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Even harder when she sat back down and gave me a slight swivel of her head, silently saying,Nice try. Won’t work.
Clearing my throat, I shot her a look too:If you think that was my only tactic, you underestimated me.
“Ms. West, I’m sure you have an incredibly insightful presentation prepared.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the glass table. “However, I would like to focus on your projects and work from last week.”
A nearly imperceptible pause interrupted her breathing, along with a flash of understanding in her eyes.
Last week, someone had grabbed her thigh. So, who had she worked with? What had she done?
“Last week,” she repeated, with a bite to her tone. Her fingers traced the edge of the folder before her. “Is there something specific you are interested in?”
Yes. You. All of you. And which of these assholes’ cheekbones I’m going to break.
“Tell you what.” I leaned back in my chair, all casual CEO confidence. A posture I’d perfected over years of boardroom battles. “Why don’t you just go over everything you did last week?”
She started clicking the mouse that controlled the presentation on the front screen, fast-forwarding through what appeared to be an incredibly impressive presentation. The slight tensing of her jaw told me she’d spent hours on this.
“The projects that I worked on last week?—”
“Forget the PowerPoint,” I said, trying not to smirk at herseriously? do you know how hard I worked on these damn slideslook that flashed across her face. “What I’d rather do is learn this organization from the inside out. Walk me through your days last week.”
So far, no one in the room seemed any wiser. Why would they? This was just a new owner trying to get to know the new organization. Right? Wrong.
“Okay. Well, the main project I worked on was for the Agma contract.”
I set my pen down deliberately, making sure it aligned perfectly with the edge of my notepad.
“Forgive me for what might sound like an unusual request.” I kept my voice measured. “But if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you to stand at the front of the room. It’ll make it easier to see you without everyone having to crane their heads,” I claimed. “And each time you’re discussing a project you’re working on, anyone who was working on that with you, I would like to have them join you at the front and add additional context.”
Look at that slight flash of anger, her fingers tighteningaround the pages for a beat before relaxing. Her eyes held mine for a dangerous moment.
You’re pushing it, they said.
Try and stop me, mine replied.
“Of course,” she said with professionalism.
“Let’s start with Friday.”The day you stumbled into that bar with a revenge list.
She cleared her throat, smoothing her skirt as she walked to the front of the room. I let my gaze sweep across the table, watching for anyone to slip up and stare at that fine ass. An ass that could make a married man crash his car from being unable to look away, but no one took the bait. They all sat there, some with their fingers steepled, some flipping through the presentation, all still thinking this was a legitimate meeting.
Scarlett, on the other hand, stood at the front of the conference table and shot me another subtle glare. Her weight shifted to one hip in a stance that told me she was preparing for battle.
“Friday morning began with a comprehensive marketing analysis that I performed for our main Q3 campaign,” she began.
“Impressive,” I said, tapping my finger once on the table. “Did you review this analysis with anyone?”
“Yes, sir,” a guy whose name I’d learned was Thomas said. “She reviewed it with me.”
Did she now?
“Please,” I said in my friendliest tone, gesturing toward the front. “I would love to have your insight.”
The guy stood up, buttoning his jacket like he thought he was getting picked as the teacher’s pet. Scarlett cocked her head slightly and then almost imperceptibly rolled her eyes at me.
This is ridiculous, she seemed to say.
But look at her body language when he got close to her, this time without the distraction of passing out slides. Not flinching. Not grimacing. And not at all blushing. If anything, she relaxed slightly, her shoulders dropping a fraction of an inch.
