5. Sutton
Sutton
It had been a quiet day, which was unusual around here.
My phone hadn’t rung in two hours, which had thrown me off so much I decided to call my extension myself to make sure it worked.
It did. It was just one of those days. I’d gotten a lot of catch-up done and managed to clean my desk and create a new filing system for Quinn.
I walked into Quinn’s office to get her signature on a few statements I needed to send off. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore a deep frown as she looked at her computer. She was focused on what she was doing but did glance up at me. “Thanks, Sutton. Can we aim to leave in half an hour?”
“Leave?” I had no idea what she was talking about.
“I need you to come to Knight Enterprises with me this afternoon.”
I knew she had a quarterly foundation meeting with them; it had been in her calendar for weeks. Plus, I had created her slide deck that I knew she updated this morning with some figures and finishing touches. But I had no idea I was joining her.
“You need me at the meeting?” My stomach dipped at the thought of seeing Asher again. I didn’t know what about him had me excited and nervous.
“Yes, because I need someone there to remind the guys that we are at a business meeting and not hanging out.” She rolled her eyes.
“They all told me not to bring a slide deck, but I know for a fact that when they used to get updates from Edward before I started, he presented one.” Edward was the CEO of the Maria Knight Memorial Fund.
I’d met him once but he lived in London.
“Doesn’t Edward attend these meetings?” He was included in the calendar invite.
Quinn shook her head. “I asked him to because I said it was a conflict of interest. But he said no because last time I did well and the men behaved themselves. So he said it was fine. And he told me that since Knight Enterprises ‘technically’”—she used air quotes—“doesn’t own the foundation, the reporting is more a favor to keep our primary sponsor in the loop. ”
“I don’t know what good I’ll be, but I’m happy to come.” I smiled, trying not to look nervous.
“You’ve been such a help, Sutton, and you created over half the presentation so I know you’ll be able to answer any questions they have.” My nerves kicked up at the idea of speaking around them about things I did not feel qualified to discuss. “But you’re also a perfect buffer.”
“Do you want me to drive us?” I knew Knight, having returned from London, had driven her in this morning. My car was clean, well, at least in the front seat. I didn’t even want to think about what mess Sophie had left in the back. It was on my ever-growing list of things to deal with.
“That would be great. Theo said his driver could come get me but then we would need to get you back here and that just seems like way too much work.” I nodded. “Bring all your stuff, then you can head home straight from there.”
“But it’ll only be three when we finish.” I frowned as she shook her head.
“You work way too hard.”
I waved her off as I walked out of the room, trying to steel myself for the meeting.
As we walked into the industrial offices of Knight Enterprises, I couldn’t stop looking around while Quinn stopped to chat with two women at the reception desk. We were almost half an hour early, so I wasn’t sure what we were going to do before our meeting.
The space was impressive. There was tons of natural light coming from windows on both sides.
Black light fixtures went perfectly with the exposed wood beams and pipes.
There was a warmth and softness to the furniture, and people were milling around, chatting at each other’s desks or going into what looked like boardrooms around the perimeter.
“Oh, sorry.” I looked back at Quinn, having missed some of what she had said.
“I forgot to introduce you. Shelly here is Theo’s assistant.
” She smiled as she pointed at the older woman standing in front of the desk.
She had her gray hair in a neat bun at the back of her head and wore a dark green sweater with her glasses hanging on a necklace.
“And this is Nadine.” She pointed at the woman sitting behind the desk.
She was maybe in her late forties, with dark hair and smile lines on her face. “She runs the general office.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I looked at both of them with a smile.
“You too.” Shelly smiled back. “Quinn has said great things about you.”
I blushed and shook my head. “I’m sure I could learn a thing or two from you.”
Shelly just waved me off and said, “You’re sweet, dear. Quinn said you have a daughter?”
“I hope that’s okay,” Quinn said quickly.
“No, it’s okay.” I smiled reassuringly at Quinn. I still wasn’t used to people being interested in her. “I do. She’s almost ten months old and very sweet even though she’s teething right now.”
“Oh, poor sweets.” Shelly shook her head. “My friend Dorren was telling me that her granddaughter is teething and it’s a rough time for everyone. She made these fruit soothers, and I’m not sure what’s in ’em but she said they worked wonders. I could get the recipe if you’d like.”
She seemed so eager to help that I didn’t want to turn her down, even though I had frozen foods in mesh feeders in both mine and Iris’s freezer. “That would be great.”
Shelly nodded happily then patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll get that for you, dear. Why don’t you ladies head on up? The conference room is all ready.”
I followed Quinn up some stairs to the second level while she explained that they had their largest conference room up here along with all the executive offices.
When we walked into a massive boardroom with a view over the city, I was relieved to find it empty.
Walking in with all six of them here would have been intimidating.
“So?” Quinn said as I put my laptop down on the table and took the chair beside her.
“This place is stunning.” I opened the computer so I could get the presentation ready to go.
“It looks just like their office in London. I love it here.”
“Did we leave the office too early?” I asked as she relaxed in her chair.
“No, they booked the meeting in my calendar thirty minutes before it’s due to start because they said I don’t come here enough anymore.”
“Because you don’t.” Noah sauntered into the room with a smirk on his face, then dropped a kiss on Quinn’s cheek before pulling out the chair beside mine. “Good to see you again.”
“How are you, Noah?” His charm had some sort of disarming effect that didn’t make me nervous.
“I’d be better if you’d go out with me.”
I let out a snort as Quinn shot him a look. “Noah.”
“What?” He held up his hands. “Was just checking in. Seeing if there’s an opening on her date card.”
Quinn looked up to the ceiling.
“Don’t worry.” I shook my head looking at him. “I’m not in the market for any man.” Which was one hundred percent true. I had to focus on Sophie and that was about all I could handle.
“Are you sure? Any man? I could be your dream man.”
“Even if I was looking, you’re not my type. Blonds aren’t my thing.” At that comment he made a shocked face and I reached over and patted his arm. “Sorry.”
He heaved a sigh. “Way to crush my dreams, Sutton. Plus, a man can dye his hair. I’d consider it for you. Just know, I don’t need to be your man for us to have a good time.” His face lifted, any fake glumness gone as he winked.
As I shook my head at Noah and let out a laugh, Asher walked into the boardroom.
He was in a classic black suit, no jacket.
His shoulders looked like they were testing the stitching on his shirt and given his build, it was likely custom made.
He had his phone in his tattooed hand, looking down at it with a frown, although the other two didn’t seem concerned.
“Hey, Ash,” Quinn called from beside me.
He grunted in reply and briefly glanced up from his phone. His gaze passed over me before he looked back down. Before I could be disappointed, his eyes snapped back to me, the surprise clear on his face.
“Hey,” I said with an awkward wave when I couldn’t handle his intense gaze anymore.
“Didn’t know you were coming.” His gruff tone was still charming with the British accent.
I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by the other men coming into the room.
Jaxson was talking to a man with golden-brown skin and hair shaved short.
Knight came in next, I recognized him from Quinn’s phone background, and he was joined by another man who had tan skin and perfectly styled hair.
Did they have a rule that you had to be tall to be in their group?
They all settled in, Asher sitting across from me as introductions were made.
After ten minutes of casual chitchat, Quinn managed to wrangle their attention and I ran the presentation for her.
She walked through the quarterly updates on donations, which hospitals were working with us, and the initiatives we wanted to undertake, which included setting up a volunteer program with the medical school at the university here in Calgary to trial it, and if it went well and the school liked it, we would pitch it to the other provinces with hospitals setting up foundation support.
I was thankfully not put on the spot and only had to speak a few times. Quinn pretty much rocked the thing on her own, proving that I probably didn’t need to be here. We managed to wrap up without much interference from the others.
“We’re done, right?” Noah asked, looking around the room as we got to the last slide of our presentation.
“Noah.” Oli shook his head.
Noah opened his mouth to reply but Quinn stepped in. It was something I’d noticed she did a lot—playing peacekeeper between all the men. And not one of them seemed to mind. Honestly, they all seemed to listen to her over each other. “We’re done.”
“Who’s up for some drinks?” Will clapped his hands as we started to stand up.
I avoided everyone’s eyes because I didn’t want to reject them and tell them that I was busy.
Again. Because I would happily get home to Sophie a little early if I could.
Even though I might not ever be able to join them, I hated the idea that they would stop asking if I turned them down enough times.
Quinn came over and gave me a hug. “Thanks for coming with me, Sutton.”
“It’s my job,” I reminded her as I pulled back.
“I know but I’m still grateful for you.”
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and ignored the eyes of all the men in the room.
“I’ll walk you out.”
I waved her off. “No, it’s fine. Stay here.”
“I’ve got her,” Asher said, stunning the room into silence.
He hadn’t said anything else aside from a few grunts of agreement or disagreement, I wasn’t sure. I’d been avoiding eye contact with him but there were moments I could feel him watching me.
“I think I can walk down a flight of stairs without incident.”
I finally got the courage to look at him. He was standing now, his arms crossed over his wide chest, and his eyes were on me. He had one eyebrow raised, almost daring me to argue. Which I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how.
“I can walk you down if you prefer.” Noah wiggled his eyebrows with a big grin on his face. Asher looked at him, and something must have passed between them because Noah’s smile only grew bigger.
I didn’t bother feeding the fire either way.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” I said to Quinn rather than be the center of attention any longer.
As I walked out of the room, I was extremely aware of Asher’s intimidating presence behind me. When we made it to the stairs, I couldn’t stand the heavy silence any longer. Mostly because Asher made me feel on edge—maybe in a good way? I didn’t have the time to dissect that.
“Your office is cool, very industrial. I read an article once about the way open-plan layouts encourage collaboration, but you have a lot of offices too which is a great balance. People can get away and work quietly because an open workspace isn’t for everyone but collaboration is still an option.
” I cringed at how silly I sounded. Maybe I needed to talk to more adults since outside of work, I only talked to Iris, who was honestly a loose cannon at times, and Sophie, who couldn’t talk back.
“Does the office in London look the same?”
He grunted in what I could only assume was affirmation.
“Bye, doll.” Shelly winked at me as I passed her desk.
“I’ll call you for that recipe.”
“Of course. Just get my number from Quinn!”
I waved as I walked out the door that Asher had held open for me. I could still feel him watching me.
“You really don’t have to walk me out. My car is parked close.” I wished I had something to fidget with.
As I was about to say something, I made the mistake of meeting his eye when he fell into step beside me. I locked onto their unique color. They looked more golden today.
My distraction caused me to trip over my own feet. I tried to reach my hands out in front of me but my bag was tangled on my shoulder. I tensed, ready to hit the pavement as I let out a squeal. Then an arm wrapped around my waist and I was able to find my feet again.
Once he was sure I was steady, he dropped his arm and looked at me with an impassive expression. “Thought you could make it without incident?”
My cheeks were a little flushed, both from embarrassment and from the intensity this man wielded around him like a shield.
I smiled sheepishly but when he didn’t lose the expression, I adjusted the bag on my shoulder and faked some confidence I didn’t have.
“I’ve survived a lot worse than a tumble on the pavement. ”
I regretted the words the second they were out of my mouth, especially as his eyes narrowed on me. “Explain.”
Waving him off, I just shrugged. “Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “Thank you for stopping me from getting a bruise. Guess I shouldn’t be so cocky about my walking abilities.” I took a step, my car just ahead of us now.
Asher’s gaze was still burning into me as I dug my keys out of my purse and unlocked my car. Before I could open the door, his hand was there, pulling it open for me. “Thanks.” I smiled as I stepped around him to get into the front seat.
“Drive safe, sweetheart,” he said in his gruff voice a second before he shut the door and stepped back onto the curb.
I fumbled to get the keys in the ignition and reverse, sending a wave over my shoulder at him. He stood there watching me drive away. I saw him still there in my rearview right before I turned the corner.
Letting out a breath, I sank back into my seat.
What the hell was that all about? His steely gaze, his gruff voice, the intense energy that wafted off him.
And why did I like it so much?
I wasn’t lying to Noah. I was in no position to bring a man into my life. Plus, I had to think about Sophie and the last guy I picked wasn’t a good choice. My plan right now was to wait until Sophie was eighteen and then maybe think about it.