Double Wood_An MFM Billionaire Romance Page 5

I just didn’t realize Scarlett was a hidden gem too.

  The truth is that since last night, I haven’t been able to get her out of my head.

  “Do you want to go over the pitch one last time?” Elliot asks me as we pull into her parking lot the next morning.

  “What’s there to go over?” I ask, peering up at the alley from inside our car. “We have the same presentation for every single prospective seller. We’re in the business of persuading people. We have to convince her that selling is a good move.”

  “I like where your head is at,” Mark says. “You’re focused.”

  I sigh and shake my head.

  “Man, I have to be honest with you,” I say. “I am anything but focused right now. At least I’m not focused on the presentation.”

  “Let me guess,” he says, “it’s her. It’s Scarlett.”

  I tell Mark everything. Almost everything. What I usually don’t do is tell him the details of my love life. I leave all of that to him. He’s all too ready to kiss and tell. Me, not so much. But I have to get this off my chest, because he is going to see something is up with me.

  “Yeah,” I say, “it is her. I don’t know what it is. There’s just something about that girl. And man, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her all night.”

  Mark laughs and shakes his head, closing the binder of presentation materials on his lap.

  “You think you’re the only guy to have a huge hardon for this girl? Every man who goes in that damn place must fall in love with her the moment they see her,” he says, pointing to the alley, “and hell, one of them is sitting right next to you.”

  “You too?” I say, “I guess I’m not surprised. I mean, how could you not be into her? She’s…”

  “Incredible.”

  “I was going to say perfect.”

  “Perfect definitely covers it,” I laugh.

  “So what the hell are we going to do about this?” he says.

  “I don’t see that there’s much we can do. If it was just the three of us, I’d say we would have to proceed with extreme fucking caution. But it’s not just the three of us involved in this. We are about to be in business with this woman. We are about to enter negotiations with her. We cannot afford to fuck this up. Hell, she can’t afford to have us fuck it up. She’s hesitant to sell, and I think she’s put a lot of her hope in us.”

  “Woah, what are you saying exactly?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me slightly.

  “She’s been approached before, and she hasn’t wanted to sell because she doesn’t feel comfortable with handing her precious baby over to some big corporation. I assured her that we aren’t like that. I assured her that we would do right by her. I mean, it’s the truth. You and I are very clear about our mission here. We have prepared a book of our current properties for her to see if she would be happy being part of the Mark-Elliot family. But lots of people say they want to keep their business for the people and for the good of the community, and for lots of them it’s just all buzzwords. For her, she really means it.”

  “I don’t see the trouble with that,” Mark says, “I mean, we really mean it too.”

  “I just don’t want to disappoint her,” I say.

  “Here comes little miss good for the community right now.”

  I look out the window and see Scarlett walking toward the front door of her bowling alley with a bright smile on her face and a sinfully sexy little black dress that accentuates every single one of her curves. To top it all off she’s wearing a pair of black pumps that elongate her calves and make her walk with elegance and grace. And her hair is piled up on the top of her head in a pretty little bun.

  “She really is incredible,” I say.

  “You really like this girl,” Mark says.

  “But I can’t do anything about it,” I say, “because there’s too much at risk. We have shareholders. She has employees. Could you imagine the shitstorm that would happen if I were to start something with her? Our shareholders would question the entire deal. They’d question whether we did our due diligence. They’d question our integrity. They’d question whether we were doing favors for her and buying at a price that suits her better than it suits us. It just can’t happen.”

  “You’re acting like she doesn’t get a say in your little problem,” Mark says, laughing. “You know for sure she wants you, buddy? Because she was making some fucking interesting eyes at me last night.”

  “God, you always go there, you know that?” I shake my head, though he’s right. Of course I don’t know whether she wants me.

  But I have a pretty good feeling she does.

  “Go where?” he asks. “Facts are facts. She wants me. Now, I don’t know what there is between the two of you, but I know the way she looked at me. I can’t deny the way she looked at me.”

  “Doesn’t matter anyway,” I say, opening the car door, “because it’s a moot point. It can’t happen. She’s off limits. Firmly off limits. So let’s just get this deal done and get the fuck out of here.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Mark asks as we enter the bowling alley. “Or do you want to say fuck the consequences and take her right there behind the bar?”

  I swallow hard and feel my jaw tense up as she disappears past the bar into a back room marked Employees Only.

  “I’m not a fuck the consequences kind of guy,” I remind Mark. “That’s you. You’re the fuck the consequences guy. I’m the get shit done guy.”

  “You mean I don’t get shit done?” he asks.

  “You do get shit done, but you know what I mean.”

  “Then you don’t mind if I ask her to dinner,” he says, stepping in front of me.

  “Hold on just a minute,” I say, putting my hand on his chest. “In case you forgot, you are exactly one half of Mark-Elliot. It’s your ass on the line here too.”

  “But like you said, I’m the fuck the consequences guy.”

  He smirks at me. He’s crazy. The problem is that I feel pretty damn crazy right now too.

  “It’s your prerogative if you want to ask her out,” I say, “but if the deal goes to shit, don’t say I didn’t say this was a bad fucking idea.”

  “I don’t think you think it’s a bad idea,” he says. “I think you think it’s a fucking brilliant idea. The problem is that you’re too careful. But I say fuck that. Because Scarlett is worth it.”

  “There’s still a problem,” I say, my heart beating faster. “Even for the sake of argument, if something could happen.

  We’ve liked the same girl before. We’ve even slept with the same woman before, though there were never feelings involved on Mark’s end. Mark is like that. He doesn’t like feelings to get involved. I don’t know if what he feels for Scarlett right now is much more than just desire for the hottest woman we’ve ever both seen, but I know my feelings are certainly involved at this point.

  “I don’t see the problem,” Mark says.

  “You don’t see a problem with us both wanting the same woman?”

  “Not if it’s her. Not if it’s Scarlett. Because all I know is that I want her. I don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen after we get back to the City, but I know what I feel right fucking now.”

  “This deal cannot get fucked,” I repeat, though I feel myself beginning to soften to what I think he is suggesting, as crazy and ludicrous as it seems. “This deal cannot get fucked for her sake. Did you see the condition of this place? She is in over her damn head, and she wants us to help her fix it. The right way. Not by throwing money at the problem. I’m not even thinking of myself at this point. I’m thinking of her. This girl has pinned her hopes on us, whether she knows it or not. One look at her and you can see in her eyes what a hopeless dreamer she is.”

  “One look in her eyes and you knew you wanted her,” Mark says. “And you are severely overthinking this. We are out here in the damn sticks and there’s basically no way anyone will find out.”

  I turn toward the back of the bar, where I know Scarlett
is inside, probably preparing for the meeting. Maybe she is reviewing her financial documents or on the phone with her attorney. I told her attorneys wouldn’t be necessary at this early stage of our discussions, but she’s probably getting all of her ducks in a row before talking to us about business.

  And then I realize Mark is right. I can’t walk away from her without a taste.

  I already know Mark feels the same way toward her.

  “Let’s go,” I say as we begin walking toward her office. “We have a deal to make.”

  “Think she’s ever done anything like this before?” Mark asks.

  “I don’t think so. She’s too sweet.”

  I can feel my cock becoming hard at the thought of my hands running over her curves, of crushing my lips into hers.

  “Then I look forward to fully corrupting this sweet girl,” he says.

  Scarlett

  I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Mark and Elliot since I met them. I was barely able to sleep. All night long, my thoughts were consumed by them.

  Of Elliot, strong and silent, with his reticent smile and his dark eyes. And Mark, a bit hyper, but with that energetic, cool intensity, and the smile and laugh that he offers freely. I thought about both of them.

  I couldn’t help myself. As much as I tossed and turned in my small apartment, flipping my pillow over a million times and punching it to keep it fluffy and trying to fall asleep on my side, on my back, I couldn’t stop thinking about them.

  Their strength, their scents. The way I was in the backseat of their car with them. There was enough room for all of us to sit comfortably, but when Mark touched my knee, I was flooded with heat and want for him. But it wasn’t just for him alone.

  I thought about kissing both of them, about having both of them guiding their hands over my curves slowly and softly, teasing me and making me wild.

  The two men have invaded my mind.

  And now I am going to have them in my office with me.

  Two dangerously sexy men in close quarters with me again.

  I quickly tidy up, imagining what their offices in the City must look like. They’re probably planning something really special for their new offices out here, and I am quite certain that their offices are big and glamorous and are bigger than just twelve measly square feet, and they probably have a nice view. As for me, I have no view at all. I think there used to be a window in here somewhere, but I must have covered it up with a filing cabinet because I can’t find it for the life of me.

  I quickly take a stack of papers off the corner of my desk and divide it, shoving it into two drawers and then closing them up, though they won’t close properly because they are nearly overflowing.

  It’s nearly time for the meeting, and as I check the time, I wonder whether they will be on time. Though I know arriving late is a tactic some people use to intimidate the people they are meeting. They think it makes them look like they have the upper-hand, the power in the situation. Be too late, though, and you don’t look serious enough.

  I swallow thickly, my heart racing a million miles a minute, and fold my hands on the desk in front of me.

  I am not committing to anything today. I am not making any decisions. I am not signing anything.

  I know not to sign anything without having my attorney review it first. Hell, I don’t even have an attorney yet.

  I am getting ahead of myself. Way ahead.

  As I’m about to start worrying that they aren’t going to even show up, on top of just being nervous in general about the meeting, I hear a knock at the door.

  Now would be a good time to have that assistant to escort them in and make it look like I’m an actual professional.

  I walk over to the door and open it slowly, revealing Mark and Elliot on the other side, looking dashing as all hell.

  “Welcome,” I say brightly, “and please come in. You’ll excuse the state of my office.”

  I gesture into the room and they walk in together, each shaking my hand as they do.

  When Elliot shakes my hand, he nods at me intently, peering down at me with those dangerous eyes, making me feel dizzy. When Mark does it, he pulls my hand between both of his and shakes it gently, sending a pulse through my body.

  “I don’t think it’s so bad,” Elliot says, “I’m used to seeing offices that are…untidy.”

  “Untidy is an understatement,” I say, “I’m really sorry. It’s just that the meeting kind of snuck up on me and I lost track of the date and I never really had a chance to clean up and organize.”

  “No worries,” Mark says as the three of us settle into our chairs. “I’ve seen worse.”

  “You should see his apartment,” Elliot says, “he has a person who comes every Friday night to clean up. And his office is a mess too. Papers everywhere. He needs an assistant to assist his assistant.”

  “So you guys are close then, if you’ve been to each other’s apartments?” I ask.

  I imagine them hitting the bars, staying out all night, sleeping with the most beautiful and sexy and perfect women in all of New York.

  “Yes, we are pretty close,” Mark says, his eyes dragging up and down my body. He catches my glance and I feel the air being sucked out of my lungs when he looks at me. “We do everything together.”

  “When you work together, that happens. Late nights at the office turn into ordering in dinner, going out for a drink afterwards. It works for us. We started out together as interns and we just hit it off,” Elliot says.

  My eyes flash over to his. So they do everything together, huh? I could have seen that myself. They share a car, they share a business, an office.

  “I saw on your website that you both were interns together,” I say, crossing my legs under the desk. My dress pulls across my thighs. I have always been curvy, but I have put on a few extra pounds over the past couple of months. I guess it’s all the pizza and beer I’ve been eating. I don’t have much time to cook, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have the energy for it.

  “That’s long in the past,” Mark says, “and not very interesting. What’s interesting is you, Scarlett.”

  My mouth becomes dry and I feel my thighs clench together as he looks at me. The muscles in his broad chest flex as he opens a folder on his lap in front of him. I am am trying to focus the best I can, but I am desperately distracted. All I can think about it last when when he told me not to get screwed during the meeting. I knew it was a joke, but that little comment is stuck in my head.

  “What about me?” I ask in a small voice. Elliot, the quiet one, takes me by surprise by licking his lips and looking at me with dark intensity, with bedroom eyes almost, his eyelids hooded in what I swear is desire.

  “What made you say yes to us, Scarlett,” he asks.

  “Well, I am going to be completely honest here. I don’t know if I’m putting myself at a strategic disadvantage by telling you this, but I am really in danger here. I am not underwater yet, I am still pulling in a profit month over month, but if this doesn’t turn around fast, I don’t know what I would do. I’ve been holding on as tight as I can, but I don’t think things are going to turn around, and if I don’t sell now, I’m afraid that I am going to have to just shut the place down. I took out a mortgage on the property about a year ago to just keep up with the costs of maintaining it. I thought it was just a bad season. Turns out it was just the tip of the iceberg.”

  “What do you think changed,” Elliot asks softly.

  “You know, I ask myself that all the time. I thought we would be okay. I thought kids don’t play outside anymore, they’re always cooped up inside, so this would be a good place for them. Kids, teens, adults, whoever. The elderly even, if they want. But then I realized people are cooped up inside because they are always on their gadgets. Then I said, oh, if they’re on their phones, they can come here to the bar and if everyone just wants to be on their phones that’s fine. Perfectly fine!”

  “But even the bar scene is dying,” Mark says. “You used to
go out to a bar if you wanted to hook up. Now you get on an app. Nothing’s face to face anymore.”

  “Exactly,” I sigh.

  “But people still want to do novel things,” Elliot says, “and I think that’s where we can help you.”

  Mark takes the folder from his lap and opens it up in front of me.

  “The modern consumer is sophisticated. Your place is good, but it isn’t updated. We were able to purchase and turn around a small arcade out in Bay Ridge. By actually emphasizing the nostalgia factor, we were able to get more customers in the door. Now, nostalgia costs money. So we were thinking of expanding your arcade by purchasing some more classic games, updating the bar so that you offer a little bit more high end options, and putting in a new sound system so that it actually feels like people are out at a club.”

  I peruse the folder, stopping at a rather detailed plan they’ve prepared for the first three months of their acquisition, some artist’s digital renderings, and a budget for everything from napkins to advertising.

  “This is a lot of money for marketing,” I say when I see the number, my eyes flying up to Mark and Elliot. “This is, like, more than I’ve ever spent. I mean, not in a quarter or a year. Like, cumulatively, over the alley’s entire lifespan.”

  “We know,” Elliot says, leaning back in his chair, “but I think that’s what you need to drive this thing forward. And you said it yourself, you need someone to take over the reigns. Someone with capital.”

  “Someone, or two guys. Two guys who are very interested. Scarlett,” Mark says, “we want you to think about this very seriously.”

  I am blown away by their dedication to their work. It is clear that they have put a lot of effort and time into this meeting. Their presentation is tight, and they talk about the alley with so much ease and familiarity, it’s almost like they’re talking about it as though they’re already invested in it. I can see that they are emotionally invested at the very least.

  “I will certainly think about it,” I say. “I would rather be in business with the two of you than anyone else.”

  Mark shoots a look over to Elliot and then to me. Elliot nods.