Vivi spent the next hour skimming files, agreements, financial reports.
A little after ten, Tucker came out of his office, carrying a briefcase. “My car is waiting.”
Anticipation stole through her. She probably should have been embarrassed to be so thrilled, but Tucker Engle made superstars out of upstarts, and she would be at one of his agreement signings. She would see what he said, how he behaved. If nothing else, she would see a sharp, savvy guy in action.
They rode down in the private elevator in silence. With the strap of the laptop case over her shoulder and standing straight as an arrow in her gray pants and blazer, she felt like an executive.
The elevator door opened and she followed Tucker Engle to the revolving door and the waiting black limo. He motioned her in first and she slid across the plush leather seat. He sat beside her.
Her blood virtually hummed with joy, but a knot of fear shadowed it. She’d found the files, familiarized herself with the agreements, the background financials and the sub-agreements over things like whose name would be where as well as the side perks given to the two founders of Jason Jones, a search engine that did simple background checks for real people. She was as ready as she’d ever be.
“Jason Jones is an interesting concept.”
Vivi couldn’t believe she’d actually spoken, but her excitement had gotten the better of her. And now Tucker Engle would reprimand her.
But he surprised her by chuckling. “When I heard about it, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself.”
“You think you should have come up with it?”
He shrugged. “I would have liked to have thought of it.” He peeked at her. “But the best inventions come from ordinary people.”
“Really?”
“Yes. People with problems get frustrated looking for answers and sometimes invent or create something with universal appeal.”
She nodded.
“Take our startup for instance. Jason Jones is the code name for a private investigator who followed the ex-girlfriend of one of the founders, watching her until he found sufficient evidence to have her convicted of stalking.”
She gasped. “One of the founders was stalked?”
“The woman nearly ruined Ricky’s life until he realized he had to be proactive and hire a private investigator. The fees were exorbitant. Ricky knew he could have avoided the whole mess if he’d been able to search her on the internet before he asked her out.”
“But he could have done that.”
“No. He could have done a search but not necessarily gotten access to the information that would have saved him. He investigated the systems and Elias Greene wrote the programs. Now innocent men and women everywhere will be able to know a prospective date’s complete history for fifty bucks and the click of a few keys.”
“Amazing.”
“Which is exactly why with my help the company will eventually be worth about a hundred million dollars.”
The limo rolled to a stop in front of a shiny glass-and-chrome building. They rode to the penthouse in another private elevator, which opened onto a living room. Electric-blue chairs angled beside a black leather-and-chrome sofa, which sat on a modern print rug. A wet bar took up the entire left wall. Huge windows at the back of the room let in the June sunshine as they displayed another fantastic view of the New York City skyline.
Olivia’s breath stuttered. She couldn’t believe she was here. Not just in a fantastic city, but part of a huge financial deal. Maybe working with Tucker Engle wouldn’t be so bad after all?
Two men bounced off the sofa and raced to greet Tucker.
“Hey, Tuck.” The first one—a guy who was a lot older than she’d expected, extended his hand. “Big day for us.”
“A big day for all of us,” Tucker agreed. He motioned to Vivi. “My assistant, Miss Prentiss.”
He shook her hand. “I’m Rick Langley.” With black hair and silky brown eyes, he was gorgeous. She could understand how he’d meet a woman who wouldn’t want to let him go. “The guy with the good fortune to be stalked.”
She laughed.
“And I’m Elias Greene.”
Vivi shook his hand, surprised when he gave an extra squeeze before releasing her.
Rick bounded to the bar. “Do you want a drink while we wait for our perpetually late lawyers?”
“Miss Prentiss and I are good.” He turned to Vivi. “Unless you’d like a water?”
She smiled her appreciation. In one easy sentence, he’d gotten her out of a potentially uncomfortable situation. He really, really wasn’t so bad.
She faced Ricky. “Water would be great, thanks. I’d also love a place to set up the laptop.”
Elias raced over and took the laptop from her hands. “We’re using the dining table as our conference table.”
“Sounds great.”
Tucker directed her to follow Elias to the table. When she reached it, he pulled out her chair. Ricky handed her a bottle of water as Elias sat beside her.
“So where are you from?”
She cleared her throat. “Kentucky.”
“No kidding?” Elias smiled broadly. “Are you a farm girl or something?”
She laughed. “No. I grew up in a small town.”
“I’d love to hear about small-town life, if you’d like to have dinner.... Maybe tonight?”
She stared at him. He was serious? Asking her out in front of her boss? But, worse, he was a stranger. And he was asking her out—
She hadn’t been out with anyone since Cord.
Heat filled her. She wasn’t freakishly afraid of men or dating. After the attack, she’d simply focused on getting her degree. She’d also become selective—too selective to go out with a guy she didn’t know.
She drew in a slow breath. “I’m sorry but I don’t date people I don’t know.”
Ricky laughed. “You could always run him through Jason Jones.”
She laughed, too, though Elias’s proximity suddenly shot shivers of fear through her. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she chalked his enthusiasm up to excitement over the big, big deal represented by the agreement he was about to sign. But that didn’t make his nearness any less overwhelming.
She rose. “Could you direct me to the powder room?”
Elias popped off his chair. “Sure. It’s right back along this hall.”
Her nerves went on red alert as they walked down a long dark corridor. A memory flashed. Cord leading her down a dark hall. Her giggling. Him forcing her into a room. Her fighting to get away and eventually freeing herself. But she’d lost a shoe and her blouse was torn—
Oh, God. This was bad. She’d put all this behind her. Why was it coming back to her now?
In the half bath, she took a few slow breaths. In the quiet, she realized Elias reminded her of Cord. Not looks-wise, but personality-wise. A little too pushy. A little too sure of himself.
That’s why she wasn’t going back out there until the lawyers arrived.
She washed her hands, combed her fingers through her hair and realized she wouldn’t hear the attorneys arriving. Nice as he was being on this trip, even Tucker Engle would have his limits. He would be angry with her if she wasn’t around when they came.
With a deep breath, she