Aiden was stumped. His eyes opened wide as he stood frozen in his spot.
Never in a million years would he have thought that the person who had successfully outsmarted his team was this perfect looking being. He had seen and dated beautiful women in the past, but the woman before him was simply breathtaking.
The sun behind her made her strawberry red hair seem as if it was on fire and her piercing dark green eyes made his heart skip a beat as she walked towards him. It wasn't until she was standing a few feet away from him that he came back to his senses.
"Claire Collins, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Villan." She greeted him.
Aiden looked at her delicate arm stretched out towards him and snapped out of the daze he was in. Taking her hand in his he could feel the silk like sensation against his own rough palm. Her hand was a little cold to the touch.
"Please Miss Collins. The pleasure is truly mine. Feel free to have a seat." He signaled one of the chairs in front of the his desk for her to sit in. As he walked to take his own seat he spoke again.
"Jacob, take Miss Collins companion to select some refreshments for our esteemed guest." He ordered without taking his eyes off the fiery goddess now sitting across from him.
"Yes sir." Jacob then left with Anna after she received a slight nod from her boss leaving the two CEO's to themselves.
Before leaving Jacob found it odd to see his boss adjust the room temperature to be warmer. Aiden was prone to feeling hot, so his office always had the air conditioning on it's highest setting. Ignoring it he started to do as told.
"I believe this is the first time we've met one another. I would without a doubt have remembered meeting you elsewhere." Aiden began their conversation while he studied every little detail of her face.
Her long bangs were swept to each side of her face covering part of her eyebrows. And although her pink plump lips showed a gentle smile, she couldn't fool him. Her eyes had a fierce piercing gaze that made his skin tingle. This was no ordinary woman.
"Mr. Villan." Claire's gentle smile widened. "It's certainly generous of you to have invited me here in order to have small talk over some what I'm assuming will be over priced refreshments. I mean no disrespect, but I'm a busy woman. As the CEO to a multi billion dollar empire yourself, you must understand my time is very limited as I'm sure yours is as well. I would love to chit chat about how joyful this encounter is but I'm afraid I have little time to spare for such idle things."
And there it was. Claire's no nonsense policy was drawn clearly for Aiden to see. She wasn't one to fear consequences when using her lethal tongue. She already knew all she needed to know about the man in front of her. Aiden was a smart man that centered his life around his businesses. He wouldn't have called for her to his private office without further explanation unless he wanted something of her. Or worse. Knew something.
What Claire didn't expect was to be so awestrucked by him. She wasn't the dense type of person that couldn't recognize when she felt attracted to someone, although it rarely happened. But who could blame her? Most women, and even some men, would kill for the chance to be in the arms of the man sitting across from her.
His dark hair was combed back giving it a sleek look. With a chiseled jaw line and mesmerizing hazel eyes, his face looked more than just ruggedly handsome. Even his three piece light gray Italian suit only added to his charm. Alpha male masculinity profusely emanated off of him. Something that could draw anybody's attention. Including hers.
But Claire knew she was destined to simply enjoy the view. He would never be hers. The same way her life would never again be her own.
'Feisty and straight to the point. I like it.' Aiden thought to himself while he chuckled and his lips broke into a large smile.
"Straight to business it is then." He leaned back into his chair as he rested the side of his head on his closed fist. "How is it that a woman of such high standing and power such as yourself manage to stay invisible to the public eye?"
Claire chuckled. "You mean how did I manage to successfully make your team fail in hacking into my company's employee database and my own personal records?" The gentle smile she wore since she arrived never left her face as she let him know that she knew of his team trying to gather information about her. "Oh Mr. Villan, there's no need to hide your true intentions behind this meeting. We both know that it isn't your style to reach your goals in a roundabout way. As I said before I don't enjoy wasting my time."
Aiden was beyond stunned, even if his face didn't demonstrate it. Not only did this woman rip into him again without the slightest remorse, but she knew of his team investigating her! Just who is this woman! He raised a brow in interest as his smile grew wider.
"You seem to enjoy having a sharp tongue almost as much as I enjoy always being a step ahead of the rest." What an outstanding woman. This was much more than he expected. "Then please tell me Miss Collins, how was it that you not only trampled over my teams efforts, but also succeeded in staying hidden from the public eye for a year and a half while being the head of one of the big three?"
"I would gladly share my secrets with you Mr. Villan. For the right price that is." Her gentle smile not once wavered as she spoke to the man that could have Flinn Corporation crash and burn by tomorrow morning if he so desired.
After seeing that Aiden was not the type to back down from getting whatever he wanted she inwardly sighed and gave up on her original plan to talk her way out of the situation. Instead she opted for a far more riskier move.
"Fair enough. Seeing as you seem to already have in mind what you want how about you tell me?" Aiden's amusement with Claire was making him feel giddy. He felt like a kid on Christmas day opening his gifts under the tree. Had he known such and interesting woman was so close by he would have saved himself years of utter boredom.
"Well as a matter of fact I do Mr. Villan. How about in exchange for my knowledge that would greatly benefit you and Villan Enterprise, I gain the benefit of using some of your resources?" Claire suggested in her sweet voice.
"Seems fair to me. I can see that Flinn Corporation and Villan Enterprise apparently have much they can gain from a collaboration together." He replied.
"Oh I'm sorry. It seems you've misunderstood. I wasn't referring to Villan Enterprise's resources." Claire said as she crossed her legs and placed her palms over her knee. "I meant your other resources Mr. Villan. Or do you prefer to be called Blood Raven?" Claire said in an innocent manner.
And just as the name rolled off her tongue, the rooms temperature dropped to zero.