“So soon I can start directing my questions to you?” Grant looks hopeful at the prospect, but before I shoot him down on that unlikelihood, he’s tapped on the back by another guest. “Ah, Finn. Come meet Simone from Lowry, Lowry, and Fink.”
My heart skips on the name. It’s not a common one, but it surely can’t betheFinn. Finn as in Finnegan, the owner of Dragons Reborn. Finn, best friend to my beach fling, can it? His black suit is similar to what everyone wears tonight. I’m stunned speechless as I reach out and shake his hand. I’m not ready to meet Trey or any of his friends yet. There’s barely been time to formulate my “accidentally meet Trey in the city” plan. It can’t take place in a ballroom with three hundred other people.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. McRyan.” I finish our introduction without needing to be told his last name. Any other situation and it might have come off odd, a sign that I know more than I should, but I figure in this area and with my finance background, it’s expected to know all the up and coming billionaires. My head sweeps the area closest to us, but I don’t spot a tall handsome hottie in the room and breathe a sigh of relief Trey isn't here.
“Ah, and this is Trey.” Finn looks to the other side of me. Of course he’d sneak up behind me while my back is turned.
“Trey, come meet Simone. I’m taking her out on a date next week.” Grant flashes a smile at me and steps two spaces closer.
I’m frozen between Trey behind me and Grant with his date declarations next to me.
“I don’t think so, Moore.” Trey’s heavy voice slides over our group with determination. “Simone’s mine.”
Grant, Finn, and I all stiffen at his words, but Trey continues to move toward me as if he didn’t make a monumental declaration. My heart stops beating and my blood sloshes around in there without the beat.
“But I saw her first.” Grant looks at me with sharper appraising eyes.
“No, you didn’t.”
Almost a month has passed since the last time I laid eyes on Trey Good’s face. I refused to search him out online like some kind of stalker. Well, at least no more than what I did from our hotel. It might be the strain of the harsh fluorescent lights in the large room, but he looks different than he did under a clear blue sky. The cut of his chin or the trimmed stubble shadowing his face aren't as prominent. His dark colored eyes slant toward me, but they narrow as he notices my appraisal of him. His black hair is a smidge shorter, and he has it jelled back rather than loose like he wore it on the beach. He’s the same man, but harsher and more rigid than the one I remember.
Grant recovers first. “You know Simone?”
“We’ve met, yes. In the Bahamas,” Trey responds to Grant’s question but doesn’t remove his eyes from mine where he stopped between Grant and me.
Grant looks at me again. His eyes rake me from head to toe slowly and he smiles. “She’s the girl, then?”
“Maybe not.” Trey moves to a position closer to my arm before he discreetly grabs my elbow. “Walk with me.”
Both Finn and Grant give me a look of pity before Trey pulls me from our small group. Roger notices my missing presence and calls after me, but I’m already in Trey’s grip and don’t attempt to break free. We aren’t far from his friends before his fingers tighten around my elbow and he leads us into a hallway outside the grand ballroom.
The door closes behind us and he wheels on me until we’re face to face. “Why are you here?”
I think I’m still in shock from meeting him tonight, but I muster up words to answer with a quick rundown of my promotion and relocation.
His face loosens a small amount, but then tightens again. “So you didn’t transfer to try and get me as an account because of our connection?”
“What?”
Maybe I should have expected the question, but I flinch as if his words have physically hit me. I stand straighter and steel my back against his allegations. “No, you didn’t factor into the questions. You were pretty adamant it was a vacation thing. I deserve this promotion.”
“So you aren’t going to try and gain my account to solidify your status here?”
“Oh my God, no.” I push against his chest to try and get away, but he doesn’t budge. Honestly the fact hadn’t crossed my mind. Mr. Peterson and Jay would be so disappointed in me if they knew I met a multimillionaire on vacation and didn’t try to sign him on the dotted line.
“They don’t know you know me?” he continues questioning me in disbelief.
“No, not unless they figured it out from the way you acted. In fact, my new boss is kind of an asshole. It would work better for me if he never learned about our history.”
He steps closer. “Why? Are you dating him?”
My eyes widen at his question. How is this the same man I met on vacation? “I am not dating my new boss! I’ve been here a week. He’s a little intense, that's all.”
Trey’s head drops the inch or so to mine and he smiles, the tension leaving his body. “Small penis syndrome, you mean?”
His change in topic and attitude sets me off guard again, but I laugh despite my agitation. Wasn’t it exactly what I’ve been thinking all week?
“Probably. I haven’t seen it, nor do I plan to.” My head tilts to the side as I wait to see his reaction.
Trey sighs and his posture loosens. “I’m sorry. You caught me on a bad night and seeing you here was a shock. You should have emailed me.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here and we said—”
“Yes, I remember what we said,” he answers my comment about keeping it vacation only before I complete it. “Listen. I have to leave. I stopped in to say a quick congratulations. Give me your number.”
The harsh, demanding way he non-asks makes me want to refuse, but it’s Trey and I’m powerless to ignore a chance to talk to him again. Even if he’s a little tough and challenging on his own turf.
