before, but I'd done my research when I'd gotten the call for the job. The place didn't look like much on the outside, but I knew the tech inside would be better than anything I'd ever seen before. Hell, their state-of-art badassness was the main reason I'd wanted the job.
I walked to the glass doors and glanced around as the doors opened. Immediately inside the lobby were two security guards who looked like they'd once either been Special Forces or linebackers. Maybe both.
“Jenna Lang,” I introduced myself. “Lang Tech Consulting.”
The younger of the two guards gave me a doubtful look and I wondered if I was going to have another issue.
“Have you been here before?” the other guard asked. His dark eyes were warm, but his expression professional.
I raised an eyebrow. “Does it matter?”
“Actually, Miss, it does,” he said. His tone was neutral, neither kind nor unkind. “Mr. Archer doesn't allow us to let people up unless they've been here before.”
One corner of my mouth twitched up in a partial smirk. “Then how are they ever supposed to get in?”
The younger one smiled. “What Monty here is trying to say is that Mr. Archer insists on being contacted personally to come down for anyone who hasn't been here before.”
Okay, that was surprising. What CEO came down to see every visitor? I mean, I knew a lot of those types had a lot of time on their hands, but I assumed the majority preferred to spend that time clubbing or fucking or spending obscene amounts of money, sometimes all at once.
“Wait here,” the older guard instructed. He reached over and picked up a phone. He pushed a button, waited a moment, and then spoke again. “Mr. Archer, there's a Ms. Lang here for you.” Another minute passed. “Yes, Sir. Thank you.” He hung up the phone and turned back to me. “He'll be down in a moment.”
I nodded and the older guard took a couple steps back. The younger one, however, stayed where he was. I didn't think he was concerned about me doing something crazy or anything like that. Based on the way he eyed me up and down, I was pretty sure he was deciding if he just wanted to ogle me or ask me out. He was kind of cute, but I wasn't interested in another fuck anytime soon. And I didn't do dates.
I looked around. The lobby was small, but that didn't surprise me. Archer Enterprises was large in terms of production, so their factories were massive, but one of the things that made Archer different from similar companies was that the CEO hand-picked only the best and the brightest, believing in quality over quantity, and he was willing to pay what they were worth. Which made sense since he'd been the best and the brightest his whole life.
Rylan Archer. Twenty-eight and a self-made billionaire who'd started his software company while a freshman at Colorado State University. By the time he was a senior, he'd had enough money that he could've dropped out, but he finished his degree in computer science and then hired the number two in his field, a guy named Curt Stockard who'd end up being the public face of Archer Enterprises until eighteen months ago when a car accident put him in a coma for three weeks. When he woke, he cashed in his shares of the company and had taken off to the Bahamas with his wife. Since then, Rylan had been forced into the spotlight and, from what I could tell, he didn't like it. I'd barely been able to find any interviews with him.
I looked over when I heard the elevators ding and Archer stepped out. My eyes widened a bit. I had to admit the pictures I'd found didn't do the CEO any justice. Dark brown hair that was just a bit too long for the average businessman, stunning blue-violet eyes that, even from a distance, I could tell were intelligent. He was tall, easily six-two, six-three, with broad shoulders and a suit that showed off his muscular torso. Strong jawline, high cheekbones. Damn. He was hot.
But this was business. And I never mixed business with pleasure.
“Mr. Archer.” I stretched out my hand.
“Ms. Lang.”
Rylan's grip was firm, but not too much. He didn't try to do what most men did and make it caress, but he also didn't take the opportunity to prove his superiority by trying to crush my hand either. The men who attempted to do that