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that Kevin popped in to pick up more
crap he “forgot”, but that wasn’t the case this time. These transitional
encounters would be the norm until he demanded a change to their agreement. She
needed to get past the reoccurring trepidation.   “Yes, but I’m getting used to it. He’ll only be there for a minute or
two.”
    Nikki nodded
her understanding. “You ready for your meeting?”
    “As
ready as I’ll ever be.”
    “Good.
Mr. Dillard’s assistant just arrived. The rest of them should be here shortly.”
    “Thanks
for the heads up.”
    Nikki
left and Becca saved her work to a thumb drive. The anxiety was already
building at the thought of seeing Kevin that night, so she submerged herself in
work and focused on preparing her presentation.
    At two
minutes to nine, she gathered her materials and headed to the conference room.
Mr. Dillard and his assistant, Mike, were already seated. She set her items on
the table and smiled.
    Extending
her hand, she said, “It’s a pleasure to have you back, Mr. Dillard. I think
you’ll be happy with the company presenting today. Their architects are all
fresh minds with diverse backgrounds in commercial branding.”
    Mr.
Dillard shook her hand. “I’m sure you won’t disappoint, Becca.”
    They
settled into their seats and she slipped the thumb drive into her laptop.
Making sure everything was lined up with the overhead, she set her presentation
to the first slide. Eyeing the clock, she stifled her nerves, hoping that the
architect reps would be there soon. “Can I get you more coffee before we
begin?”
    “No,
thank you. We have everything we need. Should we wait?”
    Her
toes twitched in her shoes under the table. Come on. Finally the door
opened. A slender woman with a cocoa complexion stepped in and Becca breathed a
sigh of relief.
    The
woman, dressed in a slate gray power suit, extended her hand. “Sorry we’re
late. I’m Miranda Robinson. Mr. McCullough will be with us in a moment.”
    Hands
were shaken and Becca again offered refreshments. When the door opened again,
every nerve in her body tensed as Braydon stepped into the conference
room. Oh my God!
    Forcing
her mouth shut, she formed a poor excuse for a smile. Braydon stilled only for
the briefest second, and extended his hand to her. “Braydon McCullough.”
    “Becca…
Stevens,” she greeted tightly, ignoring the jangling of nerves racing up her
arm as he gently shook her hand. Her body shivered with too many reminders of
how he had touched her so intimately.
    His
casual grin appeared sincere, but there was no missing the shrewd set of his
eyes. He was angry with her.
    Turning
away from his scrutiny, she quickly said, “Mr. McCullough, this is Mr. Dillard,
CEO of Apricot Inc. and his assistant, Mike.”
    The men
shook hands and Becca returned to her chair. Everyone took their seats and
stared at her expectantly.
    “Shall
we get started, Becca?” Mr. Dillard prompted.
    “Oh.
Right.” Kick-starting her delayed brain, she turned to the overhead screen.
“Apricot Inc. has been a trusted brand among the…” As she dove into her
presentation, her mind working on autopilot, she tried to fight back the sense
that Braydon’s eyes were not on the screen, but on her. Extremely
self-conscious of every word’s pronunciation and every twitch of her body, she
hoped to God her scripted spiel was making sense. This was a big deal for their
company.
    Somehow,
she reached the end of her pitch without screwing up too badly—she hoped. “So
you see, it is with complete faith that our company recommends Bradford
Architectural Corp. to set the new trend in the market and create a
renaissance, a rebirth, of the great company that is, and will continue to be,
Apricot Inc.”
    Miranda
appeared pleased. Mr. Dillard also looked happy. She didn’t dare glance at
Braydon.
    “I’m
intrigued,” Mr. Dillard said. “Why don’t you show us what you prepared?”
    She’d
maneuvered her posture so Braydon was at her