“Just a sandwich at my desk, so this is great. Thanks.”
She smiles, and something in my chest lights up.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I feel like a teenager on his first date. Not a grown-ass man in a business meeting with his co-CEO.
She pours herself a coffee. I like that she feels comfortable enough around me to do that.
“Coffee or tea for you?” she asks me.
“Coffee all the way. I don’t drink tea. I just had Chrissy make it, as I wasn’t sure what you liked.”
“I’m like you, a coffee drinker. My body goes into shock if I go at least an hour without my fix.”
“Noted.”
I watch as she pours creamer into her cup.
“You take creamer?” she asks, holding it up.
“Please.”
She pours creamer into my cup and then hands it over.
“Thanks. You get first dibs on the pastries, seeing as though you made coffee.”
Looking over the plate with them, she bites her lip, and my dick twitches in my pants.
“Their éclairs are amazing,” I tell her.
Her eyes meet mine. “And you wouldn’t mind if I had it? There’s only one.”
I pick it up, put it on a napkin, and hand it over.
The smile she gives me is dazzling. It warms my insides.
She takes a bite. Her eyes close as she makes a sound of appreciation that has my dick instantly hard.
“That is so good,” she murmurs, eyes opening as she chews.
I blink back at her. My mouth is suddenly dry. I grab my coffee and take a sip.
“Told you they were good,” I finally get out.
“Don’t tell me where Chrissy got them from; otherwise, I won’t be able to stop myself from going and getting more.”
I chuckle.
“Seriously, I’m going to have to do an extra ten minutes on the treadmill tomorrow to burn this off.”
“You work out?” I pick up a raspberry macaron and take a bite.
I look at her, and she’s staring back at me with a look in her eyes that I can’t quite decipher. She nods and puts the éclair down on the napkin. Then, she gets another and wipes her hands on it.
“Do you use the office gym?”
“No.” She curls her hand around her coffee cup and lifts it to her lips.
I watch her, confused. She was fine a second ago, but now, she’s gone quiet. I don’t know why. What I do know is that I don’t like it.
“You should use the office gym. It’s free to employees.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.” Her eyes go down to the table, looking at the iPad she brought with her. She picks it up. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’ll get to the reason I’m here.”
“Morgan,” I say.
She lifts her eyes to me.
“Did I say something to upset you?”
“No. But we should get on with this, as I know you’re busy, and I’ve another meeting with accounting to get to soon.”
“Okay.”
I pick up my coffee again and gesture for her to take the lead. She did call for this meeting after all.
“So, I have an idea about us branching out into the D-plus-sized area of the bra industry. And I know this is something you’ve probably thought of in the past, and I know the reasons you have never moved into the area, but just hear me out.”
She’s right. I did think of it and decided against it, mostly based on cost.
“I’m listening.” I put my coffee down and give her my full focus.
“Okay, so there are lingerie companies that sell luxury bras for bigger-breasted woman, D-plus sizes. And companies like ours sell luxury bras for sizes A through D. But there are no companies that sell all sizes. The luxury-branded stores for D-plus-sized women are expensive, and I know the reason for this—cost of materials. That is why we and other lingerie companies have never moved into that area, but I think there’s a way for us to do this without adding the big price tag to the D-plus sizes. No other luxury lingerie company has done this. We’d be the first and the only.”
“So, you’re saying that you have a cost-effective way for us to make D-plus-sized bras?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve got my attention.”
She smiles, and I feel like I’ve won something.
“So, a few years ago, Oscars sent me to Thailand to meet with some new potential suppliers. While I was there, I was wandering around a market in San Kamphaeng, and I came across a silk supplier.”
“There are a lot of suppliers of silk in Thailand.”
That’s not me being an ass; it’s the truth. Thailand is responsible for the global distribution of around seven hundred metric tons of silk per annum.
Even though Thailand is not the world’s largest supplier of silk, they’re still pretty significant.
And the fact that she thinks finding a silk supplier in Thailand is big news kind of worries me, as she comes from a clothing background.
“I’m well aware of that.” She rolls her eyes. And I have to stifle a laugh. “And I also know of the cost the larger suppliers charge per meter. And I’m telling you that I know of a smaller supplier that will sell us silk charmeuse for fifty cents cheaper than what you’re paying our current supplier from China.”
That gets my attention. I sit up a little straighter and run the costs in my head.
“What’s the name of the supplier?” I ask her.
“Ananda.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“Like I said, they’re a small supplier. They sell more to local companies.”
“Small would be a problem since we’d need large amounts of silk.”
“But what if we stayed with our current supplier in China for the A-to-D-sized bras and bought the silk from Ananda for the D-plus sizes? In the beginning, that size would be in smaller demand until business increased.”
“Does Oscars use them as a supplier?”
She shakes her head.
“Why not?”
“Because they weren’t interested in a small supplier. They went with a bigger supplier with a quicker turnaround time even though the cost difference was significant. But I think we can work with the turnaround time. We’re in no rush. We can place an order with Ananda and get the production moving. If the business grows for us, they can hire more staff to cope with the increasing demand, and because the product is cheaper, the cost for the D-plus bras will be the same as the A-to-D-sized bras. And, maybe going forward, if Ananda could expand their production size, then we could shift all purchases of silk charmeuse to them. But that’s a conversation for another time. Right now, I really think we can do this, Wilder. I truly do.”
Her enthusiasm is contagious. I feel it bleeding into me, giving me that thrill that can only come from a great business deal.
“What’s the quality of the product like?” I ask her.
She puts her hand in the pocket of her skirt and pulls out a piece of red silk. She hands it to me. It has a flower stitched into it. “It’s a handkerchief that Niran, the owner of Ananda, gave to me as a gift. It’s a few years old, so the quality’s not as good as it was. And don’t worry; it’s clean. I haven’t wiped my nose on it today.” She laughs softly.
I meet her eyes and laugh. “Good to know.”
I run my fingers over the material, rubbing it between my fingers. “You said this is a few years old?”
“Yes,” she replies.
“This is really good silk,” I say to her.
“I know.”
I look up at her, meeting her eyes. They’re twinkling and smiling.
And, now, I’m getting hard again. At the thought of the new business and increase in sales but mostly because of her. Just her.
“I think you have something here,” I tell her.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m impressed. You’ve come up with a great business idea, and you’ve only been here just over a week.”
“I’m awesome. What can I say?”
She gives a playful shrug, leaning back in her chair, and I chuckle.