Page 24 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“I am. I believe he is expecting me,” I said.

“I will show you to the conference room.” As she stood up, an older gentleman stepped in the lobby and introduced himself.

“Mr. Love? James Stone.”

He held out his hand. His grip was firm, and I could tell that he had a history that included the actual construction of buildings and was not limited to only designing them.

“Come on back,” he said.

The receptionist returned to her seat, and I followed James. He asked me perfunctory pre-meeting types of questions as we strolled through the office. Was I acclimatizing back to life in Chicago after having lived abroad? Did I want something to drink, water, coffee? And other pleasantries that didn’t mean very much.

He led me into a large conference room, and we took the two seats at the head of the table. It was just the two of us, and while it seemed like excess in this room, I understood we were more on equal footing here than if we had gone into his office and I sat across his desk from him like I was at some kind of awkward job interview. I guess this was a job interview of sorts. He wanted to know if I was the right kind of architect and the right kind of boss to take over his company. After all, if I bought him out, I wasn’t simply handing him money for the purpose of using his office. I was taking on his employees and his clients. He needed to know whether he could trust me with all of them, but I was also interviewing him.

I needed to know if his employees and his clients were good enough for me. After all, I had a reputation to uphold, a certain level of design standard I expected to be allowed to do. I wasn’t in this business to redecorate Mid-Century kitchens or to createaesthetically pleasing additions onto houses that were built over a century ago. That’s not the kind of work I did.

I shouldn't have been worried. Alayna wouldn’t have set up a meeting with somebody who was in the business of house remodels when I was in the business of skyscrapers.

We ended up talking for several hours. At some point, his pretty receptionist brought in a deli order of subs, and we continued to talk. I tried not to stare at her while she was setting up our lunches, but I knew I knew her from somewhere. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I expected that I would feel very foolish once I realized who she was.

The entire setup sounded to me to be a great fit. And he would be a great asset. I wished I had met him a few years earlier. He was the kind of person I would have liked to work with during my career. It was almost sad that I was only just now getting to know him.

Stone had a small, dedicated group that I felt would fit nicely in with the aesthetic of my design group. I would be integrating my current design group with his and taking on his existing client list. The type of work they specialized in was a good fit.

“I think it's safe to say this was a very informative meeting,” I said as we wrapped things up.

“What are your thoughts on continuing this conversation?” Stone asked.

It wasn't an unreasonable question, especially since this had been our initial meeting to see if business-wise, this would be a compatible transaction.

I chuckled. “I don’t know about you, but I originally had this down on my schedule for an hour. I’ve been here closer to three. To be honest, right now, this feels like a fit. I absolutely think we need to continue this conversation.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Have your assistant reach out, and we’ll get something on the books for next week.”

He walked me out after our meeting, and we shook hands again. I was impressed with the strength that he still held in his body. I could only hope that I would still be that fit when I reached his age.

As I said goodbye one more time, I caught a glimpse of something the receptionist did and suddenly, my mind was flooded by memories. My body instantly reacted. I had the smells of fruit and roses in my nose and the sensation of wind whipping around me as a storm rolled in.

“Clarissa, is that you?” I asked.

She looked up and bit her upper lip the way I remember she would. But this time, she wasn’t blushing. She nodded. “I didn’t think you recognized me, so I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“You should’ve said something. I didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed your hair.”

She reached up and touched her hair behind her ear. She had it in a bun style, and as far as I could recall, I had only ever seen her wear it cascading over her shoulders. How had I missed recognizing her? Had a simple hairstyle really changed everything about her?

“How long has it been? A couple of years, right?”

“Closer to six,” she said.

“You know each other?” James asked. He was still standing next to her desk.

“I spent a summer interning at his offices a while ago,” she admitted.

“I don’t remember your saying anything about it,” he said.

“It’s been a long time, and it was before I graduated. I don’t really include much on my résumé from more than five years ago. And I was a student,” she continued to explain.

I couldn’t stop staring at her. She no longer looked like the young college girl I remembered. Her lips were just as plump and kissable as I remembered, but there was a certain set to her mouth she didn’t have before.

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