Husband With Benefits

Dave shut down his laptop with a quiet click and let out a long sigh as he turned to face Grant. "Alright," he began, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I think we can at least rule out one of your worries. You’re not going to have to babysit Miss Frost. From everything I’ve read, she’s actually an expert engineer. Apparently, she spearheaded the shift to solar energy across all Frost hotels a few years back—and she was only eighteen at the time. All her education is from top-tier universities, and her recommendations are glowing. We’re talking endorsements from some very big names."

Grant snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, because getting those is so difficult for the Frosts," he replied with a note of sarcasm.

Dave shook his head, his expression firm but calm. "Bro, we cannot walk into this meeting with that kind of defeatist attitude," he said in exasperation, "Even if the Frosts are playing the neoptism card, she’s still coming in with the money, and we need that. You and I agreed, didn’t we? A wait-and-watch approach is our best bet here."

Grant rolled his eyes but raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, fine. I hear you. Just don’t go defending the girl before she even steps into the room," he muttered. "It’s not like I’m planning to rip into her the second she gets here."

"Thank the heavens for that," Dave muttered, leaning back in his chair with a wry smile. "Anyway, where is she? She was supposed to be here at 12 p.m., wasn’t she?"

"That’s what her assistant told me this morning," Grant replied, his tone dripping with annoyance as he cast a quick glance at his watch. The numbers confirmed his suspicions: she was late. Of course, she was late. People like her never seemed to care about trivial things like punctuality or respecting other people’s time. Nope, those things were beneath someone of her stature. The ’princess’ had called ahead to inform them she’d be arriving promptly at noon, and naturally, they were expected to drop everything and make themselves available. And yet, here they were, still waiting.

Grant’s jaw tightened as he drummed his fingers on the edge of the table. His irritation was impossible to hide, but he didn’t care. If this was the kind of impression she intended to make, she was off to a spectacular start.

Finally, when he was about to leave, the woman entered and once again Grant had to make sure his heart would breath. Today, she was dressed in a simple blazer and her glorious hair had been tied back, but even the simplicity took his breath away. She smiled at them as she placed her laptop bag on the table and apologized casually," I am so, so sorry. I had a little accident before coming here—nothing serious, just a minor delay, but I should’ve called. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long."

Grant snorted under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest as he almost rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath if she broke a fingernail or something.

Dave shot him a look at that and he pretended to be deaf and mute as the girl settled herself across form them.