“I think if you start off with a quick introduction where you explain why you studied business at uni, then you can move straight to when you founded Knight-In. There’s no need to get personal there, except if there are any experiences or lessons you had when you were younger that gave you this idea. Maybe someone you admire talked about venture capital?"
“I studied business because that’s what was expected of me,” I grumble, my voice slightly petulant. Noah doesn’t mind, he just builds on my words.
“You could touch on that, on the expectations you grew up with, without going into personal or emotional details regarding your childhood.”
My childhood isn’t really the problem, but I don’t say that. Instead, I think about what experiences actually impacted my decision to start Knight-In.
“My grandfather loved investing in small businesses in his spare time during his working life,” I confess. “ And then more as a hobby when he retired and my father stepped up as the head of the family company, which worked with exported and imported goods and had nothing to do with investing at all.”
I take a moment, wondering whether I can get through explaining this part of my story to Noah without mentioning the falling-out with my brother. If I can, then maybe I can do it in the book as well.
I choose each word carefully, and watch his face closely. If there’s any hint that he can tell there’s more hidden between the lines, then I’ll just avoid the topic of family altogether.
“I don’t think there was a specific moment or conversation where it was made clear that I wouldn’t be the one to take over the company after my father. It was never a surprise, never something I wished for. It was always going to be my brother at the helm of Knightly & Co., and I was honestly fine with that. Before going to college, and even the first year or so, I was studying with the clear intent of still working for our company, taking some high-ranking position and just helping grow it however I could.
“I did have that loyalty to it, and to some degree I still do. It’s still one of the top export companies in the world for a reason. But my grandfather got sick during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, and I spent a lot of time with him. He always talked about those small businesses he helped when they needed capital or were going under. That’s what he remembered the most and was themost excited about in his last few months. I guess that did change something in me.
“When I eventually graduated and my father died unexpectedly, I decided it was time to try and make my own mark in the world, and I thought doing it like Grandpa did was the best way to honor him.”
There’s a stretch of silence once I’m done—not an uncomfortable one, not really. It’s more like the room is settling again after a purge.
My sight comes back to focus on Noah, on his slightly parted rosy pink lips, on his soft eyes.
I spaced out so hard that I don’t know if he caught on to how much Ididn’tsay, and it feels wrong to ask now for some reason.
One thing I do know is that I don’t want to be the first to break the silence.
I want to keep looking at Noah, in my home, comfortable and lost in his own head.
He fits here.
Among ancient things, I think to myself, amused.
It’s easy to imagine a life where I get to come home to this, to picture endless days of conversations by the fireplace in the library that enticed him.
Those pretty eyes shift, like he’s surfacing, and my gaze shifts to his lips again when he closes his mouth.
His throat bobs with a hard swallow, and then he licks his bottom lip delicately.
I bite my own without even thinking about it, without the intention, and his eyes go dark with clear desire.
Oh, he’s interested.
I don’t know what’s holding him back, why he’s reserved and so obviously hesitant to accept any moves from me.
But he’s interested.
And that I can work with.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Noah
The silence stretchesbetween us after Chase stops speaking. I was lost for a moment, taking in his words, and when I come back to myself, I find him staring at me with a gaze that heats up my insides and sends tingles down my spine.
There’s a part of me that wishes I hadn’t pulled away from him in the lift. The same part that wishes he would try to kiss me again. I could give in and say I won’t be his agent. Let someone else handle it. But having someone as prestigious as Chase as a client would be the best thing for my career, far more than what may or may not happen between us. Chase could have anyone he wanted, and probably has, and yet hasn’t had a long term relationship, so that’s obviously his style.
So the same could be true of me. I’d be flavour of the month before he grows bored and drops me, moving on to the next person who catches his eye. I will not ruin my career for amoment of weakness. Better that I secure Chase as a client. Not to mention the thought of letting Cordelia fawn all over him makes me want to be violently sick.