Worth the Challenge (3 page)

Maybe…but she wasn’t going to let that fact get her down or start second-guessing herself. He was right. Talking down her accomplishments—or lack of them—wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She needed to be strong, positive and believe in herself.

That Rhett wanted her to work for Worth Luxury was the boost of confidence she’d been looking for.

“…I’ll talk to our legal department, have them draw up the contract and then forward it to you. Where are you staying?”

She shook her head slightly, still a little dazed. Did he just say he wanted to send her a contract agreement today? “Pardon me?”

He smiled patiently, the sight of it making her heart flutter just the slightest bit. “I asked where you’re staying so I can have legal send over the contract to your hotel. You are staying at a hotel, correct?”

“Yes, I’m not from here.” That was probably obvious but oh, well.

She gave him the name of the hotel she’d checked in to late last night and he frowned. “Pardon my language, but that place is a shit hole.”

Shrugging, she bit back the laugh that wanted to escape. He didn’t mince words, did he? “It’s all I can afford.” Her father may be one of the most celebrated perfumers of all time, but the last job he worked, really worked, was years ago. And while she had picked up jobs here and there, the income hadn’t amounted to much. She’d spent it all to keep them afloat.

She desperately needed this job for financial reasons alone.

“No.” He shook his head and pulled his cell phone out from the inside pocket of his jacket, tapping away at the screen until he brought it up to his ear. “I can’t let you stay there. Let me make some arrangements.”

“But I couldn’t ask you to do that. I’m perfectly fine where I’m at.” She started to get out of her chair, but he held up that finger again, silencing her, stopping her in her tracks.

“We have a hotel where we keep rooms on hold for matters such as this.” He paused, and she could tell whoever he’d been calling answered. “Yes, this is Rhett Worth. We’re in need of one of the rooms you hold for Worth Luxury.” He paused again, listening to whatever the person on the other end had to say and Ella blatantly studied him.

Oh, he was smooth. Easy on the eyes, very pleasant to listen to, with a voice like butter and a commanding yet devilish air about him she found vastly appealing. It wasn’t smart, thinking like this, but she’d never been one of those women who everyone said was so intelligent, so strong.

She was more on the whimsical side. Creative and usually quiet, but so full of exuberance when she found something she was passionate about.

Like scent.

And she knew it would be extremely easy to become passionate about Rhett Worth…

“Perfect. You can expect Miss Durand there within the hour.” He ended the call and slipped his cell back into his pocket. “I’ll send you to the hotel with a car and driver. I assume your luggage is where you’re currently staying at?”

She nodded mutely.

“I’ll have someone pick it up and send it over to the Warwick. I reserved a suite for you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “A suite? I can’t afford it. Even with the pay you’re offering, which I’m sure is more than generous…”

“You won’t be paying for it,” he interrupted, clearly irritated. Maybe even a tad insulted. “Worth will comp you for your stay. It’s the least we can do, considering how quickly we must get to work on this project.”

Well. Didn’t he have a way of taking over her life completely and arranging it to suit his needs? Not that she was complaining, oh no. But she’d never had a man take such total charge of her before. Her father was definitely more the spontaneous type, which unfortunately, was a kind way to say he was a bit of a pushover. Her past few boyfriends, not that there had been many, were all the suffering artist-types who never had enough money to pay for lunch, let alone try to tell her what to do and how to do it.

This man commanded her as if he had every right to do so. Once she signed the contract, linking them together, perhaps then he would hold that right. But for now…

For now, he was a very attractive man with alpha-male tendencies she couldn’t help but find appealing.

“I’m sure you’d like some time to relax, maybe freshen up a bit. I’ll call for a car to take you over to the Warwick right now. Watch for the contract soon after you arrive. We can meet for dinner and discuss the terms. I’ll try my best to answer any questions you might have. How does that sound?”

“Um, it sounds…” Crazy? Too fast? Unbelievable? “Fine. That’s all fine.”

He smiled again, looking every inch the dazzling young prince of Manhattan, which he was. And she was about to become his bedraggled little servant. “I’ll pick you up at seven. Meet me in the lobby of the hotel?”

“A-all right.” She nodded, overwhelmed by the entire process. He spoke so fast, expected no argument and when he flashed that smile of his, her brain seemed to switch off completely.

Rather disconcerting, all of it.

He stood and she followed his lead, watching in disbelief as he rounded the table so he stood directly in front of her, his hand thrust out. She took his proffered hand, shaking it, all the while in a semi-daze at the whirlwind that had just swept her up and changed her life completely.

“I look forward to doing business with you, Gabriella.” The words were offered warmly, as was the smile. His dark blue gaze locked on her face, his too-large, too-warm hand still wrapped around hers.

“It’s Ella,” she said faintly, clearing her throat when his dark brows drew together. “My friends, my father call me Ella.”

“Well, then, I would be honored to call you Ella.” The smile grew and only then did he finally release her hand. “I’ll see you later this evening.”

“Rhett,” she said to his broad back after he turned and started toward the door.

Stopping in his tracks, he glanced over his shoulder, his gaze meeting hers questioningly. “Yes?”

“Thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me,” she said softly, giddiness making her heart light, her stomach tingle with nerves. “You’ve changed my life all in a few short minutes.”

“I should thank you. You happened to save mine.”

And with that, he walked out of the room without another word.

Rhett strode down the hall, his steps determined, his mind awhirl with what he needed to do before close of business today. He almost had Gabriella Durand where he wanted her. Now all she needed to do was sign the contract and she belonged to him—well, Worth Luxury, for the next year.

He’d just left legal after going over the initial twelve-month contract, making sure the terms were firm but not too firm. Light but not too light that she could take advantage of him. And he certainly didn’t want to take advantage of her.

She was too damn sweet to play games with.

If the relationship worked, they would extend the contract at least another year, possibly three total. It was something he’d dreamed of having since he’d initially been given this project. Hire an in-house perfumer that worked for no one else, an absolute rarity these days in lieu of the ease of licensing agreements.

But Worth Luxury didn’t want to just slap their name on a bottle and call it done. They wanted artistic input. Everything produced by Worth had a similar aesthetic. They didn’t want to change their approach just because they were venturing into new territory. They had a brand to protect, after all.

“Rhett.”

He stopped when he heard his name softly called, saw his brother lurking in a short corridor just to the right of him. Frowning, Rhett stepped forward. “Are you all right?”

“I’d like to talk to you.” Alex went to a closed door and opened it, indicating he wanted Rhett to follow him inside with a wave of his hand. “It won’t be but a few minutes.”

It was a small room, with only a tiny round table and three chairs around it. Alex didn’t bother sitting and so neither did Rhett. He watched warily as his brother closed the door.

“What’s up?” Rhett asked when Alex faced him.

“You can back out of it now if you want.”

“Back out of what?”

“The perfume deal. You don’t have to take it on if you don’t have a firm-enough handle on it. I know how hard it is, trying to make this sort of thing work. I get it.”

“What…what the hell are you saying?” Emotions surged through him, dark and ugly and he tried to quell the swift rise. Did his brother have no faith in him whatsoever? He expected it from Hunter. Their relationship had been based on that lack of trust for years. But Alex?

It hurt more than he cared to admit, what Alex was doing.

“Durand dumped Worth without a word and I’m not blaming you for that. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Maybe we should go the licensing route after all. It would be a hell of a lot easier and they would still allow us some sort of creative control, I know this for a fact,” Alex explained. “It would take this mess out of your hands and you could pursue the licenser instead. Hell, they’d pursue you. I can name at least four companies off the top of my head that have been dying to get their hands on a fragrance with our name on it for years.”

“I don’t want to give over the Worth perfume to a licensing company,” Rhett said firmly. “I already hired Gabriella Durand.”

Alex frowned. “You hired Durand’s daughter?”

“You gave me creative control over this project, yes?”

“Well, yes, but I didn’t think you were serious in your pursuit of her. I didn’t even believe you’d made the appointment with her. I had a feeling she just showed up.”

“When it was clear her father wasn’t going to respond to my endless inquiries, I went in pursuit of her. It just so happens she showed up on the very day we were discussing the project.” He was such an excellent liar, he amazed himself sometimes. He felt like a shit, saying such things to Alex but he had to save his ass.

Had to look like he knew what the hell he was doing.

“Does she have enough experience? Does she understand our vision? Have you smelled anything she’s created? How did you seal the deal so quickly? Don’t you think you should’ve consulted with Hunter and me, at least?” Alex fired off the questions at a rapid pace.

“She has the experience.” Did she? He needed to Google her more properly. “She has the know-how. I mean, for Christ’s sake, she apprenticed under her father for years. How can she not know what she’s doing?”

“She’s only twenty-five,” Alex said softly, his expression imploring. “She went to Givaudan when she was nineteen, though.”

Rhett whistled low. “You know how hard it is to get into that school?” Only the most prestigious perfumer school in the world, they admitted a handful of students each year.

“You know how easy it would be if your father was
the
Michel Durand? Think about it, Rhett.” Alex shook his head. “She has no real experience under her belt, only a handful of jobs with mediocre brands. I’m not sure if this is the right move.”

Anger tightened Rhett’s gut and he steeled his spine, stared straight into his brother’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Alex said without hesitation.

“When it comes to making a decision, have you ever gone with your gut?”

“Well, yes. Rarely when it comes to Worth, but I’ve done so,” Alex admitted, seemingly reluctant.

“I feel it with my gut that Gabriella Durand is the answer. She’s going to deliver what we want and put Worth Luxury on the map in regards to women’s fragrances. I believe it with everything inside of me, Alex. Please let me do this.”

They stared at each other in silence for what felt like a long stretch of time, assessing each other. Rhett refused to break, refused to back down, and finally Alex tore his gaze from Rhett’s with a little shake of his head. “I want the contract terms to be for three months.”

Rhett scoffed. “Three months? That’s insulting.”

“She’s untried as a perfumer of this caliber. You’re putting our reputation on the line for an untried girl.” Alex stared at him hard. “You don’t want to sleep with her, do you?”

“What? No,” Rhett said vehemently. Maybe he was lying again, but he knew he needed to stand by this. He couldn’t fool around with her, not when so much was at stake.

“Six months, that’s all I’m giving her initially,” Alex relented. “If she’s working out and proves herself, we can renegotiate terms then but no longer than six months as of now.”

“Fine,” Rhett said through clenched teeth. Damn it, he’d need to call back the legal department and have them change the contract.

“Don’t let this get out of hand. I expect travel expenses and the like. I read the report you compiled when you first took on the project, I know what you want to do and I approve. But nothing outrageous, Rhett, I mean it.”

Rhett nodded once and offered Alex a quick salute. “Yes, sir.”

Alex smiled ruefully. “Cut with the bullshit. You know what I’m referring to, right? No excessive parties, none of that crap.”

“Are you really going to hang that over my head for the rest of my life?” Rhett was hurt. He knew Alex had much more faith in him than Hunter, but that his brother was still full of doubt in regards to his abilities cut like a knife. “I’m not a kid anymore, Alex. I’m not hell bent on screwing everything up like I used to be.”