All Dressed Up (Purely Pleasure Book 2) Page 4

  Wyatt’s watery blue eyes widened, rage sparking in them. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” he asked.

  Rhett took another slow sip of whiskey, his eyes never leaving the other man’s. “Like I said,” he said. “I’m Rhett Oakes. And you go near Nat? Bother her at all? You’re gonna find out what a real outdoorsman is like. I’m not some hobbyist that paid someone to carry me up the final peak of Everest for a photo op. I’m the real deal and men like me? We crush little boys like you.”

  Without another word, he took the two glasses of champagne and strolled away, leaving the billionaire gaping after him like a fish.

  He spotted Nat with her friend through the crowd and made his way to them. They hadn’t noticed him as he approached and he caught the tail end of their conversation.

  “…I’m so appreciative of your job offer, Petra. I really am. But I’m going to need to discuss it with Carter first. It’s only fair if I give him a chance to counter.”

  “I understand,” Petra said. “I just…oh, look, it’s your man.” She beamed when she caught sight of Rhett, taking the flute of champagne he offered. “You really are something out of an old movie, aren’t you?” she asked him with a bit of a good natured leer.

  “Me and John Wayne,” he said, making her laugh.

  “I’ve got to introduce Rhett to some people. It was lovely seeing you, Petra.”

  “Let me know about what we discussed,” Petra said.

  Nat nodded, taking Rhett’s arm as he pulled her further into the crush of the party.

  “You thinking about taking a new job?” he asked as she sipped her champagne and peered through the crowd, trying to spot investors.

  She turned pink. “You weren’t supposed to hear that,” she said.

  “No worries. My lips are sealed,” he said.

  She looked up at him through her lashes, concerned. “I’m not trying to screw over Carter. I promise.”

  “You wouldn’t do that,” he said, with a surety he felt down to his bones.

  “No, I wouldn’t,” she said. “Anyway.” She bounced up on her tip-toes, searching the crowd. “I’m looking for Wyatt Jamison. I think we should start with him. He’s your best chance.”

  “Considering I just chewed the guy out for being a sexist ass at the bar, probably not,” Rhett said.

  Her dark eyes widened. “You what?’ she demanded.

  “He’s a misogynist, Nat,” he said.

  “Well, of course he is,” Nat said. “He’s a New York City Billionaire. They’re all misogynists.”

  “I’m not gonna work with someone who will make my women employees feel disrespected or uncomfortable,” Rhett said. “I got the measure of that guy in five seconds. He’d use his investment as a way to fuck my employees over and fuck me over. No way.”

  Nat sighed. “You…are very noble. And a very good boss, I’m sure. But you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a non-sexist dude in this crowd. Okay. No Wyatt. No overt misogynists. That narrows my list. But let’s go.”

  An hour later, he felt like he’d met everyone who was part of New York’s elite. He’d shaken hands and charmed wives with stories about baby wolves and bears, even showing them a few pictures on his phone of the sea wolves he’d worked with up in British Columbia. He’d gotten business cards and claps on the back, but there hadn’t been anyone he felt a true connection with. Connection built trust and there was no way he was working with an investor he couldn’t trust.

  After the final potential investor finally left, he held out his hand to Nat as the notes of a slow waltz began to fill the room. “Care to dance?” he asked.

  Her eyes glinted as she took his hand and he escorted her out to the dance floor. Her body slipped closer to him as they began to sway to the music, his hand coming to rest at the small of her back. Being this close to her was playing tricks on his body, awakening feelings he had no business having when he was a man who was leaving tomorrow.

  “So you’re thinking about leaving Carter’s company,” he said after a minute or so of dancing.

  She looked away, looking a little ashamed. “I’m at a crossroads,” she said. “I love my job,” she assured him.”And I love working for Carter.”

  “But?” he prompted.

  She sighed. “I am one of the youngest female CFO’s. I’m pretty much the only female CFO in my particular field. And I believe in Purely Pleasure, I believe in our company and our mission to empower women and empower people’s sex lives. But Petra is offering me a lot more than CFO.”

  “You want to be CEO,” he said.

  She bit her lip. “Do you know how few women CEO’s there are? I could make a difference. I know it’s wanting a lot.”

  “Nat, you should want everything,” he said. “You deserve everything.”

  She looked up at him like she didn’t know what to say, like no one had ever said that to her before. He hated if that was true. Hated how hard it was for a woman to climb in the boy’s club that was business.

  “You should talk to Carter,” he said. “You know him. He gets caught up in whatever he’s inventing and totally forgets the rest of the world. If you’re frustrated with not climbing fast enough in the company, he probably doesn’t realize it because the man’s brilliant, but he can be kind of an idiot about the every day stuff.”

  Nat laughed. “True,” she said.

  “Talk to him,” Rhett said. “When he’s not wrapped up in whatever invention he’s working on. He’ll hear you out. He’s fair. There’s no way in hell he wants to lose an asset like you.”

  “I will,” she said. “I just…need to get up my nerve.”

  He smiled, his fingers tightening a little on her back.

  “Can I cut in?” asked a voice.

  Nat

  Nat looked over her shoulder to see Wyatt Jamison standing there, glaring daggers at Rhett. It set her teeth on edge. Rhett’s arms tightened around her, like he was half-ready to pick her up and carry her away from this guy. What had Wyatt said to him that had pissed him off so much? Well, she wasn’t going to try and find out. And she certainly didn’t want to dance with Wyatt. Last time she’d been corralled into doing that, he’d gotten grabby.

  “All my dances are reserved for this guy,” she said, deliberately cuddling into Rhett’s embrace, whose arm shifted so it was holding her even closer.

  “Aw, Natalie, don’t be like that,” Wyatt drawled.

  “I believe she’s made her choice clear,” Rhett said, barely controlled disgust practically shimmering off him.

  Wyatt’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t talking to you, hayseed.”

  Rhett laughed. “Dude, just walk away. Your posturing isn’t scaring anyone.”

  “And your business idea isn’t lighting anyone’s fire,” Wyatt said, smiling smugly. “I’ve had a talk with every investor you pitched in this room. They all know not to go for your project. You pissed off the wrong guy.”

  Nat’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is your problem?” she demanded, her voice sharp.

  “Give me an hour and I’ll show you,” Wyatt said with a leer.

  Nat’s eyes narrowed just as Rhett’s arm dropped from her and he began to move forward. But she was pissed now and she was closer to Wyatt. In fact, her spike high heel was right next to Wyatt’s foot. So she took advantage of that. With all her might, she brought her heel down onto his foot, digging the stiletto into the sensitive bone and flesh.

  He yelped in surprise, stumbling backwards.

  “Oh no,” Nat said, widening her eyes with fake sympathy. “Did I hurt you? How clumsy of me.” She turned to Rhett, who was looking at her with amused admiration. “I am going to go get some air,” she said. “Do you mind getting me a glass of water?”

  “Anything you want,” Rhett said.

  “You’re the perfect gentleman,” Nat said pointedly, before she hurried out of the ballroom, to the balcony that overlooked the city, trying to gather herself. There was just one other woman there, in an elegant lon
g sequined white dress and pearls looped around her neck. She nodded at Nat.

  “Wyatt Jamison is lecherous moron,” the woman declared in a cultured, posh voice.

  Nat burst out laughing, unable to stop herself. And then just as suddenly as the laughter came, the tears did. To her horror, a few trickled down her cheek.

  “I’m so sorry,” Nat said, dabbing at her eyes with the silk handkerchief the silver haired woman had offered her. “This is so embarrassing. I don’t even know you.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” she said. “Aggressive men should not be tolerated. You dealt with him handily. It’s alright to be shaky after that. I’m Eleanor. What’s your name?”

  She sniffed. “Natalie. Nat.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said. “See? Now we aren’t strangers anymore.”

  “I’m normally not like this,” Nat confessed. “It’s just been a really tough week at work. I like being in more control than this.”

  “A woman in business always has to be,” Eleanor said with a gentle smile. “I can’t tell you how many times I dealt with sexist men or I hid in the bathroom and cried when I ran my business.”

  “It’s just been kind of a crazy day,” Nat said. “And then on the dance floor…Wyatt…”

  “Your young man is very handsome. He seems very dedicated to you. He looked like he was about to throttle Wyatt. In fact, he might still do it.”

  “He’s not mine,” Nat said.

  Eleanor raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because a man looks like a woman like that very rarely.”

  “We just met yesterday,” Nat said. “I’m doing my boss a favor. If he still is my boss. Who knows at this point.” She was babbling now. Oh god. Babbling to this nice older lady who probably just wanted some fresh air.

  “Trouble at work?” Eleanor asked.

  “More like too many opportunities,” Nat said. “Which is a stupid thing to complain about.”

  “Ah, you have a choice to make,” Eleanor said.

  Nat nodded.

  “Do the choices involve your young man?”

  Nat shook her head. “I’m here to get Rhett investors,” she explained. “He has an incredible property in Oregon near Mt. Hood. A wonderful opportunity for hotel investment. Though I think Wyatt just blew that up for him. But Rhett has this dream of opening a wildlife sanctuary. And it’s a good dream. He’s a good man. And being around him, the last day or two, it’s reminded me. Of my dreams. Of what I came to New York to do. And I have someone offering me what I came here to do, to run a company. It would be crazy for me to turn it down.”

  “But you’re thinking of turning it down,” Eleanor said, reading the look on her face.

  “Have you ever believed in something? Believed in what you were doing? Believed that it was doing good?”

  “I have,” Eleanor said.

  “That’s how I feel about my current job,” Nat said. “I believe in it. But I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to climb to the top of the company. And I want to be at the top. I want to be in charge.”

  “And this other offer, you’d be in charge?” Eleanor asked.

  “Yes, after a few years.”

  “So I guess the question is: do you want power no matter what, or do you want power to do what you believe in?”

  It was the perfect way to put it. Nat was humbled by the simple question.

  “You know, I haven’t been faced with your specific choice,” Eleanor said. “But once upon a time, I was given a choice between a privileged, easy life where I married the right man and did all the things my father wanted or a hard life, where I had to do everything on my own, but I got to marry the man I loved. He might not have been who my parents wanted for me, but he was who I wanted for myself. Even if it meant being disowned.”

  “What did you do?” Nat asked.

  Eleanor smiled. “I chose the hard way. I chose love. I chose to believe in us. In me. In my capabilities. In my stubbornness. In my drive. And by the time I was done proving my family wrong, I had become even more successful than all of them put together. And it was all mine. Mine and Henry’s. Our hard work. Our sacrifice. Our love that built what we had. And that made it all the better.”

  “Thank you,” Nat said, reaching out and grasping the older woman’s hand. “That…that really helps.”

  “I know it’s hard, working in a man’s world,” Eleanor said. “But you’re strong, Natalie. You have to be, to have gotten all the way here, so young. Keep at it.”

  “I will,” Nat promised.

  It was nearly three by the time the town car pulled up to her apartment building. Rhett, ever the gentleman, got out and opened her door, walking her up the steps.

  “Thank you,” he said. “For tonight.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to hook anyone for you at the ball,” she said. “And I’m so sorry Wyatt screwed everything up with the potential investors.” She hated that. Hated that he might be going home, unable to accomplish his dream, to do all the good he wanted to do with the land he loved.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t want to work with anyone who’s scared off by one conversation with a guy who’s clearly got an agenda.” He looked at his watch. “I should go,” he said. “Early flight, and all that.”

  “Of course,” she said, but she made no move to go inside the building and he made no move to go back downstairs.

  “Nat,” he said softly.

  She looked up at him and when their eyes met, she was unable to look away.

  This man. He was really unlike anyone she’d met in a long time. He had a gentle, giving heart and she wondered what it would be like to be the woman to hold and shield it. To love him.

  She knew he wouldn’t kiss her. He wouldn’t cross that line. He wasn’t the type of man for one night stands. He was the type of man you brought home to your mother and had babies with and built a life with. And she knew she wasn’t ready for that.

  And yet…

  She couldn’t quite resist.

  A mischievous little smile tugged at her lips. “I’m going to kiss you,” she declared.

  His eyes widened, just a little, as she tilted up to the tips of her toes. Her mouth brushed softly against his and she felt rather than heard the little growl in his chest as his arms circled around her, bringing her up against the hard planes of his chest as their kiss deepened.

  She melted into him, her eyes fluttering shut, the overwhelming rightness filling her as his tongue teased against hers and his fingers gripped into the velvet of her dress.

  Kissing him was like being in the center of a wildfire. The sensation raged around her, clouding her judgement, making her hot and needy and oh so desperate.

  When they broke apart, they were both breathing hard, his hands still tight on her waist, their foreheads pressed together, unwilling—or unable—to fully part from each other.

  “What was that for?” he asked, a rumble of a sound that was all possession and desire.

  She smiled—shakily this time. “Because you’re you,” she said. “Thank you for the beautiful night,” she whispered, before pressing a quick kiss to the stubble on his cheek and walking through the doors of her apartment building.

  Leaving him behind was a lot more painful than it should be.

  Rhett

  He felt more than a little discouraged as he boarded the plane that morning. Part of him felt like a failure for likely screwing up his one chance to get funding for River Run. But he knew he couldn’t work with someone sexist like Wyatt Jamison. Lots of his employees at the lodge were women, he wasn’t about to let some investor who treated women like objects to throw his weight around and have any kind of power over him.

  And part of him…part of his was still caught in that moment last night, where Nat had smiled, quick and fearless, before she’d declared she was going to kiss him.

  He’d never had a woman initiate a first kiss before. Ever. It was always his job. Always the guy’s job.

  Was that why he
was so caught up in it? Because it was so different, because she was so bold, because she just bounced right up to the tip of her toes and pressed her lips against his like it was where she knew they both belonged?

  Or was it just because it was her? He’d spent a little over 48 hours with Nat and he felt changed. Like he was going to compare every woman from now on to her, smiling bold and bright up at him.

  He should’ve done more than kiss her. He should’ve picked her up and taken her upstairs to her apartment and spent the entire night with her. He’d been so close to doing just that. But he’d stopped himself.

  Because one taste of her and his head had been spinning. If he took her to bed…

  He’d never want to leave.

  His phone began to buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out, frowning when he saw a New York number he didn’t recognize.

  “Hello?” Rhett said.

  “Is this Rhett Oakes?” asked a clipped voice.

  “It is.”

  “Please hold for Eleanor Townes.”

  “Wait, what?” he asked, thinking he must’ve heard the person wrong. Eleanor Townes as in the Townes Charitable Foundation? It couldn’t be. The Townes Foundation was one of the biggest charities in the United States. Eleanor Townes was famous for selling her soda company after her husband passed away and dedicated herself to philanthropy. Half of the homeless shelters in New York were funded by her.

  “Hello, this is Eleanor. Am I speaking to Rhett?”

  “Yes,” Rhett said. “I’m sorry, do I…have we met? How did you get this number?”

  “I made the acquaintance of a very lovely young woman last night at the black and white ball,” said Eleanor. “A Ms. Natalie Banks. I was very impressed by her and even more impressed by the venture she told me you were looking to explore. The wildlife sanctuary on your property in Oregon?”

  “How did you…did Nat ask you call me?”

  “No, she just mentioned it in passing and it caught my interest. So I did some digging this morning. I have your business plan here in front of me…”

  How did she get his business plan? Rhett felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone, but he kept his mouth shut, waiting.