Behind the Glasses

Prologue

Aideen sat in her office, at her mahogany desk, typing away furiously on her computer. She wasn’t looking forward to the meeting she had with the head of the corporation her company was currently trying to woo into a business deal. She’d heard so much about the man, and none of it was positive. From all accounts the man was a terribly blatant flirt, cocky, and overbearing. She hated the thought of a male with a big ego tromping around her place of business like he owned the place. Sighing, she finished up the document she was working on and set her computer into hibernation.

“Amber, did you get Starbucks this morning?” Aideen spoke into the intercom built into her desk.

“You know it, Boss Lady.”

“You’re a savior.” Aideen sighed, lifting her glasses to rest on her forehead, pinching the bridge of her nose. A few moments later the door to her office opened and closed and she smiled warmly at her best friend.

“If you weren’t here keeping track of the numbers, I’d go crazy.”

“Don’t oversell me, I’m here and you still go crazy.”

“Only when head honchos are on their way into my office. I can’t stand men.”

“Here we go with the lesbian diatribe.” Amber sat back in a chair across from Aideen to sip at her coffee.

“It’s not a lesbian diatribe. All right, I take it back: I don’t hate men. As long as they’re gorgeous, silent, and willing to submit to my genius.” Aideen grinned as she took a sip from her own drink. Amber rolled her eyes.

“Well, who can argue with standards like that?”

“You know my goal in life.”

“To be rich enough to own a harem of beautiful men?”

“The only reason I’m in this business anymore.” Aideen grinned, propping her feet on the desk.

“Oi.”

“Indeed.”

“You must really be nervous, huh?”

“You know how I get when the bigwigs are in town. If we get this deal, we’ll be set for a very very long time.” Aideen abandoned her coffee, putting a hand over her roiling stomach.

“Maybe coffee wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Probably not.” Aideen fell to pinching her nose again, a habit she’d developed shortly after donning her first pair of glasses in college.

“Ms. Kelly, he’s just entered the parking garage.” Both women jumped as her secretary’s voice squawked over the intercom.

“Jesus, you scared me!”

“You are scarier than I am any day.” The cheery young man poked fun at his boss.

“Yeah yeah. Thanks, Sterling.”

“Well, we better get out into the main hall before Sterling starts drooling all over the famous Mr. Drake.” Amber set her coffee down, rising from her chair.

“Maybe he’ll scare him away and we won’t even need to have the meeting.” Aideen sounded quite hopeful.

“March.” Amber held the door for her and the two ladies walked into the lobby to wait by the elevators. Aideen crossed her arms over her chest and Amber fidgeted, clasping her hands behind her. Sterling began humming at the front desk, fiddling with an arrangement of flowers in an overly large vase. Both women turned to gaze at him questioningly and he stopped humming, shrugging at them sheepishly. A ding from the elevator drew both women’s attention as a tall man with shoulder length, curly, black hair emerged from behind the doors. He wore a black suit, a black dress shirt, and an electric blue tie. The tie bought out the color in his eyes perfectly, giving the impression of matching them dead on.

He was gorgeous and Amber found herself flushing. A few of his minions stepped out of the elevator to join him and he leveled Aideen with an appraising look as he approached her, his eyes roaming shamelessly up and down her figure. She wore a black suit herself with pinstripes and a very feminine cut. She wore a simple white lace camisole underneath to keep the suit from being too revealing, and her flaming red hair was hiked into a tight bun. Her bright green eyes glittered challengingly at him from behind a pair of rimless glasses and he found himself immensely intrigued. Aideen bristled at the grin that spread across his features.

“Good morning, Mr. Drake.” Her voice was rich, a little deep, and her tone was all clipped business.

“Good morning, Ms. Kelly.” He bowed and reached for her hand. Her hands stayed firmly crossed over her chest and he righted himself again, immensely intrigued by her stand-offish manner.

“Shall we?”

“Please, lead the way.” Drake followed behind her, watching her deliciously spiked heels click against the tiles of the lobby. Her suit was all business, but her shoes screamed closet freak. They were black with a punishingly sharp heel, and several straps encasing her delicately pedicured feet. He realized then that she was the height of an average man only because of these shoes, and he smiled to himself at the knowledge that she’d raised the bar on her image for the meeting.

She’d worn pants, not a dress, pulled her hair back into a fashionable but decidedly unprovocative style, and she wore a trendy shirt to cover up anything the suit jacket might have revealed. Yet, the top off to her style were those delectable shoes, serving the duel purpose of raising her to a man’s height and adding the tiniest bit of sex appeal to her look. She’d put a lot of thought into this image, wanting to come off professional. She was a woman to be taken seriously, with something to offer other than her body, but she hadn’t completely buried the one thing that always grabbed a man’s attention. They reached the conference room and Aideen held the door open for Drake and his employees.

“Ladies first.” Drake braced a hand against the door, standing a little closer to Aideen than she was comfortable with. To his delight she stood her ground and glared at him once more.

“That’s all right, Mr. Drake. I insist.” Aideen held the door expectantly and he entered, his men following him, already scandalized by the tone she’d used with their boss. Aideen closed the door behind them and as she gathered her materials for the meeting, Drake watched her, already intrigued immensely. This was going to be the most exciting meeting of the quarter, maybe even the year.