Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Logan
“ I ’m telling you,” Charles says, adjusting his tie for the third time in two minutes, “the numbers don’t lie. We’ve sunk twelve million into VANTAGE over the past two years and haven’t seen a single viable product come out of it.”
I stare at the screen behind him. Charts. Graphs. Projected loss curves. It all blurs.
“Users drop off after the first onboarding module,” Denise adds from across the conference table. “The assistant, Eva, is too mechanical. There’s no stickiness. No emotional hook. We’ve tried four relaunches and it’s still not connecting.”
Four execs. One clear message: shut it down.
If Willow was here, she’d agree with all of them.
I shift in my chair, my shoulders tight with irritation.
VANTAGE was supposed to be our future-facing division. The Visionary Advancement of Next-gen Technology And Growth Engine. The team was put together to launch Strickland Innovations Group from the Fortune 500 into the Fortune 50.
Instead, it’s become a punchline in budget meetings. They’re struggling and it’s a mess. They’re corporate quicksand, sinking every dollar I give them.
“Look,” Charles continues, “we all know why you’re hesitant. You care about the team. We get it. But VANTAGE is dragging down our Q3 outlook. Investors are watching.”
I nod slowly. I’m trying to pay attention, trying to think of a solution, but my brain isn’t fully in the room.
It’s with her.
Amber.
Goddess of chaos and bringer of light. The girl who managed to rattle my foundations and shake me to my core. All in a moment.
I barely slept last night. I was up all night thinking of her.
Those lips… That mouth…
God, I must have stroked myself five times while thinking of her body pressed up against mine last night before I finally collapsed into sleep.
Where the hell did she even come from? I didn’t know women like her existed.
I’ve had my share of women throwing themselves at me.
I know I’m good on paper—looks, money, CEO title.
It’s what a lot of women want. The lingering touches on my arm, the exaggerated laughs, the flicks of hair—I know what they’re doing.
I just never had any time or desire for any of it.
I didn’t see how a woman could fit in my life. To be honest, I had no need for one.
But with Amber…
I don’t know how she can fit in my life. It’s like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. We couldn’t be more different. I’m structure and order, and she’s chaos and disarray. It shouldn’t work.
But it does.
I want it to work. I want her to fit. Hell, I’ll turn into a square hole. I’ll do anything I have to in order to be around that angel I’m already obsessed with.
I rub my jaw, tuning back into the meeting just in time to hear Denise say, “...severance packages would be generous. We’d retain the top three engineers and lay off the rest.”
“No,” I say, standing.
Everyone freezes.
“No,” I repeat. “We’re not closing VANTAGE. Not yet.”
Charles clears his throat. “Sir, with respect?—”
“I said no.” My voice is quiet, final. “We’ll figure something out. Dismissed.”
They hesitate, but I’m already walking out of the room.
I’m not doing that to thirty-three people. I’ll figure out a way to make it work.
As soon as I’m walking down the hall, my thoughts turn back to Amber. I guess this is my life now. My focus, gone. My attention, obliterated. Every thought and feeling revolves around her.
I should be terrified, but the feeling is electric. It’s incredible. Like something’s shifting inside me. Something that’s been dormant for way too long is waking up .
I can’t stop thinking about where she is, what she’s doing, who she’s talking to.
New York is a big dangerous city and the thought of my Amber, all innocent and trusting, wandering through it alone is making my pulse race.
It’s making me all twitchy inside. Some primal need to protect my girl is twisting in my chest and making my hands shake.
I should be next to her, protecting her, watching out for her. I hate that I’m here.
I should have gotten her number. What was I thinking?
I think about calling Willow up to get it, but Amber would skin me alive if I called her sister on the first morning of her vacation.
Cassandra looks up as I pass her desk, letting out a heavy sigh.
She smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes. I walk by her, but then stop as she types on her computer. Amber’s words are floating in my head.
Do you get off on working your employees to the bone?
“Do you need something, Mr. Strickland?” Cassandra asks as I turn around and stand beside her desk.
I’m talking about basic human decency. She’s a human being, and unless this office runs on human sacrifice, you might consider letting her leave before midnight once in a while.
“I want to apologize for snapping at you yesterday,” I say. “Over the Jones’ report. That was uncalled for and mean. I’m sorry.”
Her mouth drops open as she blinks up at me, not sure what to do.
“Oh. Um. That’s okay.”
“I know you’ve been working a lot.”
She nods cautiously.
“Take Friday off.”
Her eyes widen in panic. “Am I fired?”
Jesus . What the hell have I done to this poor girl? Amber was right. She’s right about everything.
“No, you’re not fired,” I say in a soft tone. “You’re a valued employee and I’m glad we have you.”
Now, she’s blushing.
“Thank you, Mr. Strickland,” she says as she plays with her necklace.
“Go to a spa or somewhere nice,” I tell her as I pull out my wallet. “And put it on the company card.”
I drop it on her desk and have to hold back a laugh because she looks so stunned. She’s staring at the credit card like it’s about to burst into flames.
“Bring a friend if you’d like. And have some fun.”
I walk away before she can find her words.
I push open the door to my office and?—
Holy hell.
There she is.
Amber Fletcher.
At my desk.
Spinning slowly in my chair.
Grinning like she owns the place.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt out.
It’s the wrong choice of words, but I’m just so shocked to see her. I feel like I need to touch her to make sure she’s real.
“I’m here to bust you out.”
My lips curl up into a smile despite myself.
“Bust me out?”
“Yeah,” she says as she stands up, looking even more incredible than I remembered. “You ever play hooky?”
“I can’t say that I have.”
My heated eyes roam up and down her stunning body as she walks around my desk.
She’s wearing a white sundress with sunflowers all over it and I don’t know where to look—her long bare legs are in the lead, but those round breasts and her thick luscious hips are definitely in the running too. I can’t take it all in fast enough.
Her brown hair is loose and wavy. Fuck, I just want to sink my hands into it and pull her mouth to mine. There are so many things I want to do to her, but I can’t do any of them in my busy office with these goddamn glass walls and doors.
“Well, that changes today,” she says as she steps up to me, looking radiant in the afternoon light. I’m in awe of this woman. How can she be real? “We’re going out.”
I’d go anywhere with her.
Her smile fades. “I’m sorry I left like that last night,” she says in a resigned tone. “Duty called and I kind of panicked.”
I gently take her wrist in my big hand and turn her arm. I wince when I see all the fresh scratches all over her perfect skin.
“I’m guessing Munchies didn’t want his medication?”
“No,” she says with a laugh. “He did not. But the furry little fucker got them anyway.”
I laugh. Happiness and relief to see her floods into my chest like a warm wave. I can’t believe she’s here. I can’t believe I get to spend another magical day with this woman.
“Where are we going?”
“First, to a clothing store to get you out of that suit,” she says, looking me up and down, and taking her sweet time with it.
“Although, we’re not going to throw this one in the garbage.
That would be a crime against masculine hotness.
After we get you into some normal civilian clothes, we’re going to a Yankees game. ”
I raise my eyebrows, unable to stop the smile spreading across my face. “I’ve never been to Yankee Stadium.”
She rolls her eyes playfully. “Of course you haven’t, but that changes today.”
My girl grabs my hand and pulls me to the door. I don’t fight her one little bit.
Two hours later, I’m in shorts, running shoes, and a Yankees T-shirt, and we’re sitting in the best private box the stadium has to offer. I pulled a favor with one of my rich contacts to get it.
But Amber, looking sexy as hell in her new Yankees hat, is not impressed.
“This is not what I had in mind,” she whispers as she looks around the box at all of the other businessmen and women in suits.
“This is the best private box in all of baseball!”
“It’s boring,” she says with her shoulders slumped. “I want to go to the cheap seats where people know how to have fun.”
I can’t say no to her.
So, we take off and sneak into the bleachers. We grab big beers from the guy selling them in the stands and slip into some empty seats surrounded by Yankees fans of all ages and types. The Yankees pitcher strikes out a batter when we sit down and Amber gives the kid behind her a high-five.
“This is more like it,” she says, her eyes alive with excitement as she scans the crowd. I’m only looking at her. She’s fucking perfect. I can’t take my eyes off her.
I thought she looked good with her brown hair loose, but that Yankees hat is really doing something for me. This girl is irresistible.
I watch her lips touch the plastic glass as she takes a sip of beer and I groan, picturing those lips wrapping around my hard cock. God, the things I would do to that mouth…
“So, what was your meeting about?”
“Huh?” I say, getting yanked out of my dirty thoughts.
“Cassandra said you were in a meeting,” she continues. The pitcher throws a strike and Amber high-fives the girl beside her. “Was it about world domination? Which continent is Strickland Innovations Group going to take over first?”
“It was about a program we’ve been developing, but it’s been an epic failure.”
I tell her a little bit about it, trying to keep it easily digestible.
“So, no one likes poor Eva?” she says with her bottom lip puffed out. “Do you have her on your phone? Let me see her.”
I pull up the interactive avatar and hand the phone over.
“Hi Eva,” she says in a cheery voice. “I’m having trouble with my grumpy boss. He keeps yelling at me about spreadsheets.”
“ Here are three efficient ways to handle spreadsheets in an appropriate manner, ” Eva’s robotic voice spits out. She continues droning on, speaking corporate jargon that I can tell is going over Amber’s head.
“Yeah,” Amber says with a laugh as she hands the phone back. “I can see why no one uses it. Eva sucks.”
“She’s efficient and can help increase productivity if people use her properly,” I say defensively.
“But they’re not using her,” she says like it’s so painfully obvious. “Because she’s boring. Companies are filled with normal people. Normal people like to have fun. Even at work. Make her fun and people will use her.”
There’s a loud crack and the entire section around us jumps up to their feet.
“It’s coming!” Amber says, grabbing my arm and pulling me up.
My heart starts racing as I stand up and look into the air.
The baseball comes plunging down and I reach up to grab it.
I’m taller than everyone around me, so I have an advantage.
I knock the guy in front of me down, spilling his beer, but I catch it.
The ball smacks into my palm and I wrap my fingers around it, pulling it into my chest as everyone cheers.
Amber’s mouth drops open as she looks up at me like I’m a superhero.
I give her the ball and she stares at it in awe before turning back to me. She grabs my shirt, yanks me down, and plants those soft scrumptious lips right onto mine.
I moan as I taste her for the first time while everyone cheers around us. We must be on the jumbotron because the whole stadium erupts.
I wanted our first kiss in private, but I gotta admit. This is pretty darn cool too.