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CHAPTER17
Hunter
I arrive at Food Networkwith only five minutes to spare. It’s been an insane day of meetings and fighting my way through LA traffic. I was hoping to swing by Riley’s office and spend some time catching up with her since we haven’t been able to connect in person since I moved to LA a week ago, but it’s unlikely to happen. I look down at my Hublot watch as I stride down the hall to the reception area and realize I’ll barely have time to kiss her on the cheeks before we start talking business. At least I’m not late. That would’ve been a disaster.
When I turn the corner toward the receptionist’s desk, I stop dead in my tracks when I read the sign hanging on the wall behind her: Food Network. Holy smokes. It’s actually happening. It’s not as if I haven’t been anticipating this moment for the last six weeks, but the fact that I’m actually here blows my mind. If I bring on my lethal combination of charm, wit and business savvy, in three hours from now, I could be one step closer to closing one of the most prestigious deals for our company.
The caramel-skinned girl with a beautiful head of black curls sitting behind the desk notices me standing there with a frozen look on my face and smiles. “Good afternoon. How may I help you, sir?”
Let’s do this.“Good afternoon”—I pause to read the name on the little metallic plaque—“Jasmine.” She beams when I call her by her name. “I have a meeting with Riley Carrington and Jamie McPherson. My name is Hunter Evans and I’m the co-owner of Totally Natural Meats.”
“Yes. Jamie is expecting you. Let me contact his assistant, Georgina. She’ll accompany you to the conference room.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’d like to take a seat over there,” she says, pointing at the dark gray couch, “it shouldn’t be too long. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Normally I’d say yes, but I’ve already had three cups so I really should stop for the day. But thank you so much for offering.” I smile.
“I made the same promise to myself before lunch, but I’m at number five,” Jasmine says, lowering her eyes to the coffee sitting near her laptop computer.
I open my mouth to respond but an incoming call interrupts me. Jasmine lifts her finger at me to ask me to wait. She grimaces apologetically, but I nod to let her know that I understand. I turn around to sit, but when I do, the posters on the wall catch my attention and I find myself drawn to them. I take a few steps forward, admiring the photos of celebrity chefs adorning the walls. If this deal goes through, like I know it will, not only will it be extraordinarily lucrative, but it will also open the door to access these top chefs. Many of them have fleets of extremely popular restaurants throughout the country. Bring. It. On.
As I imagine Jake and I dominating this industry, a voice behind me calls out my name. “Mr. Evans?”
I turn around and face a thin, extremely elegant middle-aged woman with stylish short spiky salt-and-pepper hair. You’d think she was Jamie Lee Curtis’ twin. Although the actress is way before my time, my dad has always had a crush on her, hence I was forced to watch all of her movies. “Yes,” I answer. “That’s me, but please call me Hunter.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Evans.” Or you can ignore what I just said. “My name is Georgina and I’m Jamie McPherson’s assistant.” She smiles, extending her hand to shake mine. “If you follow me I’ll take you to the boardroom.”
“Good afternoon, Georgina. Lead the way.”
I’m so ready for this. I’ve never been a professional athlete, but the adrenaline rushing through my veins right now is surreal. I bet you fighters must be as pumped up as I am right now before stepping into the ring. There’s no two ways about it. I’m going for gold.
I follow Georgina through a maze of offices and boardrooms. I’m too single-minded in my focus to fully take in my surroundings as we make our way to meeting. “You’ll be meeting Ms. Carrington, Mr. McPherson and a few other team members in that room over there,” she says, extending her finger in front of us.
This must be serious business.I can’t help but notice that the room Georgina is pointing at looks like a fortress compared to most of the other conference rooms we’ve just passed that were mostly all glass and looked like giant fish tanks. There’s not even a glass opening on the door. “This must be the Alcatraz room,” I joke, hoping to lighten the mood.
Georgina stops so abruptly I nearly bump into her. She turns around to face me with a stony face. “Only serious potential vendors ever see this room. Consider yourself very lucky, Mr. Evans.” Okay. I’m getting the vibe that she’s not the touchy-feely type, but I can’t tell if she thinks it’s a good thing or not that I made it this far. “You can imagine we get thousands upon thousands of requests every single day from different companies across America begging to be part of an elite and selective group of premier vendors who are awarded coveted contracts to supply us with kitchenware, kitchen appliances or food. Heck, we even get a few overzealous Canadian companies who think they can make the ranks.” She chuckles. “Your company’s reputation is impeccable and that’s why you’re here today. Frankly, I think you’re far too young to be this successful, but Ms. Carrington assures us that you and her brother are whiz kids when it comes to building businesses that keep churning out quality products without fail.” She grins from ear to ear.
I sigh inwardly and smile right back at her. “You had me going there for a minute, Georgina. I couldn’t tell if you liked me or not.”
“It’s not my job to like you, Mr. Evans. My job is to vet the hell out of you.” She pauses before continuing. “And after thoroughly doing my homework, I’m extremely impressed.”
Touchdown!I have to contain myself not to jump up and down like a quarterback who’s just scored the winning point with only a few seconds left on the clock. I know I still have three hours of grueling negotiation in front of me, but her words boost my confidence even more, and trust me, I was pretty damn confident before I walked in here. I feel like I’m ten feet tall. We’re so close.
“Wow. I didn’t expect that. You flatter me, Georgina.”
“I’m not one to easily give out compliments.” No kidding. “That should tell you all you need to know.” I guess it does. One less person to win over. With a hand on the doorknob, she delivers her parting words as she cracks open the door. “Best of luck, but for some reason I doubt you need it. I expect I’ll see a lot more of you around this office in the future, Mr. Evans,” she says, dragging her eyes along my frame.
Now don’t get me wrong. I totally have my game face on and there’s not a pussy in the world that can distract me right now. That said, I can’t help but wonder if Georgina isn’t flirting with me. Not that I’d be opposed to a little MILF action in the future. She might come off standoffish, but deep inside, she’s a little strait-laced minx.
Since I’m here for business and not pleasure, I keep it professional. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Georgina. I hope that your predictions become a reality and that we’ll run into each other again soon.” I cross my fingers to emphasize my point. Georgina rewards me by biting her lower lip before opening the door to let me in. Oh, yeah. She wants me.
I don’t have time to admire Georgina walking away from me because the minute Riley sees me she jumps to her feet and runs towards me. “Hunter,” she sings. “I haven’t seen you in a month.” She slams her body against mine and hugs me so hard I fear I might choke. After a few long seconds, she lets go and the air fills my lungs again. “Look at you. You’ve definitely dressed the part.” She winks.
“Well, thank you.” I think.
“It’s so funny because back home I always see you in your jeans and scuffed-up work boots, but you look like a model in your tailored suit,” she says appreciatively. “And these killer shoes...” Riley is salivating at the sight of my new pair of Berluti bespoke Italian design shoes.
