“My apologies again, Allen, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon. He’s usual very punctual. Something unexpected must have come up.” He picked up his phone, frowned at the screen, then forced a nervous smile. “I’ve just texted him again. He will be here any minute. Let me get us another round.”
The man sitting across from us was the infamous Reed Helstrom, senior partner at the investment banking firm of Price Bean & Whitlock, the company that was making the play for my Uncle Allen’s company. Reed was probably fiftyish, tall and good looking, with neatly-parted salt and pepper hair, and a rich tan that probably came from time spent on some private island somewhere.
He was wearing an Armani suit, a gold Rolex, and a diamond on his pinkie finger that that probably cost more than my law school tuition. He waved down a waiter and ordered another round of drinks, then offered us a relieved smile and nodded toward the door.
“Ah, here he is now.”
Uncle Allen and I turned to see a gorgeous blonde in a lowcut, short, red, sequined cocktail dress moving through the restaurant toward our table.
She looked like something out of a Victoria’s Secret commercial as she guided across the floor, as if her feet were barely touching the ground. Every man in the place was gawking at her with their mouths hanging open. The women were gawking, too, myself included, albeit for another reason.
There was a man behind her, but I couldn’t see him clearly yet.
He was stopping along the way, shaking hands, patting people on the back.
When I finally caught sight of his face, I frowned.
He looked vaguely familiar.
Tall…
Broad-shouldered…
Handsome…
Holy shit…
Holy freakin’ shit...
Holy New Year’s Eve one-night stand shit…
Reed and Uncle Allen got to their feet to greet Conner McGee and the beautiful woman I assumed was his date, although bringing a date to a business dinner like this was a little out of the ordinary. Still, I had been around enough of these rich guys to know that they liked to flaunt their trophy wives and mistresses as much as they liked to flaunt their money.
I watched as Conner McGee shook Uncle Allen’s hand, greeted Reed, then introduced the woman as Cassandra Leone, his “dear friend and business associate”.
I recognized her name immediately.
Cassandra Leone was the daughter of Augustus Leone, the head of Leone Enterprises, the multinational conglomerate that had interests in shipping, transportation, telecommunications, retail, and a dozen other industries.
She was reportedly no slouch herself when it came to business.
If her legend was to be believed, she was even smarter than she was beautiful. Looking into her blue eyes at that moment, I found that incredibly hard to believe. She would always be the most beautiful woman in the room. She made me feel like a ten-year-old boy.
Then, Conner turned to look at me for the first time.
The moment our eyes met, we both froze.
“This is Katherine O’Hara,” Uncle Allen said proudly, putting a hand on my shoulder. “She’s the most brilliant contracts lawyer you’ll ever meet, and my favorite niece. Katie, this is the perpetually late, and somewhat infamous, Conner McGee.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss O’Hara,” Conner said, offering me his hand, which was warm and firm, just as I remembered it had been on my breasts and between my legs. “And please forgive our tardiness. The uptown traffic is horrendous this time of night.”
“Yes, simply horrendous,” the woman echoed. They exchanged a little smirk that only I picked up on. It wasn’t the traffic that had thrown them late, of that, I was sure.
I managed to mutter, “No problem…”
Conner let go of my hand slowly, letting his fingers slide away, then put his arm around the woman as if he were showing her off to me. “May I introduce Miss Cassandra Leone.”
“How do you do, Miss Leone,” I said with a nod, tucking my hands behind my back to keep them from shaking. She gave me the once over, her eyes drifting up and down, as if she were sizing me up for a boxing match. Or looking at a piece of raw steak in a butcher shop window. The words “I could eat you alive” came to mind. I wondered if she was there for arm candy or to be part of the contract review.