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Narrowing her eyes at me a bit, she said, “Whatever you need pertaining to the audit, of course.”
If we were anywhere but at work, I’d be taking this conversation in another direction. However, not only were we at work, but it was clear as day that she didn’t like her boss. Granted, I could hardly blame her on that front. I’d only met the man a couple of hours ago, and I didn’t care much for him, either.
“Bryant tells me that you are in charge of the corporate expenses,” I said, wanting to engage her some more.
“I am,” she replied evenly.
“I assigned each auditor the area that complimented their skills the best,” Bryant bragged, and I seriously doubted it. Something told me that his team probably did all the hard work, then he swooped in to take the credit. I knew men like Bryant Stanton; the business world was flooded with men like him.
Again, Landry Novak looked like she wanted to punch her boss in the nose. She had a horrible poker face, and I wondered if anyone had ever told her so. Of course, you’d have to get past her beauty to notice the flaw, but it was still there. I bet she looked fucking incredible when she came. I bet her desire could be read all over her body when she was being fucked good and deep.
I needed to snap myself out of those thoughts before I was forced to walk out of here sporting a very painful hardon. While I was a man that prided himself on control, there was just something about Landry Novak that had me intrigued. Maybe it was the way that she obviously valued control herself. If she didn’t, then she would have popped Bryant Stanton one already.
Landry looked up at me with those fiery blue eyes of hers. “Even though we might have strong singular talents, we really do work as a team here,” she said. “Feel free to come to any one of us if you have any questions, Mr. Crawford.”
Bryant moved to edge Landry out of the way, but not before I saw her eyes narrowing and her lips muttering some sort of voodoo spell, I was sure. Even though Bryant wasn’t a particularly large man, Landry was barely over five feet, so not only was the way that he’d crowded her rude as hell, but he would have stepped all over her had she not moved out of the way fast enough.
I scowled, wanting to punch him in the face myself.
“Of course, there’s no need to trouble yourself with reaching out to my team members,” he jumped in. “If you have any questions, I’ve given you my personal cell phone number, so feel free to use it at any time, Mr. Crawford.”
Behind Bryant and his self-importance, I could see Landry going back to work on her boxes, and it bothered me more than it should. After all, I just met the woman.
Returning my attention back to Bryant Stanton, I said, “While I appreciate you doing your best to accommodate me, Jacobi Auditing came highly recommended. I have every confidence that you and your team have it all under control.”
“Of course, of course,” Bryant murmured, his chest puffing up just a bit.
Just then, Davis Courtney and Preston came walking into the room, and I still didn’t know how I felt about Davis Courtney. While I trusted my brother, it still bothered me that Grandland Hotels had fallen deep enough in the red for Davis to reach out to him. Contrary to what a lot of people believed, it wasn’t that hard to keep a business afloat if you put in the hours and prioritized. You couldn’t keep going to the Bahamas for vacation if your company was barely scraping by.
“Rush, there you are,” Preston said as I stepped aside to make room for the newcomers. “Sorry I’m late. I got held up in traffic.”
“Yeah, I got caught up in a meeting that ran over,” Davis added.
I gestured between Bryant and the two men. “This is Bryant Stanton from Jacobi Auditing,” I said, introducing them. “He will be heading up the auditing team.”
Jackass.
As the three men shook hands and greeted each other, I bit my lip, certain that I was the only one who’d heard the soft sounds of Landry Novak calling her boss a jackass. While I didn’t necessarily disagree, laughing right now would make me look crazy, something that I didn’t want the sassy blonde to think of me.
Once everyone was done shaking hands, Preston asked, “And who is this?”
Forgetting himself, Bryant said, “Oh, that’s just one of the team members.”
Preston glanced over at me, and whatever he saw on my face had him walking over to Landry. “Hello, I’m Preston Crawford,” he said, introducing himself, a smile on his face, his arm stretched out.
The smile on Landry’s face made her look like she was having a seizure. Though her boss was totally clueless, it was obvious to me and Preston that she was doing her best to remain cordial. I wasn’t sure if Davis was paying any attention to her, but if he had any kind of sense, he’d be able to see it, too.
Landry took Preston’s hand in hers. “Hello, Mr. Crawford,” she said, her voice forced. “I’m Landry Novak, just one of the many members of the auditing team.”
Preston’s lips twitched. Since he was the married one, he knew exactly when a woman was fit to be tied. “Please, call me Preston,” he offered graciously. “Mr. Crawford is that guy over there.” He jerked his head my way, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
Then, that’s when Landry Novak made me fall in love with her.
Looking up at Preston, she gave him a genuine smile, one that reached her eyes, and she looked fucking beautiful. Not just pretty, not just cute, not just sweet…no, she looked fucking miraculous. Landry Novak had a stunning smile, and when it was real, it turned her face into a work of fucking art.
“It’s nice to meet you, Preston,” she replied, letting go of his hand.
Before I could do something stupid-like ask her out in front of everyone-Davis Courtney was in her face, also introducing himself. “I’m Davis Courtney. Nice to meet you.”
