneth and the Clements Brothers. With every second passing in the tense silence, the gathering felt less like a meeting among allies and more like an ambush. “Elaborate for me what exactly the problem is.”
“This company will not continue to succeed if we allow that girl to win enough votes. You cannot lose your father's legacy because you held back." Kenneth waved his hand, but his casual venom weaseled under Jensen’s skin.
“Don’t you think you’re being presumptuous? It’s only been a month. Besides, I'm finding opportunities to bend backward for every shareholder I can. Between meetings, I'm writing emails and calling in favors for votes. I'm pulling my weight," Jensen snapped.
“That may not be good enough,” Kenneth said. Those words zapped all of the fight from Jensen’s body, stunning him into silence. The room dropped ten degrees when the heat once dominating the space rushed out the conference room door, fleeing from the scene.
“What are you not telling me?”
"At the start of the summer, you had a considerable lead over Daisy in the number of votes. The directors leaned toward your side with no questions. But some have begun to waver in their commitment to you, finding Daisy an actively better choice."
“Shit.”
“You could’ve crushed her like a bug under your heel ages ago. Instead, she’s made you weak,” Kenneth remarked. Jensen’s entire body went rigid. The coldness pressing down on his skin prickled like pins and needles. There’s no way Kenneth knew about him and Daisy. “If you lose your lead, you lose this company to her. Will you fail your father so spectacularly?”
Jensen’s jaw clenched, expression hardened. “Is this supposed to be my wake-up call?”
“I’m looking out for you. I have the Clements Brothers and others ready to crown you as the king, but new allegiances are forming daily. You may not be dating my granddaughter anymore, but I won’t let your family lose their hard work and pride. I will do whatever I need to help you win.” Kenneth reached over to clap his shoulder, but Jensen brushed him off.
“Then, what do I need to do?” Jensen asked.
“You need to take the kid gloves off. I'll handle convincing my fellow shareholders to do the right thing, but you can't fuck up again. Destroy Daisy Riggs," Kenneth said, interrupted by the chime from the elevator.
Jensen’s eyes leaped past Kenneth as the elevator doors slid open. Out stepped Daisy, draped in a navy skirt suit that turned her hair into spun gold waves while her skin glowed, dewy smooth under the harsh fluorescent lights.
She walked forward, but her eyes caught Jensen’s from across the room. He watched realization dawn on her with how the soft curve of her lips vanished into a scathing frown. Daisy marched closer in thunderous, echoing strides from the slam of her heels.
Kenneth turned around, clearing his throat. “That’ll be all. We’ll see ourselves out, but remember what I told you, Jensen."
He hobbled toward the Clements, who flanked the open doorway, and all three ran into Daisy hovering in the hall. She stepped back with enough space to let them out but not far enough for them to escape her scathing glare. Oh, she was pissed .
“Mr. Malone, what a surprise to see you here,” Daisy greeted. The sweetness of her voice teetered along the edge of suffocating while she glared at him. “Same for you, Mr. Clements and Mr. Clements.”
"Miss Riggs, a pleasure to see you," Kenneth replied. Unlike Daisy, however, Kenneth couldn’t mask the annoyance in his tone; he addressed her like a pesky gnat buzzing around his head. The coolness of Daisy's gaze rolled past Kenneth to hold Jensen hostage.
Daisy allowed Kenneth and the Clements Brothers to pass, but her body intercepted Jensen’s in the doorway. Jensen could’ve moved around her, but he sensed a fight brewing. The anger lingering in his mouth festered, ready to claw its way out.
Daisy crossed her arms, stepping forward to push Jensen back into the conference room. She hissed, voice barely above a whisper, "Call another shareholder meeting without me?"
In one question, Daisy lost the thin veneer of composure she wore for Kenneth and the Clements. Rage tainted her face red, but Jensen imagined his face looked the same.
“I didn’t do anything. Kenneth called me to speak, not the other way around,” Jensen snapped. After that morning’s emotional whiplash, he needed an hour of solitude to calm the fuck down.
Yet Daisy loved to push his buttons.
“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth. Get off my back, Daisy!”
Daisy yanked the door closed, shutting them into the conference room. “Look me in the eyes and tell me what exactly you and Kenneth were conspiring about.”
“Like you, Kagami, and Sandra? It’s none of your business what I discuss with shareholders." Jensen shook his head. The woman before him hardly resembled the girl in his bed that morning. "If you miss meetings and information about work, that's not my fault. It's on you."
“I was wondering when the selfish jackass side of you went, but I see he’s returned in full.” Daisy’s laugh sliced him open with its serrated sarcasm, turning on her heel. She reached for the door, pausing when Jensen stepped closer to her.
She bristled, scowling over her shoulder at him. Her eyes narrowed at him, probably matching his.
Jensen scoffed, “Fuck you.”
“You already did today. And you’ve reached your quota for the week.” Daisy shrugged him off before stalking out of the conference room. She stormed down the hallway toward their offices, leaving Jensen alone.
Jensen’s shoulders slumped as the anger drained from his body, falling from that morning's highs. Guilt cropped up in the back of his mind, but Jensen waved its quiet musing away.
He could overthink about it later; he had work to do.
Ambient lighting and the polite dinner conversations of strangers accompanied Jensen’s entry into the main dining room of Lumina, the trendiest new Mediterranean restaurant in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Fixing the collar of his turtleneck, Jensen considered himself a brand-new man compared to the one who woke up that morning.
Ever since meeting with Kenneth days ago, Jensen’s life derailed off the right track. His focus on work fractured between the CEO position and his daily duties, further blurring the lines between working hours and his home life. He didn’t have time for anyone or anything that wasn’t work.
Stuck in desperation to win, Jensen had begun to drown until his dad swung by and ordered him to take the day off. They argued about it for a while, luckily hidden from prying eyes by lunch hour, but Jensen caved.
His dad smoothed everything over with the offer of dinner at Lumina after work.
Jensen’s eyes roamed across the wooden tables, scattered Grecian-style columns, and walls painted cerulean blue and crisp white with murals of Santorini. His gaze jumped from table to table until he spotted his dad in the middle of the hubbub.
He weaved in between the tables of other diners, enjoying their Saturday. As he reached his dad, the brightening of his dad’s smile hit him right in the chest. Somehow, his dad’s good mood made everything else feel less important.
“Hey there, stranger.” Harrison rose from his chair. He yanked Jensen into a hug, not letting him escape without a tight squeeze. “You clean up nicely, just like your old man.”
“I hope that’s a compliment,” Jensen chuckled, accepting the firm slaps of his dad’s hand along his back. Eventually, he noticed a third chair at the cozy table. “I didn’t realize we had company tonight. I thought it was us two.”
“She’ll be here momentarily. She texted me right after you did.” Harrison gestured for Jensen to take his seat, but the click of heels approaching stopped him in his tracks.
Jensen turned over his shoulder as his eyes landed on Daisy. She sighed, gaze buried in her mini purse. “So sorry I’m late. I had an extended phone call with Steelbird about some information regarding the Alpine—oh, Jensen."
Daisy's 'oh, Jensen' rattled around in his brain, undeniably startled. He took it that she didn’t know he’d be there either.
In the silence, Jensen examined her. She changed from that day’s work attire—swapping her sensible suit for a curve-hugging black dress—and pinned her hair out of her face.
Jensen stepped away from his chair, pulling it out for her with a tip of his head.
"Evening, Daisy."
“Thank you.” Daisy inched past him, but the full view of her back drew Jensen’s eyes along the zipper stretching across the dress. Daisy had the zipper pulled down to the small of her back, essentially turning the dress backless. “I appreciate the dinner invite.”
Holy fuck. The sight of Daisy’s bare skin went straight to his head, bringing him to slump into the other chair like a fool.
Jensen clawed his thighs hard under the table when his dad chuckled, "Don't sweat it. I wanted to celebrate the two of you tonight for all the hard work you invested in Hidden Oasis. You two are my most dedicated workers, and I'm honored to be your boss. . . and your dad, Jensen."
"Harrison, I love you, but you're a sap." Daisy laughed to Jensen's left, forcing him to push past the lump in his throat after an eyeful of her back. He needed to see it with his marks littered all over.
Jensen coughed, raising his water glass. "She's right, Dad. You’re a sap.”
"I can't help it. Over the last decade or so, I've watched you two grow into two fine, extremely capable people. I'm proud of both of you." Harrison smiled, only breaking his focus on them when the waiter swung by to hand over the drink menu.
Jensen reached for his water, nursing it close to his chest like a cocktail. No alcohol tonight, not with him behind the wheel. "Tonight is purely celebratory, right?”
"Yes, at least until dessert. I have one small update about CEO stuff, but that can wait. You two deserve one night that's not about business; I don't think either of you knows the definition of 'time off’," Harrison said.
Instantly, Jensen perked up. . . and so did Daisy. Big mistake.
Daisy reached for her place setting. "I don't know about Jensen, but I'd prefer to have the information upfront. It'll keep me from worrying." She pursed her lips, smudging her shimmery dark berry lip gloss.
Jensen almost missed the red.
Daisy and Harrison's eyes flitted over to Jensen, awaiting his response. So, he, trying to be fearless, nodded until the words decided to work.
"I can handle it, Dad. Tell us,” Jensen promised, forcing himself to look ahead. Although his dad might know if he lied, Daisy would sniff out his fear better than any feral wolf.
Harrison sighed. "Very well. Some directors voiced their thoughts about needing more information to help their decision. After some counsel, I've decided to implement a small task for you two. You'll create a policy proposal for the board to hypothetically vote on if you become CEO and present it to the company."
If Jensen were honest, he expected worse news. Still, the added layer of a policy proposal and the thought of the entire company judging his ideas cemented the concept of “being CEO” a little more.
His eyes darted toward Daisy. The unshakeable calmness on her face never betrayed her thoughts, yet her eyes screamed her inner monologue through a megaphone.
She looked either pleased or unsurprised, meaning someone told her about the proposal before his dad had. That’s how she stayed ahead; a spy was feeding her information.
Jensen watched her politely nod and grin, sparkling like a diamond under the light. "I'm down for the challenge. One moment, I need to take a call."
Daisy flashed her screen to the table, not long enough for Jensen to see the caller ID, before she rose. She elegantly dodged between diners in a hurried jog across the room.
Once she ducked into the hallway with ‘restrooms’ painted over the archway, Jensen lounged back in his chair. He leaned forward, winking at his dad. “Any suggestions on what I should do?”
“Nice try. I’m not playing favorites in this one either.” His dad shook his head, smile holding firm despite his fatherly chiding.
“She won’t know!”
"But you won't feel like you've won it. I know you, Jensen. You want people to take you seriously without using our family’s reputation as a crutch. The idea will be more authentic from you and your desire to do right by the company."
“Why do you have to be so wise or whatever?” Jensen sighed, prompting good-natured laughter from across the table.
“It comes in the parenting manual,” his dad remarked between sips of water. “You’ll understand if you choose to become a dad one day.”
Jensen’s eyes wandered toward the bathrooms, counting the time since Daisy left the room before making his getaway. He cleared his throat, “I’ll be right back. Need the bathroom.”
Jensen excused himself from the table without waiting for permission, too old for that. He sped through the packed dining room with quick pardons thrown out at each opportunity.
On the hunt for Daisy, he ambled into the hallway, darker than Lumina's main room. It didn't take long to find her leaning against the wall with her phone in hand.
She glanced up, brows arched. “Looking for me?”
“You know I am.” Jensen’s hands pushed up the sleeves of his turtleneck while sidling closer to Daisy. “Who told you about the policy proposal?”
“You’re not the only one who gets allies, Jensen. Don’t take it so personally that I’m playing your game. I never took you for a hypocrite,” Daisy replied coolly, stepping closer to him.
“I’m not a hypocrite.”
"Could've fooled me. First, it was Delaney, and now Kenneth? The Malone family has you under their thumb. How often have you and he conspired to keep me out of the loop?"
“None. Every time I knew of something that I thought you should know, I said so. You failing to come isn’t on me.”
Daisy said nothing, leaving the two to stare one another down, chest-to-chest. She raked her eyes down his face, shaking her head.
Jensen’s jaw tensed. “You’re holding back. What is it?”
“I’m- nothing-” Daisy sighed, a heavy and tired echo off her lips. Jensen leaned forward, but she moved back. “I’m not in a fighting mood. Not tonight and not with you.”
"Why not? You love fighting with me and sticking it to the man." Jensen cocked his head, inching forward with every step Daisy took back. She would move first, whereas he followed, driven to match her.
Daisy's back eventually bumped into the wall, and Jensen stood in front of her, gazing into her whiskey eyes. The tension still crackled with its electricity, but not with an angry tongue. Instead, it whispered a quiet seduction.
They were alone, heated after a quick and snappy exchange, so prone to the temptations best shared in the dark.
“I should be angry at you right now since we’re back to competing, but you bought my chair," Daisy whispered, not breaking eye contact.
Jensen froze. His heartbeat quickened in his ears, thundering away in a nervous frenzy. He swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
"Cut the crap. I left around lunchtime with that shitty old chair I kept pushing down my list of priorities and returned to a brand new one with a massage voucher to Oceanview. There was no one else who knew but you.”
“Okay, so what if I did it?”
"You did do it, and I want to thank you," Daisy said.
Jensen’s hand reached out, tipping her chin back to stare right into her eyes, “Well, I should be mad at you, but you wore this dress tonight.”
The words curled off his lips as dark and hushed as smoke, filling the space of the hallway with their big promises. Unspoken tension needled at the tiny gap between his and Daisy's mouths until Jensen's thoughts imagined smearing her lip gloss against his neck.
Neither moved as the quiet shuffle of footsteps preceded an older woman entering the hallway. Jensen backed away from Daisy as he turned his face away from her, too embarrassed to look.
He should head back before he lost his damn mind. . . if he hadn’t already. Kenneth saw weakness in him when Daisy got involved. Maybe he was right; Daisy Riggs had him bent around her finger, compromising every instinct in him determined to win.