And that’s what Summer thought I was when I showed up on her doorstep three days ago. An obnoxious, entitled asshat.
I’m seeing what she saw. And I don’t like it.
Cold air leaks into the room when Elliot opens the window. He turns back to the desk and fires up the big screen hooked up to his laptop.
“Owen will give you an overview of who we are, how we got here, and our vision for the future,” he says. “Then I’ll run you through the numbers.”
“Excellent. And make sure you fill me in about the gadgets-for-kids thing. Not about the kids, though.” With a wave and a sneer, Archie dismisses the thought of underprivileged kids who’ve never touched an iPad in their lives. “I mean, fill me in on how much of my hotel branding you could get on everything.” He stretches one arm along the back of the sofa, causing his shirt buttons to strain like those on the Chesterfield. “I do hope you’re going to impress me.”
Completely as I’d imagined. He doesn’t give a shit about the tech hubs beyond what’s in them for his company.
“Owen?” Elliot breaks my reverie and points at the big screen displaying our Two Coast Tech logo.
I’ve never been this unfocused in a business meeting. I’ve never had getting out of there as my top priority. This is the biggest meeting of my life, and all I want to do is hold Summer, pepper her face with kisses, and make everything better.
I nod and step forward to stand beside the screen facing Archie. He sucks on his cigar and puffs out his smoke-filled cheeks.
Fury bubbles within me. I’m selling our souls to the devil here. As sure as I know I’m breathing smoky air, I know Summer’s hurt right now by whatever shit he said to her. And I know the most amazing woman I’ve ever met would never sell her principles down the river.
“Owen?” Elliot says again, more firmly, and jerks his head toward the screen.
In the few days I’ve spent with Summer, she’s not only made me feel more alive and connected with someone than I’ve ever been before, she’s also given me a new perspective. I look at Archie and see what I’m doing through her fresh eyes.
He tips his face to the ceiling and puffs out three smoke rings, then blows them away as he empties the rest of his lungs. He points at me with the cigar he’s holding between two fingers clad with chunky gold rings.
“Yes.” He makes an exaggerated nod. “Let’s get on with it. I’d like to go back and find that maid of yours. She might be a clumsy fool and wearing a dishrag, but I wouldn’t say no to ten minutes in a corner with her.”
Holy fucking hell. I dig my nails into my palms and press my fists into my thighs in a desperate effort to keep them to myself.
I turn to Elliot. “You can switch all this off.” I nod at the monitor as blood surges through my veins and whirls inside my head.
“What?” Elliot asks, his brow deeply furrowed with puzzlement.
Christ, I hope he can forgive me for this.
Only three days ago, I’d thought the man on the sofa was the most important person in my life. How quickly things can change.
“Archie, you know what. Neither Elliot nor I want to do business with a condescending, loathsome asshole.”
I’m not sure who’s most surprised by those words, Archie or Elliot or me. But Elliot is the only one who smiles.
Archie screws up his face in disbelief. “Who? What?”
He genuinely can’t comprehend what I’m saying.
Elliot emerges from behind the desk and offers his hand to Archie. “Thank you for taking time to meet us, Mr. Banks. We appreciate it. But we’re going to pass.”
Well, look at Elliot bringing it. And quick as a flash. There was me worrying he’d be pissed off at me throwing away this chance. Nice one, El.
Archie's face turns an alarming shade of flaming beet, as do his hands, so I can only assume all the other parts of him that aren’t visible are also a furious purple. Not an image I wish to dwell on.
He lives in a world where no one disagrees with him, where every word that falls from his lips is considered a pearl of unfathomable wisdom, and every joke he cracks is the most belly-achingly hilarious thing anyone has ever heard.
He jabs his finger into his chest, shaking ash from his cigar onto the leather sofa. “You meanme?”
“I absolutely do. You’ve been nothing but unpleasant since I met you. You invite yourself to my aunt and uncle’s private party, you make degrading, lecherous comments about women, and I’d bet everything I’ve spent my whole life working for that you were so rude and superior to my girlfriend that she couldn’t bear to be around you.”
Elliot looks at me and quirks an eyebrow at my use of the word “girlfriend.”
