Page 70 of Have To Be Mine

“You did all this this morning?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to make sure we were on track before we got there. No surprises.”

I stared at him. This was not the man I’d met in Athens. This was someone else entirely.

“What?” he asked, catching my expression.

“Nothing. It’s just…” I gestured at the screen. “This is really good work.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

“I’m not surprised. I’m impressed. I was giving you a compliment.”

He walked me through everything. The venue was locked in. Talent accommodations were confirmed. Transportation was arranged. Catering was finalized. Security was briefed.

“You’ve been very thorough,” I said.

“I told you. I work well under pressure.” He clicked to another tab. “But there’s something else we need to handle today.”

“What?”

“The models and influencers.”

I groaned. “Please tell me the fallout was not what I think it was.”

“Last night was unacceptable. I can’t have them representing Blackwell like that. So I scheduled a meeting for this afternoon.”

“A meeting?”

“A come-to-Jesus meeting.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to lay down the law. They signed contracts. They agreed to certain standards of behavior. They violated those standards, and I’m going to make it clear that won’t happen again.”

I felt something low in my belly. Pride, maybe. Or respect. Or something else entirely that I wasn’t ready to name.

“That’s smart,” I said.

“It’s necessary.” He looked at me. “I can’t control everything, but I can control this. And I’m not going to let a bunch of drunk influencers tank months of work because they wanted to be obnoxious in public.”

“When did you schedule it?”

“Two o’clock. At the hotel conference room. I’ve already sent out the invites.” He smirked. “Well, I say invites but it’s mandatory. Anyone who doesn’t show forfeits their contract and they can find their own flights home.”

“Harsh.”

“It’s what they agreed to.”

I studied him for a moment. The cocky playboy was still there, but there was something else. Had it been there all along? “You know what?”

“What?” he asked.

“When you take charge, it’s kind of a turn-on.”

He blinked. Then he grinned, slow and devastating. “Yeah?”

“I said kind of. Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.” He stood up and moved closer to me, careful not to touch my sunburned skin. “Should I keep going? Tell you about the backup plans I made for the backup plans?”

I laughed despite myself. “That might actually kill me.”