Chapter 3
Liam
For the rest of the day, we listened to twenty more pitches while my mind kept wandering to a specific lingerie business.
In the afternoon, we headed back to our offices, located in a brownstone we rented on the Upper West Side.
We converted the original kitchen into a welcome area.
The interns worked in an open office arrangement in what used to be the living room.
David, Becca, and I each had a huge office on the upper floor. The meeting room was in the basement.
We all decided to head up to the rooftop, which was the best part of the building, to discuss which of the businesses we’d invest in.
Everyone loved to come up here for the fresh air, and since we weren’t on a high floor, there was no wind.
This September was chilly, but because of the taller buildings surrounding us, we were pretty protected from the elements up here.
Every time I was inside one of New York’s high-rises, I felt like I was suffocating.
I didn’t need a great view from fifty stories above.
I needed to be able to step out whenever I wanted to clear my head.
Becca, David, and I each had two interns on our teams. One of my interns, Dexter, brought up some refreshments for everyone as well as my stress ball—it’s what kept me sane.
When we all sat on the rattan armchairs scattered around, I asked the interns to give us their top three picks.
All of them mentioned Soho Lingerie. We only had four other fashion companies in our portfolio, each tackling their market with an innovative angle.
After the interns finished giving us the rundown, they headed downstairs to their desks, but Becca, David, and I stayed upstairs.
They weren’t just my business partners but also my best friends.
We all met fifteen years ago when we were interning on Wall Street after college.
In our spare time, we worked on an app for personal finance called InvestMe.
A huge bank bought it for a lot of money.
We held consultant roles on the app’s management team for a while, before it became obvious that we weren’t needed.
We created the fund because we had a lot of cash and a burning desire to work with business owners.
This fund was our pride and joy, and the three of us worked nonstop to turn it into a success.
We’d been doing this for ten years now, though at thirty-six, we were still as motivated and hungry for success as we’d been at twenty-six.
Back then, there had been four of us. We’d taken another of our best friends on board, Albert.
He hadn’t had any money to invest, but he was brilliant, a true innovator.
So brilliant in fact that it took us years to discover what he was doing behind our backs.
Let’s just say we don’t talk about him anymore.
“So after listening to all of them, I still think we have way too many excellent applicants. A good problem to have, but still a problem,” Becca said. Though we were shaded by the taller buildings, the sun shone through the cracks. It was a beautiful day to be outside.
“I agree. If we had enough people, I’d vote we take on all the projects,” I said.
“Maybe we should hire that additional manpower like we talked about,” David said.
I grunted, shaking my head. “No. I like our team. Training new hires takes time and resources, and we have neither.” Although we’d be able to expand, training new members wasn’t easy, and we really lucked out with the group we had.
“Or you’re just a grumpy ass who doesn’t like new people,” Becca said with a devilish smile. I threw my stress ball at her. She caught it midair. “I’m not giving this back to you today. See how you fare without it.”
“Becca,” David practically begged. “Come on, don’t do this to us. We need him to focus.”
“I am focused,” I assured him.
“Okay, give me your top three picks. Instinctively,” David challenged.
“Soho Lingerie, Robotron, and DesignPen.” I didn’t even hesitate. All three pitches were stuck in my brain—Soho Lingerie’s more than the others, for reasons I didn’t understand.
David tilted his head. “You weren’t sold on Soho Lingerie when I first suggested them. What changed?”
“The pitch was convincing. I think they can become huge if they move fast.”
A smile was playing on Becca’s lips. “There’s something you’re not telling us. You were acting weird when they came in.”
They both looked at me expectantly. If I said nothing, they’d only become more suspicious.
“Fine, I accidentally walked in on Tess Winchester while she was changing her bra or whatever.”
“Oh shit, that must have been awkward. Poor woman,” Becca said.
“Is she hot?” David asked instantly.
I cocked a brow at him.
“Forget that. ’Course she’s hot. I could tell that even though she had her clothes on. How much of an eyeful did you get?” he continued.
“Enough to make it awkward.” And for me to lose control of my mind and body, apparently.
“And wait, that was enough to throw you off your game? How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman?” David asked with a shit-eating grin.
“I date enough,” I replied without going into more detail. I didn’t like discussing my private life. Not that there was much to it besides dates and no-strings-attached sex.
“Will you two stop?” Becca chastised.
“No,” David answered at the same time I said, “Yes.”
“Come on, man, give me a visual,” David pleaded. “Just something to make my day better. And?—"
I cut him off with a glare. “Let’s just get back to our topic. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the fact that they’re one of my top picks.”
“Those are my top three too,” Becca said. “But eventually we still have to narrow it down to one.”
“Well, we’re not choosing the finalists yet. We can invite at least twelve from the twenty teams to dinner and take it from there,” David said. I could tell he still wanted to talk about what I saw.
“Let’s think about this until tomorrow,” I said. “I don’t like spur-of-the-moment decisions.”
Becca smiled devilishly again. “Yes, we all know that.”
“You keep giving me shit, but you like all the processes I’ve set in place too.” It had been my idea to have standardized procedures for nearly everything.
“I know. I just like to make fun of you. Oh, and now I see frown lines. Time to get your stress ball back.” She tossed it back to me. “Well, since we’re not deciding today, I’m going back down to bust my interns’ balls some more.”
“I’m coming too,” David said.
The three of us were an unlikely group. At first glance, we didn’t have much in common.
David wasn’t much for following rules. He came to work wearing sneakers and jeans and would have been just as happy coaching a high school baseball team as he was running a million-dollar fund.
Becca shared his view on rules, but she liked to give him shit, not me…usually. She liked to indulge in the finer things in life and always showed up dressed to the nines.
“I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’ll think about the pitches today. In the meantime, I’m going to pay Gran a visit.” Standing up, I went down to the ground floor and ordered an Uber.
Gran and my grandfather had practically raised me, and I always enjoyed our conversations.
As wildlife photographers, my parents were constantly traveling, so I lived with my grandparents until I turned eighteen.
My parents were currently in Kilimanjaro, and my grandfather passed away five years ago, so Gran only had me.
After losing Grandpa, she went through a phase of deep sadness for more than a year. Mom and Dad took her with them on a trip to the Grand Canyon, and since she returned, she’d been different. The change of scenery had been good for her.
During the drive to her apartment, I planned to mentally review the pitches. Instead, I found myself thinking about Tess Winchester.
The fire in her eyes and the passion in her voice were captivating even hours later.
That protective look when she glanced at her sister got to me in a way I couldn’t explain.
I could tell a lot about a person from their presentation.
For instance, Tess wasn’t just involved in management decisions.
Based on the things she referenced, it was clear she didn’t mind getting her hands dirty…
and that led me right to dirty thoughts.
I started thinking about her in lingerie yet again, about the peek I’d gotten of her breast. She’d been cute, all nervous in the bathroom.
She’d also been delicious at the lockers, where she challenged and teased, and I’d just forgotten about boundaries or common sense.
If we were going to work with Soho Lingerie, I had to stop whatever this was.
I’d always been perfectly capable of separating my personal life from my business endeavors. It was one of my strengths, and I didn’t think anything could change that.
Tess Winchester was proving me wrong.