Chapter 6 Awkward

• I changed into a low-cut red dress with a scoop back and matching five-inch heels. I kept in my gold earrings. My lips were painted red and my eyelids gold, while my hair had been pulled back into a bun.
• I made it out my door, wedding binder in hand, just in time to make it to the Lexington Hotel at exactly nine. While I was a bit annoyed at being forced to valet park, I was also a mixture of nervous and excited.
• Had Andrew recognized me as his mate? Did he intend to…sleep with me?
• “Crystal? Crystal Blanchard?” I heard a male voice say as soon as I entered the lobby.
• I turned around to find a young, well-dressed man waiting for me by the front desk.
• “Yes?” I said hesitantly.
• “My name is Charles. I’m here to take you up to His Highness, Andrew Dubois. He just finished a banquet and is very tired, so he’s waiting for you up at the presidential suite.”
• I deflated slightly. I assured myself that it didn’t mean anything, that Andrew had only had a long day, but it also didn’t seem like a good sign that he didn’t come down here to meet me himself.
• “Of course,” I said, forcing a smile. “Please, lead the way.”
• We crossed the enormous lobby and went up the gold-plated elevator in relative silence. I thought about asking Charles some questions to gage Andrew’s general mood, but Charles himself did not seem to be in the mood to chat, so I decided it was best to let the silence hang.
• The elevator stopped directly across the hall from a solid oak door with a gold plaque that read, “Presidential Suite.” Charles took out a keycard, swiped it, and opened the door wide.
• “Ms. Crystal Blanchard, here to see Your Highness, Andrew Dubois,” he announced as he motioned me inside.
• “Thank you, Charles,” Andrew’s voice called from somewhere inside the suite. “Please, Crystal, come in and make yourself at home.”
• I took tentative steps forward as Charles closed the door behind me.
• The suite was huge, somehow bigger than the lobby below. It seemed as though I was only in the sitting room, surrounded by black and red loveseats, recliners, and a roaring fireplace. The actual bedroom hid somewhere behind one of the four doors branching off from this room, and a part of me wondered if I would get to see it that night.
• Suddenly, one of the four doors swung open to reveal Andrew in a half-buttoned three-piece suite, his tie missing and his hair ruffled. I blushed, for a moment thinking that maybe he already had company, but then the light traces of shadows under his eyes exposed that he was only tired.
• “I’m sorry to ask you to come here so late,” Andrew began as he approached me. “I’m sure that Charles told you about the banquet. I was going to rest here afterward but on a spur-of-the-moment decision thought that I should check on the wedding planning.”
• His eyes slowly roved up and down my body.
• “That isn’t a problem, is it?”
• I flushed and shifted from one foot to the other. So, he hadn’t planned to sleep with me. I hoped to goddess that he hadn’t noticed my meticulous outfit, then.
• Of course, by the way he had looked at me a moment before, that was highly unlikely. He was probably just not saying anything to be polite. Add yet another thing to the list of things to like about him.
• “No, it’s not a problem at all,” I replied. I gestured towards a pair of seats with a coffee table in between them. “Shall we?”
• Andrew nodded, and we sat down.
• “So, what exactly did you want to go over?” I asked.
• “I would like to see the rate for the venue again, if you don’t mind. I want to make sure that we’re getting the best price and that we’re not being ripped off just because I’m the Alpha King.”
• “Of course.”
• I flipped through the binder until I found the appropriate documents and pulled them out. As I was about to give them to Andrew, though, they slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor.
• “Shoot,” I muttered under my breath.
• I bent down to pick up the documents, forgetting about the low cut of my dress. When I straightened up, Andrew’s gaze had intensified.
• “Crystal,” he said in a low voice, “are you trying to seduce me?”
• My jaw dropped. Blushing, I crossed my arms over my chest to cover up. I had never felt so exposed as I did under Andrew’s sharp gaze.
• I took a moment to regain my composure before I offered the documents to him.
• “I’m so sorry,” I began. “I rushed over here from a date, and I guess I forgot to change into professional attire.”
• His lips lifted in a half-smile in return.
• “No, I’m sorry. It’s only that I’ve had to fire several secretaries for always showing off their alluring figures in front of me, so I just had to be sure that you weren’t doing the same thing.”
• I waved the matter away.
• “I don’t take offense at all.”
• I also knew that he didn’t buy my excuse at all, but if he was willing to give me the out, then I was more than willing to take it.
• * *
• I was fortunate to leave that meeting with my dignity intact. At least I was able to address all of Andrew’s concerns, and he didn’t seem overly concerned by my attire beyond that one incident. If nothing else, I solidified Andrew’s trust in me as his daughter’s wedding planner.
• By the next morning, I had put the whole thing behind me. Noah called me during breakfast and insisted on meeting me again at the café during lunch. He said that he had worked all night and found something crucial that he needed to discuss with me, so I agreed.
• When we caught sight of each other at the café, Noah’s entire face seemed to light up. He waved me over to him with newfound energy and even got up and pulled out my chair for me, which I graciously let him do.
• “Thank you, Noah,” I said as I took my seat. “How are you today?”
• “A little exhausted, but excited to show you what I found,” he replied, sitting back down and grabbing some papers out of his suitcase.
• “Yeah, you said that you found something crucial overnight? How was that?”
• “Well, long story short, I found evidence that your company’s assets were most likely transferred to Bob.”
• He showed me some of the paper trail, but in my stunned state, it all went over my head.
• “So, essentially, Bob stole from me?” I said, feeling a mix of anger at Bob and joy that Noah was able to find this.
• “Essentially. Technically, he stole from the company, but yes, he stole from you. He stole your part of the investment.”
• “And it’s substantial?”
• Noah’s eyes widened.
• “Oh, yes. It is.”
• I grinned.
• “Can I tell you something, Noah?”
• He nodded.
• “Of course.”
• “I plan on getting the investment I made back through legal proceedings. For that, I’ll need your help.”
• “Of course. Like I said, I’ll do anything I can to help you.”
• “But there’s something else. I’m going to sabotage Bob’s wedding in a way that won’t affect Lily’s company.”
• Noah stared at me in stunned silence for a minute.
• “Woah. I can’t believe that you trust me this much.”
• “Noah, I knew that you were the only person I could rely on from the moment we first met.”