Man in Charge

Chapter 6

CHAPTER

SIX

TESS

T he following Friday, I rode the elevator to the twenty-seventh floor of the Sebastian Center. I was a mess of nerves. My mouth was dry, my skin sweaty. The butterflies in my stomach were so active I thought I might fly away.

Everything about this idea was wrong.

I regretted it as soon as I’d called to make the appointment Monday morning with Julie Sanchez. As promised, Green Eyes had informed her I’d be calling. She was ready for me with a meeting time already set aside, only it was for three weeks in the future. It was too far away. There was too much of a chance that Kendra would be back by then.

I knew I should have walked away then. An immediate roadblock did not bode well for the rest of the plan. But since I was already on the phone with the woman, it wasn’t like I could just back out.

“We could wait until then,” I’d said, thinking as fast as I could. “But I have an amazing opportunity for a partnership that I just know is going to be gone by then. I’d really hate for SIC to miss out.”

Julie had put me on hold for several minutes. Just when I’d thought I should hang up and change my number, she returned to the line. “Friday at ten. Mr. Sebastian can give you thirty minutes.”

So here I was, on my way to what was likely to be a total disaster.

Be confident , I told myself for the fiftieth time that morning. Teyana had told me it another hundred and fifty times before that. It was the only way I had a chance of selling this. The only way I had a chance of not coming across like a total fool.

But it was hard to be self-assured when nothing about me was me —my clothes, my shoes, and the briefcase I carried had been borrowed from Kendra’s closet. Even my laptop had been one she’d purchased for me. Only the presentation on it was completely mine, and considering the fact that I’d never fully prepared one of these pitches on my own and had definitely never delivered one, I was finding it difficult to place any faith in it.

No. I could do this. I could be this. You have to leap to land, Tess. So go ahead now and leap.

By the time the doors opened at my floor, I had done a pretty decent job of composing myself. I threw my shoulders back, held my head high, and walked through the glass doors into the public relations office.

Then I saw the receptionist and froze.

It was Eden, the woman from the roof. The woman I’d watched Blue Eyes finger-bang and dismiss like yesterday’s newspaper. She worked here ?

Of course she did.

Because that was my luck, and this was a ridiculous idea, and because she’d been at a party hosted by the Sebastians, so why the hell wouldn’t I expect that she was part of their circle?

I almost turned around and left.

But she was already staring at me, a welcoming smile on her face, and I remembered suddenly that even though I’d witnessed her in a private moment, she hadn’t seen me. All I had to do was keep my cool, and this would be fine. Everything would be fine.

“How may I help you?” she asked when I finally forced myself to cross the several yards to her desk.

“Yes, I have an appointment with Scott Sebastian.” I managed to sound poised, which in turn made me feel poised. I glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. I’d hoped to be early, but it seemed I’d made it just in time. “Tess Turani with Conscience Connect. Ten a.m.”

Her brows knit as she studied her screen. “Oh. There you are. You’re not meeting with Scott; you’re booked with Brett. He’s waiting for you in the meeting room. I’ll take you back there.”

“Ah. Okay. Thanks.” I waited for her to come around the desk then followed the clip-clip of her heels down the marble hallway, glad to be behind her so she couldn’t see the confusion on my face. Julie had said my appointment was with Mr. Sebastian. Had something come up? Or maybe it had been Green Eyes’ plan all along to pass me off to someone else. It was silly to expect that the man on top would have taken a meeting like this personally.

It didn’t help settle my nerves, though. In fact, it increased my apprehension. It made me realize I didn’t have any clue how this pitch would be vetted. I’d been hoping to tie this up as fast as possible, but if I wasn’t meeting with the head honcho, it was probably unlikely that this Brett guy would be able to sign off on anything today. Would he be the one who would pass the information on to Scott? Or would I have to come back and pitch again? If it was the latter, how soon could that happen because time was not on my side.

Dread tickled at my chest as Eden ushered me into a meeting room. There were so many unknowns. So many ways this could fall apart. So many?—

My panic turned to surprise as I came face-to-face with Green Eyes. “Hi!”

“Hi.” The warmth in his greeting echoed mine.

I was really glad to see him. But also really baffled. Was he Scott Sebastian, the man in charge of PR, or Brett, the man Eden said I’d be meeting?

“Is something wrong?” he asked, apparently reading the puzzlement on my face.

“I just…” I took him in. He was dressed in a tan suit that made his eyes look more brown than green and stood at the opposite end of a conference table—a small one, meant to accommodate four or five people at most. If he was Scott—and he had to be because he was a Sebastian, right? How many Sebastians were there in the same department?—then maybe we were going to be joined by more people shortly, including Brett. Or maybe Scott had scheduled me with Brett and then managed to make time for me himself.

Whatever had happened, he was here, and he was waiting for me to say something coherent. “I just didn’t expect to be meeting with you ,” I said. “I figured you’d pass me off to someone else.”

“Hope it’s not a disappointment. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.” He stepped toward me and held out his hand. “I don’t think we were ever properly introduced. Brett Sebastian.”

“Tess Turani.” I took his hand as the pieces came together. Brett. So he wasn’t Scott. He looked more like a Brett, actually. Then, was he not in charge? More likely, the website was outdated. “Good to formally meet you. And not a disappointment at all.”

“Glad to hear it. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you again at the party Saturday. I looked for you later, after Adrienne Thorne finally left.”

“You did?”

“I did.” There was no mistaking what his intentions were with that statement. Especially since he still held my hand, much longer than he should have for a simple introduction between two people about to do business.

My stomach began to knot. He was attractive, yes. But I hadn’t come here for a booty call, and I definitely hadn’t come here to try to win his persuasion with feminine wiles. I wanted to climb the ladder on my own two feet, not on my back.

Before I had to decide how to handle his flirtation, Brett abruptly dropped my hand. “And that’s as far as I’m going to go with that. I’m a firm believer that business and pleasure are not good bedfellows, and I’m very intent on conducting business with you. Perhaps there will be a time for pleasure later on.”

“Thank you. And perhaps.” I was relieved, and though I didn’t feel the same spark now that I had when I’d been tipsy, I would consider a date with him when this was all over.

Unless, of course, this whole charade blew up in my face, which was still a very strong possibility.

Too late to worry about that now.

“Should we get started?” he asked.

“Yes. Of course.”

He waited for me to sit before he unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down across from me. His gaze settled on me intently. “You have the floor, Ms. Turani.”

And, wow. Having the full attention of a Sebastian was more stressful than I’d imagined.

It was also more exciting.

It gave me a sudden shot of adrenaline. I’d landed an opportunity to sell to one of the most powerful men in the city. Now was my chance to prove I deserved it.

I opened my briefcase—Kendra’s briefcase—and pulled out one of the booklets I’d had printed the day before. Since it was just the two of us, I decided to forgo the laptop. My PowerPoint was solid, but I knew I would do better on the pitch without all the bells and whistles. I needed to connect with him personally.

In fact, my whole presentation seemed overboard now. Suddenly, I knew my angle. “I put together a portfolio of all of the charities I thought might be suitable for SIC.” I handed him a booklet. “Each of them are worthy and notable and would be a fine fit for a company as prestigious as yours. I’m happy to go over the pros and cons, walk you through what a partnership with each would look like. Or we can skip all that, and I can tell you why Sebastian Industrial would be making a huge mistake if they chose to team up with any charity other than the Dysautonomia Relief Foundation.”

I hadn’t stuttered or tripped over my words once. I was so nailing this.

Now all he had to do was tell me to skip all the bullshit and tell him more about the DRF, and I’d have this thing in the bag. My heart hammered in my chest as he flipped through the booklet, waiting for his response.

After a handful of eternal seconds, he looked up at me encouragingly. “I’m definitely curious about the latter. Unfortunately, there’s a whole team to convince, and they’ll probably want to hear about every single one of your charities in great detail before making a decision. I apologize in advance for how long and drawn-out they’ll make it.”

My stomach dropped. There was so much he’d said to be distressed about. I picked the first one to focus on first. “A team?”

“Just five others. They won’t see anyone until they’ve been vetted, which is what we’re supposedly doing now. Just a formality, really. And a chance for me to tell you what to expect during the process. This portfolio you’ve put together is right in line with what they’ll need to see. If you have a slide presentation, I’d recommend that as well.”

“Okay.” I’d been thrown, but that didn’t mean I still didn’t have a handle on this. I forced myself to take a breath and pivot. I’d already been prepared for the possibility of meeting with a group to begin with. This was no big deal. “I do have a presentation. PowerPoint. Should I set that up now?” There was a TV screen on the wall, but I had a hard time imagining five other people around that small table with us. Maybe we’d move to a bigger conference room.

He returned his attention to the booklet. “No. I don’t need to see it. Based on this, I’m sure it’s fine.” He glanced up at me and must have realized the misunderstanding from my expression. “Oh, you mean set up for the team. They won’t be joining us today. We’ll have to schedule something for that.”

My mouth went dry. I’d had to push to get this meeting as quickly as I did. “How soon could we make that happen?”

“I think we can squeeze you in early next week. Julie mentioned that you thought this was time sensitive. I’m guessing that has to do with that charity you’re pushing most?”

“Yeah. Um.” Pull yourself together. “They’re actively seeking a sponsor. I’d hate for you to miss the chance to work with them when I know they’d be a perfect fit.”

He closed the booklet and clasped his hands together in front of him. “If it were up to just me, Tess, I’d say sign us up right now. I know we’ve just met, but I have a gut instinct for these things. Just flipping through your material, I can tell you know what you’re selling. It’s already much more organized than some of the other pitches I’ve heard recently.”

I swallowed, trying to clear the ball in the back of my throat. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“I mean it, too. I’m sorry I don’t have any authority to make that happen.”

His candidness gave me courage to return it. “Really? That just…that surprises me, I guess.”

He looked at me strangely. “Oh, because of the name? Yeah, I get that a lot.”

Wait. What?

“I’m one of the lesser Sebastians,” he said in explanation. “Not a descendent of Irving. Ida, his sister, was my grandmother. I’m just a cousin. Much less powerful, much less formidable.”

“Oh.” Then, when I’d fully digested what he’d said, “Ohhhh.” God, I was an idiot. I’d heard his last name and just assumed. I was even more stupid for not spending any time learning about the Sebastian family tree. This past week in preparation, I’d been so focused on researching the business itself, looking for the best ways to move into the future with the DRF, that I’d completely missed investigating its past.

I vowed to myself to do that before the next meeting.

And what was that last thing he’d said? “Formidable?”

He waved a dismissive hand. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want you to worry needlessly about your presentation. You’ll only have one of the greater Sebastians in the room, and he’s not one of the ones who bites.” He reconsidered. “At least, he doesn’t bite too hard.”

I was not soothed. I wasn’t a fan of powerful men who bit at all.

Brett’s gaze moved suddenly to something behind me. “Ah, here he is now, in fact.” He stood up and addressed the person behind me. “Great timing. We were just talking about you.”

The dread from before returned in a flood. I knew before I stood up, before I turned around. I could feel it on my skin, the way it felt charged, like a current running through my veins. I knew in my bones that it was him.

Somehow I made it to my feet. Somehow my knees didn’t give out as I turned to him. Somehow I managed not to fall apart when my gaze met his ocean blues. They were even more devastating than I’d remembered.

He smiled, a smile so smooth it was hard to believe he even recognized me. Except he did recognize me. His mouth might have been able to keep the fact hidden, but his eyes fell on my face with heated familiarity. His eyes sparked with triumph.

And Brett was completely unaware. “Scott, this is Tess Turani. She’s with the charity liaison organization.”

I let Blue Eyes—Scott—take my hand in his. His grip was the same as Brett’s, maybe a little firmer, but the effect he had on my body was entirely different. It was like being plugged in. Like one hundred and ten volts were running through our touch.

“Yes,” he said, a faint grit in his tone. “When I heard you were meeting with Conscience Connect today, I decided I had to stop by and see who your contact was since I knew there was no way Kendra would reach out herself. Nice to officially meet you, Tess...Turani, was it?”

“Uh-huh.” It was the only sound I was capable of producing. I’d slept with him. And now I was going to have to work with him. And he was a Sebastian.

“There are several of them around here,” he’d said when I brought up the name at the party.

I wanted to hit myself.

And he knew Kendra! The mystery man who’d given me the best sex in my life was here and he was a Sebastian and he was the man in charge, and he fucking knew Kendra.

“Thank you, Brett,” he said, his hand still clutching mine. “I can take this from here. Could you shut the door on the way out?”

“Oh. Sure. No problem.” Brett seemed surprised at being dismissed. But he was a lesser Sebastian, as he’d said, and there was no way he was going to refute it. Halfway out the room, he did turn back. “Tess, I’ll have Julie call the number on file to set up that meeting for next week, if that works?”

With my eyes still locked on Scott, I cleared my throat. “Yes. Please. Thank you, Brett.”

Then the door was shut, and it was just me and Scott.

“Looks like I found you,” he said with a wicked smirk.

Yep. I was totally doomed.