Conquest of the Heart (9 page)

“Le monsieur aura le
hamburger classique et je vais avoir la poitrine de poulet grille
avec a la mozzarella fumee,” she said as she handed the server
their menus.
(The gentleman will have the
Classic Hamburger and I will have the Grilled Chicken Breast with
Smoked Mozzarella.)

“Quelque chose a boire?”
asked the server before leaving.
(Anything
to drink?)

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Just water,” Gavin said, trying to get
comfortable. He would calm down when Faith was focused on him, and
not her enticing French words.

“L’eau sera belle pour nous
deux. Merci.” (
Water will be fine for both
of us. Thank you.)

As she finished ordering, she turned her
attention back to him. He was just looking at her, smiling.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just enjoying the view,” he winked.
“It’s nice to get out of the office, yes?”

“It is, but I’ve been out almost every day.
There is work to be done.”

“You need to take your breaks. If you don’t,
I’ll be forced to ask you out to lunch every day. But that wouldn’t
bother me,” he said, watching her intently.

“You can ask, but it doesn’t mean I’ll say
yes. I get my breaks in. I plan to start working out, and I’ll be
planning some lunches with Lauren.”

“Good to hear. I don’t want you overworking.
We don’t like anyone in the office doing that. If C&A is to be
an ideal place to work, we need to reinforce the fact that work
will be there tomorrow.”

“You really care about who works for you,
don’t you?” Faith was now returning the stare. This was the side of
Gavin she liked.

“I do, we do, meaning Adrian and I. There are
a lot of people who play an important role in where the company is
today. We’re very fortunate,” he said, delighted that she
noticed.

She just took a few minutes to enjoy this. It
was nice that she didn’t have to fight him off. While she could
handle his advances, no matter what he threw her way, she wanted to
get to know him as her boss. His intelligence intrigued her, which
is what she was looking forward to when she started her job.

“You’d have my attention more often if you
were like this more,” she commented.

“Like what?” He was curious. He did notice
that she was extremely relaxed right now.

“Just - ” she paused. “Polite. You’re not
trying to cram the fact that you want me down my throat.”

“Well, I was going to give you a break, but
since you brought it up,” he said, looking to see her reaction,
“there is something that I would like to know.”

“That’s fair. I did bring it up. I’m not
guaranteeing an answer.” Just as she said this, their lunch
arrived.

“Aahh, merci beaucoup,” she said to their
server. Gavin had just started to settle down, but that simple
phrase awakened his loins again.

She turned her focus back on him again,
saying, “You had a question for me?” She braced herself. Depending
on what he said, she might get a little tense.

“Why do you let me get to you? I mean, if
you’re really not interested, you could cut me off before I even
start. We’ve had several conversations over the past few days, and
I’m sure there are more to come. You’ve done nothing but
endure.”

“I’m just trying to get to the bottom of why
you think it’s necessary to sleep around so much. It really does
impact how the company gets viewed.”

“Faith, I think there’s something else.
C&A’s reputation is not in jeopardy. In fact, we are seeking to
get more exposure in the community, which is your job. No, there’s
definitely another reason behind this. I think you want me too and
just won’t say it. That’s fine, because like I’ve said before, I
can play the game as long as you’d like.”

Faith took a bite of her chicken and chewed
for a long moment before she said something. “You would just love
it if it were that easy, wouldn’t you?”

“On the contrary, I enjoy the fact that it’s
not. Having to work so hard to get you is exciting. When it finally
happens, I’ll appreciate you more.” He smiled then. It was one of
those devious smiles. Faith couldn’t get upset. She was responsible
for the conversation turning south, literally.

“So you think I’m somehow turned on by the
fact that you pursue me, and I’m playing hard to get for a while to
amplify this desire?”

“Maybe. That’s why I’m asking. As soon as I
start talking about sex, and having you, you seem to get really
uptight. Is there something about sex that makes you
uncomfortable?” He took another bite of his burger, continuing to
look at her.

“Of course not,” she said as her cheeks
started to turn pink. Gavin noticed. He was on to something.

“I’m getting warmer,” he bragged. “Now why
would a woman as beautiful as you be embarrassed by simply
discussing the possibility of being pleased beyond what she could
ever imagine?” He watched as her cheeks got bright red. He
continued. “When was the last time you had sex, Faith?”

“Excuse me?” she said in a
higher pitched voice, almost choking on her food.
‘Bingo!’
he thought.
Whenever Faith was starting to get upset with his pressuring, her
voice changed. She quickly became more irritable, as she was now,
even though she was trying to stay calm.

“Hmm, that’s it, isn’t it? You’re in need.
How long has it been? You can tell me.” He finished his burger and
moved his plate to the side. This was most interesting indeed, so
he waited patiently while she searched for words.

“You’re such an ass, Gavin,” she said,
growing more uncomfortable as the subject at hand continued. Gavin
wouldn’t let it go. He kept prying.

“I can remedy that need for you, and it’s not
very nice to call your boss an ass,” Gavin mused.

“It’s not very nice for my boss to badger me
constantly about having sex with him. That’s borderline sexual
harassment, you know,” she smirked.

“No, I haven’t touched you, and all you have
to do is say the word, and I’ll stop.” He was serious now. Gavin
was always very careful when he approached women, especially those
he worked with.

“Would you really? That’s all I have to
do?”

“I’ve never forced anyone to be with me, nor
will I ever. If you told me to leave you alone, I would. However, I
wouldn’t stop desiring you. I’d just have to come up with a more
creative way to change your mind. Though you won’t say no, will
you? I think you like that I’m honest and upfront about what I
want, and I think you enjoy playing the game.”

She began to turn pink again, and couldn’t
speak.

“The fact that you say nothing means I’m
right, and rather than lie about it, you choose to remain silent. I
like that. That’s just something else that excites me about you,”
he smiled as the server handed him the ticket.

Faith was stunned. Had she been that obvious
about it? She was beginning to wonder how she was going to get
through the afternoon. Gavin was sure to take advantage of this
knowledge. She watched as he paid the bill, speechless and
numb.

“Are you ready?” he asked, unaware that she
still hadn’t said anything. He was satisfied with the way things
were progressing.

“Yes, I am just super thrilled to go back and
spend the afternoon with my arrogant boss, who will more than
likely spend the next three hours tormenting me with his brutally
honest thoughts towards me. Yay me!” She just shook her head.

He chuckled and said, “It’s good that you
have such a positive attitude about it.” They stood and left,
returning to the office.

When they got back, Gavin said, “I’m going to
check my messages and emails. I’ll meet you in my office in a half
an hour.” They split up, each going to their own spaces.

Carter was checking his calendar to see what
time he was scheduled to meet with Faith and Gavin to work on the
city reviews. He found that his calendar had been cleared of all of
the additional meetings that they spoke of. He called Agnes to ask
her what was going on.

“Hi Agnes, it’s Carter … I’m
fine, and you? … Good to hear. Hey listen. Faith, Gavin and I were
supposed to be holding extra meetings this week and next to go work
on the expansion project, but for whatever reason, my calendar only
shows our meetings during the day. Did something change? … Oh he
did?
I’ll check with him. Thanks Agnes.”
Carter hung up the phone.

He was furious. He went straight into Gavin’s
office without knocking. “You had all our extra meetings removed
from my calendar!” he exclaimed.

“Yes I did. Why does that upset you?” Gavin
asked with a plain face, leaning back in his chair.

“You just don’t want me around Faith. You’re
trying to keep me from her,” he scowled.

“With the work Faith has done to complete the
outlines as quickly as she has, it is no longer necessary for all
of us to have the additional meetings. So that Faith is not
overwhelmed, I’ve been helping her with her portion of the project
as we have time.”

“So you kept the extra meetings on yours and
Faith’s calendar. Why can’t I be involved?”

“You have the promotional aspect to work on.
Your time is better spent doing that, so that when we have our
daily discussions, we’re all prepared, and the discussions are
productive.”

“When exactly are you working on your client
lists? Or are you just working on Faith?”

“It’s not your concern when I’m getting my
work done, is it? You answer to me, not the other way around.”
Gavin still had on a poker face. “Moreover, it’s none of your
business what’s going on between Faith and I. If you need to know
something, you’ll know.”

“You saw an opportunity to control my contact
with her, and you took it.” Carter was livid that Gavin was abusing
his status.

“I told you to stay away from her. Since you
can’t seem to do that on your own, I’m helping you out. I really
prefer not to speak of this again.”

Carter, now infuriated, said, “This is not
over!” He turned and stormed out of the office. Faith was
approaching just as he left. She could see he was upset, and
judging from whose office he was coming from, she could understand
why.

“What did you do to Carter?” she asked as she
walked in.

“He did it to himself. It’s of no concern to
you.” Once again, he didn’t want his attitude towards Carter to
impact his mood with her. He excused himself for a few minutes. “I
need to run to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Faith took her laptop to the small
conference table in Gavin’s office and began to get things set up
for their meeting. It only took her about five minutes, and Gavin
still hadn’t returned. She walked over to the window behind his
desk and gazed at the Statue of Liberty, getting lost in her
thoughts.

When Gavin got back to the
office, he saw her standing at the window.
‘So it begins,’
he thought. He quietly
walked up behind her, and sensuously whispered in her ear, “I can
take care of you.” He wanted so badly to nibble at her ear, but had
to control the urge. Of course, there was no stopping what happened
down south. At that moment, Chandler was coming to see Gavin. She
was suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw how closely Faith
and Gavin were standing together, and didn’t like it one bit. She
would have to bring this up to him later and quickly walked
away.

Faith shrugged away from him slightly as she
turned to face him. She didn’t move too far from him when she said,
“Can we at least get some work done before you start hammering me
about how much you want me and how much I should want you?” As she
looked directly at him, Gavin was aroused even more with how close
they were to each other.

When he didn’t say anything, Faith pushed
gently past him and walked to the table where her laptop and files
were set up. She sat down, leaned her head on her left hand, and
waited.

Gavin turned around, grabbed his laptop,
around and walked over to the table. “Alright. What cities have you
worked on already? I know you’ve already done some work.”

“I did outlines this morning for Boston and
Phoenix, and started working on San Francisco,” said Faith,
relieved that they could get focused.

“Okay, let’s finish with San Francisco. I’ll
make sure that I backtrack when we’re through meeting here to put
client lists together for Boston and Phoenix.”

“Why don’t we just do that now? It doesn’t
make sense for you to have to do that if the point of these
meetings is for us to complete both of those pieces together.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a complete package, minus Carter’s
piece?”

“You’re right,” he said,
thinking,
‘Of course she is.’
“Back to Boston then.” He opened up his laptop and
began to access his own resources for looking for potential
clients. “There appears to be a lucrative technology or
biotechnology industry in the Boston area. What types of events are
held there each year? This may not be the best choice for us being
that our goal is to expand into entertainment.”

“The most popular events they hold is the
Boston Marathon, held in April and the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.
Like any other city, they have other festivals and activities, but
nothing major. Of course, sports is pretty big there, with the Red
Sox and the Patriots.”

“We’ll let Carter fill us in on that part.
Anything else notable?” he asked as he continued to look at his
screen.

“Nothing that I can see right now. We’d
probably find out more being there.”

“We’ll see if it makes the cut.” He looked at
her and asked, “Phoenix?”

“Yes,” she said plainly.

He pulled information for Phoenix, and they
discussed their findings, keeping them as brief as possible knowing
that more detailed discussions would follow next week. After
Phoenix, they completed San Francisco. This is where they spent the
bulk of their conversation. Gavin got sidetracked about the city
once he felt they were done with the “project” side of things.