Chapter Four
Damian
Sitting in the lobby of an austere office building didn’t usually inspire the type of rock-hard erection Damian was currently sporting. But then they didn’t usually house the type of woman he waited to see.
This day had been six months in the making. Every bit of planning, conniving, and bribery were about to pay off. Or he was about to get arrested. It really could go either way when it came to Lydia St. James.
Six months ago, almost to the day, Damian had first become aware of the enchanting entrepreneur. It was a day he would never forget. He’d been talking with a colleague who mentioned the new mogul on the rise on the other side of town. She was taking the cosmetics industry by storm with her new approach to technology and makeup. Damian had made his own name in software development and found her product fascinating.
But it might have stopped there. Their conversation could have veered off in another direction and Damian would never have seen the most gorgeous woman to walk the earth. That isn’t what happened though. Instead, his friend brought up an article featured inCosmomagazine on Lydia, complete with several photos around the office. The first time his eyes landed on her pale face, he knew he needed to have her.
He began to dig. Damian never went into a business meeting unprepared, and this would be no different. Lydia wasn’t like the women he had come across before. Research proved that time and again. For one thing, she didn’t date. Her name had never been linked romantically to a man or woman. Apparently, she wanted any press she received to be focused on her accomplishments in the business world, not the bedroom.
It didn’t take long to figure out that she compensated for her lack of romantic companionship with a stable of fuck buddies. Only days ago he also learned she made occasional visits to Club Zion. The fact that Damian had never run across her at the club spoke to how sparsely she attended. The club goers might know him better by his nickname, Razor, but he never tried to hide his identity. Being a fan of group sex had never been something he was ashamed of, and it was a well-documented fact among his peers that he was a lifetime member of the club.
Since his first glimpse of that picture, though, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to attend. Not until last night at least.
“Mr. Rasoio, Ms. St. James will see you now.” The impeccably dressed receptionist held out her hand to direct Damian down the hall. In a former life, he might have made a pass at the woman. But she paled in comparison to his Angel.
The offices spoke to the nature of the woman he intended to make his own. They were efficient, and not a single space was wasted. Thought went into everything from the proximity of coffee machines to the workers, to the lack of cubicles and other dividers. The entire floor was open with the exception of a large conference room to the left and a large executive office straight ahead. Desks sat in groups of three and five, with people milling about and discussing projects rather than sitting and concentrating only on their own work. Some people had desks mounted on treadmills, others had standing desks.
The place was a living entity, with activity buzzing around him and an air of excitement. The people in this room loved working here, that much was clear as day.
A strange sense of pride surged through his chest, more so than he had ever felt for any of his own projects. Lydia had built this place from the ground up, starting in her dorm room in college and transforming her company into the number one cosmetics company in less than a decade.
At the large door to Lydia’s office, the receptionist paused, rapped on the door twice, then pushed it open without waiting for an answer. Damian followed her into the space, his heart pounding as he took in his Angel sitting at her desk, absorbed in a binder of information before her.
“Ms. St. James, Mr. Rasoio is here for his two o’clock.” The woman stood at attention, with her hands behind her back. But fear didn’t seem to be emanating off the woman, only respect.
“Thank you, Joslyn. Have you taken your caffeine break yet? I need you sharp this afternoon for the stockholders’ meeting.” Lydia didn’t bother looking up from the binder, but rather spoke to her employee while she continued her reading.
“I’ll go now, Ms. St James. Would you like anything?”
Finally, Lydia looked up from her work, addressing the receptionist. “No, thanks. I have any more caffeine today and you’ll be peeling me off the ceiling.”
The receptionist nodded and stepped out of the office while Damian stepped forward, giving his Angel her first glimpse of her visitor. Well, her first glimpse since he left her naked in the shower the night before. Right on cue, her eyes widened in surprise but for only a split second. Before Damian could even blink, Lydia schooled her expression, closing down into the professional woman the whole world sees.
“Mr. Rasoio, you’ll have to remind me what this meeting is concerning. I don’t seem to have any notes on my calendar concerning any business we might have together.” Not even a spark of recognition remained in her eyes.
For some reason, that both irked Damian and made pride swell inside his chest. She wouldn’t be giving into him anytime soon. No problem, he liked the chase.
“That would be because I traded in quite a few favors to gain an audience with you today. You aren’t an easy woman to see.” Without being invited, Damian strolled around the office to the more informal sitting area across from Lydia’s desk. He needed to even the playing field a little. Unbuttoning his tailored suit coat, Damian sat on the silver leather couch, crossed one ankle over his knee, and reclined back with his arms stretched wide over the back of the couch. Lydia needed to know she didn’t intimidate him the way she did most people. Intrigued, yes. Aroused, most definitely. Intimidated, no. “But, so you can catch up to me, I’ll tell you the reason for my visit is twofold.”
Lydia stood from behind her desk, flipping the binder closed and strutting to the club chair across from Damian. Her body swayed with the natural rhythm of a woman in control of her sexual desires. She knew that her looks played into how people perceived her. Knew some would underestimate her because of them, and she used that to her advantage, that much was obvious. “Please, continue. I love to hear people’s ideas before I shoot them down.”
Damian chuckled. This woman had bigger balls than most the men he’d run across in this industry. “Well, first, I want a repeat of last night. Alone. I think that is quite obvious. And I want us to partner our companies. I think we can have a mutually beneficial relationship.” His eyes scanned down her legs, covered in a tight knee-length pencil skirt. “In many areas, in fact.”
A patronizing smirk crossed Lydia’s face. “Well, it is nice to know I’m dealing with a man suffering from delusions of grandeur before we start negotiations. Let’s start with business first, then we can discuss the rest of it. I’m afraid I have no idea what business you are in.”
“Software design. Specifically, interactive game and app design. My technology is behind the most popular games released in the past five years.” Damian leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees and giving Lydia his best game face. “In fact, I was set to retire in just a few months, on my thirty-fifth birthday. Pass my company on to other people and enjoy life for a while before figuring out my next move. But then I saw the write-up on you inCosmoand knew we could make magic together. That you were my next move.”
“That article came out months ago, and you are just now getting around to meeting with me?” One perfectly manicured eyebrow rose in amusement.
“Like I said, you’re a hard woman to get a meeting with.”
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you that you have wasted your time. I have no interest in games that teenage boys spend hours a day staring at. This company is about personalizing the beauty experience for every woman. I don’t see how you could factor into that vision at all.” Lydia stood, turning her back on Damian and essentially dismissing him.
“Then you aren’t as forward thinking as I thought you might be.”
