Chapter 4 (Part One)

Jackson was getting more and more irritated with every minute that went by that he waited outside of the club. It was fifteen minutes after he was supposed to meet with Erin’s assistant, or whoever she was sending. The accountants were already seated at a booth inside, sipping on some fruity, barely alcoholic drink that they had Todd make for them.

The club wasn’t open yet, so he was strictly here for this deal that his dad pressured him not to screw up. He showed up early, just to make a good impression, but no, the bastard was late. He leant up against the wall, one foot pushed up against the wall, with his arms folded in discontent.

Watching the expensive town car pull up, he checked his watch, two weeks and twenty minutes late, he thought as he saw the passenger door open. It was some big, built guy in a black suit with slicked back black hair. He was a little surprised when he stepped to the back door and opened it.

As she stepped out of the car his breath hitched in his throat and his anger dissipated. She looked amazing in a mid-thigh black pencil-skirt with a black matching halter top that had white accents around the hems, clearly top-dollar designer clothes. Her black high-heeled boots came up to the bottom of her knees.

Her beautiful red hair was pulled up into a ponytail, except for the bangs that wouldn’t quite reach. His heart thundered just at the sight of her, but as her piercing green eyes met his, he felt like it would come right out of his chest.

“Hey, Darlin’” He started as she walked over to him, the man in the suit close behind her. “I thought we would be meeting later?”

She threw her head back in frustration, then pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “Jackson Myers.” She started. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Riley James then.” He returned raising a brow at her. “Now what on earth would Erin be thinking, sending the Manhattan Princess all the way across the country? To be honest I was expecting some old uptight man or some assistant, not her gorgeous daughter.”

“Oh, so you have heard of me then.” She smirked irritated. “This is Ronnie, My bodyguard. Terms of me leaving the hotel, at all.”

“Ouch. So this meeting just got so much more exciting.” He winked at her.

“I don’t sleep with people I work with.” She stated bluntly.

“Well, first off, you did, and you enjoyed it, second, it felt like you hadn’t slept with anybody, for a while.” He returned, raising a brow.

Her cheeks flared red as she noticed Ronnie looking away. “We need to get to work.” She turned and gestured toward the door of the night club.

They walked in and he led her over to the booth that had two older men sitting there. They both had briefcases and paperwork spread out on the table. “Miss James, nice of you to finally grace us with your presence.” One of them said in a grouchy, sarcastic tone. “We have other meetings lined up today, so we need to make this quick, I’ve laid out all the paperwork that is necessary for Erin to see and my client’s monthly bills versus their profits.” He gestured toward all the paperwork laid out.

Riley picked them up and started reading, barely noticing that Jackson had the bartender bring them drinks until she was sipping on it. “These are very good numbers, are these copies that I can send to my mother?” She questioned.

“Yes Miss, these are for you to keep.”

“Ok, well these show that your stats are as good as you told us, and if that was the case my mother and father were willing to build a night club in each of our hotels, all around the country first, then maybe overseas as well. We will start with the one in Manhattan first though, just so we can oversee the construction a little bit better at first and then we will spread it out from there like wildfire, as long as everything goes well.” Riley stated.

Jackson had to try as hard as he could not to stare at her like a love-sick puppy as she spoke. He had no idea that she was so intelligent and it made him want her even more. He tried hard to listen but he couldn’t stop staring at her rosy red lips as she spoke.

Finally she pulled out some blueprints and spread them across the table. She started pointing out the changes that would be added in. “We will have a VIP section up here on this high part of the floor, and underneath will just be some regular seating and we have some poles for paid dancers. Here’s the stage, the bar, the dancefloor, and the restrooms will be over here, we will have additional security placed by the restrooms and all the doorways, and we are willing to start it out at a sixty-forty split for the first two years.”  He tried hard not to stare at her lips anymore.