Page 37 of Chance of Romance
Chapter Nine
Logan was so nervous for his meeting with Elias Gold he sweated through his dress shirt and had to change. This guy was the big kahuna, the one who could bring them to the next level. Not just because he had the big bucks. Elias had connections; he had clout. All of it would smooth the way for further growth, maybe even going public one day for the ultimate payday. That was how his brother, Jake, had become a billionaire. Logan mentally rehearsed his presentation on the drive over to Elias’s San Francisco office. He had it down cold.
His mind drifted to Olivia. They’d be meeting for dinner tonight. He had a ruby ring for her and planned to pick up some roses. Ruby was her birthstone. He thought he should get big points for remembering it. It was the kind of gesture Sabrina would probably approve of. Things weren’t going well for Sabrina. For some reason, there was continued attack coverage of her practice and personal life. The spotlight wasn’t pretty. He understood better now why she hadn’t wanted the attention in the first place.
He arrived in Elias’s office, waited half an hour in the waiting room, where he nearly lost his cool, and was finally shown into Elias’s huge corner office. Large picture windows gave a view of the city skyline and the bay beyond.
Elias didn’t bother to stand, merely gesturing for Logan to take a seat in one of the leather chairs across from his massive sleek black desk. Elias’s chair was practically a throne, wide and tall.
Logan remained standing and reached across the desk to shake his hand. “Nice to see you again, Elias.” They’d met once at a fundraiser in New York City, which was how he’d gotten this meeting.
“You too. Please have a seat.”
Logan was six feet tall, but when he sat in the offered chair, he had to look up at Elias lounging on his throne. He suspected the guest chairs were lower than Elias’s chair on purpose.
Elias folded his hands on his desk. “Logan, I agreed to this meeting, and I keep my word, but I must confess there’s been some talk.”
Logan wasn’t about to offer any information on what that might be about. Could be Ben’s false sexual harassment accusation, could be Logan in the press, or something worse he wasn’t aware of. “What kind of talk?”
“You and a woman who bills herself as some kind of Hollywood Love Guru are all over the internet. Honestly, we don’t need this kind of gossip. It does not inspire confidence to be the flavor of the day.”
Logan took a deep breath. “Sabrina has been in the news a bit, but I assure you those reporters are just speculating. She’s a friend of mine from home and is well respected for her work with couples. Must be a slow news cycle in January.”
Elias grunted. “And I’ve also heard about Ben’s sexual harassment charge.”
“That charge was baseless. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.”
Elias spread his palms wide. “Then why isn’t he here today?”
Logan’s gut churned. This was getting off to a bad start. “I agreed to take the lead on the meetings. He’s holding down the fort back home. It’s just a two-man operation.”
“But you’re the man behind software development. He’s the finance guy.”
“We share those roles.”
Elias smiled, a cool smile that put Logan on the defensive. “So Ben does software too?”
He managed to sound calm. “No. But I do both.”
Elias leaned back in his throne and crossed one ankle over his knee. “Seems inefficient.”
Logan broke out in a sweat, belatedly wishing he’d insisted Ben come along. His business partner had felt strongly the black mark against him would hold them back. Logan had thought it might be better just to confront any concerns and deflect them, but Ben was still upset about the whole thing and didn’t feel comfortable representing them in the meetings. “I can only do my job well when I understand where our financial priorities lie.”
Elias put his leg down and leaned forward. “This shit makes shareholders nervous.”
“Well, so far, we haven’t opened up to shareholders.”
“But you will one day. Isn’t that the goal? Build your business, make bank, build another business. That’s how most tech start-ups go.”
He placed his palms on Elias’s desk and leaned in. “Ben and I are dedicated to Checkin. This isn’t a stepping-stone to something else. My goal is to bring in investment to build Checkin. We want a sales force, a marketing team, and an upgrade to our software to make it compatible with the dinosaur HR systems out there. Now can we talk numbers? Because I think you’ll like the growth potential.”
Elias slapped his desk. “Show me the numbers.”
Logan breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out the report, handing it across the desk, and began to outline step by step how they’d started with checking employee backgrounds for other tech companies in the US and Canada, and slowly scaled up to other industries, but there were so many more they wanted to get into. He also had a video that demonstrated the software, but he’d save that for the team meeting if it got that far. Elias was all about the numbers. He’d already said he wouldn’t bring his team into it unless he thought it was worth their time.
Twenty minutes later, it was Elias’s turn to talk. He fired questions one after another, and Logan was able to answer most. And the one he couldn’t, about branching out to Europe, he told him they’d think it over but had no immediate plans.
Elias scribbled on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk to Logan. “That’s my offer.”
