Grab your copy of The Billionaire’s Pregnant Competition (The Billionaires Club Book One) from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
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EXCERPT
Chapter One
Grayson Finlay sighed, craning to see past the head of his personal driver. They’d been stuck in traffic in this stretch of the Financial District in downtown San Francisco for over ten minutes. On any other day, this wouldn’t be an issue. One of the nicer perks of being the founder and CEO of your own company was that no one got on your ass for being a couple of minutes late. But today, he had the most important meeting of his life to attend.
And he couldn’t be late. No, he needed to be early. And ready.
“Do you know what the hold up is?” Grayson asked, unable to see anything other than the long tail of cars stretched out in front of them.
“No idea. Probably a wreck, honestly,” his driver responded with a shrug.
“I think I need to walk.” Grayson checked his watch, releasing another sigh. He could make it there with a little time to spare if he walked fast, but that might mean he arrived looking more disheveled than he’d like. What kind of impression would that make? Would it sour the meeting before it even began?
It wasn’t as if he was new to important business deals. He’d built his company from the ground up and had found tremendous success. But he was reaching a new level now. If this meeting, pitching his brand-new fashion app to investors, went well, then he would be on his way to an IPO. And when that happened, his success would be established beyond any shadow of doubt.
But nobody would invest in an outfit-pairing app if the creator himself looked like crap.
Grayson exited the car, slung his briefcase higher up his shoulder and started to walk. He turned the corner at the next block, figuring he’d take a mini shortcut through a tucked-away plaza of shops. But construction equipment filled the side street, no doubt causing part of the blockade on the main thoroughfare. The workers were pumping something out of the ground, and Grayson made sure to hug the far sidewalk as he hurried past.
Just as he was almost clear of the construction work, one of the workers let out a gruff cry. “Watch out!” someone shouted. Grayson turned just in time to see an arc of water cut through the sky. The mystery liquid sprayed all over the pavement—all the way to him across the street.
His mouth parted as his body registered first the cold sensation, and then the horror as the dampness seeped through his clothes.
“Sorry, buddy!” One of the construction workers waved his way.
“It’s just dirty water,” another one offered with a shrug.
Dirty water. He should be glad it wasn’t sewage, but while the way he smelled wasn’t a problem, the way he looked was a disaster. He had no words, could only sputter and look down at his ruined, damp clothes.
He didn’t have spare clothes in his office, and he had no idea where he could pick up a fresh suit around here.
He was screwed.
Before panic took over entirely, he whipped out his phone and began searching for solutions, typing in ‘clothing boutiques near me, for men.’ The search engine processed for a few moments, and then the list of results appeared.
And luckily, there was one within a few blocks from where he stood right now. MOMENTS WITH MILA: Fashion for all occasions.
It would have to do. He made a note of the intersection and hurried as fast as he could toward the boutique, which had a five-star rating on the search engine. There was that, at least. He just hoped that Mila, whoever she was, included ‘life-altering investor meetings’ in her list of occasions she planned for.
Within minutes he was facing down the cute boutique, which had flowers lining the display window and sleek mannequins showcasing trendy, sophisticated clothes. He pushed inside, taking in the soft floral scent and the low jazz coming from the back of the store. Before he took another step, a feminine voice chirped, “Hello there!”
It took him a moment to find her, but when he did, all his frustration and impatience took a backseat to immediate attraction. A petite woman with mahogany tresses, pulled back into a low chignon, sent him a sparkling smile as she tugged a T-shirt over the mannequin tucked between her legs. Black wire rims sat low on her nose, highlighting rather than hiding a pair of striking green eyes.
“Hi,” he said, momentarily forgetting what else he needed. How could he be expected to remember in the presence of such unexpected cuteness? He blinked a few times until he located his voice. “I need some help.”
“What can I do for you?” She straightened, pushing up her glasses with an index finger.
“Are you Mila?”
“You know it.” The smile widened, and she propped her hands on her hips, which were covered by high-waisted distressed jeans. “Mila with a store full of moments.”
He smirked. “Great. Well, as you can probably tell, I need to replace my outfit immediately.” With a grimace, he looked down at the unsightly damp stains splattered across his pants and shirt. “I have an important meeting in less than an hour that needs me to be flawless.”
Her eyes widened and she nodded vehemently. “Okay. Yeah. I get it.” She looked him up and down, nibbling on her lip as she took him in. “So do you want to just replicate the impression of this outfit as closely as possible?”
“If you can.”
She continued nodding, her attention sizzling on him as she walked in a slow circle around him. “Great. Yeah. I think I can help you out. Come back here with me, okay?”
He followed her quick steps to the back of the store, passing racks of dresses and women’s separates, which segued into the men’s section tucked in the back. She rifled through some racks of clothes, muttering to herself as she pulled things out only to return them from where she’d found them.
Grayson took the chance to look her over. The jeans were pedal-pushers, which showed off dainty ankles in floral print flats. She wore a simple T-shirt that said Yes Way Rose French-tucked into her jeans, which were plastered to a firm-looking ass. Casual but stylish, and oh-so-edibly cute.
He couldn’t have planned for a better accidental shopping trip if he’d tried.
“Here!” She pulled out a matte black button-up with sheer black accents hidden in the fabric. “What size do you wear?”
He told her the measurements, and she passed off the shirt before digging around on a different rack. After a few moments and more mumbling to herself, she presented him with a pair of charcoal gray dress pants. Grayson furrowed a brow.
“Black shirt, gray pants. This is too basic.”
“But they will look really good when you put them on,” she said. “Just try them.”
Grayson figured he might as well try the ensemble before asking for something else. “Fine. But while I try this on, maybe you could find a back-up outfit. Just in case.”
“You won’t need a back-up, but yes, I’ll find one just in case.” Mila smirked as she led him to one of the two changing rooms in the store, tugging back the curtain so that he could step in. He made quick work of shimmying out of his soiled clothes and hanging them up. As he slipped into the new pieces, he was struck by how light they felt. The high quality—far higher than he’d anticipated. More in line with what he’d usually find at the high-end shops he frequented. He felt a little embarrassed. When he’d seen the small, quaint-looking shop, he’d expected that the clothes would be of a lower caliber than he was used to. But even though he wasn’t familiar with the brands, these pieces were just as well made as any of his tailored suits. And damn…they looked good.
When he stepped out of the dressing room, he already knew the verdict. He’d be buying this outfit.
“Okay. You were right.” He stepped toward the tall mirror set up at the back of the store, checking himself out.
“It’s my job,” she said with a wide grin. “It’s what I do.”
“You know, I’m about to launch an app that does what you do,” he said, twisting one last time t
o check out the outfit from every angle.
“How so?”
“It’s an outfit pairing app.” He turned to face her, enjoying the quizzical slant of her brows as she processed the information.
“I don’t understand how an app can do something that only human insight can achieve,” she said, cocking her hip. And somehow, her confusion—no, outright disgruntledness—was the most attractive of all.
“I’d show you,” he said, heading back to the dressing room to retrieve his old clothes, “but I have to go to this meeting. And trust me—you’ll want to see it.”
Mila didn’t look convinced as she headed for the register. She rang up the clothes on his back, and both pieces came to less than $150. He pushed two crisp hundred-dollar bills over the countertop, and when she started to open the register, he said, “You can keep the change.”
Her eyebrow arched. “Seriously?”
“Consider it the stylist’s tip.”
“Would you have tipped your app the same amount?” The corners of her mouth twitched with the start of a smile.
“You like giving me shit about this,” he said, taking the bag she offered to store his old clothes. “It’s like you don’t even care that it’s my brainchild.”
“I’m sorry. Please tell your brainchild I mean no harm.”
He sent her a smile, feeling surprisingly sad to be leaving. In fact, he had a suspicion he could spend the entire rest of the morning here, getting lost in conversation. Trading barbs about fashion and his app and enjoying every minute.
“I’ll relay the message,” he said with a wink, backing up toward the door without fully turning away from her. Because at this point, he didn’t want to stop looking at her. He needed to drink her in while the clock still allowed it. Take in that cute button nose and the sexy curve of her lips. She was a pint-sized hottie.
As he waved his goodbye and finally pushed his way out of Mila’s Moments, he knew one thing was for sure.
This couldn’t be his last moment with Mila.
Grab your copy of The Billionaire’s Pregnant Competition (The Billionaires Club Book One) from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
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