Page 6 of Accidental Vegas Vows

I turned to my laptop, pulled up my emails, and began drafting one to the company address on file for Olivia. “I would if they weren’t so insistent on settling down immediately and using me for my money. Besides, you know damn well what happened with Marissa. It’s not my fault that girls Olivia’s age are more often up for casual things.”

“What are you doing?” he asked, his gaze flicking between me and the back of the screen in front of me.

“Inviting her on the trip.”

“I haven’t even spoken to HR?—”

“You will,” I grinned. “And you’ll convince them. For me.”

He pursed his lips as he slid his phone from the pocket of his slacks. “Can we at least discuss the plan for integrating the new companies?”

I typed furiously, writing down the first words that came to mind. “Yes. In a second.”

Olivia,

I want to offer my sincerest apologies that you were not chosen to present in front of the board today. Please know that I’m taking this matter incredibly seriously and will be raising it with the head of your department.

I’ve read more of your proposal. It’s incredibly well done and, honestly, one of the freshest ideas I’ve seen in years. I’ve spoken to accounting to ensure you’ll be offered a permanent role within Blackwood, so please do not worry about not being on that pipeline by not being chosen today.

That being said:

I’d like to formally invite you to join us next week in Las Vegas, Nevada for the pitch we’ll be doing at the Luxor. There are a few companies we’ll hopefully be acquiring and I think it will give you some good experience to see how it all operates. I also think the presentation you prepared for today would go down well if you’d be interested in sharing it in Vegas. Your flight, hotel, and meals will be paid for if you choose to join us.

Have a think and get back to me by the end of the day tomorrow.

Damien Blackwood

Owner and CEO

I read back over the words once, twice, and a third time, contemplating whether I should add the postscript that danced in my mind. With how nervous she’d been around me, the little ways her breath had caught, the blush that had painted her cheeks in a warm pink…

I typed it just to reread it.

P.S. — If you decide to come and present, make sure your attire is as put together as your presentation this time. ;)

I knew it was unprofessional. I knew it didn’t come across as well as the rest of my email. But a part of me couldn’t shake how flustered I knew it would make her, and the temptation that bit at the back of my skull took over.

I clicked send before I could talk myself out of it. At the very least, she’d get a chuckle out of it, and at the most, she’d know that I was… interested. It could even provoke a response.

Maybe I’d crossed a line.

Maybe I was tempting myself far more than I should. But I couldn’t help but find myself addicted to the if only, my mind dabbling in how I could handle that with someone from the office, how I could keep her a secret. It broke every rule in my book. It broke my standards. I’d only met her for, what, ten minutes? But there was something about her, something about her mind and her form that plagued me.

I knew that feeling well.

And I knew it might not stop until I got what I wanted out of her.

Chapter 3

Olivia

My stomach turned over as I stared down at Mr. Blackwood’s email for what must have been the hundredth time.

Make sure your attire is as put together as your presentation this time.

Every time I remembered just how indecent I’d looked when the elevator doors shut, it was like reliving that mortification over and over again. The little gasp, the heat of my cheeks, the sinking stone in my gut all came back and hit me like a freight train.

I’d already agreed — Mr. Blackwood and I had exchanged fairly civil emails back and forth immediately following it. But I still found myself staring at that initial one time and time again, wondering if he was simply saying that I needed to avoid that happening at the presentation or if he was insinuating something else entirely.

---