Page 14 of Miles & Mistletoe

“I would like for you to wear your own hair to our dinner tonight in Atlanta.”

“And if I say no, will you threaten to complain to my boss about me?”

Ian raised an eyebrow. “Do I seem like the type that would—”

“Yes, absolutely.”

A sound I’d never heard before moved up his vocal chords and spilled out of his mouth. He was actually laughing, a hearty laugh at that. “You’re right, I am that type. But no, if you choose not to skip the wig tonight I will not complain to your employer. The choice is yours.”

“You’re actually leaving a decision up to me?”

“When have I ever …” He trailed off as I lifted an eyebrow and stared at him as if to ask if he was serious. “Touché.”

“I’ll think about it,” was the only answer I gave. Flying from city to city, and even accompanying Ian to his many events and dinner outings was one thing, but doing so while wearing my natural hair made all this seem a little more real for some reason.

****

Ian

Stunning. That was the only word that crossed my mind when Stacia emerged from behind her hotel room’s door. She was dressed in a red pants suit that was accompanied by a pair of snakeskin, six-inch heels. But to top it all off, her hair was … hers. Just as she’d explained on the plane, her natural curls were cut short and dyed blonde with just a touch of her dark brown roots showing. It looked amazing on her, and suddenly I got angry for not having ever seen her like this before.

“You’ll wear your natural hair from here on out.”

“Well hello to you, too.” She smiled.

“Hello,” I answered, holding my arm out to her. When she wrapped her arm in mine, I covered the hand she had on my arm with my hand. “Is this one of the outfits my assistant sent over?”

Stacia shook her head. “No. The dress she sent actually had a tear in it so I had to improvise. I actually had this suit packed. I could’ve chosen another dress back at my apartment, but someone insisted I stay in the hotel tonight instead of my actual place of residence.”

“Made no sense for you to go all the way to your place, and then have to make your way back here for tonight’s dinner which is right across the street.”

“It could’ve saved you money.”

I shrugged. “A hotel room for one night isn’t breaking my bank account.”

I pressed the button for the elevator and held my arm against the door when it opened, giving Stacia room to enter first. I was also able to take her in from behind. She looked absolutely ravishing.

“Tonight we’re dining with James Acosta and his wife, Rosa, correct?”

I nodded. “James is the CEO of one of the bottling companies Zerlinger works with. Given that we are looking to expand our market, we will be needing to streamline our bottling and packaging processes. We’ll be discussing whether or not we can come to an agreement on price.”

“And what if you can’t?”

“Zerlinger will have to go another route,” I answered smoothly. I doubted that would happen. James wanted our business as much as we wanted to keep his. This dinner should be nothing more than a formality and a way to come to an amicable agreement on price.

Instead of using the car service that was to chauffeur me around for my stay in Atlanta, we opted to walk the short distance to the French restaurant where we met up with James and his wife, Rosa. As I suspected, the business conversation went relatively smoothly. However, James did try to play hardball for a second. But when I swiftly informed him of the many other offers we had on the table from other bottling and packaging companies, he let his hardline go.

“That seems to have gone well,” Stacia commented as we exited the restaurant two hours after entering.

“I suppose.”

“You suppose? You two shook hands and agreed.”

“First rule of business, don’t believe shit until you get it in writing. He could have a change of heart between now and the time he arrives home. A handshake doesn’t mean diddly these days.”

“I get that, but I choose to remain optimistic. You’ll get your deal and your company will get what it needs. I’m sure of it.”

I paused just as we were about to cross the street. Encircling my hand around her elbow, I turned her to face me. “How are you so sure?”

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