Daisy
rustled through the palm fronds to run along Daisy's cheeks and bare shoulders. Her hands tugged the thin spaghetti strap of her sundress, tempted to change into something else.
But her lunchtime appointment was strictly casual, with an emphasis on strict.
After a helpful second opinion text from Giselle, both agreed that the creamy white and soft floral pattern of her sundress fit with the hot sun, bright Pacific waters, and the gorgeous buildings of the Ridge.
Daisy’s piled her hair into a simple updo and left most of the makeup on the bathroom counter of her suite. She and her partner booked the room on the company dime since it was company business.
The company didn’t need to know that only one of those beds had been used.
A hand grazed against her ass, causing Daisy to stumble forward. However, two strong hands caught her waist before she crashed to the pavement—hands she knew all too well. She glared over her shoulder at Jensen’s smirking face, finding those stormy blues alit with amusement.
“Jumpy, are we?" Jensen hummed, righting Daisy onto her feet as his hands lingered around her waist for a split second too long. He dropped the touch when some strangers passed by the Bluff Building, but one hand hovered over the small of her back at their departure. Heat radiated off his palm, rivaling the sun overhead.
“Shut up,” Daisy mumbled, face turned away from Jensen's smirk while heat stung her cheeks. "Are you done being a menace today?"
"Me? Being a menace?" Jensen scoffed, almost like the suggestion offended him if the glint in his eyes didn't scream how thoroughly he enjoyed pushing her buttons. His hand splayed across the small of her back, causing Daisy's spine to straighten.
Her body went rigid under his touch, primed and ready for things to escalate. They were in public, yet a pitiful clench of her thighs at the slight scrape of his nails down her back undermined any chastising from her brain.
Everyone had moments of weakness; hers came in the form of a brunet, blue-eyed hunk whom she debated between strangling with her bare hands or suffocating between her thighs.
Daisy rolled her eyes while she headed down the stairs, strolling onto the Ridge’s busy walkways with Jensen. Her voice dropped to a whisper while she leaned toward Jensen, walking beside her.
“You say that, but the hand-shaped prints on my ass tell a different story. How did those happen then?” she grumbled.
Thankfully, Daisy chose a longer sundress for that day. Its flowing, slim skirt covered any accidental marks left behind from the last hour.
Jensen chuckled. With a flex of his arm, he shifted their balance, causing Daisy to wobble into his chest. He clicked his tongue, "Oh, those? Those were your doing.”
“Excuse me? How exactly is this my fault?”
“I didn’t say fault, but if you didn’t want me to bend you over the couch, then putting that perfume on your ankles was a dangerous decision. Sundresses on you are already tempting enough to deal with, Your Highness.”
Jensen’s feral expression when he had backed her against the couch and pushed her dress around her hips flashed through her head, awakening the electrified buzz from all the places he had touched her.
Daisy’s mouth dropped open as heat pooled between her thighs, spreading into her sore hips. She stammered, “You’re an asshole.”
“You made sure to remind me of that between the moans and the cries for me to push you harder against the couch.” Jensen sighed teasingly, not giving her any space for denial.
Moans and screams had been muffled into one of the throw pillows Daisy grabbed, so the creaking of the couch shaking with every thrust of Jensen’s hips permanently imprinted into her memories. It echoed along with the cheeky mocking Jensen had lavished onto her in the cockiest drawl known to man.
“This’ll be the last time I mess around with you,” Daisy scoffed. She avoided the knowing twinkle in Jensen’s eyes and deepening smirk. Even as she spoke, she didn’t believe a damn word she said. “You get on my nerves.”
“Right back at you. I’ll let you get me back after lunch if it makes you feel better.” Jensen’s hand returned to hovering over the small of her back while the two passed the pools, robbing her of the warmth from his touch. The two continued down the path until they ended up outside the Palm Building for their reservation at Bayside.
Seated on the patio deck, Daisy spotted Brooks Holloway—the potential investor from the company’s gala—conversing with a stranger at a table. The similar facial features and the nearly identical way they lounged in their chairs caught Daisy’s notice.
Daisy’s posture straightened. “You reviewed the pitch materials, right?”
“Daisy, you know I did,” Jensen replied while they reached the stairs, letting her up first. “I won’t embarrass you in front of your boyfriend.”
“Brooks isn’t my boyfriend. He’s a potential investor, him and his friend.” When Jensen told her Brooks scheduled a lunch meeting with him, he asked for two things. First, he demanded Daisy join them. Second, he requested the meeting at the Ridge.
Nothing in his email mentioned a potential plus-one, which worried Daisy. She’d never tell Jensen about the unease tumbling around her stomach, turning the thought of lunch into something dread-worthy.
Hiking her skirt between her hands, Daisy beelined for the table. As she approached the table, Brooks and his companion, who glanced up from his phone, rose from their seats.
“Nice to see you again, Brooks. Thank you for meeting with us,” Daisy greeted him first, shaking his hand with a smile. “You remember Jensen, my colleague?”
"Sure do. Nice to see you both. May I introduce my older brother, Hayden? He asked to join us since he'd also like to get into investing.” Brooks gestured to the stranger. Yeah, they looked like brothers.
“Pleasure to meet you.” Daisy grasped Hayden’s hand first with her firmest handshake. “I’m Daisy Riggs. And this is Jensen Ramsey.”
She stepped to the side as Jensen materialized by her side, shaking Brooks's hands. He then turned to Hayden, who had yet to speak but nodded. "Gentlemen."
“Thank you for meeting us today.” Hayden shook Jensen’s hand quickly, yet his face never moved from a stoic, almost scowling expression. “Let’s get started.”
“Agreed.” Daisy reached for her chair behind her but watched Jensen get there first. He pulled out her chair for her, eyeing her with quiet expectancy. “Have you two ordered already?”
"Not yet," said Hayden, sounding almost bored.
“We wouldn’t get started without you,” Brooks added. The roam of his eyes over her sundress laced his words with an undertone Daisy knew all too well. She suspected Jensen was her unwanted tag-along. "I told Hayden we would be idiots to miss our chance on the Vermont project."
Daisy’s stomach loosened at the mention of the Alpine project, her proudest achievement yet. Since its announcement, people's interest drove investors into her open arms. It earned her a fair share of arguments with Jensen, who wasn’t fond of her getting in his business.
But he, like a rational man, could be persuaded to let the argument go for the sake of the game. The push and pull of their professional rivalry promised nothing short of a thrill and the prize to end all promotions for the victor. Daisy lived for the chase, and so did Jensen.
"We'd be happy to discuss the project," Jensen remarked while taking his chair, mirroring the Holloway brothers. "Daisy can give the best explanation of the vision and all its amenities.”
Daisy's brow arched, gazing at Jensen for any sign of doubt. However, she found Jensen’s eyes already on her when he tilted his head. ‘Go on,’ his gesture spoke without words or much beyond the calm hum when he reached for his ice water.
So, Daisy scooted closer to the table, grabbing her water. “The Alpine Project—its official name still undecided—will be a new winter resort. Our company has focused on hotels and resorts in warmer climates, but we've overlooked the winter market for too long. The base plan is for around 350 rooms, broken down by habitation for a single guest, two guests splitting a room, or family suites for three or more people. Our resort goers can access plenty of snow for skiing in the chosen area. We’ve got plans to make snowboarding areas, ice rinks, and man-made hot spring saunas.”
Brooks held onto her every word, leaning on the table with elbows propped around his plate. His smile should've reassured her to keep going, but her attention landed squarely on Hayden.
He returned to his phone sometime between Jensen's comments and her explanation of the Alpine project. His fingers flew across the keyboard, illuminating his scowl. That irked her.
“Do you have any questions, gentlemen? We’re also happy to pass along some brochures or revisit the topic later.” Daisy cleared her throat while slipping on the most pleasant voice in her arsenal, sweet and dripping with deference like honey.
She spoke to both men across from her, but Hayden didn't glance up from his phone screen. He sat there, looking utterly annoyed, and continued to text in her face. Fucking rude.
Finally, he stopped texting, sighing, “Mr. Ramsey, is it?”
“Jensen is fine.” Jensen cleared his throat and leaned into Daisy’s full view, no longer lounging back with his water and the unreadable purse of his lips.
“This project sounds a tad extensive,” he said to Jensen as if Daisy wasn’t the one who was just talking to him. “How can we be sure our money won’t go to waste? Development projects routinely fail or never finish, leaving the investors shortchanged. I’m not interested in being duped.”
"Mr. Holloway, I assure you this won't be an issue. Hidden Oasis has an uncontested record in our developments. We know the viability of a project before any concept is approved. Daisy can further break down the industry standard practice of how resorts are built and where the Alpine project stands.”
Daisy almost choked but managed a graceful swallow of the freezing water with a rogue ice cube floating inside it. She cleared her throat, prepared to speak until Hayden hummed.
“How long will construction take?”
“Daisy? You know the estimates better than me,” Jensen said, not even pretending to think about the answer.
"Our current plan for the resort is to be conscientious and set our construction timeline around 30 months, giving space for any pushbacks or unexpected delays. If everything goes according to plan, we'll finish in 24 months."
“And where exactly is your company in the process, Mr. Ramsey?”
Jensen's eyes darted warily between Hayden and Brooks, who stayed silent throughout the exchange. Daisy witnessed it all despite his attempt to remain calm. He hummed, “I believe we’re in the process of approving the designs with our team of engineers and architects. Daisy can correct me if I’m wrong. It’s her favorite thing to do.”
“Someone has to keep you on your toes,” Daisy replied sweetly—avoiding the sarcasm while in the company of clients—to Jensen's quiet snort. "He is correct this time. We've gotten through a round of revisions on the design and hope to start our landscaping analysis soon."
For the first time since the pleasantries, Brooks made his presence known with the clap of his hands. He beamed at his brother. “I told you that she’s impressive.”
“You did. Miss Riggs is clearly well-versed on the project,” Hayden agreed. The praise went straight to Daisy’s head, as sweet and welcomed as the summer day. A smile tugged at her lips, thoroughly pleased.
Daisy laced her hands over her lap, sneaking a glance at Jensen beside her. “Thank you.”
But instead of her, Hayden’s attention turned to Jensen. His lips twitched, almost framed in a cold smile. “Though, I've never experienced a businessman who discloses so many details with his secretary. I understand why you trust her with such matters, Mr. Ramsey."
The once pleasant air around the table vanished as Daisy's body stiffened. Did he just. . . call her a secretary?
Her gaze jumped at the men around the table—Hayden, Brooks, and then Jensen—wondering where the idea that she was a secretary came from. That was one hell of a demotion.
Daisy's eyes lingered on Jensen briefly, but it was long enough to see his shocked expression. He didn’t expect it either.
However, the shock melted into narrowed eyes, with Jensen’s lip curling in disgust. Anger tainted his face with its presence, darkening the mood around the rest of the table.
“Daisy isn’t a secretary,” Jensen snapped at Hayden. Under the table, Daisy’s eyes drifted to his balled fists, matching the hardened clench of his jaw.
"Apologies. I assumed," Hayden remarked stiffly, but three words were all Jensen gave him before cutting him off.
“Mistakenly. Nothing against secretaries, but Daisy didn't spend four years at UCLA's business school and almost a decade in the industry to be called one. You won’t even address her directly with your questions, and she's the Vice President of Project Development. I'm only here because it's my job to make clients happy, but I don’t tolerate disrespect.”
“Like I said, I’m sorry—”
"Are you? If you took one look at any of the promotional materials I forwarded to you, you'd see her name on all of them. Daisy is one of our office's best executives; she's why her department runs as smoothly as it does. She deserves your respect and nothing less."
Jensen's tone was almost venomous when he spat at Hayden, who stilled in his chair. His expression ran the gamut of emotions while nearby tables looked their way, drawn into the conversation.
Brooks sprung up from his seat, hands thrown out to stop the fight. “I apologize as well. My brother made an honest mistake. I think we should start over.”
Jensen scoffed. “No. You knew Daisy’s position in the company. You didn’t bother to tell your brother before he ran his mouth like a moron?”
Watching Jensen unravel from angry to downright livid should’ve moved Daisy out of her chair to say something or intervene. She could accept the apology and smooth things over. But Jensen had her spellbound, stuck on his every word.
God, the angry, defensive act did something for her.
“That’s it.” Hayden rose from his chair, sneering hard with teeth bared while he towered over the table. “You can’t talk to me that way. Is this how you do business with respectable clients?”
Daisy’s eyes flicked to Jensen, who rose from his chair. Although Hayden stood taller than him, Jensen didn’t flinch away from his gaze. His hands quietly rolled up the sleeves of his buttoned shirt, cuffing them at his elbows.
"Yes, when you speak with contempt toward one of our future CEOs and dismissively toward the other." Despite the sunny day, the air around Daisy dropped at least ten degrees. “Unless you want this to be your first and last venture in this industry, I suggest you pivot fast.”
Daisy froze. Underneath Jensen’s words, a threat swung wildly into play; she knew it, and Brooks and Hayden sensed it, too, from the pallor crossing their features.
“Give us a moment,” Brooks yelped before Hayden could stutter out a pleading apology, dragging him away from the table. The two locked into a hushed conversation as they left.
Daisy pushed out of her chair, lost for words. Her tongue grew heavy when meeting Jensen’s eyes, which softened as he turned away from the Holloways. “Are you okay?”
“Me? Jensen, I’m fine,” Daisy stammered. “You didn’t have to go scorched earth to defend my honor.”
“It was the right thing to do.”
"Right thing, my ass. If I didn't know better, I would say you did it because you like me. You don’t have to blow up a good deal because a man was rude to me. I’m used to it.”
Jensen said nothing to that, but he reached for his water. His eyes never broke from hers, even as he drank. His throat bobbed when he swallowed. "Don't stress about the deal. Those two will come back and grovel to be involved in the project. If not, I'll owe you dinner and whatever else you want for wasting your time."
Daisy's lips parted, but she clammed up as soon as the Holloways entered her vision. They walked back toward her and Jensen, shame etched into their features. She stood corrected.
Sleep eluded Daisy again despite the bundle of blankets wrapped around her, cocooning her in warmth and pressure. She lay in her bed, tucked under several blankets and a heating pad for the old October night, hopelessly awake for hours.
She should’ve gone out. Halloween weekend came with dozens of offers for partying, club hopping, and endless fun.
But after several days of endless work and time spent in the company of one Jensen Ramsey, Daisy declined the fun. Instead of breaking out the iconic Cher Horowitz costume she had been planning since last year, she went to the gym, made herself dinner, and headed to bed early.
Daisy rolled over, wiggling one arm around her blanket cocoon to snatch her phone off the edge of her dresser. The screen's brightness filled the otherwise darkened room in its blinding light. Daisy fumbled to dim the screen, but it was too late to salvage her exhaustion. Any prospect of sleep fled into the dark of Daisy’s apartment, rushing away from the light.
Once the brightness died down, she cracked open an eye to read all the notifications cluttering the home screen. A text from Giselle victoriously sat atop the pile, boasting its sweet offer for Daisy to change her mind and crash the costume-friendly spooky dinner party at her and her boyfriend, Jude’s, apartment.
Beneath it, dozens of unread notifications from the rarely used V-Suite group chat from Miranda and Iris. They asked Daisy to go clubbing with them, but she declined. So, the two began sending drunken photo updates into the chat, all blurry from the fun.
Daisy's fingers opened her messages app, clearing the notifications one by one. Beyond the few people she regularly spoke with, her contacts could be counted on two hands—including Jensen.
His conversation thread sat third on the list, still fresh compared to everything beneath it. Daisy clicked it, reading through the chat—her last message to him had a timestamp for the night before, obscenely late into the night.
Quiet laughter slipped from her, spilling onto the silken pillowcase as she scrolled further into their texts. Her and Jensen's texting for the last few months modeled after their in-person conversations—a mixture of rapid-fire insults, sexually pent-up flirting, and the occasional comment about work or other professional plans.
If anyone picked up either of their phones, they'd be in for quite a surprise. Daisy and Jensen managed to hide the change well, still receiving the same comments from colleagues as those when the two strictly detested each other.
These days, however, it was competitiveness and sexual tension with a sprinkle of annoyance somewhere in there.
Daisy went to close out the conversation, but her finger slid too fast across the screen. The screen changed to an outgoing call with Jensen’s name at the top.
“Shit!” Daisy never moved faster than to end the call. Panic and relief flooded her chest within seconds of one another, seeing the screen return to the text chat. Close call.
She reached to set her phone back on the charger until it began to buzz with an incoming call: Jensen Ramsey calling. . .
Daisy winced while the phone’s vibrations echoed in the darkened room, torn. Her thumb hovered over the ‘accept’ button, ready to blurt out a quick apology and be done with it.
She answered the call, but Jensen’s voice beat her to the punch, “Daisy? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Daisy replied, brows furrowing at the soft, almost muffled sigh from the other side. “What made you think otherwise?”
“You never call me, at least not after hours or without a heads-up beforehand. I figured it might’ve been an emergency or that you needed me. Stupid, I see that now." Jensen coughed.
A tightness filled Daisy’s chest; she never realized that about their conversations. She shifted around in her blanket bundle. “It’s not. But everything is okay. I accidentally hit the call button. Sorry for disturbing your night.”
“Oh, okay. And you didn’t disturb my night.”
“You sounded a little out of breath there, Jensen. Lying isn’t your strong suit, buddy.”
“I never said you didn’t startle me.”
“Yeah. . . so how’s your Halloween weekend?”
Daisy asked, joined by a quiet hum in her chest while waiting for Jensen's voice. She lay alone in her bedroom while the rest of the world enjoyed the night. Somewhere in the silence, its heaviness encompassed her so wholly that she felt less alone.
After a moment, Jensen laughed. "Honestly, I'm not doing much. My sisters were supposed to come over for our annual tradition of not-so-spooky Halloween movies. Piper isn't big on horror, so we work around her. But the two got invited to some college party at the last minute and decided to go. So, I'm stuck with paperwork and the sugar cookies I tossed into the oven."
“I’m trying to imagine you baking, but somehow, I can’t. Do you have a cute little apron and oven mitts?” Daisy bit her lower lip, fighting against a cackle at the mental image.
"Oh yeah," Jensen snorted. "I have one patterned with bright pink rose buds. It makes me look so manly.”
Daisy buried her laughter into her elbow. What was he wearing under that apron then? "Since you have me on call, did you need me to stick around? I can keep you company while you do paperwork. You know, talk you through it."
“Usually, that’s my job,” Jensen hummed. “But I’ll actually take the company. Thanks.”
"No problem," Daisy murmured, scrunching further into her bed. The warmth enveloped her again, even as she closed her eyes while listening to Jensen’s faint scribbling. “Besides, annoying each other is what we do best.”
“I wouldn’t call you whispering into my ear with that sleepy voice of yours all that annoying.”
“If you tell me it turns you on, I might find the energy to crawl out of bed and show up at your house so I can tire myself out.”
"Don't threaten me with a good time. I'll dramatically shove all my paperwork off my desk for you before we desecrate it. It's one of the few places we haven't touched at my place."
Daisy had a sharp quip at the ready when she heard a loud crash in the background, followed by some drunken giggling and a second voice yelling something incoherent. "Except you have company. . ."
“Hold on—Piper, how much did Hayley have to drink and—” Jensen hesitated, audibly confused. Daisy imagined his brows knit together while his eyes darted around. “Where’s her other shoe?”
“Too much, and she lost it on the way to the car. I didn't realize it until we were a block away," Piper squeaked out, stone-cold sober and so over it.
“Can I have some cookies? Puh-leaseeeeee?” Hayley shouted loud enough for Daisy to hear on the other line.
“Yes, you can. Piper, please put her on the couch.”
“Sure. Who were you talking to when we got in?”
“It’s work,” Jensen lied swiftly, voice softening when Piper and Hayley’s voices faded in the background. “Hey, I’m so sorry.”
“Go spend time with your sisters. Hayley will need someone to hold back her hair and feed her consolation cookies for the lost shoe. You’re kind of good at that or whatever,” Daisy whispered. The smell of stir fry tickled at her nose, couched between the memories of Jensen becoming invested in reality dating shows and the two almost falling asleep while cuddling on his sectional.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“I’ll hold it to you.”
"Have a good night, Daisy." Jensen hung up his end of the line, voice soft around her name. Daisy sank further under the covers. She plugged her phone onto the end table by her bed, and when she tried to close her eyes, that time stuck.