She returns it. “Angelina Clark.”

“Clark?” My eyebrows lift. “You’re here with Stratford and Clark?”

“Yes,” she says rather quickly. “Well, I’m here on my brother’s behalf. Stratford wanted to get the deal wrapped up today while my brother wanted to play nookie with his lady-friend.” She rolls her eyes. “Sorry—I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” She makes a face, one full of embarrassment. “Since we are associates for the time being I trust you not to say anything.”

“Not my problem or situation,” I say.

“Anyway, I’m sort of his side-kick with all of this, only I know more about this job. Dad only handed him the top position because he figured a ‘man’ needed to play the role as co-founder and CEO.” She makes air quotes with her fingers. “We’re twins.”

“I do see the resemblance. He never told me he had a twin.” I look forward again, watching the floor numbers go from twelve to thirteen. “Running late?”

“No. I’ve been here.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and I catch a whiff of her scent. Honey and vanilla, a touch of lavender. “I ran out to the car. Forgot one of my folders.”

“Oh.”

She sighs, doing the same as I do and looking ahead. Through the corner of my eye I can see her stealing glances of me. Even in her high-heels, she is still pretty short.

During our entire ride up, I try getting myself to not think of what is in plain sight.

Her body.

That figure.

Her face.

This girl, Angelina Clark, is fucking stunning.

She dresses clean, sporting a nice tan blouse and a pencil skirt. Her hair is done nearly to perfection, her smile contagious. Wicked straight teeth and the most striking blue eyes I have ever seen.

This woman’s looks alone could bring any man to his knees. Powerful sex appeal that would make the same man commit murder in order to keep her. What was God thinking when he created her?

“Do you think Quarter Banking will give in?” she asks. “We’re all a little skeptical of it, if I’m being honest.”

“I’m not sure. They seem hesitant now. I’m sure it’s because they saw the drop in the NASDAQ. But don’t worry. This deal wouldn’t have gone the way it did without Stratford and Clark’s persistence. Just a little more pushing and we’ll have them.”

“Yeah,” she breathes. “Hell, if we get it, drinks are on me tonight! I could really use one after the week I’ve had.”

I chuckle. “You and me both. Trust me.”

The elevator chimes and when the doors draw apart, I allow her to walk ahead of me. She knows exactly where to go, walking straight down the hallway and stopping at Kelly’s desk that is only a few feet from the waiting area.

She looks towards Neil Stratford. The uptight jackass in the terribly tailored black suit—the one Kelly probably mentioned as the impatient one.

I greet him, and he only nods. Like I said, he’s a jackass.

I take out my keys, going for my door behind Kelly’s desk.

Kelly hops up. “Sir, before you go in I wanted to let you know that Mr. Jenkins, has called. Said he’s been trying to reach you.” I nod, doing my best not to roll it off my shoulders.

“Thank you, Kelly.” There’s a reason he can’t reach me. My father-in-law is testing my nerves, pressuring me to move to New York so I can get closer with Wall Street and him. Truth be told, I don’t want to get closer to Wall Street… or him for that matter. I want to stay as far away as possible, and Florida is just fine.

I enter my office, taking out my cellphone and checking the call log. Two missed calls from my father-in-law and the other from Colette. She has to wait, but I wonder what she wants.

Angelina follows me into my office, looking around and observing its modern appeal. “Nice,” she remarks.

Pulling out my chair, I sit down, dropping my briefcase on the desk. Neil walks in moments later, his cellphone in hand. “You saw the drop today?” he asks.

“This morning. It will go back up.”

“If we don’t get Quarter today, we might miss out on thousands of dollars. This deal will be worthless with all we’ve spent—all the work we’ve done.” He’s worried. Always so fucking worried. Why can’t he just let me do my job? I extend my arm to both of them, offering the seats across from me. “Relax, Neil. Sit. Please.”

He blows a thick puff of breath, dropping in one of the chairs. A few seconds pass before I realize Angelina hasn’t taken a seat. I look her way. She continues a small stroll by the window.

“Miss Clark, should we get started?”

“I’d prefer to stand right now. Keep my blood flowing. Thanks, though.” She flashes a pearly smile that makes my cock spasm.

I straighten in my seat, clearing my throat as I pull out a stack of papers and pretend it didn’t just fucking happen.

“I have the plan written out,” I start. “I’ve been in touch with Bob Brinkman at Quarter. He says he’s 98% on board with us. The other 2%, I’m sure, is just his nerves. He’ll come through. I’m going to call him again in just a minute.”

“No, call him now. Let’s get this thing done so I can sleep a little easier tonight.” Neil’s frustration is on full display. It’s no wonder he can never make a deal stick.

Their business came to me for a reason… because they need me. Why he works around the stock market honestly confuses me. It’s clear Angelina’s brother, Scott, is the reason their business has survived for this long.

Just because Neil’s father partly owned the business and handed it down to him doesn’t mean he couldn’t have sold it to do something else—something he wanted to do.

But because Neil didn’t know what the hell to do when he first started, he let Scott handle everything, giving Scott the role to call shots and soon become part CEO.

“I’ll get to that, Neil, but you have to understand that Quarter Banking is new and they are vulnerable. If they feel like they are bleeding and sharks are circling them, that they’re waiting to be fed on or attacked, they won’t budge. Allow some time to pass, see if the stock for Wall Street builds back up.”

“Yeah. Whatever. Whatever you think works.” Neil grunts, his eyes swinging to Angelina. He observes her, mainly her ass.

I look towards her. She’s standing in front of the window that gives a clear view of the ocean and the towers to the left.

She’s not even listening to us, at least that’s what I think until she says, “He’s right, Neil. They are new. They just opened shop last year and are thriving. We have to let this one breathe. We have to gain their trust. It’s a bank after all and banks have very strong lawyers. They have to be very precise when it comes to this stuff.”

“We don’t need anyone trying to sneak in and steal our business,” Neil says. “It’s bad enough we are letting them call the shots. They aren’t going to tell us if there is someone else they think might be an option.”

Angelina turns, her face going stiff. “Jesus, Neil, you’re just like Scott. Calm down. Let it breathe. Like Mr. Boyd said, he will handle it and when he does the deal will be sealed. I’m certain it will.” She looks from him to me, those piercing eyes locking on mine. With gentle, mellow eyes and a wicked curve of her lips, she asks, “Right, Mr. Boyd?”

“Right.” I look away. I can’t keep staring at her.

I’ve come across plenty of women that show interest, most of whom are very vague about their attraction towards me, but Angelina is different.

She likes what she sees and she presents it without fear, but it’s strange because she’s also holding back. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re business associates, or because she knows I won’t feed into it too much.

My stomach twists, and not in a bad way. “All right. I’ll make the calls and see where we are at with them. In the meantime, you two can hang out in my office, maybe have Kelly run over to pick you up some lunch. He won’t mind.”