One-on-one with the CEO!

A gorgeous-looking brunette who had a killer white suit on her killer body and a perfect updo smiled at Summer from ear to ear. 'The guy must have very high standards when it comes to the women he keeps at arm's length,' she took a mental note to dress up the next time she has a one-on-one with him.

"Ms. Taylor, you can come right in, he's expecting you,"

Summer replicated the beauty's smile just because of how lovely she found her to be, otherwise, her nerves were pulled to the maximum.

She was one of the very first employees to have arrived at the building because she set her alarm one hour earlier than usual and expected to end up waiting for him to arrive outside of his office. So, she was a bit surprised to find both, Valentine Hosek and his secretary up and running already.

Her heart sank as she took the final few steps down the hallway to his office thinking about what might've gone wrong for him to summon her this urgently, and she even illogically considered the possibility of getting fired for something she might or might not have done, 'But calling and texting in the middle of the night for that would just be insane,' she quickly shooed that strange idea away reminding herself that they had to give her a month notice before legally dismissing her and gathered up her courage to knock on the big boss's door.

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Come in," came his deep voice from behind the huge door.

She opened the door and then closed it behind her with her eyes looking everywhere but at the man her brain located on the far end of the Eastern side of the office behind a luxurious-looking bureau. She manned up the next second and made eye contact with her boss who was dressed to impress as per usual in a navy-blue designer suit this time, her eyes drifted to the watch on his hand without her permission registering that it was a Rolex. 'Of course, it is,' she quickly made eye contact and found an unfathomable look on his face that was suddenly going up until she had to tilt her neck back slightly to maintain a visual connection.

He took a few steps around his bureau, and she found herself picking up the pace of her walk, embarrassed for some reason.

He met her in the middle of his office with an extended hand.

"Thank you for coming early," he said.

"Sorry for not calling you in the night," she retorted.

They shook hands and then he ushered her to the meeting table on the other side of the room instead of where she thought they'd be sitting. He pulled a seat for her like a perfect gentleman and slightly pushed forward when she was sitting down. His perfume suddenly became the third presence in the room.

She wondered what brand he used thinking that her big brother would love it.

"Is something the matter?" He asked as he took the seat at the head of the meeting table next to her.

She had to make an effort not to frown, 'That's my line,' she thought to herself as she shook her head lightly and smiled, "I was just wondering what kind of perfume you use,"

Something passed behind his brown eyes and she wondered if her question offended him. 'Was I out of line?' But she didn't think there would be anything wrong with the question if the roles were reversed between them and quickly decided that he was the one out of line for calling her in the hours of darkness.

"Hugo Boss," he interrupted the whirlwind in her mind with a low tone.

She bit her underlip hard not to smile as she thought it was hilarious.

He gave her a stern look, "Do you find that funny?"

All humor evaporated from her body just like that and she wore a very professional look on her face, "My apologies, I thought it would suit one of my brothers well," she smiled sweetly with a tilted head, after giving it a couple of seconds, she removed the smile away from her face, "You said there was an urgent issue?" she probed, suddenly a bit too eager to change the subject.

"Yes," he averted his eyes for a few seconds and intertwined his fingers above the table then looked at her once more. "The venue of the weekend event that you were working on has been switched,"

"..."

Summer would've been offended had the event holders been anyone else other than the boss's cousins, otherwise, the minimum amount of courtesy was to be contacted directly about significant changes like that.

"...Not many people know about this but he's on the spectrum,"

Summer frowned thinking about the man she met one on one with only a day before to discuss all the details of the event, "Mr. Jade Hosek is autistic?" She blurted out but didn't regret it, it was best that she double-checked for any misunderstandings.

Valentine nodded with a smile, "He doesn't give that impression, but he truly keeps the people around at the lowest number possible,"

"He was fine yesterday, though?" She insisted on denying it, he looked just like any other man to her.

Valentine cleared his throat, "That's why he contacted me instead of you, I hope you're not too offended,"

His polite approach was over the top and it made her a bit uncomfortable, "Not at all," she lied, "May I ask about the new venue?" Her brain was listing other possibilities of where a brunch like the one she discussed with Jade Hosek can be held at.

"A yacht," Valentine said nonchalantly.

"A-a yacht!"

"I told you it was urgent, I know you already ordered everything your team needs to pull the event together because it came without a notice at all,"

"But I did that after double-checking with Mr. Jade," she said defensively.

"I assure you that you're not the one to blame here, if it was any other customer, I would've canceled the event and refused to work with them in the future, but Jade happens to be a silent shareholder in Hosek Holding and we have to make sure that his event is a successful one,"

Summer blinked twice, what the big boss asked of her was to recreate the entire event from scratch, they were already in the middle of the week and a change that fundamental would take longer than what was left for the event!

Valentine was reading her face all along, "I will reward your team handsomely for all the overtime they'd have to pull,"

Summer decided that it was a waste of time for her to continue to deny or object, every second mattered going forward until the weekend was here, "My other projects," she said while she focused her eyes on her hands that were on her lap, hating that she'd fall behind so much.

"I will assign them to other teams, please focus on Jade's event," he said flatly as if what she asked about was counterintuitive.

'Well excuse me,' she thought bitterly, "I'll get right on it then, sir,"

"...You're a smart woman, I find it strange that I have to make the same request so many times…"

That startled Summer, "I'm sorry?" She had no idea what he meant.

"It's nothing," he said dismissively, "Please prioritize booking the yacht, the main theme and the rest of the general outline remain the same,"

"The budget…" She started trying to work on the financial inadequacies of switching to a very different venue.

"You don't have a budget, I want the best of the best for him,"

She caught the hint of a protective edge and wondered about the dynamics between the two of them as she tried not to be overwhelmed with the limitless budget. "I'll be on my way then," she said with her hands on the table prepared to give her body a light push.

"I will go with you to check on the venue as soon as you finalize the booking,"

"I understand,"

Both of them stood up, and their proximity had her tilting her head back significantly to maintain eye contact.

"I'll walk you to the door," he said as he ushered her there.

She found his approach over the top once more and wondered how many women he had dated to have such a smooth attitude.

Summer lost her balance when her heel twisted but the man next to her placed a hand under her elbow and steadied her.

She looked up, "Thank you!" She said with a clumsy smile.

"Did you hurt your foot?"

"Oh! Not at all!" She wondered if it would be rude to snatch her arm away from his warm hands, but he let her go by the end of the thought.

"Please be more careful," he sounded too serious.

"I will! Thank you for your time, see you soon, sir," she spoke too much in her flustered state.

"…"

Summer hurried out feeling the weight of yet another deadline on her shoulders and ignoring her foot that throbbed painfully when she half ran to the elevator.