1. Drinks
970 Words
CHAPTER ONE: DRINKS
REED’S POV
“Are you f*****g kidding me?” I snapped the second I stormed
into Dominic’s office, not giving a damn that I was interrupting a meeting.
Dominic, ever the composed one, barely flinched. “Gentlemen, will you excuse me for a few minutes?” he said with that polite CEO nod that somehow always got people moving. The two men seated across from him stood, shook his hand, and walked out.
He followed them, shutting the door behind them, then turning the lock with a soft but firm click before walking toward me. The thing with Dominic is that you can never really tell what exactly he is thinking. He always had the stoic expression dancing on his face and it only falls apart when his wife is involved. f*****g Nicole. Beautiful Nicole.
“Do you even know who those men were?” he asked, voice low but heavy with disapproval.
“I don’t care, Dominic,” I snapped. “If this is your idea of punishing me, then congrats, you nailed it. I thought we were finally in a good place again.”
My tone softened at the end, but Dominic just stared at me, unbothered as ever, and returned to his seat. The silence stretched before he finally clasped his hands together on the desk.
“What happened?”
I threw my arms in the air. “You hired a f*****g CMO for me!”
He didn’t even blink.
“Yes,” he said simply. “Because if you’re going to run that company properly, you need someone capable handling the marketing division. Scarlett is exactly that. Top of the line.”
I scoffed. “You mean the uptight, bespectacled smartass currently redecorating my office with her smugness? That Scarlett?”
He leaned back. “If you hadn’t fired, what was it, fourteen CMO’s already, we wouldn’t be here.”
Fourteen. s**t.
Okay, so I may have broken my own rule about not screwing my employees. A few times. Fourteen, apparently. And every single time it ended the same. They thought the bedroom was a shortcut to the boardroom. I had to fire them, one after another. My dating habits had become a liability.
“You want to know the difference between her and the others?” Dominic continued, folding his arms. “They were all the same, leggy, gorgeous, probably graduated with a degree in bubblegum, and slept their way into positions. Scarlett? She's different. Worked with Victoria’s Secret during her internship. Got poached by Calvin Klein right after. Brains, experience, work ethic. She’s exactly what you need.”
“She’s exactly what I don’t need,” I muttered.
“Reed.” His tone was sharp now. “This is bigger than your ego. You want to take the company to the top and show mum and dad that you are actually better now? Then you need someone who knows how to sell the vision.”
“I can still fire her. This company is mine.”
A slow smile tugged at Dominic’s lips. “How about a deal, then? Give her a month. If you can go four weeks without trying to get into her panties, I’ll personally terminate her contract and send her back to Calvin Klein. You can then hire whichever leggy airhead you want.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“That’s a deal I can make,” I said smugly. “She’s not even my type. Definitely the last person whose panties I’d be thinking about.”
“Great,” Dominic said, returning to his files. “Family dinner. Sunday. Don’t forget.”
I nodded and stormed out, irritation simmering under my skin. As I made my way back to the car, I hit call on my phone.
“Hey, what’s up, Reed?” Jade’s voice came through almost immediately, light and familiar.
“You want to hang out later? Work’s been a f*****g circus.”
“You know I never say no to free drinks,” she teased. “Did you call the guys already?”
“Not yet. I will. Just needed to vent first. Can you believe Dominic hired a CMO for me?”
“I mean…” she chuckled. “You’ve slept with the last fourteen. Honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”
I groaned. “You’re the most annoying person I know.”
“And yet you keep calling me.”
“Whatever. I’ll see you later.” I hung up before she could say something smart.
The past few years had been messy. Chaotic. Especially trying to pretend I’d moved on from Nicole, my brother’s wife. The truth was, I hadn’t. Not really. Sleeping around hadn’t erased her from my mind, it just dulled the ache. Nicole was everything I wasn’t supposed to want. And yet, she was the one who’d stuck. She was the first person that made me want to be different. Cliché as it sounds, she had me in a tight grip.
I shoved the thought aside as I stepped back into the company building. And there she was.
Scarlett Simpson. Perched like she belonged. Her spine straight, her expression unreadable, her glasses catching the overhead light as she spotted me.
“Now that you’ve got your confirmation,” she said coolly, “I’d still like that coffee.”
God, she was irritating.
“If we’re going to work together, Miss Simpson,” I leaned in, lowering my voice so only she could hear, “you better get your boundaries right. I’m the CEO. I make the rules. You follow them.”
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. Just pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her tone smooth as silk.
“Then start acting like one, Mr. Valiente.”
- Writer
