Page 4

The presentation is perfect. I’ve gone over it twice more just to make sure, even after Nico approved it.

He’s obviously confident enough not to need it, but I wanted to understand the entire presentation so I didn’t look like a lost tart in a poppy field when I was sitting in on the meeting with him.

Glancing at my watch, I note we have exactly fifteen minutes.

“Nico?” I say his name as I walk into his office, and he looks up from his laptop. “It’s time.”

“Ahh. Shit. Yes, it is,” he groans.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, knitting my brows. It’s not like him to be this flustered or distracted before a meeting. He’s proven to be ahead of the game in pretty much every respect so far.

“Ugh, it’s just some issue at one of the warehouses, but my brother said he’ll head down there and sort it out. Let’s get going.”

I walk ahead of him towards the boardroom, where we are meeting with Swan and Associates, a husband and wife duo. Nico is not the only one in the office who has warned me that they can be ruthless. They’ll apparently cut you off mid-meeting if they aren’t interested.

That’s so much pressure. I’m really glad I’m not the one doing the talking today.

We get there a few minutes before them. I move around the boardroom, making sure the temperature is comfortable, the air flow is correct. There is already a jug of iced lemon water on the table, and Nicole will come in and offer everyone coffee once the meeting has started.

When they arrive, Nico steps towards them with a confident, wide smile. He looks so incredible, like he could own the world if he wanted to.

“Mr. and Mrs. Swan. Welcome. Thank you for coming today.”

“Please, call me Penelope.”

“Jason.”

They each shake hands with Nico.

“This is Serafina.” He gestures towards me, and I greet them both, hoping my smile looks genuine, because I’m feeling nervous.

This is my first really big meeting with such high-up clients, and my stomach is filled with butterflies, dancing wildly.

I brush my hands over my crisp white dress.

It stops just above my knees. I wore white heels to match.

It has a high neckline, with cut-outs over my collar bones, long sleeves, and is tightly fitted; it makes me look like I’m wearing the dress version of a power suit.

It makes me look like I know what I’m doing.

Nico pulls my chair out for me when I sit down.

Nicole comes in and asks who would like coffee. Both of the Swans say yes, so Nico and I say yes as well. It seems polite not to leave them drinking coffee alone.

Nico eases into the presentation in such a way that everything is natural and flows comfortably. I stay quiet and make notes here and there.

The Swans, so far, are paying attention, but not giving away any sign of interest.

A knock at the door draws our attention as we all turn to look. Nicole walks in with a tray of coffee and a tight expression on her face. This isn’t unusual, but her eyes are darker than they normally are, filled with worry.

“Sir,” she says, setting the coffee down, “I’m so sorry, but there is an emergency call for you.”

Nico tugs his cellphone from his pocket. It’s been on silent, but I catch a glimpse of seven missed call notifications on his screen.

“Damn.” His brow furrows. “I’m really sorry about this. We’re having a major issue at one of our sites. I will only be a minute, but I need to take this call.”

“No, of course, go ahead. We understand,” Mr. Swan says, reaching towards the coffee and picking up his wife’s mug, setting it in front of her.

He puts one sugar in without having to ask, clearly knowing her preferences, and throws her a sweet smile.

I watch them with curiosity.

They work together, they live together, and they look utterly in love. The secret looks and small smiles—it’s actually really cute.

Nico leaves and while I don’t think they feel it, I am immediately awkward. Do I talk to them? Make small talk? Ask them about their interests.

Or do I wait it out in silence?

I busy myself with adding sugar to my own coffee and getting Nico’s coffee set up in front of his chair for when he comes back.

When that’s done, it’s back to being awkward.

I glance at my watch. It’s been four minutes.

Penelope glances at her watch, too.

“Honey, did you contact Devin?” she asks her husband.

“Not yet.”

“I’ll do it quickly now, make use of the time.”

She stands up and walks up and down the boardroom while she chats on the phone. She is elegant, and every movement she makes is feminine. I can’t stop myself from admiring her. She’s older, in her late fifties, but holds herself with incredible confidence and grace.

When the phone call is over, Nico has been gone for fifteen minutes, and I sense that things are not going well.

Mr. Swan stands up. “Let’s reschedule. Time is money. We can’t be expected to wait all day.” He looks disappointed. Bitter.

Mrs. Swan nods. "I agree. Emergency or not, we don’t have all day to sit around waiting. We have other presentations to see today, and I need to get to the attorney’s office.”

I stand up quickly. I have to save this meeting. If they walk out now, we’ll never get them back.

“Please, wait. If you allow me, I can go ahead with the presentation without Nico.”

The husband and wife team glance at each other. She tilts her head to the side and raises her brows. “I’m still keen to see the presentation,” she says.

Her husband nods. “Alright,” he agrees, taking his seat again.

Oh shit. What have I done?

I pick up the folder. No. Not the folder. I put it down again and pick up the remote control for the large screen on the wall.

Okay.

I can do this.

I’ve read that presentation a hundred times.

Flicking the video on, I know it will play at a certain pace, and I will talk over it, keeping time to the video. The only moments I might need to pause are if our clients have questions.

Holding the remote, I stand near the screen so that they can see both me and the screen.

My voice comes out so much stronger than I expect it to.

I sound confident and sure of myself.

The more I speak, the easier it becomes as the knot in my stomach loosens. As my nerves disappear, I am filled with a thrilling excitement. I can’t believe how well this is going.

Both Jason and Penelope are watching me with interest, nodding and listening intently. I have their full attention, and by the looks on their faces, they like what I’m saying.

I hit the pause button when Penelope politely raises her hand.

“What about the after-effects of flooding the market like this—would it drop sales?”

“No, not at all. This would be the starting point for increased growth. If you look at the data on the next piece—give me a second, I’ll pull it up —"

My eyes are drawn to the doorway, where I spot Nico leaning against the open frame with his arms folded over his chest. My heart leaps into my throat. How long has he been there? Is he angry Ithat started without him? I want to explain that I had no choice.

There is a slight smile on his perfect face.

I gesture for him to come inside and take over.

He shakes his head.

Oh.

Okay.

Um.

“I see, yes, is this the standard market reaction for your method of launching?” Penelope asks, studying the information on the screen.

“We have fine-tuned our methods based on split testing each sector.

We are confident our method will work for your product; however, we will still conduct a split test for the first three weeks during launch.

We find that taking all precautions, moving in such a way that allows us to continuously update our target ranges—"

My eyes keep drifting to Nico. He’s watching closely. But I can’t let him distract me now.

Pay attention. Focus on the client, Serafina.

Throughout the remainder of the presentation, Jason has a few questions, and Penelope comments once or twice about how creative our methods are.

By the end of it, they both look excited.

“I’m sorry again that I had to rush out like that,” Nico says, walking back into the boardroom and taking his seat.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. Serafina ran us through the presentation, and we“—Jason glances at his wife, who nods —“are ready to go ahead with your proposal.” He smiles widely and looks between Nico and me.

“Tell us where to sign,” he chuckles.

I can’t believe it.

I did it.

They were impressed.

Nico is busy piecing together an official timeline, going over a few details with them, and I’m sitting to the side, grinning.

They set a start date, sign a basic contract regarding deposits, and take the longer, more detailed one with them so that they can go over it before signing that one.

We all stand, smiling and excited for the new project we are going to work on together. We’re going to create the best launch campaign for their product.

Nico shakes Jason’s hand. When Penelope takes his hand, she doesn’t let go. She grins and says, “Your assistant is incredible. Hold on to that one.”

Nico’s face lights up with a smile, too. “She is incredible. And she’s more than an assistant. I don’t know how I would manage without her,” he agrees.

My heart somersaults and I bite down, fighting to keep my glowing face from catching fire as my cheeks turn red.

The Swans leave, happy, invested, and confident that we are the right fit for their company.

The boardroom is quiet after they’re gone, and I head back to the table to gather our things and turn off the screen.

My heart is beating fast. I’m waiting for Nico to say something; in fact, I’m expecting him to critique my presentation and tell me what I could have improved or done better.

My lips are pressed tightly together, and my eyes are turned away from him.

He walks towards the table, with his back to it he leans against it, folding his arms over his broad chest.

I steal a glance at him and my heart clenches tightly.

His eyes are piercing into me like daggers. Intense, amber orbs of heat.

His mouth is curved upward on one side. Amusement touches his expression.

It confuses me.

I stop what I’m doing and stand straight as I look at him, prepared for his feedback.

He tilts his head to the side.

“That was amazing, Serafina.”

“I had to start without you because—oh,” I stammer. I was so set on defending myself that I didn’t listen properly.

He chuckles. “Were you nervous?”

“A little,” I grin.

“It didn’t show. You looked like you owned the entire company with the way you were giving that presentation.”

I bite my lip, the heat building in my cheeks, creating a red blush that makes me more embarrassed, my cheeks heating even more. It’s a vicious cycle.

Nico pushes off the desk and walks right up to me, so close I can feel the heat of his body against mine.

He lifts my face with his fingers beneath my chin.

Our eyes lock, and I can’t breathe.

“You were incredible, Serafina. I’m really proud of you,” he whispers, a dark hint of suggestion touching the edges of his words.

“I—"

My lips part.

I could kiss him.

So easily.

If I stood on my tiptoes and closed the gap between us, our lips would touch.

The tension is palpable, the air thick with electricity as it shoots between us.

Nico clenches his jaw and drops his hand away.

“Uh,” he mutters, blinking rapidly, his shoulders tensing.

I bite my lip, turning my face towards the floor so that I’m not caught like a deer in his gaze.

“You did an excellent job,” he says again, stepping away.

“Um. Is everything sorted out with the emergency?” I ask, changing the subject because my entire body is alive with desire and I’m about to do something stupid if I don’t get it together.

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiles tightly.

There are some meetings that I am not privy to, classified in some way. It’s just part of my job to know to mind my own business when it comes to those. I assume they're with clients who would prefer to be silent partners in some way.

I nod. “I’ll pack up here, you can get back to your things.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to you later about how we’re going to get started on the Swan project.”

Watching him walk away, my heart tugs, tied to an invisible string, the other end attached to him. How silly of me to be such a cliche—a girl with a crush on her boss.

Nico disappears from sight, and I sigh loudly.

Somehow, I need to rein in these emotions. They will get me nowhere.

Nowhere good, anyway.

I’m here to build a career for myself, not to fall for a guy I can never have. Talk about making things complicated for no reason.

I shake my head and finish up in the boardroom, packing everything away and returning to my office.