Billionaire's Contract Engagement (Kings of the Boardroom #3)(45)

She turned to Evan. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock at the Maddox.”

“I can have my driver meet me,” Evan said. “It’s not a problem.” He glared at Celia as he said it. The woman was ditching him. What he’d thought was finally an effort to see him outside of a business setting had, in fact, just been a business meeting in disguise. He’d deal with her later, though. Right now he had a sports superstar to woo, and he’d be damned if he let his irritation with Celia interfere.

Sixteen

Celia paced the Maddox conference room. Her nerves were wound tight, and she’d meticulously gone over every little detail of her presentation. The televisions out front had mock-ups created by the media folks. An endless stream of Reese Enterprise promotion ran on the video monitors and the art department had framed several print-ad options and displayed them in the conference room.

With fifteen minutes to go time, the other members of her team had assembled. Tension was high but so was excitement. Ash had congratulated her on landing the biggest client for Maddox thus far, but he’d acted distracted and distant. Celia wondered if he was indeed having issues with the rumored girlfriend.

The others had all been quick to add their congratulations. No contract had been signed, but they all seemed convinced that after this morning, Reese Enterprises would be in the bag. She hoped they were right.

Noah had called last night after an extended dinner with Evan. Apparently after barbeque the two had gone for beers and spent the evening like old college buddies.

Evan had extended an extremely cushy offer, one that had surprised even a very jaded Noah. The two were meeting later with their respective lawyers to iron out the details, but Noah said he’d agreed.

“Okay, we’ve got five minutes,” Celia said. “Let’s take our places and get ready to knock his socks off.”

They took their seats along the conference table. Brock smiled at Celia and gave her a thumbs-up before taking a seat next to Elle. Jason took the seat next to Ash, who frowned and reached into his pocket for his phone.

“Excuse me for a minute,” he said as he rose from his seat. He crossed the room out of earshot to take a phone call.

The intercom buzzed and Shelby announced that Evan had arrived. “Shall I show him back?” she asked.

Celia took a deep breath, looked at her coworkers lining the conference table all ready to do their part, and said, “Show him back, Shelby.”

As Celia ended the conversation, Ash returned to the table.

“Sorry, but I have to go,” he announced. “And I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Hopefully no more than a

few days. I’ll let you know when I have more details.”

He turned and strode out of the room, leaving Celia and the others to stare after him in astonishment.

Celia glanced over at Brock and raised an eyebrow. Brock shrugged and gestured for her to continue on. Whatever was up with Ash would have to wait. This meeting was too important to all of them.

Seconds after Ash’s abrupt departure, Evan entered behind Shelby. Celia crossed the room and extended a hand to Evan. Instead of shaking it as she’d intended, he slid his fingers over her palm and held it far too long for her liking. She snatched it away and turned to introduce him down the row.

Her presentation went off without a hitch. Each part of her team executed their part flawlessly, and through it all, Brock sat back with a very satisfied expression on his face.

By the time she was done, she was as convinced as everyone else that Evan would sign with Maddox.

He’d be a fool not to.

The lights went back up after her last video clip.

“This concludes our presentation,” she said to Evan. “I hope we’ve convinced you of our commitment to you and your company.”

He took his time responding. For a moment he studied her, his hands in a V in front of him. Then he simply nodded.

“I’m very impressed. My question is, how soon can we move on this?”

Rosa was packed with the after-work crowd, but the entire back room was filled with Maddox employees, all celebrating their biggest coup to date—Reese Enterprises.

Celia was high on her achievement, but she couldn’t shake the anxiety over her relationship with Evan.

She’d avoided him last night when she’d all but dumped him on Noah. She’d avoided him after her presentation when he’d wanted to take her to lunch to celebrate.

Brock passed out champagne to every one then called for a toast. He saluted Celia with his glass and the room erupted into cheers.

She smiled her pleasure, but all she could think was that she’d rather be with Evan. And that was a very big problem.

“For a girl who’s the toast of Madcom, you don’t look very happy.”

Celia turned to see Elle standing beside her, drink in hand. She tried to smile but then gave up with a sigh. “Am I that obvious?”

Elle shrugged. “Probably not. I doubt others are paying too much attention to you. You looked…distracted.”

“I’m in a mess, Elle,” Celia admitted. “I don’t know what to do.”

Elle wrapped a comforting arm around her. “Surely it can’t be that bad?”

“I’m involved with Evan Reese. Intimately.”

Elle stiffened. “Oh. Maybe you’re right.”