AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Very,” he responded, putting the papers down. “Have dinner with me. Sell me on the investment.”
“I don’t need dinner to sell you. It’s a great start up. You’d be lucky to have the opportunity to come on-board while NewNetwork is in its infancy.”
His grin sent shivers down her spine. “You talk a good game, Carrie. I’m interested. Tell me more.”
“You’re not interested,” she said with a shake of her head. “At least, not in this.”
He leaned forward in the chair. “I did not say this,” he held the papers up in the air, “is the only thing I’m interested in. But nor would I waste your time and energies if I thought my answer was going to be a no. You need an investor. I invest in worthwhile businesses. But you will need to do a better presentation than you are currently delivering.”
Carrie leaned back further in her seat and studied his face carefully. He was certainly well placed to invest, if he had the interest to do so. His financials were commonly known to be extraordinary. He’d taken Vivas Industries and leveraged it into just one of dozens of companies under his name. At last count, his net worth had been estimated to be in the multi-billion pound bracket. Not that she’d googled him or anything; she hadn’t let herself show that kind of weakness where Gael Vivas was concerned. No, his success was very much public knowledge.
What did she have to lose?
She outlined the premise of the app, keeping the details succinct. She didn’t need the investor to know the ins and outs of the technical specifications. Only to understand the premise of what they were trying to do.
“Stop.” Gael commanded, after only ten minutes of Carrie’s hard-sell.
She hit her hand against the table. “I knew you weren’t really serious.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And you are just as wrong now as you were then. I am interested. I am also starving. I have not eaten since lunch time.”
Carrie’s laugh was genuine. “That’s not long ago.”
He frowned. “It feels an eternity. I am Spanish, remember.” As though that explained everything.
“Fine.” She shrugged distractedly, eager to push on with the sales pitch. “I can organise some bar snacks.”
“Bar Snacks? No. No need, when I have a perfectly good restaurant reservation. Come and tell me more about this project of yours, and we can eat like Kings.”
“Project of mine?” She glared at him, her humour well and truly turning bad. “You make it sound like a Girl Scout craft fair.”
“Come.” He held a hand out to her and reluctantly, Carrie put hers in it. Immediately, that sense of electricity shot through her, and when she looked up at him, everything seemed brighter. Clearer. More in focus. She blinked to clear the impression, but it did not go away.
The restaurant was a short walk from the bar, and to access it, they had to bypass the lift they’d used only three nights earlier.
To his credit, Gael resisted the urge to remark upon the fact. But only just.
“After you,” he said, holding the door for her.
“Thank you.” Carrie slipped past him, unintentionally brushing her body against his in the narrow space of the restaurant’s opening. She shot him a mutinous glare, before turning her attention to the dining room.
Their table was in a small, rounded alcove, overlooking the London street beyond. When Carrie sat, she was careful not to touch Gael. Not his hands, as they held the chair for her. Not his body, as she eased herself into the comfortable seat.
“Are you sure you don’t want to have your meeting with Noris? He seemed rather put out.”
Gael’s laugh was sweet and spiced at the same time. “He will recover. I intend to maintain our business arrangement. He needn’t be worried.”
“I see.” She lifted her water glass and sipped it. The intimacy of their situation was making breathing difficult. “It’s just… I can see you in my office tomorrow. That might be more appropriate for a presentation.”
He frowned. “You were prepared to discuss matters over a drink with Noris.”
“Yes, that was the only time he had spare.”
“And this is the only time I have spare.” He took a gamble on her hunger for success. “If you have somewhere else to be, Carrie, you’re welcome to leave, of course.”
She lowered her gaze, to hide from him the weakness that was wreaking havoc with her legendary composure. “You can’t do tomorrow?”
“No. I fly out in the morning.”
