I blinked as something uncomfortable lodged in my stomach. He spoke as though he’d noticed me before we met yesterday. But also…he was so right. So very right. I did present myself as lesser with all these guys. Deep down I knew it. And hated it. But damn, they were intimidating.
Not seeing my expression, Brad went on, “Business is war, and a male-dominated industry has a lot of dick swinging and ball busting. To stick out, you need to hold your own. You need to embody the confidence I see in you. Own yourself, own the job you do, and eventually they’ll respect you. Some may never like you, but that doesn’t matter. Business isn’t about making friends. That’s why they say business isn’t personal.” He flashed me a gorgeous smile. “Just rule the roost in business as you do in life, and you won’t have any problems.”
I bit my lip and looked away. He didn’t know me very well. I didn’t rule the roost in life; I crashed into it, created havoc, and then stumbled away cursing.
Speaking of. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me your friend was the COO for Resslen? I about crapped myself when I saw him!”
“There she is.” Brad smiled down at his laptop. “That’s the girl I was talking about.”
A man entered the room with harried strides, a computer tucked under his arm, followed by another man with a gut and a bored expression. The harried man looked around with frantic eyes, hunting for a place to sit. The man with a bored expression set up on the podium, unhurried.
“I’m not a mind reader,” Brad said, oblivious to the scene. “How could I know you would be presenting to him?”
I gave him a level look. “Really? There is only one huge company holding the equivalent of open auditions at this convention. You didn’t know?”
The smile tickled his lips again.
“That’s what I thought.” I sniffed and opened a Word doc so I could take notes.
“Is there place back here?” the harried man asked as he neared our row. He pointed to the end.
“No room, man. Sorry,” the guy on the end said. Brad didn’t even look up. His superpowers only extended to women, it looked like.
Warm fuzzies assaulted me.
I smoothed my hair. I’d taken time to actually style it that morning, and lint-roll my suit, so I looked okay. Quite the change from the night before. At least I’d had a chance to rectify that little situation.
“If you can’t find a seat, you have to move on,” the man at the podium said, looking at the newcomer. “They’ve got rules regarding the capacity of these rooms.”
“I signed up, though. There should be a place for me,” the man said, halting with his computer halfway out of his bag, standing against the wall.
“Not my problem. You have to go.” The presenter pulled up the first slide.
“But—”
“You have to go. You’re holding us up.” The presenter shook his head and leaned against the podium in slow impatience.
The harried man huffed. He stuffed his computer back in his bag and muttered as he stomped toward the door at the front. “I signed up,” he said as he passed the presenter. His words had no impact.
That could’ve been me. I would’ve been mortified, like getting picked last in dodgeball…and then getting a red ball to the face.
“Thanks,” I whispered to Brad as the presenter turned toward the large screen. “This time you really did save me.”
Brad nudged me softly with his shoulder. His eyes twinkled as they stared openly into mine. “My pleasure.”
Six
As the presentation wore on, I was finding it harder and harder to concentrate. All the information was insightful and fantastic, but while I was taking notes with vigor, Brad’s fingers only flew across the keyboard a few times. He’d stare at the slides as they changed, listen to the presenter for a few moments, and then click into solitaire.
That wasn’t what had my focus unraveling like a knit sweater when a kid was pulling on a string, though. As time wore on, his small shifts made parts of his body bump me. Sometimes it was his arm, but more often it was his leg. His knee would graze against mine, causing a surge of electricity to run through the point of contact and fry my body pleasantly. My stomach flipped and my heart flopped before clattering against my ribs.
I could’ve done without the continued sweating problem. I could almost smell the alcohol trying to work out of my body.
“Didn’t find that interesting, huh?” I asked when the presenter shut the slides down.
“This isn’t my first rodeo. I stopped going to conventions for a reason,” Brad responded.
“Oh, well, excuse me for not reading ‘I know it all’ in your bearing. My mistake.” I grinned as I stood and slipped my computer into its bag.
“It’s that, right there. That sassy attitude. That’s what you need to show the men in your team. Or in this field. That’d shut them down.”
I looked up in surprise at his serious tone. He winked. “Since I know it all, you can take that to the bank.”