Chapter 54 – Remington
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Don’t neglect your woman’s cookie
Remington
“You’re doing a really good job, Perri,” I tell my sister, leaning back in my office chair and looking through the proposal she just presented me for the charity gala she’s working on. “I’m happy with everything you’ve chosen.”
She looks absolutely thrilled with my praise. “Thank you. I’ve been working really hard so everything is a great representation of what Hale Cosmetics stands for. We’ve all been putting in a lot of hours on it.”
My eyes shoot to her blue ones. By all I know she’s talking about the other major sponsors of this event, the Bouviers and the fucking Carlisles. I hate that she has to be exposed to that man at all.
“Has Carlisle said anything to you?” I ask sharply, remembering our encounter at the golf tournament.
“He’s said lots of things to me,” she retorts.
I blow out a cleansing breath and run a hand over my face. “I mean, has he said anything untoward?”
Her nose scrunches. “Untoward? No one talks like that, Rem. Well, no one who’s not an eighty-year-old duke.”
Running my tongue over my top teeth, I shake my head. “What would you have me say?”
“Uhhh, anything except untoward. How about disturbing or troublesome? Or maybe perverse?”
I jerk upright and jab a finger in her direction. “If Carlisle says anything even remotely perverse to you, he’ll be swallowing those shiny fucking teeth of his.”
My sister giggles. “Oh my god, calm your tits, bro. Grant has been perfectly nice.”
“Grant has been perfectly nice,” I mimic.
“You are a child,” she reprimands, stealing my coffee and taking a sip. “Ugh, how can you drink this without sugar and cream?”
I snatch it back and take a long swig, letting the strong java warm my throat. “Like that. You’re lucky I don’t have a shot of bourbon in there. I probably need it since I’m about to go into a meeting with all the finance guys.”
“Ew,” she says, wrinkling her nose again. “Those always last forever. Dad was always complaining about it. You need something to keep you awake.”
“Agreed,” I say, a plan suddenly forming in my mind.
After Perri leaves, I wait five minutes before using the office phone system to call Mindy.
“How may I help you, Your Grace?” she asks sweetly, and my lips twitch into a smile. God, I fucking love her sass.
Keeping my voice completely conversational, I say, “Ms. Espinoza, bring me your panties, please.”
I hear choking on the other end of the line, and my grin widens.
“B-bring… you want… excuse me?” she squeaks out.
“Did I stutter, Ms. Espinoza? I said, bring me your fucking panties. Now.”
“The ones I’m wearing?” she whispers.
“Do you have a spare pair in your desk?” I ask.
“Um, well, no.”
“Good. I didn’t want clean ones anyway. I want the ones that smell like your sweet little cunt.”
My beautiful girl appears in my office a few seconds later, closing the door before propping her hands on her hips. Jesus, she is exquisite when she’s riled up. “Why the hell do you want my panties?”
“Because I’m about to go into one of the most tedious meetings of the year, and I need something to hold onto.”
“So you want my used panties?” she asks, skepticism heavy in her words.
I shrug. “It’s what brings me comfort. Like a pacifier soothes a fussy baby, your panties can soothe a stressed out CEO.”
“Are you going to suck on them?” she retorts.
“I might.” Mindy gapes at me like I’ve lost my damn mind, and hell, maybe I have.
“Take them off now and give them to me, or I’ll come over there and take them off you myself.”
She cocks her hip out like she’s about to argue further, but when I stand, she rushes to bend over and slide the prettiest pair of peach lace panties down her legs. Stepping out of them, she stands, dangling them from one finger with a look that asks, what now?
I crook my finger at her, keeping my gaze locked on hers. Mindy crosses the room and extends her hand.
“Thank you. You’re a very accommodating assistant, Ms. Espinoza,” I tell her, taking the scrap of lace and holding it to my nose. “Mmmm, the best fucking assistant ever.”
She rolls her tongue against the inside of her cheek. “Can I go back to my desk now, or are there any other bizarre requests you’d like to ask of me?”
“You may go,” I say imperiously, shooing her with my hand.
Snorting, she turns and heads to the door. “Stop looking at my ass, Hale,” she says without looking back.
“Never,” I call back with a chuckle because she’s right. I was gawking unashamedly at her pretty backside.
This is the first time in the past three weeks I’ve blatantly broken our “be professional at the office so we don’t make anyone uncomfortable” rule.
Sure, there have been a few stolen kisses here and there, and I occasionally make a sexually charged comment if we’re alone, but I’ve mostly been cognizant of the guideline—Mindy’s idea, for the record. And I admit, it’s a good one.
I have to maintain respect among my employees since I’m the CEO, and I also need Mindy to feel comfortable working here without judgment from her coworkers. She’s honestly the best executive assistant I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
Though deep inside, I know she’s not going to stay at this job forever, no matter how much I want her to.
Her heart is in baking and owning her own bakery, and I know for a fact she will be an excellent business owner.
Her talent and professional efficiency, not to mention her heart, will assure that happens.
Plus, she made a promise to her mother—a couple promises, in fact—and I want to help her fulfill all of them.
Remembering one particular pledge she shared with me during one of our late-night cuddle-and-talk sessions, I pick up the phone and make a call.
Five minutes later, it’s done, and I take one last whiff of Mindy’s soft little panties before tucking them into the inner pocket of my jacket and rising.
Once I exit the door, I stop by her desk. “Ms. Espinoza, I’d like you to accompany me to the conference room.”
She smirks up at me. “Do you need me to feed you a bottle on the way so you don’t get hangry during the finance meeting?”
Such a fucking smartass.
“No, I want you to sit in on the meeting. I thought it could be beneficial for you to see the inner financial workings of a business since you’ll be a business owner yourself one day.”
When her eyebrows rocket upward, I add, “I’m sure your bakery will start out on a smaller scale than an international cosmetics company, but the backbone of it will be the same.
You can see how we allocate funds to different areas like marketing, development, and supplies.
” I lean my hip on her desk. “It’s a balancing act, like walking on a tightrope with scales hanging off each side of your pole.
For example, if you spend too much on marketing but neglect to have enough supplies on hand, you’ll have lots of customers but no product to supply to them.
Then you’re going to topple off that tightrope due to the imbalance. ”
She nods, and I can see her brain working through what I said and how it may relate to her one day. I love the way her mind works. Scraping her teeth along her bottom lip, she says, “Are you sure you don’t mind if I sit in? I know this meeting has some highly confidential information being shared.”
God, doesn’t she understand that everything I have will be hers one day? That thought might scare her off since we’ve only been “officially official,” as she calls it, for a few weeks. So I simply say, “I trust you.”
Her smile shines sunlight on my entire world.
“Let me get my notebook.”
Allison Torres, our Chief Financial Officer, wraps up her portion of the meeting.
“So as you can see, Hale Cosmetics experienced double-digit unit growth in the fourth quarter of last year, and we’re projecting record first quarter revenues for this year which will lead to a significant improvement in earnings and margins. ”
Her brown eyes find me sitting at the end of the long conference table, and she nervously tucks a strand of long, dark-brown hair behind her ear. I offer her a comforting smile and stand, buttoning my suit jacket.
“Thank you, Allison. That was an excellent presentation. Precise and concise, just like we all like it.”
Everyone around the table laughs, and someone yells out, “Especially the concise part.” I think it was Phoenix.
“I can’t argue with that,” I say, looking at the twenty or so faces turned expectantly toward me. “Does anyone need a bathroom break?” Everyone shakes their heads, and I add, “The accountants are up next.”
At once, chairs roll back and everyone stands. The accountants are the least concise group of individuals in the entire world, and everyone here knows it. The room empties, while everyone takes advantage of the restrooms down the hall.
They begin filing back in a few minutes later with fresh coffees in hand. I had Ambrosia set up a coffee stand just outside the conference room especially for this meeting. It seems that was an excellent idea, according to the happy murmurs from the attendees.
“You’re doing a great job,” Phoenix says in a low voice as he, Nicolette, and Helix approach.
“This was a nice touch,” his twin says, holding up his cup of coffee. “And I agree with Phoenix. You’re such a natural leader, Remi.”
Jesus, I fucking love these guys. Sure, we screw around and give each other a hard time, but they will always have my back, which is a great comfort while I’m running my first full financial briefing as the CEO.
“Thanks, guys. I appreciate you all.”
“And I appreciate that you had Ambrosia bring decaf tea for the pregnant lady,” Nic says, pointing at her rounded stomach.
She’s due in a month, and her belly has really popped out there in the past few weeks.
I’m not sure how she doesn’t topple over due to being top-heavy. “But Nicholas has a request.”
I grin and pat her stomach, something she’s said she doesn’t mind from family members. “What does my darling nephew require?”