11

He was starting to make her feel something she hadn't felt before. She was beginning to feel like she wasn't as inferior as they assumed she was. She was scared of taking such a big risk, especially since they became partners, but something deep down her dark soul assured her it wouldn't fail.

"Ms Mahi, I apologise if I acted irrationally, but I believe this is a good step that we're taking," he said softly, laying his hand on hers. She looked at it and wanted to run her fingers over his prominent veins but balled her hands into fists instead.

"There has to be a loophole somewhere somehow," she said, barely audible.

"What are you thinking?" He asked. He's wanted to know what goes on through her challenging mind ever since she marched into the conference floor and interrupted his meeting.

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

"Well, it is a requirement to take risks in life," he said wittily.

"And no part of this is illegal?"

"We're not don't anything that hasn't been clearly stated in the contract," he said, handing her his laptop. She just looked over the screen but was registering nothing, trying to think of a fault with him.

He cannot be perfect. She then read the paragraph he'd highlighted and a smile made a way across her face, making him release a sigh of relief. He'd tried his best to convince her of his full-proof plan and that beautiful smile just confirmed that she was in this with him.

"It says here that," she started to say, looking raising her head to look at him already staring at her with a smile as bright as hers.

"Yep," he winked. "That's what happens to people that don't read the terms and conditions thoroughly."

She laughed lightly, feeling a lot better and more confident about his plan. He hadn't exactly gone with the ethical way to do all these, but in the contract that he'd drawn up, it did state that Essex was to be a possession of Dyke Dynamics under no circumstance whatsoever after signing the papers. Any withdrawal would result in policy offence and eventually lead to Essex being sued and all their profits retrieved and handed over to D-D.

"I have to admit," she said as she handed his laptop back to him, "you might just be fit enough to work with Dynamics," she told him truthfully and saw the goofy grin on his face. "And yes, that's pretty smart. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"And you still didn't."

"Don't stress me," she said as she extended her hand for him to shake. He took gets and held it firmly, staring into her brown eyes for longer than necessary. She possessed brown eyes while he had green. She was naturally a brunette while his hair was dyed dirty blonde. They each compared their looks to the other in their heads and smirked when they felt like they stood there silently for too long.

"Do you mind walking me out?" She asked, already heading out and expecting him to follow her.

If you think I'm going to follow you, he thought to himself, then you're damn right.

He held his phone out for her as they approached her car and smiled. "Why don't I save your number and inform you of my next bad move?"

She took it and tried her best not to show she was eagerly giving him her number. Truth be told, she was hoping he'd ask her number and call her sometime. She then sent an empty text to her phone and deleted it once it was through, excusing it in her head as 'she needed to save his number on her phone as well'.

After giving him his phone and giving him a professional hug and kiss on the cheek, she got in her car and drive off. He just stood there and touched the place she'd kissed him, feeling as though he's on cloud 9. He instantly decided that that was his favourite moment all week, and it was just Monday.

Once she got back to her office and went to her desk she checked her phone and indeed save the text she'd sent from his phone. She saved his number and was about to head out when Kanti walked in, seeming disappointed. Before Ari could ask what Kanti's problem was, she spoke first in their native accent.

"You went out mighty furious and came back with a number?"

"So our discussion went well, thanks for asking. And yes, we exchanged numbers." Then something about what Kanti said popped up in her head.

"How did you know I got his number?" She asked accusingly and Kanti just shrugged.

"You're forgetting I have eyes everywhere," she rolled her eyes and went to her desk, leaving Ari to figure out if she was being literal or not. She had her way of finding out things, but she didn't find out Kaden asked Ari's number by spying on them; her respect wouldn't let her do that.

Ari was the real idiot because she wore the same necklace that they gave each other when they moved here. They had audio recording connected to their phones and that explained why she turned to her phone when Ari left. Of course she'd never remind her cousin that. Some things were just better if kept hidden.