Our gazes met and held.
"Seems fair enough." He glanced at the contract on top.
"If you find a match you'd like to pursue exclusively or start seeing someone I haven't set you up with, I'm happy to put the contract on hold while you see if you can make a go of the relationship."
He nodded. "Anything else?"
"Usually clients sign for themselves. In this case, the general contract is between you and me. Since I didn't know the legal names of the men I'll be matchmaking for, I've laid out in the contract that I will provide matchmaking services for four men to be named by you, and that you agree to vouch for them. Each of the men will be informed of my terms of conduct and expected to sign them at a later date."
"Sounds reasonable." He skimmed through the top contract.
"Read over it at your leisure," I said, repeating his words to me. "Have your lawyer look it over, if you like."
He was absorbed in reading the contract, but he looked up and grinned. "That won't be necessary. This looks pretty straightforward."
He flipped through the remaining few pages of the contract and looked up at me in confusion when he came to a second, paper-clipped contract beneath it. His brow furrowed. He looked up at me. "What the hell is this?"
"Negotiation. My one condition for working with you. I want you to be the new venture's first, and highest-profile, client." My heart was pounding so loudly I was almost certain they could hear it in New Jersey. But somehow I kept the nervous tremble out of my voice. This was my deal breaker. The one thing I wouldn't budge on.
His face clouded. "You're fucking kidding, right? You want me to sign up for your matchmaking services?"
Chapter 8
Ashley
I steeled my nerves and shook my head, trying not to let him see how much I wanted this deal. I had to clasp my hands together so he couldn't see how badly I was trembling. It would have been so easy to cave. Just give up this one crazy demand. And lose his business respect, and one chance with him, forever. Maybe that would have been better. But I was stubborn.
"I am," I said, relieved that my voice didn't tremble with either excitement or fear. I certainly felt both in damning measures. I was on the precipice of getting everything I wanted. And everything I feared. Or nothing at all, which was equally frightening.
I smiled as sweetly and seductively as possible. Smile. Always smile. Men find it so hard to resist.
"At absolutely no charge." I practically cooed the words. I lowered my voice to a whisper. "And if you ever tell anyone I gave you a freebie, I will make your dating life hell from now to eternity.
"I have a premium brand reputation to maintain. People pay highly for my services. It's a steal, Lazer. A limited-time, one-time offer you'd be crazy to refuse."
His eyes narrowed, but at the same time danced with the excitement of the game. For a second before he masked his expression, it looked like he was about to shove the paperwork back at me.
I stared silently into his eyes, wondering how to play this. What kind of a man was he? I knew how to handle many different personalities. We sat staring at each other to see who'd blink first. Finally, I gave in, strategically. "What's your hesitation? You must see that what I'm proposing is absolutely sound business practice."
He looked at me quizzically.
I took a deep breath. "If we're going to launch the Seattle office successfully, and push this new model for matchmaking, we're going to need a carrot. Something to get women to sign up in droves. Women in a city where they feel they have the upper hand and would ordinarily laugh in our faces for suggesting such a crazy service to them. If we don't give them a damn enticing carrot and dangle it in front of them on a beautiful stick, why would they sign up?"
I leaned into him and lowered my voice to a near whisper. "Without a pool of women, we're sunk. We'll have no paying male customers. The men have to have confidence that we have a big enough match pool to draw from and the money they're spending will be well worth it. We're not charging pennies here. The app is for those who can't afford our full range of services."
I smiled into his eyes, trying to read his thoughts. I covered his hand with mine, squeezing reassuringly as I began gently stroking his ego. "Seattle's Hottest Bachelor. Twice. Voted consistently as one of Seattle's most beautiful people. A billionaire. With you in the pool, how can the women resist signing up?" I practically blew in his ear.
He set his jaw. The air between us grew thick with tension.
I read his face—it was now or never if I wanted to win him over. Convince him or lose the deal.
"It's just a publicity stunt, Lazer. You don't have to really look for a wife. You go out on a few public dates with women I've matched you with. Beautiful, fun, intelligent women carefully hand-selected for you. You date just as often or little as you want. But a minimum of enough to show the women of Seattle that it's a possibility they'll win the dating lotto and get to go out. Every woman dreams of being the match for a billionaire. You know the old saying, 'It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one.'
"Think of it!" I couldn't hide my excitement now. "We'll have women tripping over themselves to sign up."
"Will we?" His voice was deep, but neutral.
I kept smiling. "We will, I assure you. And I give you my word that you'll always have an out.
"If dating gets too tedious for you, you get 'too busy' to go out on matches. You hang with the agency for just long enough for us to get enough successful matches under our belts that we can tout our legitimate successes and ride on them. When we don't need your celebrity anymore, you quietly bow out. If that's what you want. There's really no commitment from you other than a small amount of time."
The corners of his mouth curled up slowly. He inched his face even closer to mine. We were right up in each other's faces. Just a hairsbreadth away from each other.
"You have a beautiful mind," he said in a deep, lovely voice. "You're just as devious and ambitious as I am."
I matched his grin. "Is that a compliment?"
"The highest."
"Then thank you." I nodded toward the paperwork again, nudging him to sign.
"What else do you want? Is this all you're asking for?" He scrutinized me. I couldn't tell if he was surprised or egging me on. "No other demands? More money? A different profit split? More ownership of the company?"
I held his gaze. "I led with my sticking point. Sign this contract and we have a deal. Any other little detail we disagree on can easily be worked out." I held my breath, my pulse quickening with excitement.
For an instant I thought he was going to close the gap between our lips and kiss me. I almost closed my eyes in anticipation of it.
He abruptly pushed back and crossed the room to grab a hotel pen from next to the phone. When he returned to the table, he quickly leafed through the paperwork in the folder until he found the contract he'd given me yesterday. He pushed it in front of me and held the cheap pen out to me. "Let's sign together, partner."
I grabbed the pen. "My pleasure."
We each signed our respective contracts with half an eye on the other. I was trying not to smile or whoop with victory. Maybe I should have been more cautious. I'd either just gotten what I'd always wanted. Or signed up for utter destruction and heartbreak.
We swapped contracts and repeated the process. When we were finished, we stared into each other's eyes with startling intimacy.
He took my hand in his and leaned forward to whisper to me. "Now that we've finished our business…" He lifted the hair from my neck, cupped my head, and leaned in to kiss me.
It took every ounce of willpower I had to say the words I'd rehearsed in my mind since I'd gotten the insane idea to accept this deal. "I'm sorry, Lazer. I don't sleep with clients. It's just bad business. It's in the contract you just signed."
He leaned back and studied me intently, slowly grinning. "Business makes strange bedfellows."
"But not in the literal sense. Not in this
case." I smiled seductively back at him.
"We'll see about that in Seattle, Ashley Harte, matchmaker. When I want a woman, it's almost impossible to keep her out of my bed."
My smile didn't slip and I didn't move. But only by the greatest effort. "That's very flattering, but—"
"Don't play coy with me." His voice was deep with want and filled with seduction. "The game has just begun. With the sex between us as fantastic as it was the first time, there shouldn't be any doubt what I want. You want it, too. It won't be long before you're begging me to amend our contract so that we can sleep together."
I shook my head. "Your cologne is going to your head. Arrogance is just another thing to go before a fall."
He leaned forward and slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my head and looking deeply into my eyes. "I'll see you in Seattle, matchmaker. We'll see who will be begging who for what then."
* * *
Thank You!
Thanks for reading Lazer Focused. I hope you enjoyed it!
You’ll want to pick up Harte Strings, the second episode of the series, now! Grab your copy today!
Want to know when my next book will be out? Sign up for my VIP New Release List at ginarobinson.com If you’re on the list, you’ll always be the first to know about new releases, including when the next Jet City Billionaire romance will be available. And you’ll get the Gina Robinson Starter Library FREE just for signing up!
Liked it? Shout about it!
If you enjoyed Lazer Focused please review it. Your reviews help others find this book and others in the series. Every review is very much appreciated!
* * *
Also by Gina Robinson
The Billionaire Matchmaker Series
Part 1—Lazer Focused
Part 2—Harte Strings
Part 3—Pair Us
The Billionaire Duke Series
Part 1—The Billionaire Duke
Part 2—The Duchess Contest
Part 3—The Temporary Duchess
Part 4—The American Heir
The Switched at Marriage Series
Part 1—A Wedding to Remember
Part 2—The Virgin Billionaire
Part 3—To Have and To Hold
Part 4—From This Day Forward
Part 5—For Richer, For Richest
Part 6—In Sickness and In Wealth
Part 7—To Love and To Cherish
The Billionaire’s Christmas Vows
Gina Robinson’s Contemporary New Adult Romance Series
The Rushed Series
Book 1—Rushed, Zach and Alexis’ story
Book 2—Crushed, Dakota and Morgan’s story
Book 3—Hushed, Seth and Maddie’s story
The Reckless Series
Book 1—Reckless Longing
Book 2—Reckless Secrets
Book 3—Reckless Together
About the Author
Gina Robinson is the bestselling and award-winning author of the popular Switched at Marriage and Billionaire Duke romantic comedy serials, featuring a billionaire in a surprising marriage of convenience and a billionaire who inherits a British dukedom, the Reckless and Rushed contemporary new adult romance series, and the Agent Ex series of humorous romantic suspense novels. Her books have delighted readers and received praise in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Romantic Times Book Reviews.
She writes romance and women's fiction across a wide variety of subgenres--romantic comedy, new adult, contemporary, historical, and romantic suspense. Her love stories are infused with a blend of romance, adventure, a bit of mystery, and humor. Readers are drawn to the light touch she gives even serious topics and the fast, fun, easy-to-read pace of her books.
You can get the Gina Robinson Starter Library by signing up for her mailing list at www.ginarobinson.com
@ginamrobinson
GinaRobinsonAuthor
www.ginarobinson.com
Lazer Focused: A Jet City Billionaire Romance (The Billionaire Matchmaker Series Book 1) Page 10
