“Of course,” Orlando said. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Wilson. I’m a big fan.”
Dante slowly stood and shook Orlando’s hand. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Orlando grinned. “I only speak the truth.”
Julie sat, and then Orlando and Dante followed suit. Julie ignored Dante’s direct gaze on her. Outwardly, anyway. Inside, her body was a ball of nerves. She hoped to impress Dante with her proactive approach to handling the development of the nightclub. It was the reason she’d invited him here this morning. Go hard or go home.
“I’ve been looking at your website, Orlando,” Julie said. “I’m impressed with the jobs you’ve handled. I see that you’ve also been chosen to open a nightclub in LA. Will you be able to handle another job?”
She didn’t like small talk and preferred going directly into any concerns. She trusted the recommendation she’d gotten from her former coworker, but she couldn’t forget he still worked for Nexon-Jones.
Orlando handled her direct question easily and went right into the number of crews he had working for him and how he scheduled his workload. He answered all Julie’s questions easily and impressively while they waited on their food. Dante perked up and stopped glaring at her long enough to ask Orlando some of his own questions. From the interest and satisfaction that flashed on Dante’s face, she guessed he was also impressed by Orlando.
By the end of the meal, her questions were done. After a few minutes of small talk, Julie wrapped up the meeting.
“Thank you again for meeting with me, Orlando,” Julie said. “I’ll be in touch before the end of the week.”
She stood and so did the men. Orlando shook Dante’s hand, then hers. When she would have pulled back, he held on. “The pleasure was all mine. I hope to hear from you soon, regardless of the outcome.”
Orlando’s smile and the flirtatious tone were clear. Julie returned his smile with one of her own and nodded. “I’ll be sure to give you a call.”
“Do that,” Orlando said before leaving.
Dante looked at Orlando’s retreating back and then at Julie. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Julie sat back down.
Dante sat and motioned his head in Orlando’s direction. “That?”
“That was me thinking I’ve found our contractor. Didn’t you like him?”
“He was all right.”
“All right? Did you look at the work he’s done, all on time? That’s big when it comes to contractors. Of course, I’m going to check his references.”
“You’re ready to hire him already?”
“He was my top choice, but we’ve got another interview later today.”
His brows rose. “We do?”
“Yeah.” She checked her watch. “I agreed to meet her for a late lunch. Are you available?”
“Her?”
Julie raised a brow. “Do you have a problem with a woman?”
He raised his hands. “Not at all. At least this time you won’t spend the meeting grinning and giggling over the guy.”
“I don’t giggle.”
“Yes, you do.” He quirked a brow. “It would be cute. If you were giggling over me.”
She laughed. “Still want me to make you my exception to the no-business-and-pleasure-mixing rule?”
“I’d like to know if you were considering it.”
She eyed him from head to toe. “I’ve already considered it.”
“And?”
“And you’re talented, sexy and very smug. I’m not interested.”
Dante rubbed his jaw. “If you would have let this be a real date, I think you would be. I envisioned this morning going a lot differently.”
“What did you envision?”
“Brunch, sightseeing, maybe a kiss.”
She glanced at his lips, imagined them on hers and was hit with a wave of longing, which she quickly pushed aside. “I’m here to work. I promise—I will not be kissing you.”
“I believe that not only will we kiss but that you’ll initiate it.” He looked so arrogant and sure of himself that, for a second, her heart trembled, and she believed he might be right.
Dante met up with Raymond at the end of the week at a jazz club in Los Angeles. When he wasn’t on tour or working on an album, Dante preferred the laid-back atmosphere of his villa in Malibu over the constant hustle of LA, unless there was a party worth attending. Tonight there was a huge party planned after Jacobe’s basketball game. Dante never refused a chance to party.
He found Raymond in the club’s VIP section, watching a lovely and curvy woman singing onstage. They’d agreed to meet here before going to the game and then the party. After sitting in an interview with another contractor and Julie that morning, and after she’d made it obvious, yet again, that she wasn’t giving him any play, Dante was more than ready to spend the night partying.
Dante strolled over and sat next to Raymond. “What’s up with your girl?”
Raymond raised a brow. “Who?”
“Julie.”
Raymond grinned and sipped on the drink in his hand. “Nothing, she’s just trying to do a good job.”
“When did we officially make her a partner?”
Raymond chuckled. “We didn’t. Julie always tackles a job like she’s got it. By the time she’s finished putting the pieces together, people wonder why they wouldn’t partner with her.”
Dante was in that exact predicament. She had pulled together the best contractors in the area and drilled them on their ability to perform. After seeing her in action, he wondered why he should look for anyone else.
“She knows her stuff. I thought we were meeting for brunch the other day, and she’s setting up interviews with potential contractors.”
Raymond frowned. “You met her for brunch? When?”
“Tuesday. I thought you knew?”
“I knew she was checking out some contractors but not that she was meeting with you to do that.”
Dante leaned back on the black couch and spread his arms across the back. “I thought she had agreed to a date.”
Raymond sat up straight and put his drink on the table. “You asked her on a date?”
“After you left her at the pool to hang out with that other woman, I didn’t think you’d have a problem.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you thought you were going out with her? I told you about us.”
Dante raised a hand. “Hold up. Us—what us? She was at the party for a second, and you walked away with another woman.”
Raymond slid forward on the chair and tugged on his black leather pants before holding out his hands. “That woman from the party doesn’t mean anything. Julie is the one. The one I’m going to settle down with. After I finish, you know.” Raymond popped his collar. “Enjoying myself.”
“What makes you think she’s going to want to settle