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Chapter Eight
George knew Anna-Beth was nervous. He’d been working on several other emails and projects as she looked through the stack of ideas presented to his company since he put out the silent call.
He’d been discreet as he didn’t want other large firms to know what he was doing. By the time they were aware, and hoped to copy, he wanted to be so strong, no one could rival them.
Every now and then, he glanced over to see that she’d placed the files into three different groups. She was dressed in one of her signature dresses, she’d already toed off her sneakers, and her feet were underneath her ass on his sofa.
Last night, he’d spent most of it making love and fucking her. He needed to get her out from under his skin, and the only way to do that was to fuck it right out. At least, that was his theory.
He didn’t like the guilt crashing over him at the thought of what her brother and parents were doing. They didn’t understand her, and he hated that they’d put this seed of doubt in her mind and made it impossible for her to believe in herself. That made him hate them even more.
George didn’t recall ever having a care for anyone else, but there was something about Anna-Beth. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but she made him want to care. When he tried to think of her marrying someone else, or at the very least being forced to marry someone else, he felt angry. There was no way he could allow those thoughts to fester.
Anna-Beth finished with the files and he was about to ask her, when she picked up one of the piles and started to read through them.
She didn’t stop for lunch, and by three, he was ready to break, but then she got to her feet and stretched. “I’m done.”
George got up from behind his desk. “Why three piles?”
“Simple, these are definite ‘no’s. Some of them, are just … no good, others are actually using other people’s technology but calling it their own. These are the ‘yes’ pile, because some of their ideas are incredible. And this is where I would need to see and talk to them.”
“Why?”
“Their proposals are good, but not great, so now it’s about getting to know the person behind it.” She nibbled her lip and then he watched as she seemed to withdraw into herself. “I mean, for you to look at. You don’t have to believe me. This is just what I would do and I don’t know anything.”
He banded an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. To silence her, he kissed her hard, tracing his tongue across her bottom lip. “Stop with the doubt.”
“George, what if I mess this up? What if I get it all wrong?”
Staring into her eyes, he didn’t know why but his gut was telling him there was no way she could mess this up.
“How about I put the call to the first person on the ‘maybe’ pile, and we have them come in today?”
“Today?”
“Yes, and then maybe you’d stop doubting yourself so much.”
There went the nibbling lip again. He reached out and cupped her cheek, using his thumb to pull her lip from between her teeth. “Stop being so nervous. There is only going to be one way for us to find out, and it’s not going to be by standing here worrying about it. So far, we’ve not invested anything other than your time this morning and this afternoon. If you were back at my home, you’d be cooking dinner or dusting. What do you say?”
She took a deep breath, but he still saw the nerves. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right. I don’t even know why I am so worried.” She forced a laugh, and he kissed the top of her head.
He moved to his desk and put the call through to his assistant to set up the meeting, from the name on the first file. A quick glance down and he frowned, seeing it was a food truck.
“A food truck?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“A lot of people love great food, and if they are as good as they claim, then I have no doubt it could be successful.”
George kept the smile on his lips, but he had his doubts. The food truck, for him, would have been on the “no” pile. This was not a good way to start.
His assistant came back less then ten minutes later and said they would be arriving in twenty minutes. He got her to organize the conference room.
Anna-Beth was nervous, and if he was being honest, so was he. This was probably not a good idea. He was starting to see what her parents and brother saw, and maybe Anna-Beth was right.
“Do you want to see the others I thought might be good ideas?” she asked.
