Page 26 of The Flirt

Aurelia rolled her shoulders back. "I wrote the copy," she said proudly.

"It's fantastic."

We went on through similar copy for all the courses I’d proposed. Chad didn't contribute much, but I felt his eyes on me the whole time.

Half an hour later, the meeting was regrettably over. It was for the best, though, as I had a lot to do. Aurelia and Mia left first once again.

The second Chad and I were alone, I felt my body temperature rise.

“So, no more meetings, huh?” I asked, head tilted slightly.

“I can invent a few if you’d like.”

Holy shit. Yep, there was no hiding anymore. We were definitely flirting.

“I know I’d fucking want to,” he went on.

“You would?” I whispered.

“Hell yes.” He looked away from me and took in a deep breath, then straightened up. "But it's not smart."

"No, not at all," I agreed. We both rose to our feet. "Right, then I'll head to the kitchen.”

"Scarlett," he said just as I turned around. I paused, looking over my shoulder. "I'm still waiting to hear about what else you want to taste in the city now that the beignet tasting is over."

I grinned from ear to ear. Wow. We might not have any more marketing meetings, but I had a hunch that I was going to see more of Chad, not less. And even though I knew it was a bad idea, I couldn’t wait.

“Why don’t you surprise me?” I asked in a flirty tone.

His eyes flashed, and I could only describe the smile playing on his lips as triumphant. “I so fucking will.”

Chapter Seven

Chad

“We're not negotiating on this," I said. "My terms are final."

Julian nodded in agreement. "That’s our limit."

Danielson, our alcohol supplier, threw up his hands in exasperation. "You can't be serious."

"Yes, we are," I said. "It's your prerogative to try and increase your prices, and it’s ours to decline buying from you if you persist."

He just stared at us.

“All right,” I said. “This meeting is adjourned."

I stood up from the desk, and Julian followed suit.

Danielson looked from me to my brother and then back. "Fucking hell. No one can negotiate with the LeBlancs, can they?"

"We're your biggest customer," I said. "You should know better than to try to one-up us."

"I’m curious. Who will you go to if I stick to my guns?"

I gave him a sardonic smile. "There is a long line of suppliers waiting to work with The Orleans Conglomerate." I wasn't bluffing. Because we owned so many establishments, we had huge bargaining power. We were making our suppliers rich—we always struck good deals—but I wouldn’t allow anyone to take advantage of us.

"Fine, fine. You’re getting the same conditions as last year."

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