Page 8 of Midnight & Memories

I’m so glad you went with your instincts! I’m still here at the office. Just got finished changing into something more appropriate for dinner. I’ll be down in a few with my laptop and notes.

Within a brief minute, Poppy got a reply.

Great! Look for the limo parked out at the front of the building.

Chapter Six

RIDGE

The ping happened instantly once he pressed send, and he couldn’t stop smiling at the response. The woman would look like a goddess in anything she wore, especially the off-white business suit with black trim and beaded sequins she was in this morning when he met her. Still, he understood she had a refined taste and would want to change into evening wear.

It was why he showed up at her place of work. He planned with a local boutique to stay on call for him—should she need an outfit for the evening. But clearly, this woman was intelligent and savvy enough to have a wardrobe at her beck and call at the office. He quickly texted Shelia to tell her he wouldn’t need her services at the boutique and quickly pocketed his phone. A smile graced his lips in anticipation of what she’d be wearing.

It wasn’t a long wait for her to pop out of the elevator. She was in a black and silver beaded full-length sequin dress with a sheer shrug wrapped around her spaghetti straps. The bodice hugged her breasts perfectly, accentuating her long neckline and enhancing her glorious cleavage. A slit on the right side of the dress went from mid-thigh down to the black heels that matched the sequins of her dress.

Her silhouette was glorious to him. The dress clung to every single one of her womanly curves. She was a perfect sight. Women barely out of college couldn’t hold a candle to this woman.

Obscenely skinny girls like that may have their youth. But they lack the polish and confidence that comes with curves, scars, and experiences of a woman in her prime, like Poppy. The woman before him exuded all the desires he dreamed of in a mate. Most would call her mature since Facebook told him she recently turned 40, but to him, she was still a young thing. Of course, any woman was young compared to him because he was more than one century-old vampire.

And now that he learned she turned 40, it gave him another reason to hate her boss. She clearly had the knowledge to have her own clients—hell—she could probably run her own firm! But that man held her back, telling her she wasn’t necessary, special. And all because he saw her as the competition. She allowed it—but only for keeping her job, a paycheck, to sustain herself. No one should have to exist in life like that.

Ridge smiled as she approached him, and he decided that tonight was the night he would show her how special she indeed was.

“It is good to see you, Poppy! You look lovely this evening. May I escort you to my car?”

“Uh, sure?” She said with a slight frown.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, searching her for an answer.

Tension ruled her eyes.

“No! No! I just expected to follow you to the place in my car—that’s all.”

“Nonsense! My driver can take us to the restaurant and take you back here to pick up your car if that is what you choose to do.”

She half-smiled at him before her eyes darted to the ground.

“Um. Okay. I guess. You’ll have to excuse me. I rarely get into—” Poppy’s voice stopped short as a limo greeted them when they exited the building. “Into? A limo?”

She gasped a breath as she emphasized the word ‘limo.’

“Poppy, I rarely worry about certain things, like driving myself around. Does this bother you? Because if it does—I can send him home and we can take your car to the restaurant. I’ll merely call him when I am ready to leave.”

“No! Don’t be silly! I’m just not used to corporate dinners with billionaires. That’s more Parker’s cup of tea. He is the upper management at Creative Collabs, and I’m nothing special.” She said to him with a breath that came out as a nervous laugh.

“Alright then, why don’t we head over with the limo?”

Ridge helped her into the limo and removed a couple of tumblers from the bar.

“Would you care for a drink?”

“Water is fine.”

Ridge raised a brow.

“I understand that this is a business meeting, but you don’t have to be so formal around me. I’ve stocked red and white if you’d like some wine. Which do you prefer?”

“White will be fine.”

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