Mr. Handsome A Billionaire Romance(2)
“They are back and forth with us and our competitor, Greywing. Their X-150s are ridiculously similar, but I think we’ll come out on top, as we’re cheaper.” Victor winked and I laughed at his lame joke.
“Knock, knock. Jeff, I’ve set up your first shoot. It was surprisingly easy to get you a gig as the face of freaking Armani. By the way, don’t let this get to your head. You aren’t that pretty.”
Both Victor and I laughed at Vanessa’s brazen attitude as she waltzed into my office. Vanessa went on to prattle off the details of my first photo shoot while simultaneously programming it into my phone so I wouldn’t ‘completely’ forget.
“You’re looking mighty fine today, Miss Cross. I hope we aren’t bothering you too much?” Victor turned on the charm for Vanessa and I gave him a cautioning gaze. Vanessa actually smiled, her expression turned saucy.
“You’re looking mighty okay too, Victor.” They grinned at each other and I wondered if they already had something going on. I’d have to have a talk with Victor, he usually knew better. Vanessa was attractive and all, with her blonde bombshell looks and curves that would grab any guy’s attention.
But she worked for me and in her current position as intern, she worked for Victor, too. She was smart and capable and I really wanted her on my team. I just didn’t want anything to happen where she ended up quitting, much less a sexual harassment case added to that.
“So that’s tomorrow night, six p.m., Mister Bates. At the Third Street Warehouse. They’ll give you what they want you to wear, obviously. This is big, it’s Armani. Do not forget,” Nessa kept her gaze on mine to convey the seriousness of my showing up.
“Don’t worry, this is something I want to do, I’ll be there. Promise.”
Nessa nodded, satisfied with my answer. Victor drew her into a conversation about Ireland and our pending deal with them. I answered a call from reception.
“Mister Bates, there is a Mister Cromwell here to see you, sir,” Julia, the receptionist, informed me. She’d worked for the company ever since my father started it up.
“Alright, you two, I have a meeting. Nessa, I’ll actually want to talk to you about the Ireland deal a little later, so don’t go too far.” I dismissed them and soon Cromwell was striding purposefully into my office. Cromwell manufactured specialized parts for military level aircraft and wanted to settle a deal with me and Stargate. I grasped his hand in a firm shake just before he sat down across from my desk. Cromwell was middle aged with grey encroaching the black hair around his temples. He looked good for his age, though.
His skin was tanned from much travel, but it wasn’t too leathery and he had an intense focus to his dark brown eyes. His features were hawkish and the way he held himself was almost superior. He was very well put together and a bit intimidating. Even with his dark blue suit and white pinstriped shirt, he reminded me of my father. Almost eerily so.
“I hope you don’t mind if we get right down to it. I have a tight schedule today.” Cromwell’s tone was cordial and warm, yet, I saw the impatience in his eyes. I wondered what crazy morning he must have had.
“Of course, what businessman doesn’t have a tight schedule? Let’s get to it, then.” I rounded my desk and sat down to pull out his proposal for a possible contract between our companies.
“We love your ignition designs and they were tested to be incredibly efficient with our engines,” I began, but before I could comment further. Cromwell lifted a finger.
“It’s good that you bring that up as the first point. We made those designs especially for your engines because we loved the idea that aircraft should be incredibly fuel efficient as well as maximized on performance. Our guys had a lot of fun cooking up those designs and the prototypes really did work great.” There was a spark in Cromwell’s eye that only a true engineer would get when talking about their work.
“That being said, we’d actually like to draw up a few more modifications for the fighter jets and unmanned crafts specifically for Stargate aircraft, so I’d agree for a more open ended contract so we can freely add more products to the list,” Cromwell suggested.
I smiled, also excited about where this could take Stargate in the future. “Of course, Stargate loves innovation and anything you can come up with for us we won’t turn away. Either way, I didn’t have much issue with your proposal other than the time frame for our contract. I’m thinking we could lower it to five years and then renew if need be.”
Cromwell pursed his lips and I waited for his answer. Usually these partnerships would last at the very least for ten years. But with Cromwell’s recent hiccup with one of his other partners there was definitely room for concern.
“So, basically this would be a sort of trial partnership then. Because of the incident with Morgan Skye?” Cromwell was blunt about it, he got to the point quickly.
“Yes, you can understand my concern with a complete breach in contract. You sold their parts to another company just so you could get out of the deal with Skye,” I replied just as bluntly, not bothered by his intense gaze and souring expression.
“I know the public side of things looked bad, but I assure you, Morgan Skye was double crossing us, so I simply returned the favor. Needless to say, I understand your caution. I like you, Bates, and what you and your father have built here. So I’m prepared to jump through a few hoops to ensure that I want a healthy and thriving relationship between our companies,” said Cromwell, surprising me with his sincerity.