I nod as I sip on the glass of red wine I ordered. "It's not that I didn't appreciate you hiring him to help me. I did, but it felt like too much too soon."
He puts the tumbler down without bringing it to his lips. "I wanted to help you. You have so much potential, Sophia. I saw it as a sound investment in you. I have no doubt you're going to rule the New York fashion scene one day."
I smile brightly at the compliment. "It's not an actual investment if there's no legal contract drawn up. You were doing me a favor. It's too generous a favor for anyone to do for a person they just met."
I can tell by his reaction that my words sting. "Should we get a legal contract drawn up? I have some funds I'm looking to invest. I'd gladly buy some shares in your company."
It's not technically an actual company. I took the preliminary steps to get everything set up a few months ago when I thought I might be able to sell some pieces in a store owned by the husband of a woman Cadence worked with. That never pannedout, so I used the money I'd set aside for lawyer fees to buy more supplies.
"I'm not at the point where I'm looking for investors yet," I say as I make a mental note to check in with Zoe Beck, a friend of a friend who happens to be an attorney.
"You should be." He finally takes a long drink of scotch. "If you worked out a deal with an investor or two, your business would be on its way. You need money for marketing and promotions. You can't expect to sew every design yourself forever. You have to start looking at the big picture."
His words don't sting. Tyler and Cadence sat me down a few months ago and gave me the same speech. They want to invest too but I've been wary of mixing business with such a close and important friendship. I consider them my New York family and if I were to lose the money they invest in me, I'd never forgive myself.
"You want to work at this full-time one day, don't you?" He presses on when I don't respond immediately. "If you keep waiting, you might miss your chance to hit it big. Your tomorrow can be today, Sophia. I can help make it happen."
His words are encouraging even though the idea of having his money backing me feels like a recipe for relationship disaster. "It wouldn’t be good for us."
"For the dating us?" He cocks his left brow as a smile ghosts his lips. "Our business arrangement would have nothing to do with that."
It's not that cut and dry. I know all about what happened to Evlin Dawn and her husband when they launched Bluenix. Six months later her brand had a spread in Vogue and her husband was in the Caribbean with a model they'd hired for their print campaign.
"I don't think we can separate the two, " I say honestly. "What happens when we break up and you have to come to shareholder meetings?"
His smile fades. "We're adults, Sophia. We can handle it. If we can't I'll send a liaison in my place."
"A liaison?"
He eyes the people seated at the bar. "My sister. Nyx will take over controlling interest of my shares if it ever gets to that point."
I don't know much about his family other than what I found online. There was mention of his sister, Nyx, in one article but I only skimmed it looking for details about the man sitting next to me. "Does she have better fashion sense than you?"
His gaze skims the jeans and blue button down shirt he's wearing. He'd slid out of his wool coat once we sat down. "What's wrong with my fashion sense?"
"Joe won the best dressed contest tonight," I point out wryly. "At least he wore a suit to meet me."
"He was meeting us," he corrects me. "I assume he came here straight from his first day of work at Foster. Besides, I had no idea if we were hanging out here or in a room."
I lower my voice to a purr. "The night is still young, Mr. Wolf. If you play your cards right, I might be able to show you a luxury suite."
He finishes the last swallow of scotch in the bottom of the glass. "You're very resourceful and multi-talented. Speaking of which, tell me you'll think about my offer to invest. We can have Nyx sit in on our business meetings if you want. She's a lot like you. Her entrepreneurial spirit is on overdrive."
I focus my eyes on his. "Does she own her own business?"
"She does," he doesn't elaborate. "You two need to meet. I'll make that happen, but first show me that luxury suite."
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Nicholas
When I askedSophia to take me up to the room she talked about, I assumed I'd finally get to feel her ruby red stained lips wrapped around my dick. I saw the way she was looking at me in the elevator as we rode up to the top floor. She knew that I wanted her. I made that clear when I hooked my arm around her waist while she stood in front of me in the lobby waiting for the elevator to arrive. When she subtly ground her ample ass into me, my cock instantly hardened.
"What did you think we were going to do up here?" She approaches me from behind, her reflection coming into view in the window's glass. "I noticed you folded your coat over your arm so you could hold it in front of you on the ride up. You were obscenely hard, Nicholas."
I turn to face her. She'd left me alone as soon as we walked into the suite when her phone rang. I thought she'd ignore it in favor of dropping to her knees, but she politely excused herself and took off into another room, closing the door behind her.
I listened, but the walls in this place shielded her voice completely. I didn't think anything of it until a full fifteen minutes dragged by and I'd had my fill of the view of the city from the wall of windows we're standing in front of.
