"Are you ready for this?"

Noah looked down at me, his hand resting on the handle of the conference room door. I was very aware of all the eyes on us as we had walked from his office over to where we now stood and I wasn't about to chicken out with them all watching.

Noah had told me about this meeting last night over dinner. I had asked all my questions and decided that I would join him for this. I spent most of the evening studying all the files on his laptop. Looking like a moron was not acceptable. If I was going to be the Director of Design for R&R, I needed to act like it. There was no way I would let my brother down.

He waited for me to nod and then opened the door.

Two men were waiting for us. The older of them men smiled as we entered. The other one, mid-thirties and pissed at the world, did not. However, both men seemed a little surprised to see someone other than Noah joining them. They rose as I entered, each extending a hand to introduce themselves.

"Good morning, gentlemen. This is Regan Masterson, Riley's twin sister. Regan, meet Thomas and his son William."

"Miss Masterson, I am so sorry to hear of your brother's unfortunate passing. I enjoyed working with him very much." Thomas patted the back of my hand as we shook.

"Thank you, Thomas."

"Yeah, sorry," William added, not sounding sorry at all. He took his time raking his eyes over me from head to toe and back up, being obvious and very obnoxious about it. "Mugging or something, wasn't it?

Noah went to speak but I beat him to it, willing my voice to stay steady as we took our seats. "Yes, he was shot right through the heart. Killed him instantly."

"That has to suck, right?" William's attention turned back to Noah as if I hadn't just been speaking to him about the horrific death of my twin. "Dies and leaves you with a company to run on your own."

This guy William wasn't 'difficult' as Noah had described. He was just an asshole. I tried to offer him and Thomas a reassuring smile. "He left it in very capable hands, let me assure you."

I swear to God, William actually rolled his eyes before grudgingly returning his gaze to me. He quickly swept his eyes over me again for a shorter assessment but lingered too long on my breasts and folded his hands in front of him on the table. "Not to be rude, but can I ask in what capacity you're acting regarding R&R? I mean, other than the twin sister of the dead owner. I'm assuming there's a reason you're joining us so late in the proceedings."

Even though he spoke with a smile on his face, he wasn't hiding his more than mild annoyance at my presence. Thomas shot him a look.

"Please excuse my son, he's just very cautious when it comes to some details about our deal."

"Understood." I met William's annoyed stare with one of my own. "I'm taking over my brother's portion of R&R, LLC, so as co-owner, CEO, and Director of Design, I thought meeting my prospective clients would be a good idea."

William held my eye briefly, still sizing me up, and I let him. I really didn't like this man. He seemed overly arrogant, with more than a touch of misplaced misogynistic attitude. I don't think his problem was that there was someone new joining them. His problem was that I was a woman.

"I'm sure you understand my concern, sweetheart. We don't have time to rehash details you may have missed."

Noah remained silent next to me, his chin propped in his hand, his index finger tapping against his cheek. I could see him clenching his jaw, probably wanting to jump in, yet he allowed me to handle this myself, knowing I'd get pissed if it looked like he had to come to my rescue. He knew me so well and it made me want to kiss him, right here, right in front of these two guys. Instead, I folded my hands in front of me and leaned forward slightly, mimicking William's position. It worked. He leaned back away from me.

"Call me Regan. And I assure you I am caught up on all the details. So, if you're ready, why don't we start right where you left off after your last discussion." I reached for Noah's laptop. "May I?"

He gestured I should take it, grinning at me. "It's all yours."

I flipped it open and pulled up the proposal Noah had been studying earlier, then plugged in the HDMI cable so it would appear on the large TV screen hung on the wall to our left. "I believe Noah had laid out the development plan for you quite clearly, as you can see here in the breakdown. I'd be more than happy to review it again for you if you'd like to continue my interview?"

"That won't be necessary." Thomas smiled, trying to break some of the tension. "We were fine with it before, we're still fine with it now, aren't we?" He directed the question to William, who didn't nod.

"I'm not sure I'm still fine with it." He narrowed his eyes at me. "I was fine with it when we met with Riley and Noah but that's not the case anymore."

Noah finally cut in, growing exceedingly irritated at William's attitude. "The deal hasn't changed, William. If you want to take the time to read it again, go ahead. We have all afternoon."

"I'm not concerned about the deal. My concern is with who Riley decided to let take over for him."

"You know what R&R stands for, William?" I adopted my teacher's voice. When William didn't answer, I continued. "It stands for Riley and Regan. Whether you knew of that or not, I have always been part of this company. And I promise you, the fact that I have a vagina as never interfered in my ability to do good work. Now, how about we get back to why you came here today and stop wasting everyone's time."

With narrowed eyes, William nodded.

Noah angled a glance toward me, his face full of pride. He was proud of me. If my heart weren't already beating a million times a minute, his look would have caused it to.

Thomas slapped a hand on the table lightly, happy to move on from the hostile exchange. "Great, let's move on to the good stuff."

Noah threw them his most charming smile. "I believe we left off with the fee structure for the services you've agreed upon." He jumped right into closing the deal.

Noah was excellent at his job. It was fascinating to watch and I was envious of his ability to discuss things like fees and payments so casually, as if he was having a conversation among friends. Thomas hemmed and hawed over some of the costs and Noah didn't miss a beat, explaining the value of each of the services, like why it was so important to spend the money for a successful online presence in this day and age yet still need to focus on a print campaign. He even had William completely agreeing with him, which helped bring Thomas back around, and they signed the contract within thirty minutes.

"Melody," Noah summoned over the conference phone intercom. "Gather the team and have them come in here to meet Thomas and William."

Hopefully, Melody knew who 'the team' was since I had no idea. We were standing and shaking hands again, William even shook mine, when the door slid open and four employees entered. The team, I presumed.

"You've met everyone already from our first pitch but let me refresh your memories." Noah pointed to a young man with a beard and dark-rimmed glasses. "This is Sean. He's going to be your main point of contact. If you need anything, you can contact him, and he'll keep you up to speed on everything as it happens. Marci will run your digital campaign, everything from branding, web development, and printing."

I recognized Marci from the day before yesterday. She was the one who had a front-row seat to my confrontation with Melody. She gave me a small wave and a 'what's up' nod when she entered. I responded with the same nod. Later today, if there was an opportunity, I'd like to officially introduce myself to her. And wish her luck with William.

Noah was finishing up the introductions, making his way toward the door to let the group sit down and start their work together. "And don't hesitate to call Regan for anything you need, any questions you might have."

I glanced over my shoulder at him, surprised he wouldn't offer himself as the one to contact and he winked at me. His show of complete confidence in me to everyone in the room had just sealed the deal.

I totally love him.

Thomas edged his way around the table as the team settled into their seats, pulling me aside as Noah exited. I didn't care much at that moment about what Thomas felt he needed to say to me.

"I'm very sorry about William. That's not the impression I like to make when doing business."

"It's fine." It wasn't. Thomas might seem pretty embarrassed by his son's attitude, but he didn't exactly speak up against it. I offered a fake smile. Anything to get out of this room and back with Noah. "I'm used to dealing with unruly boys."

"What it is that you used to do?"

"I was a middle school art teacher."

Thomas laughed, loud and deep and had every one within earshot turning to look at us. "I think you're going to do just fine here, Regan. Just fine." With a pat on the back, he returned to his seat, still chuckling.

With another fake smile and a small laugh, I hastened toward the exit.

Noah was waiting for me as I shut the conference door behind me, and he was beaming at me. I stopped directly in front of him, beaming back and he took my hand and kissed my knuckles.

"Noah," I warned quietly and he wrinkled his nose at me which was just about the most adorable damn thing I'd ever seen.

"Screw your rules," he said, dropping my hand. "You were absolutely amazing in there."

"You were pretty amazing yourself."

His hand found its usual spot on my lower back as we walked to his office. He closed the door behind us. "If this office weren't mostly windows, I'd have you bent over my desk right now. The way you handled William was seriously turning me on."

I couldn't keep myself from looking at his desk and biting my lip. Stupid windows.

He cleared his throat as he saw me looking at his desk. "What was Thomas saying to you?"

I repeated the short conversation, and Noah laughed, almost as loudly as Thomas had. I was on a roll this afternoon. My enjoyment waned when Melody walked in, not bothering to knock or announce her presence as if she was allowed to waltz into Noah's office whenever she pleased. I bit my tongue in annoyance as she smiled at him, ignoring me, and handed him a file.

"Here's the file for the gallery launch, Noah. Thad is on his way over to finalize the details for tomorrow night."

He took the file and handed it immediately to me, barely looking at her as he sat down behind his desk. I took the chair in front of him. Her interruption seemed to annoy him as well. "Make another copy for me, please. Actually, email it to me. And did the caterer reconfirm the headcount?"

"I'll call them right now, Noah." She beamed at him. "Marshall brought in lunch for everyone, takeout from Salads in Wonderland. You want me to bring you the usual, Noah?"

God, she kept saying his name, and it was grating my nerves. It wasn't just the fact that she used his first name but she enunciated it in a too familiar way, low and breathy. It hinted at an intimacy that I knew wasn't there but anyone unaware of that would immediately assume they were very personal with each other. It was going to have to stop if I was sticking around. Our chat the other day didn't seem to have made any difference to her.

He finally spared her a quick look. "Please, thanks. Reggie, you want anything?"

I gave her a sickeningly sweet smile. "I'll just take the same as him, thank you."

Melody ran her tongue over her teeth. She obviously did not like the idea of getting me lunch. "Sure," she answered and pivoted on her heel to leave, then turned back.

"Oh, and Noah? Your tux is ready at the tailors. Should I go pick it up for you?"

"I can pick it up later."

I rolled my eyes. "Does she have to say your name like that?"

"Like what?" He was grinning fully now. He knew exactly what I meant.

"No-ah," I imitated annoyingly. "I hate it. Did you really tell her to call you by your first name?"

"I don't know, maybe. Honestly, I really don't pay much attention to her."

"Hmm, good answer."

Melody must have a complex about needing to please people, specifically Noah because she returned almost immediately with the food. Two take out containers full of some salad, each with a set of plastic silverware and two bottles of water tucked under arm. She set it all down on Noah's desk, taking the time to situate his closer to him and leaving mine where it rested. Happy with her work, she backed up, hands clasped in front of her.

"Anything else I can get you, Noah?"

He heard it that time, the way she pronounced it. His eyes narrowed a little. "No, we're all set." Just as she stepped out the door, Noah stopped her. "And Melody?"

"Yes, Noah?"

"Call me Mr. Spencer, please."

I couldn't help myself, I let out a small laugh and then tried covering it up with a cough but I wasn't fooling anyone. Melody shut the door hard and huffed back toward her desk.

"She really was saying it like that. I can't believe I never noticed it before."

"I think you just ruined her day, No-ah." I giggled, imitating her again.

He handed me my salad and utensils as I scooted the chair closer to the edge of his desk. "Not sure what Riley saw in her."

"Riley and her?"

"Oh yeah. They tried to keep it a secret, except I kept walking in on them screwing the in men's room after hours."

"She probably wanted you to catch them," I muttered around a forkful of salad. "Gross."

"Nothing I'm interested in seeing."

I crossed my legs, and Noah watched the movement, suddenly distracted from his food.

"Speaking of," he murmured.

I pointed my fork at him. "Don't you start anything. Not here."

"Seriously, that dress is a tease."

My dress was fairly subdued as far as I was concerned. Nothing special, just a basic navy-blue wrap dress I'd had for years. But as he continued to stare at my legs, I figured it wasn't actually the dress that he found to be a tease. I could feel myself start to react to his long stare, and I struggled not to squirm in my seat and give it away. Fixating on my food, I shoved another forkful of salad into my mouth, and he eventually did the same.

Apparently, the 'usual' for Noah was a salad of grilled chicken, mixed greens, apples, and walnuts, topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. It's not something I would have picked out for myself, but it was surprisingly good. And I was pretty hungry. My appetite had definitely returned these past few days, most likely due to increased physical activity. My usual morning runs had nothing on Joshua's orgasmic workout routines, all my muscles still a little achy. My wrists still bore the red stripes from the rope but thankfully the long sleeves of my dress hid them.

Noah's phone rang, and I jumped.

He flipped the speakerphone button. "Noah here," he mumbled, mouth full of food.

"I have a call for Miss Masterson," Melody announced.

He gave me quizzical look and I was as clueless as him. "She can take it in here."

I set my fork down and took a sip of water as I heard Melody bring the caller onto the line. "This is Regan."

"You have a secretary now?"

I froze. "Stephen," I whispered. "How'd you get this number?"

"Like I told you before, I'll do whatever I need to get you to talk to me. And it's laughable how easy you're making it on me."

"How'd you find me?" I insisted, louder and more panicked. When Noah opened his mouth to say something, I cut him off with a swish of my hand. I held my finger to my lips. I was afraid that if Stephen knew someone else was here, he'd hang up and then I wouldn't find out how he got this number. If he would even tell me.

"I think we should talk, Regan. You've been keeping things from me." His voice rose in pitch as if he was scolding a young child and it scared me. "And you won't answer any of my texts."

"I've been busy. And I got rid of my phone."

"What's keeping you so busy you can't talk to me? Too big of a deal now that you own a company?" He laughed when he heard me gasp. His voice turned smug. "That's right, I know everything you've been doing. You should come home to me. Boston is sooo far away from Houston."

Noah gave me a sharp look at Stephen's admission. He knew right where I was.

I kept talking. "Houston was never my home."

"How can you say that?" His voice was lightly chiding, like we were kidding around. "We were building a life there."

I glanced at Noah to get his reaction. He was hurriedly texting someone. Probably Mal, Walker, or one of his guys.

"You're right," I lied, trying another tactic. "And I've been acting very badly toward you. So let's talk. If you tell me how you found me, I'll talk for as long as you want. Maybe I'll come home."

Wrong move. He yelled into the phone, "Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot! I know you're lying!"

"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't lie again." That was a lie.

"You look really pretty today in that dress. I remember when you wore it on our first date." Stephen pressed the phone close to his mouth and breathed. "I hope your new men like unwrapping you from it as much as I did."

"Listen, you fucking creep," Noah ground out. "I'll kill you if you come near her again."

"Please, you're as clueless as your wanna-be guard dogs. Which reminds me, Regan. If I had known you liked ice skating so much, I'd have taken you myself."

I clapped a hand over my mouth to hide a cry of alarm. "You - you were there?"

He laughed again, maniacal and so very clearly disconnected from sanity. "I'm everywhere, Regan. I keep telling you you can't hide from me, and for some reason, you won't believe me."