“What? I didn’t—"
“Oh, you did,” Jules responded, snickering next to me.
“I am so sorry, Mr. Easton.”
Why did I call him Mr. Easton? Easton is his first name, Rachel. Good Job, dummy.
I looked up and into the most intense green eyes I’d ever seen. They were angry, and all of it was pointed directly at me.
“I think we’re done here.” Mr. Easton stood, his eyes still pinned on me.
Fuck, he’s tall. His broad shoulders filled out his stark white button-up shirt, and his pants… well, they were filled out as well.
Stop looking at his pants, Rachel.
“We haven’t even listened to their proposal yet, Uncle Easton. And you promised you’d at least hear them out. They’re the only marketing company that is women owned. And this is my first project, and you promised you’d give me advice to ensure it was successful,” Aurora said, glaring at him.
“You’re fine to make your own decision. I’m done with this nonsense, I have other projects I should be working on,” Easton said cooly, shrugging on his suit jacket.
“Jules, it was nice meeting you. Rachel, thank you for the concussion. You should ice your hand before the swelling gets too bad.” With a sharp nod, Mr. Easton moved toward the door.
“Easton, sit back down, please. You promised you would help Aurora make an informed decision on her indie author support company. How will she be able to do that if you don’t listen to every presentation she has scheduled? And you know I can’t handle her all by myself,” Cole said, his eyes studying Jules.
I watched Mr. Easton’s shoulders rise from what I assumed was a deep inhale. My hands were sweating wondering if he was going to ruin this before it even started. Well, I guess technically I was the one who ruined it.
“If Rachel can promise to keep her fighting skills to herself, I will stay.” Mr. Easton turned and settled back down in his seat with his arms crossed.
“I promise she only hits clients she really likes,” Jules replied, as I kicked her under the table.
“I like them,” Aurora declared. Mr. Easton rolled his eyes as if we were annoying him.
Or maybe I had given him a concussion.
“Of course you do,” Mr. Easton muttered.
Jules and Aurora smiled at each other as if they had found their long-lost best friend. If we got this project, I had a feeling Jules and Aurora were going to cause a lot of mischief.
“How’s your hand?” Jules asked.
I lifted the bag of ice to check on it.
“Bruised.”
Jules snorted. “You hit him so fucking hard. Why would you even make a fist while you’re falling?” Jules wasn’t expecting an answer since her laughter would have drowned it out anyway. “And then you pulled your fist in and elbowed him in the back on the way down.”
My face burned as I watched my best friend recreate my fist/elbow combo while howling with laughter. Glad it was late and nobody was in the building to listen to my best friend braying like a donkey, I rolled my eyes.
“I didn’t even realize I elbowed him, too,” I said, then remembered connecting with something when I was on the way down. I rubbed my elbow, wishing it was my best friend I clocked in the back of the head and not Mr. Easton.
“Rach, you beat the shit out of him. The best part was his face when he turned to see who was attacking him, and there wasn’t anyone behind him because your ass was on the ground.” Jules threw her head back, laughing, tears trekking down her traitorous face.
“Anyway, I think it went well,” Jules added, wiping the tears from her eyes.
I smacked her in the arm, but when I really looked at her, I saw the sincerity in her face.
“I thought so, too. I know Aurora really liked the presentation, and she’s the one that would be heading the project. Mr. Easton, on the other hand, I couldn’t get a read on.”
“Well, you did rock his world. His ears were probably ringing the whole time we were giving our presentation.”