The Blind Date by Landish, Lauren (suggested reading .txt) 📕

my tongue as my urgency combines with my fear that I’m angering someone I respect. “I know I said it might be a good idea, but it’d hurt Riley, and I won’t let her—”

“Mr. Daniels, I do believe you’ve—”

“Lady Elisa, will you please let me finish?” I plead. She recoils as if I just slapped her. But in for a penny, in for a pound. “Your offer was generous, and I completely understand why it would be a good idea . . . for BlindDate and Riley. But the conversation alone nearly cost me everything. And I won’t risk losing Riley over a sponsorship. I love her too much. I’m sorry, but I won’t.”

I take a deep breath, realizing that was one long rant of a monologue that barely made sense. But it’s out now, and I shut my mouth for the first time since I entered, looking Lady Elisa in the eye. “Thank you for listening.”

Lady Elisa tilts her head, lifting an eyebrow. “Are you finished?”

I think about it and nod. “I guess. I mean, I’d add that I don’t want to leave. I like working here. I wish I could keep learning from you. But I love Riley. That’s the bottom line.”

“I see . . . and apparently, love hasn’t made you blind, but it has made you deaf,” Lady Elisa says. “And impatient. Because if you’d given me a moment to complete what I was saying before you so pointedly interrupted me, I’d have told you that everything’s fine.”

“Fine?” I ask, feeling stupefied. “So . . . I’m not fired?”

Lady Elisa looks up at the ceiling as if beseeching the gods for assistance. “What is it about love that makes men unable to listen? Do you store your testosterone in your ear canals or something?” she asks, looking back at me. “Noah, you’re not fired. I mean, I’m certainly not happy about your barging in here and going on that rant, but I’ll overlook it . . . this time. But what confused me during that whole rant is that you’re telling me you won’t allow Life Corp to use Riley because it hurt her, yada, yada, yada, and yet, the reason my morning schedule’s backed up is because Miss Watson was in here earlier this morning herself. She wanted to discuss the terms of her deal with Life Corp personally, and if my guess is correct, she’s down in the legal department going over the specific terms and boilerplate with them right now.”

It’s my turn to be confused, and I feel like my knees have just turned to jelly. “She’s here?”

Lady Elisa smiles evilly. “Ah, so your ears do work.” I flush at the dig, which seems to be the correct response because she puts me out of my misery by explaining. “Yes. I was working this morning when she came barging in here much like you did, demanding a few minutes of my time. A few minutes turned into a full hour as we discussed the offer, went over some numbers, and I gave her a quick tour of Life Corp. When we were finished, I dropped her off in legal.”

“But I—”

“Noah, go talk to her. Legal department. Understood?”

Her simple command energizes me, and I leap to my feet, almost running to her door. “Thank you.”

I hurry out the door and through her outer office. As I pass their desks, Tina and Gina snicker, and I know they must have enjoyed that. I don’t care, instead breaking into a full-on run that only pauses at the elevator before running through the legal department looking for Riley.

When I see her, I skid to a stop.

“Riley?”

Riley looks up from the desk where she’s talking with Keith Nord, one of the senior contract attorneys. “Noah! I was hoping to have this finished and surprise you. What are you—”

Her question’s cut off as I cross Keith’s office and pull her to her feet, lifting her in my arms to kiss her hard. Keith, who’s been married longer than I’ve been alive, chuckles. “Nobody gives me one of those for stopping by the office.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I tell Riley, ignoring Keith as I set her down. “You don’t have to sign a contract with Life Corp.”

“I’m not,” she says.

Confusion rolls over me like a thundercloud. “What?”

“I wouldn’t sign without you. BlindDate is your baby, and our relationship is our own. This is something we need to discuss together. Mr. Nord is giving me all the information because I planned to tell you over dinner. I thought we could do a little light contract reading before bed. Surprise!”

She makes contract reading sound like the filthiest, nastiest thing we’ve ever done even though her tone is perfectly even. Keith clears his throat uncomfortably.

“We were going over the contract details—sponsorship funds, expectations of name placements in Riley’s videos, and things like that,” Keith explains.

“And I gave her the hard-sell treatment on the tour,” Elisa says from behind me, scaring the shit out of me. How does she move as quiet as a ninja in heels? “Told her all about our charitable donations to the city and our various apps that are environmentally sound and self-improvement driven. I want Riley to know who she’s agreeing to work with and that my goals aren’t dissimilar to hers.”

I blink slowly so my face doesn’t give away my thoughts on that. Riley Watson and Elisa Montgomery couldn’t be more different. Riley is all warm sunshine and joy while Lady Elisa is cold, calculating ambition.

Riley smiles, nodding her head as she shares a look with Elisa.

Hmm. I glance between the two of them, and suddenly, I can see it. Their surface differences are readily apparent. My Riley with her wild blonde curls, and even for today’s corporate meeting, wearing her Docs and knee socks. Elisa has on a power suit, her hair slicked back into a tight bun. But deeper than appearances, they are the same.

Women with dreams of making life better—Riley for her followers, Elisa for Life Corp’s customers. They’re willing to take risks, be bold,