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“And what kind of girl is that?”
“The kind that sleeps around with some rich playboy.”
She said it firmly, and I was already taking this as a challenge.Game on.
I watched as she pulled out her phone and checked the time, her brow furrowing.
“His meeting must be running late…” she said, looking around the terrace.
Just then, I heard theclick-clackof heels coming down the stone pathway. I saw my assistant appear from behind the large pink rose bush. The jig was up.
“Oh, Mr. Jacobs. There you are. I see you’ve already met your four o’clock,” she said, spotting us by the bench.
I heard Addison suck in a sharp breath and saw her shoot me a nervous look.
“Thank you, Margaret. I’ll take her to my office,” I said, dismissing her.
Margaret nodded before heading back down the pathway.
I turned toward Addison, whose eyes were wide and her lips parted slightly. I saw she’d put it together. I gave her a sheepish smile.
“You’reDaniel Jacobs?” she asked in an almost whisper.
“The one and only.” I hold my arms out.
“I-I am so sorry,” she stammered. “I had no idea. You must think I’m a total idiot.”
“Not at all. It was quite all right,” I said, waving her off.
She put her face in her hands and looked at me through the slits of her fingers.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she groaned.
“You just assumed I was…someone else. Whodidyou think I was?”
“His assistant. I don’t know. Oh my God. This is mortifying.”
She slid her hands down her face and looked at me remorsefully.
“It’s okay. Really. I like roleplaying, anyway.”
I saw her cheeks turn crimson as her mouth dropped open. She let out a strained sound before shutting it quickly. She broke our gaze and looked at the floor, fumbling with her purse. My words got to her. I liked seeing her squirm.
“Shall we?” I asked, nodding toward the building.
“Wait. You still want to have the meeting? Even after everything I said?” she asked, surprised.
“Why not?”
“Okay,” she replied hesitantly.
She fell into step beside me. I noticed the warm vanilla-scented perfume she wore somehow competed with the surrounding flowers. I breathed it in as we walked through the opened doors.
“This way,” I said, leading her down the long hallway to my office.
Margaret eyed us curiously. Despite what Addison thought, I hadn’t slept with her or anyone in the building. I just liked having pretty things to look at. I knew better than to mix business with pleasure, although in this moment, with this new acquaintance, I wasn’t so sure.
I opened the door to my office just enough so she had to brush past me. I closed the door gently behind me with a click and watched as she took in her surroundings. The marble floors. The high ceilings. The floor-to-ceiling windows. Not many buildings in the city were this high up or lent such a grand view of the sky and city below.