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“Excellent. Send any invoices to my secretary and she’ll take care of them. And if you have a contract prepared already, I’ll sign it tonight.”
She pressed her lips together to keep the smile that wanted to break free hidden. “I do have a copy of my standard agreement.” She reached for her bag and the folder inside. “As soon as I have everything arranged I will let your secretary know.” She passed the agreement to him. Although short, it contained all pertinent information and protected her and her business.
“At our last meeting I mentioned my home in Newport. If you’re interested, I’d like to arrange a time for you to see it.” Trent read the contract as he spoke.
Now that was a stupid question if she’d ever heard one. “Just let me know what works for you.”
Trent scrawled his name on the contract and then grabbed his phone. “This weekend is open for me. Does either day work for you?”
“Saturday I am free.” In order to get Chloe to cover her Friday night shift she’d promised to cover her cousin’s shift on Sunday.
“Saturday it is then.” He handed the papers back to her. “If you’d like I can pick you up and we can drive down together. I know I wouldn’t mind the company.”
More thunder rumbled outside, but Addie feared he’d still heard the excited thud of her heartbeat. “Only if it doesn’t inconvenience you. I don’t mind driving down.”
Trent gave her a smile that used his entire face. No wonder he had such a reputation as an international playboy. His smile alone would send women right to him.
The slightest hint of color already on her cheeks darkened and she swallowed. Throughout their meeting she’d yet again remained professional if not a bit nervous. Before this moment, he’d wondered if perhaps he shouldn’t pressure her. At least during this and their previous meetings she’d displayed no outward signs that she was attracted to him. She hadn’t flirted or done any of the typical things women tried to snag him. But then she’d blushed when his hand came into contact with hers and it’d grown darker when he offered to pick her up.
“The company would be nice. Does eleven o’clock work for you?” His original reason for asking her to stop by tonight rather than sometime next week was because he planned to ask her out for dinner after their meeting. Now though, he rethought his strategy. Tomorrow after they toured his house, he’d take her out. Once she left tonight he’d make reservations for them at the Spiced Pear. As much as he wanted to proceed with the plan he and Marty agreed on, he didn’t want to come on too strong and spook Addison away either.
“Uh, sure. That time works.” She pulled out a business card and wrote on the back. “Here is my address, but if you need to call me, my cell number is on the front.”
He accepted the card even though he didn’t need it. Thanks to Marty he had her home address, as well as the address of her parents, already in his desk. “Great. If you want to wait a moment, I’ll walk out with you. I’m going to call it a day.”
Before she answered, he stood and walked back to his desk. Grabbing his suit jacket, his eyes followed Addie as she packed up her own belongings. With deliberate movements she placed one item in at a time as if each thing had a specific place. When she finished, she stood, smoothed down her dress and then slipped the strap of her bag over her right shoulder. Unlike the previous times they’d met, she wore a dress tonight, and the sleeveless style revealed her well-toned upper arms.
“A
ll set?” he asked as he retrieved his briefcase and came around toward the door.
Rather than speak, she nodded and walked toward the door. On cue, he pulled it open and allowed her to exit first. Not that he minded in the least. With her in front of him, he could let his eyes wander and appreciate her form without her any the wiser. And he definitely liked what he saw. She was an average height, but she had killer legs, perfectly shaped and toned. He suspected she exercised on a regular basis. Her waist was tiny and although she had her back to him now, he already had a mental picture of her breasts. Judging by the way her dress fit, they were lush and full but not ridiculously large.
When they reached the elevator, he pushed the button. “Please dress casually tomorrow. Whatever you normally wear on the weekend,” he said as a way to break the silence. “I certainly won’t be wearing a tie.”
Addie laughed, a sweet lyrical sound. “Then I might still be in my pj’s when you pick me up.”
The image of the type of sleepwear worn by the women he usually spent time with popped up. While he had no doubt Addie would look fantastic in any of those outfits, he doubted those were the type of pj’s she wore. “Whatever works for you,” he answered as the elevator door opened and they stepped inside.
“So where in Newport is your home? Is it on Bellevue Avenue?”
Slowly the elevator began its descent and he leaned up against the glass wall. “No. It’s on Ocean Avenue. It was built—” The loud crack of lightning echoed through the elevator, cutting off Trent’s sentence just before the lights blinked and then went out.
“Please tell me we’re not stuck.” Addison’s voice trembled from the other side of the glass elevator.
He remembered her reaction to the storm in his office. “It shouldn’t take them long to get us going again.” Stepping forward, he picked up the emergency phone in the elevator wall. After a few seconds, a voice responded on the other end.
“Security.”
“This is Trent Sherbrooke. How long until the power is restored? I’m stuck in the elevator with a business associate.”
“I’m not sure, Mr. Sherbrooke. The entire block is out. Maintenance is trying to contact the electric company. It may be a while.”
“Bad news?” Addie asked when he hung up the phone. She stood near the back wall, her arms crossed just above her waist.
“The whole block is out.” He placed his briefcase on the floor along with his suit jacket. In the distance he heard the hint of thunder or at least he assumed that was it. “They know we’re in here and are working on the problem.”
“Last winter an ice storm took out all the power in the city. It took them days to get everyone up again,” she said with the barest hint of a catch in her voice.
