Yahrah St. John - Miami After Hours

When she’d arrived at the office to meet him earlier, she hadn’t been surprised to find him hunched over his computer tapping away at the keys. She had, however, been surprised at how attractive she’d found him as he’d walked toward her. His movements might have been smooth and relaxed, but there was an inherent strength and power in Daniel that Angela recognized and responded to.

She’d sucked in a deep breath when he’d slid past her in the doorway of his office, and all she’d been able to manage was, “You look pretty good yourself.”

Totally unoriginal.

But then again, who could blame her? She’d been face-to-face with the man, able to see all his features from his dark eyes to his extremely appealing mouth.

“Angela.” His smooth voice snagged her attention from her reverie and she looked at him beside her. He motioned her into a room that was already full of people. She estimated at least a dozen tables had been arranged for dinner. Angela instantly recognized several men, including the mayor and a city council member. “Come, I’d like to introduce you around.”

Daniel introduced her first to Ashton Rollins, the president of Prescott George. Angela wasn’t surprised a Rollins led the organization. They were well established in the community and had been for years. The Rollins estate on Fisher Island was even mentioned in the tour she’d taken when she decided to move here.

Surprisingly Ashton came alone.

Angela was shocked that some socialite hadn’t snagged a catch like him. She, however, wasn’t interested. Despite the appeal of his millions, he was a little too stiff for Angela’s taste. He wore a classic suit and silver tie, and didn’t have Daniel’s same pizzazz or style.

To her delight, Daniel introduced her to the governor and his wife, along with a few other affluent members of the community, before he eventually went off to talk to several of his friends, leaving Angela to fend for herself. She opted for a glass of wine and was standing in line at the open bar when a wife she’d encountered earlier commented from behind her.

“And how did you manage to land a playboy like Daniel?” the woman inquired.

Angela spun around. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, do tell,” the woman gushed. “It can’t have been easy gaining Daniel Cobb’s attention. Several of us—” she motioned to a group of at least half a dozen women who were gathered in a semicircle a short distance away “—have been trying to set him up for years with our girlfriends and have never been successful. What’s your secret?”

Of course they would assume she was his girlfriend, because that’s who wealthy men brought as their dinner dates to events such as these. But Angela had to clear the air. She didn’t want to be disingenuous. “Daniel and I aren’t dating.”

The woman touched her chest. “You aren’t?”

“No, we’re colleagues at his real estate firm.”

“So you’re single?”

The way she said it made Angela feel like it was a dirty word among these women.

“I had no idea,” the woman muttered and quickly rushed off to speak with the other women in the group.

“Ma’am, what would you like?” the bartender inquired. It was Angela’s turn to order.

“Chardonnay, please.”

Angela glanced toward the group of women and several of them were either outright glaring at her or giving her the stink eye. Was it really so horrible that she was single? What did they think she was going to do? Go after one of their husbands?

She was not interested in being anyone’s side piece. For her, it was all or nothing.

* * *

“Who’s the vixen you brought with you?” Joshua DeLong asked Daniel when he finally escaped a torturous conversation with an older member of the organization.

Daniel raised a brow. “Vixen?” He didn’t like Joshua’s word choice, but at least his friend had deigned to dress appropriately for the evening in trousers and a suit jacket sans tie. But then again, had Daniel ever seen Joshua in a tie?

“Yeah,” Joshua said from his side. “She’s pretty hot and all the women here are green with envy. Look around.” He inclined his head to two distinctive groups of women that were staring at Angela as if she were a leopard about to steal their young.

But Daniel wasn’t worried. “She can handle herself. I wouldn’t have brought her to Cobb Luxury Real Estate if I thought some insecure socialites could get the better of her.”

“It’s like that, huh?”

“Yeah, she has some skills. Skills that just need some refinement.”

“And you’re just the man to do that?” Joshua queried.

“Get your head out of the gutter, my friend,” Daniel said. “Angela’s my employee, nothing more.” And with that, he moved in her direction.

But before he could make it there, Angela had already headed to one group of women who were giving her the evil eye. She didn’t seem in the least bit put off by their less-than-receptive greeting. He thought about going over to save her, but instead stood back and watched.

Five minutes later, Angela had the women laughing and talking and pretty much eating out of her hand. She’d handled their animosity and their concern that she might be a threat to any one of their marriages with gracefulness.

Daniel was proud not only to have her on his staff, but to have her on his arm tonight.

He walked toward them. “Ladies,” he said as he inclined his head toward the women. “Mind if I steal her away?”

“Certainly.” One of the other wives beamed at him.

Once they were away from the group, Daniel whispered in her ear. “You handled that marvelously.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Did you doubt that I would?”

Daniel shook his head. “Not at all. You know how to handle people.”

“I do,” she replied. “You included.”

* * *

Angela didn’t know what made her say it, but she’d definitely been flirting. She’d let Daniel know in no uncertain terms that she could take him on any time of day. But was she really ready to do that? Theirs was a working relationship that tonight had crossed the line. Would there be any going back?

Since the dinner was about to begin and everyone was finding a seat, they did the same. Daniel and Angela sat at a table with eight other people. She hadn’t met the man immediately to her right and Daniel wasted no time introducing them.

“Angela, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Joshua DeLong. Joshua is a relatively new member to Prescott George.”

“Nice to meet you, Joshua.” Angela offered her hand, which Joshua pumped enthusiastically while looking her straight in the eye. She liked him and those blue eyes of his immediately.

Joshua DeLong was certainly the heartbreaker type with those baby blues, but at least he hadn’t sized her up like he wanted to take her to bed like some of the married men had tonight. A few wives had a right to be worried. If the wrong single woman had been here tonight and not Angela, there might have been some deals made that had nothing to do with business.

“Joshua is our charity outreach and public relations chair,” Daniel said.

“And what does that entail?” Angela inquired.

“Are you familiar with Prescott George?” Joshua asked.

“I am.”

“Every year we support a deserving foundation or charity, and they benefit from our fund-raising proceeds.”

“That’s wonderful,” Angela responded. “Do you already have this year’s recipient in mind?”

Her enthusiastic response to the project caused Joshua to smile. “Sure do. Ever heard of The Aunt Penny Foundation?”

“No, tell me about it.”

“The Aunt Penny Foundation provides mentoring and counseling to high school seniors who are in need of assistance. I’ll be meeting with their representative shortly to go over the details.”