Tempting my Billionaire

Silent Negotiations Begin

★Nathan★

The day had been long, and I was more than ready for it to end. Meetings had run late, a client had demanded a last-minute revision, and half my team had been chasing numbers that refused to align. By the time I returned to my office, the city outside my window was already bathed in gold, the sun sinking low behind the skyline. The meeting with LuxeLine was scheduled for six. My idea. My office. My terms. If Cassandra had a problem with that, she hadn’t said anything. I doubted she ever would, not in words, at least. I loosened my tie as I checked the time. Five fifty-three. Enough time to go through one last email before I headed down the hall. Harper had already prepared the conference room. I had asked for coffee, water, and not much else. No unnecessary distractions. The space at Grant & Co. was minimalist and modern. The long walnut table gleamed beneath the recessed lights, and the floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the darkening city. It was professional, efficient, and exactly how I liked things. I ran a hand through my hair and straightened my cuffs before I finally headed out of my office. The hallway was quiet, the usual hum of the day replaced by the low whisper of the air conditioner. The rest of the building had already begun to empty. I preferred it that way. No noise. No interruptions. When I reached the conference room, Cassandra was already there. She sat near the far end of the table, her posture straight, her attention fixed on the open laptop in front of her. She looked calm, composed, and unbothered, but I knew better than to take that at face value.

“Early,” I said as I stepped inside.

“I like to be prepared,” she replied without looking up. I walked around the table and set my briefcase on the chair beside her.

“You could have waited until I was here,”

“I could have,” she said, closing her laptop. “But then I would have lost twenty minutes of productivity,” her tone was even, her expression unreadable. I leaned back in the chair opposite her.

“Always so efficient,” I mused softly, and she raised an eyebrow.

“You would prefer otherwise?”

“No,” I said. “It suits you,” she didn’t reply, and for a moment, the only sound was the faint hum of the city outside. The light in the room shifted as the sun dipped further down, casting thin streaks of orange across the glass walls. “I hope the drive over was not too much trouble,” I said as I broke the silence.

“It was fine,” she said. “Traffic was light,” I nodded and pretended to review the folder in front of me. In truth, I had already memorized everything inside it hours ago. Cassandra glanced toward the windows.

“You chose this office for a reason,”

“Several reasons,” I said. “Control. Privacy. Convenience,” she tilted her head slightly.

“And because you like to be in charge,” she added, and I smiled faintly.

“That too,” I confirmed. Pauline was right about one thing: Cassandra had learned how to use her words as weapons. Not sharp enough to cut, but deliberate enough to land. She opened her laptop again and turned the screen toward me.

“This is the updated version of the project timeline. LuxeLine will finalize creative by the end of next week. Your team can begin the media test phase as soon as we sign off on the visuals,” I leaned forward and scanned the document.

“You moved the review dates forward,”

“Yes,” she said. “The client requested faster delivery. I adapted,”

“You aren’t wasting time,” I said.

“Time is valuable,” she replied. Her tone was calm, almost neutral, but there was something in her eyes, a flicker of challenge, maybe, or quiet satisfaction. She knew I would have done the same thing in her position. I sat back in my chair.

“Fine. I will approve the timeline,”

“That was easy,” she said.

“Do not get used to it,” I shot back with a smile. Her lips curved slightly, just for a second.

“I will keep that in mind,” she said. We worked through the rest of the updates, content deliverables, performance metrics, and deadlines. Cassandra’s focus never faltered. She was professional, sharp, and direct, but beneath the surface, I could feel the tension. It was not anger. It was energy, tight, restrained, waiting for a place to go. When we reached the final slide, she closed her laptop and looked at me. “That covers everything for tonight,” I nodded in agreement as I let out a yawn.

“Good work,”

“Thank you,” she said. I watched as she gathered her things, but I noticed her hand hover over the folder. For a moment, she seemed lost in thought.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“No,” she said quickly. “Just thinking about the next few weeks,” I leaned forward in my seat.

“Are you worried about the project?”

“I am not worried,” she said. “I am realistic. The schedule is aggressive, and the client is demanding. We will need to be aligned if we want this to succeed,” I studied her for a moment.

“And you think we won’t be?” I asked.

“I think we have different ways of doing things,” she said carefully.

“Different does not mean incompatible,”

“It can,” she said quietly. The air between us grew still. I didn’t look away, and neither did she.

“You will get used to my way of doing things,” I said slowly.

“Will I?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied simply. She stared at me for a moment, and then she nodded once as she finished gathering her things.

“Well…good night, Nathan,” Cassandra said before she walked out the door. I sat there for a moment and sighed softly. The partnership had barely started, and I could already tell that working with Cassandra was going to test my patience and my control. She was sharp, guarded, and far too composed for her own good. But beneath that calm exterior, I saw the same fire she had always had. The fire that made her impossible to ignore. I gathered my things and turned off the lights before I headed back to my office. The city was quiet now, its skyline outlined by soft streaks of silver and blue. As I sat down behind my desk, I thought about the way she had looked tonight, focused, confident, and untouchable. I knew better. She could pretend all she wanted, but the tension between us was there, simmering just beneath the surface. And something told me this was only the beginning.

★★★