11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Daylight is barely breakingbut I’m wide-awake and watching Sophia as she sleeps soundly. Memories from the rest of our day and night are so very fresh in my mind and I’m consciously restraining myself from waking her and making love to her again. Even though we’ve only experienced the tamest of bedroom antics at this point, I already have an unquenchable thirst and insatiable appetite for her.
She moves and her long hair slowly falls over part of her face and shoulder. If I push it back, it will wake her up and she just looks too content to bother yet. After carefully slipping out of bed, I quickly dress and leave Sophia a note telling her I’m at the gym in case she wakes before I return. Passing the restaurant where we ate last night, I can’t help but smile as I recall our conversation.
She had a different glow to her skin and a permanent smile on her face. The way she batted her eyes and looked at me adoringly made me feel like the luckiest man in the room. When the waitress approached our table to ask if we wanted dessert, I couldn’t help but smile mischievously at Sophia as I asked the waitress if they had any cupcakes. The light tinge of pink that normally fills her cheeks was replaced with a deep red shade of embarrassment.
When the waitress said they did, in fact, have red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing, I thought for a second that Sophia may actually crawl under the table and hide. She was trying to keep from laughing out loud but only succeeded in sounding as if she was choking. The waitress’s concern for her was sincere but I could barely contain my mirth over her predicament as the waitress patted her back and asked if she should call an ambulance. When Sophia realized the waitress thought she was really choking, she quickly pulled herself together and assured the poor girl that she was fine.
Back in our cottage after dinner, we reviewed the plan for today’s meeting with Rick and decided the best approach to take with him. He’s a blowhard type of guy—he likes to think he’s in charge but is mostly full of hot air. After looking over his business case, I decided to remain quiet as he presents his case so he can be satisfied with being heard. Then, I will lay down the Powers law and inform him how we will handle this contract or it won’t happen at all.
After I finish my workout and my run on the beach, I stroll back across the grounds to our cottage.My Angelis still sleeping when I walk in our bedroom and she’s snuggled up with my pillow. I stifle a chuckle at her penchant for sleeping with her body permanently attached to something. Last night, it was me that she was glued to—no matter which way I moved, she followed. Apparently, now she is using her ‘Dom pillow’ to snuggle with in my place.
I crawl across the bed and place soft kisses on her face, moving her beautiful hair out of my way as I move down to her neck. “Wake up,My Angel. It’s time to get ready for our meeting today,” I softly croon to her. She stirs and rolls over to her back as she stretches. The sheet falls away from her breasts and the mark I branded her with yesterday draws my eyes.
I lean over and kiss the red and purple remnants of my love bite and she threads her fingers through my hair, holding my head in place. “Good morning, Dom. Were you looking for something?” she asks coyly.
“I think I found something,” I retort as I flick my tongue across her skin, across the area where I’ve claimed her.
“Hmmm…look at that, would you?” she says playfully, her voice still drowsy with sleep. “It seems someone has left me a present.”
“There are many more where that came from,” I say as I move to her neck. Just as I reach her ear, I murmur seductively, “And I can put them anywhere you’d like.” The instant reaction her body has to my voice flashes across her arm and down her leg. I smile against her ear before softly kissing it.
“But not right now. We have to get ready and leave to meet with Rich this morning. Get your fine ass out of the bed,My Angel, “ I state, ending with a good morning kiss. She stretches her lean body and grumbles in complaint, but she swings her feet over the side and saunters off to the bathroom. I admire the view as she disappears from my sight.
After breakfast, we’re being driven toD-Force Gamesheadquarters and I look over at Sophia, expecting her to be nervous about the impending negotiations. She’s cool and collected with no sign of fretting or anxiety at all. She turns her head toward me and asks sweetly, “What is it, Dom?”
“You just surprise me sometimes. I thought you may be nervous about today but you don’t seem nervous at all.”
“I’m not. I know this information inside and out. I’ve been over and over the data until I can recite it in my sleep. I will make you proud,” she finishes with a smile.
I have no doubt about that.
The offices ofD-Force Gamesare extremely opulent. The marble entrance sets the tone for the rest of the building. With elevators strategically placed in the center of the large, open building, every floor is visible from the first floor to the top. The elevator walls are glass so we can look out over the terrarium-style lobby as we rise to the top floor of the office building.
When the doors open, Rich is waiting to escort us into the executive boardroom. Sophia looks incredible in her black dress suit but she is in all business mode. Rich looks her over appreciatively from head to toe a couple of times, blatantly, and then he gives her his best attempt at a smirk. It takes every ounce of self-control I have to keep from laughing in his face when she levels him with herdon’t-fuck-with-melook in return. His ego immediately deflates and he clears his throat before speaking.
“Good morning. I’m Rich Daltry,” he says as he extends his hand to me first and then to Sophia. “Glad you could make it. Follow me and we can get started. We have coffee, juice, and water in the room if you want any,” he says to no one in particular as he turns to walk toward the boardroom.
I steal a glance at Sophia and give her an approving smile when she looks up at me. She gives me a half-grin and I can tell she’s trying hard to hold in her full smile. Once it gets loose, it’s normally out of control and she knows that wouldn’t be appropriate after she basically emasculated Rich in front of me. As we walk through the hall, I take note of the many empty offices and cubicles we pass.
Once in the boardroom, the table is full of Rich’s department heads, including his finance and human resources officers. Rich makes introductions all around and points to the credenza with the drinks and snacks. Sophia places her belongings in her chair and makes us each a cup of coffee. Once she’s seated beside me, Rich narrows his eyes as they quickly shift between the two of us. His sneer tells me everything I need to know about him—he’s judging us and thinks this is a simple case of the boss fucking his secretary.
Jumping right in, Rich barely waits for Sophia to take a drink of her coffee before he starts touting all the reasons why DPS should accept a reduced rate of our normal amount for handling their programming needs. He name-drops several other similar companies that he could have called instead of DPS and proceeds to ramble on about how important his company is. Sophia maintains her composure, drinks her coffee, and lets him finish his long-winded rant. I’m starting to think she isn’t going to respond at all.
“I believe in being blunt. I think we all know thatD-Force Gameswould bring DPS to the forefront of all software programming needs. The exposure from a contract with us would put you on the map more than any other company you could possibly work with and I think everyone at this table knows that,” Rich continues, his posture aggressive as he obviously tries to intimidate us. “Now, for that, I am proposing a five-year commitment, with you handling all of our internal programming needs, for an annually contracted rate of nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
I sit in stunned silence for a moment, staring at him in disbelief. I expected a lowball amount to start the negotiations with since Rich is known for that, but that amount isridiculouslylow and he knows it. Had Sophia not been with me, I would have considered this a completely wasted trip and would have already left his contract in shreds on the table. Just as I’m about to speak and tell him where he can stick his contract, Sophia’s sweet voice fills the room.
“Mr. Daltry, while we appreciate your interest in DPS handling your programming needs, I think we all know that amount is inappropriately low. For a company the size of DPS, and with the yearly revenue it generates, your research should’ve shown that every company spends approximately one-percent of its revenue on the IT department alone. Since you’re asking us to basically become your IT department, your offer wouldn’tbeginto cover the employee salaries, much less anything else.
“For that reason, our counter-proposal has been drawn up and is our final offer. My own research has shown thatD-Force Gamesis on the cusp of signing a thirty million dollar per year contract as a joint venture with another gaming company. On top of your own success, this agreement is expected toexponentiallyincrease your profits as well as your IT needs,” she concludes her side of the negotiation by sliding our proposal across the table to Rich.
Rich’s face turns red with anger and he opens his mouth to protest, but he has nothing to argue with in this case. Sophia has donemorethan her expected homework and came to this meeting more prepared than anyone else at the table, including me. Rich shuts his mouth and looks down at the figure on the contract. His lips form a thin line and he shakes his head in disgust as he reads the stipulations.
“We will supply a team of twenty programmers to remain onsite and handle your internal IT needs. Any large-scale additions to the system and set-up you currently have in place would require the addendum charges, as noted. The total price for a three-year commitment is eighteen million dollars,” Sophia further drives the knife in. “You’ve made some great decisions of late, Mr. Daltry, by sending much of your staff to work at home and reducing your overhead costs. The sale of this building and moving to a smaller building should prove to be very lucrative for you.”
