Page 6 of Nothing to You
Franco answered.“It was your idea.”
“And you can talk to people,” Helena said.“You’re articulate.”
“Yeah, you’re bold,” Myles said, eyes wide.“You’re like…”
“I’m like what?”she asked, her fist rising to her hip as she swayed a quarter turn to take in her cohorts.“Is this a coup?”Okay, so it wasn’t like she was in charge.“Or an intervention?”
Maybe both.
“And…” Franco paused, then exhaled.“No one thought he would be here.”
Helena raised a hand.“It’s an unsubstantiated rumor.”
“Wow, unsubstantiated rumor.Juicy.Share.”
“No, it’s… it’s not important.”
“Xavien Rourke is here,” Myles said, somehow sounding both thrilled and terrified simultaneously.
Mosaic bigwig.The guy in charge behind the curtain, conjuring his spells of success.He’d likely be too busy with some strategy to increase his fortune to even know the Huddle Conference was on.
She could’ve laughed.“Xavien Rourke is not here.He doesn’t give a shit about Huddle.”
“He’s a hardass.No room for error.No sense of humor.”
“Guess that’s how you become a billionaire,” she said.“You’re afraid I’m going to piss this guy off?”
“If he is here, there’s no indication he’ll be in the pitch meeting,” Helena said.“He’s a busy man who wouldn’t have time to—”
The door opened, a long-legged blonde came in.
“Team Hope.You’re up.”
THREE
SO THE UNSUBSTANTIATED rumor?Totally true.When they shuffled into the presentation room, four stony faces behind a long table awaited them.They weren’t the only ones.
In the background, near a door at the rear of the room, someone stood next to the tall window that would overlook the exterior courtyard.She couldn’t see out, just knew the layout of the building.
His height.Shit, he had to be six four.The certainty of his stance, broad, proud, entitled… it added up.All of them hesitated at the sight of him.Damn.Maybe she would fuck this up.
With his hands clasped at his back, he turned, slow, yet there was something severe in the action.Even laid-back he looked mean, unimpressed, eager to throw them off their game.
But, seriously, forgetting the hardass stuff and the asshole reputation, the man was hot.Seriously hot.Way hotter in real life than on the internet.
Most billionaires weren’t necessarily celebrities, and he was no exception.The concession that meant his picture was much more available online?His relationships with the world’s sexiest supermodels.Damn lucky women.Somewhere at some time, she’d read he only dated models.Exclusively.If they hadn’t walked in Paris or graced the pages ofVogue Italia, he couldn’t even get a semi.Okay, so she added that last detail.Maybe he could get hard for lowly, regular women, but why bother with the exertion when the alternative with sex on legs, little conversation required.
They got set up, as fast as they could, in case the time ate into their designated pitch minutes.Then, almost too quickly, she was front and center, ready to get things going.
The lights went off, then two flashed in their direction.Spotlights.As though they were about to perform Shakespeare or something.A small red dot between the heads of two of the panel suggested they were being recorded too.Hmm, whatever happened would be documented for posterity.Great.No big deal.Just don’t fuck this up.
She took a calming breath and spoke, wearing a smile.“Huddle Hope,” Roux said to the four table people, choosing to ignore the loaded hottie in the shadows behind them.“I bet you’ve had all kinds of flashy, fun ideas tossed at you over the last two days.What we have for you is something different.”
Deciphering audience reactions wasn’t easy while caught in the dazzle of the lights.Their presentation glowed from the wall between her flanking colleagues.
“What’s the challenge?”she asked, broadening her smile.“Most people start with the positives, right?That’s the thing about Huddle Hope; it’s almost all positive.We only have twenty minutes to impress you, and the positives speak for themselves.”
“Regulation.That’s our challenge,” Helena said, coming to her side.“Huddle Hope will require regulation.Negotiating what’s best for our clients will be extremely important.It lays a great responsibility at Huddle’s feet, but it’s one we can handle.”
