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Chapter One
Kat
It was the biggest day of my career and I had never needed to pee so much.
I’d always believed there were two kinds of people on the planet. Those who dealt with stressful situations with grace and calm, and those who got nervous. Then there was me.
Brushing a loose strand of hair out of my face, I gave myself one last check in the ladies’ bathroom mirror.
At least you look awesome, baby girl,I praised myself in lieu of having a daddy around to tell me how gorgeous I was.You win some, lose some, right?
Righting the tight burgundy shirt I wore under a long blazer, I tried to calm my nerves.
Damn.
I had already peed four times, and was ready to go again.
Roy Sinclair, new client and CEO of a clothing brand, intimidated me even through the pictures on his socialmedia pages. I’d stalked him online purely for research purposes, had studied their company history, and I was impressed. How often did you get to work with one of Scotland's thirty under thirty self-made millionaires? Well, he technically wasn't part of that list anymore, having turned thirty at the end of last year, but he co-owned two successful businesses that he had built from scratch.
FURVOR, the leading fashion and lifestyle magazine, had devoted an entire page spread to Sinclair, mainly I guessed because he looked the part. Tall, fascinating, and sexy as hell, with an air of the sweet boy next door. My Achilles' heel if ever I had one. He had the broadest shoulders I had ever seen, and I'd spent a good half an hour wondering if he would squeeze through the door frame or if he would have to side-stepped through it. Working with him would be interesting.
My colleague Ben had referred APEX Predator Clothing to Beta. He was friends with Sadeeq al-Baksh, Roy’s business partner. Al-Baksh was in charge of APEX Fitness, an expanding line of gyms almost everybody in Kirkmuir, including me, went to.
I’d learned from the onboarding questionnaire I’d sent him ten days before our meeting that Roy mainly worked on their clothing brand. He’d stated that their rapidly expanding business was in need of a new website, social media strategy, a shop, and a concept to enter new markets.
Since Elora, the most sensible choice for a project with such a large scope, was on the verge of maternity leave, Dexhad assigned the client to me. I was about to wet myself in fear of failing. I’d never before pulled a project of this scope off by myself, but Lo had been confident that I’d manage.
I carefully pulled my panties and skirt back up, and left the cubicle to wash my hands.
Fifteen minutes until our meeting.I hope I can manage without having to pee again.
My office was as minimal and clean as ever; all fingerprints were wiped off my laptop and the tabletop.
Water bottle. Two glasses. Check.
With barely ten minutes to go, my phone rang. Cursing, I checked the number.
Damn it, I have to take this.
“Betaworth IT, this is Kat speaking.”
“Hi, Kat. It’s Madeleine Gallagher. Is this a bad time?” our latest recruit asked me anxiously.
“Hi, Maddie. No, it’s fine, I have an appointment in a few minutes but it’s good to hear from you.”
We quickly fixed a time and date at the beginning of the next month for the first day of her onboarding process, which had been assigned to me, too. I had no idea what Dex was playing at, but I was flattered that he seemed to think I had it in me to pull both things off.
“Kat?” Dex’s voice pulled me out of my head, and I pushed myself up off my desk and faced the door, hitching a professional smile onto my face. “I’d like you to meet Roy Sinclair. Roy, this is Kathryn McGowan, your key account manager.“He kept talking over his winged back to the APEX CEO, who was still out of sight.
“Sorry, Mr. Sinclair, Dexter, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Holding up my hand, I met Dexter’s eyes and signalled at the receiver pinned between my ear and shoulder.
“I’ll see you then, Kat. Good luck for the meeting.” Madeline whispered the last words conspiratorially.
“Thanks Maddie, I appreciate it. We’re looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Bye.” Smiling to myself, I hung up.
When I reached the door, I halted in my tracks at the sight of Roy Sinclair. Seeing him out in the wild, in contrast to his social media posts or the photos at the gym where I went for my kickboxing classes, was something else.
The photos had done him justice when it came to showing his attractiveness; what they hadn’t been able to depict was how much of a beefy hottie tiger Roy was.
