On His Terms (The Arrangement Series Book 1)

by Madison Quinn

  “I know…They’re insisting they need a meeting with you tonight before they are willing to sign off on the investment.”

  “What’s their sticking point?”

  “Their employees.”

  “We’ve guaranteed them that everyone’s job will be sustained for six months and if at that time their jobs are terminated a severance package will be offered. What’s the issue?”

  “I don’t know. I think they’re afraid we’re going to go back on our word.”

  “It’s in the fucking contract!”

  “I know it is, Parker, I reviewed the contract with them but I think they are still concerned. They want to meet tonight, dinner and drinks. Honestly, I think he just wants to hear it from you that his employees’ jobs are safe.”

  “Fine… whatever, work with Melody to rearrange my schedule. I expect you to be there Alex, if he is taking away my Friday night, you’re losing yours.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Good.”

  “Oh and Parker, he’s bringing his wife. If you could bring someone it might make you appear a little more trustworthy.”

  “A fucking date will make me appear more trustworthy?”

  “Just saying.”

  “Fine, whatever. You bring Ella and I’ll bring a date.”

  “Later.”

  These are the fucking things about business I hate: why would bringing a date to a business dinner make me look more trustworthy? The fucking details are in the contract about his employees, but now I have to spend my Friday night at a boring dinner, ironing out, once again, the contract details because he doesn’t trust me.

  “Good afternoon, Wilder Consulting, how may I help you?” a voice answers the phone on the second ring.

  “This is Nicholas Parker, I need to speak with Bridget urgently.”

  “One moment.”

  Even though the chance of being seen by press tonight is minimal, for my PR plan to work I need Kenzie to be available tonight. I can’t go alone if Alex and the other person are bringing dates. I can’t bring a different woman or it defeats my purpose of contracting with Kenzie in the first place.

  “Hello, Nicholas,” Bridget picks up the line a few moments later.

  “Bridget, I need you to contact Kenzie immediately.”

  “Is something wrong? When I spoke to her the other day she indicated the gala went well but if that wasn’t the case—“

  “The gala was fine. I need her tonight. I know it’s short notice and I’ll pay an additional fee for her inconvenience but it’s absolutely imperative that she accompany me to a business dinner tonight.”

  “What time will you need her to meet you?”

  “I need her at five, dinner is at 5:30 near PFS.”

  “I’ll contact her right now and will call you back once I get off the phone with her.”

  “Good.”

  I wait, and wait, for Bridget to call me back with Kenzie’s decision on whether or not she can attend dinner with me tonight. I don’t do well with waiting or with things out of my control; if it were up to me I would have contacted her directly and offered her whatever she needed in order to agree to accompany me tonight. I get that I’m not supposed to do that so we both keep some privacy, but it would have made things so much easier if I could have just picked up the phone and told her what I needed from her tonight. I’m not used to letting someone else take control in my life; I don’t do well following orders which is why I started my own company.

  An hour goes by before I hear from Bridget and I start to panic. How long does it take to fucking call someone and see if she is available tonight? What if she wasn’t available to talk to Bridget? How much longer do I wait before trying to come up with another plan for tonight? My only other option is to go to the dinner alone and if someone asks I make an excuse about Kenzie not feeling well. That could work…

  “Parker,” I answer my cell phone without looking at the caller ID.

  “Nicholas, its Bridget—“

  “About time.”

  “I’m sorry, Kenzie needed to see if she could rearrange something before she could commit to dinner tonight—“

  “Rearrange? She didn’t have another date did she? Because I specifically required her to sign—“

  “Calm down, she did not have another date. She signed the exclusivity clause which you know means I can’t show her profile to anyone else.”

  “So, can she do it or what?”

  “Yes, she is available for the evening and will meet you at your office by five.”

  “Good.”

  “And next time, Nicholas, try to give the girl a little notice if possible.”

  “I’ll be sure to compensate her for the last minute request in the next transfer I send you.”

  “I’ll see that she gets it.”

  I sit back in my chair and sigh heavily, relieved that I don’t have to come up with an excuse as to why Kenzie is not with me this evening. Although it’s unlikely the press would have found out that I was at a business dinner alone, I can’t take the risk now that I’m trying to change my public image around. I need to lose the image of being a playboy who is seen with different women all the time. I need the media to think I’m boring and stable so they stop fucking questioning my business practices.

  “Melody, get me Carter,” I request.

  “Yes Mr. Parker.”

  Moments later Carter enters my office; as always Melody is very efficient at what she does.

  “Melody has informed you of the dinner tonight?” I confirm.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Ms. Rose will be accompanying me tonight and will arrive here around five. Please meet her in the lobby and escort her to my office when she arrives.”

  “Yes, of course, sir.”

  “When we are finished with dinner, I want a cab to take her home.”

  “Yes sir, I’ll be sure to have one ready before you leave.”

  “That will be all.”

  I dive into my latest financial reports, finally able to focus on work again now that the issue of tonight’s dinner tonight is resolved. It really is a waste of time to have dedicated the last 90 minutes worrying about a business dinner but I have to remain focused on my goal of turning around my public image: one slip up could ruin everything. Back on track now, I spend the rest of the afternoon diving into numbers and spreadsheets and reviewing the performance of several companies that PFS recently brought on. After signing with PFS, the first six months of financial reporting is absolutely key. After that I make a decision whether to continue their contract or to cut ties completely. As usual, I’m easily lost in my work and remain so until Melody alerts me that Carter is here. I tell her to send him in expecting him to need to discuss plans for the weekend or for dinner tonight.

  “Mr. Parker—“

  “One moment, Carter,” I interrupt, needing to spend just another minute reviewing this one line to ensure the calculations are correct. If I stop now, I will probably lose my place and it took me hours to find the one line where there appears to be an error.

  “Yes Carter?”

  “Ms. Rose sir,” I finally look up and realize that not only has Carter been standing there waiting for me to finish looking at my report but that Kenzie has been there as well.

  “I’m sorry, I hadn’t realized the time. Thank you Carter.”

  “The car will be ready in ten minutes sir.”

  “Kenzie, thank you for agreeing to tonight, especially with the incredibly late notice.”

  “It’s not a problem.”

  “I understand you had to rearrange your schedule, I hope Bridget let you know that you will be compensated for your troubles.”

  “Really, it’s fine.”

  “You look very nice.”

  Nice is probably the least descriptive word that I could have come up with to describe how she looks. However the only other words that come to mind to describe her look are not appropriate to share with someone that I’m conduct
ing a business relationship with. Kenzie is wearing a black fitted skirt that falls to just above her knee, a light blue button down fitted shirt lays under a black blazer. Her long legs are accentuated by a pair of black heels. My mind immediately pictures her bent over my desk with the skirt pushed up to her waist as I thrust into her.

  “Thank you,” she thankfully pulls me from my thoughts which I’m grateful: if I kept picturing her like that, she would be able to tell what I was thinking if she looked below my belt. I can’t keep picturing her like that… thinking of her like that; this is nothing but a business transaction. She would never be interested in anything more with me and I’m not interested in anything more than a fuck with a woman, something I know Kenzie is too good for. She needs someone who would trust her and I’ve learned the hard way that hell is going to freeze over before I trust another woman like that ever again.

  “Please have a seat,” I gesture to the small couch against the windows in my office and sit in the chair across from her.

  “You have an amazing building here, the lobby was stunning.”

  “Thank you. We’ve been in this building for about five years now; before we moved in I had my brother completely remodel it to fit the image I wanted.”

  “He did a wonderful job! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

  “I’ll never tell him this, but he blew my expectations out of the water on the design.”

  “Is there anything I need to know for dinner tonight?” She glances at her watch likely realizing we only have a few minutes before we need to leave. She uncrosses her legs before crossing them again, her skirt riding up just the smallest amount and it takes everything in me not to groan. Her outfit is actually perfect for tonight: it looks very professional but could easily be more casual if she took the blazer off. The skirt isn’t too short but for some reason it’s just the right amount of leg for her to look incredibly sexy.

  “We have been working with this shipping company for the last several months now, trying to help them avoid bankruptcy. We’ve made multiple recommendations but they’ve been hesitant in agreeing to them. The contracts are scheduled to be signed Monday, however at the last minute they demanded a meeting with me, refusing to sign the contract unless I met them for dinner tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s a clause in the contract that says all employee positions will remain as is for the first six months. After that, PFS will reevaluate and determine whether or not to continue their positions. If their position is eliminated in the first three years, every employee will be provided with a severance package along with a letter of recommendation.”

  “Sounds like a good thing?” she’s obviously struggling to see why the other party hasn’t signed yet.

  “It is,” I agree. “For some reason, Alex, my vice president, thinks that they are having second thoughts and do not believe that I would hold up my end of the contract.”

  “But if it’s in the contract, aren’t you obligated to follow through?”

  “Yes and no. There are certain safeguards put in place where I could get out of the clause if something came up. However it’s a clause that is only used in dire situations. Alex thinks they just want to hear from me that their employees will have jobs. It’s a family owned business that has been passed down from one generation to another, but unfortunately the owner’s father had a gambling problem and borrowed money from the company. They’re barely staying afloat right now and have more debt than they should have. We’re offering them a solution where the company remains intact but requires an overhaul in a few areas.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking… why am I needed tonight? It sounds like a business negotiation.”

  “We won’t technically be negotiating, since all that is done already. Essentially we are meeting to reassure him that the clause in the contract stands, nothing more. As to why you are here… apparently having a date will make me look more trustworthy, at least according to Alex. The owner is bringing his wife so I assume the idea is, if I bring a date, I look more like a person and less like a businessman who wants to destroy their company.”

  “Ah, got it.”

  “Sir, ma’am, we need to leave now,” Carter interrupts us.

  “Thank you Carter. Do you have any other questions, Kenzie?”

  “No, I think you covered everything.”

  “I’ll apologize in advance: this is probably going to be a very boring dinner for you.”

  “It won’t be a problem.”

  Carter escorts us to the parking garage where my SUV is waiting. The ride to the restaurant is short since the traffic is light despite the rush hour. I’ve purposely left early enough so that we are the first to arrive at the table. Over the next ten minutes Alex and Ella arrive followed by Mr. and Mrs. Forrest, the owners of the shipping company. Once again, Kenzie seems to fit right into the group, making conversation easily with Mrs. Forest and Ella while Alex, Mr. Forrest and I discuss business.

  The next time I glance at my watch, I’m surprised to see that more than two hours have passed since we arrived. Kenzie sits comfortably next to me, discussing recipes with Mrs. Forrest. I knew she worked at the bakery but I had no idea how much she enjoys baking until I watch her passionately discuss different techniques.

  “And that’s why Ella does all the cooking, you see, Kenzie, I just burn everything no matter what setting I use on the stove!” Alex laughs as Kenzie finishes a story how one of the girls at the bakery accidently burnt an entire batch of muffins one morning.

  “He does, you should see it. He once burnt a pot of boiling water… I ask you: who does that?” Ella laughs.

  “Well, I’m sure he was just distracted—“ Kenzie tries to defend Alex.

  “Yeah, he was distracted by the game that was on TV, or by an email that his boss sent,” which earns me a glare, “or by a car that drove too fast down our road or by a ringing phone… you see, Kenzie the list just goes on and on.”

  “What can I say, I’m easily distracted,” Alex doesn’t disagree with anything Ella said. Instead he laughs with her and then leans in to kiss her quickly on the cheek.

  “Mr. Parker, Mr. Clark, you will have the finalized contracts Monday morning,” Mr. Forrest says a few minutes later when the table falls silent.

  “Wonderful, we look forward to them,” I shake his hand, sealing the deal.

  Carter has already taken care of the bill for our meal, so we quickly say our goodbyes and walk out of the restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest leave, followed next by Alex and Ella, leaving Kenzie and me on the sidewalk.

  “Carter has arranged for a car to take you home: it should be arriving any minute now,” I explain, shooting Carter a death glare for not having the cab here by now. Apparently the one he called didn’t show up so instead he had to call a car service. This would be so much easier if I could just have Carter take her home, then be assured that she arrived safely and we wouldn’t have to rely on someone else to get her home.

  “Nicholas, it’s fine, I could just take the subway. There’s a stop just a couple of blocks—“

  “Kenzie, I can’t let you take the subway home. This may not be an actual date, but I’m too much of a gentleman to let you do that. The car service will take you home tonight and I promise they won’t tell me where they drop you off.”

  “It’s unnecessary but I appreciate it nonetheless.”

  “Thank you for this evening. Everything went smoother than I expected,” I say.

  “I’m sure you will be happy when you receive the signed contract on Monday.”

  “Sir, ma’am,” Carter gestures to the car that is slowing just in front of us.

  “Thank you again, Kenzie, especially for rearranging your schedule at the last minute to accommodate me,” I lean down placing my lips against her cheek gently. I swear her breath hitches when I squeeze her hand in mine just before I pull away from her.

  “I believe Bridget has been in touch about next week?”
<
br />   “Yes, I’ve confirmed with her that I’m available.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  Chapter 13

  Kenzie

  “So Kenzie… who’s your new boyfriend?” Ginny asks the moment I walk into the bakery.

  “Huh? What are you talking about?” I’m confused… how could Ginny possibly know about Nicholas? It has to be Nicholas that she is talking about because I haven’t been out with any other guy or even had interest in a guy for years.

  “One of the afternoon girls brought a picture of you in—“

  “A picture?”

  “Here, it’s in my office,” she leads me back and hands me a piece of paper. On it is a blurry picture of Nicholas and me from the business dinner Friday night. We are sitting next to each other at the table; Nicholas’s eyes are on me but it looks like I’m talking to Ella. I didn’t think he was watching me during the dinner but he was probably just making sure that I didn’t say something that I shouldn’t have, given the limited time we had to prepare. The headline below the picture reads:

  “We couldn’t believe it either! Billionaire playboy Nicholas Parker is seen for the second time with a mystery woman. Until recently Nicholas Parker had been attending events solo after being seen with half a different dozen women in less than two months. Now, in span of two weeks he is seen with the same one twice! Who is this mystery woman and what spell could she have put on Parker to get him to take her out twice?”

  “Oh that…” I stutter.

  “You’re dating a friggin’ billionaire, Kenzie?!?!?” Ruth, one of the other girls who works the morning shift rushes in.

  “I… I…” I’m caught completely off guard.

  I hadn’t expected that part of my life to mix with this part. I thought I could keep them separate: I should have expected that wouldn’t be the case if I was seen publicly with Nicholas, the purpose of our arrangement.

  “Nicholas Parker and I are dating—“

  “For how long? Why didn’t you say anything?” Ruth asks.

  “Ruth, enough. As long as Kenzie is happy, that is all that matters,” Ginny interrupts. “Now, I believe we have some donuts, muffins and breads to make for today.”